Direct Cosular Filing...What Do You Think?

[Marina Gavrilos 0]

I am a US CITIZEN, currently in Germany with my Husband. He is a citizen of Bosnia&Hercegovina BUT has lived in Germany pretty much all his life. We got married in August in Denmark because it was seriously that fastest way to go.

Anyway, I mailed out the I-130 and received the NOA1, stating that it is pending.

I then mailed the I-129F, received the NOA1 stating that is is pending & that they waived the fee b/c we are going towards a K3 Visa.

I am in Germany for 5 months now. SHOULD I just wait & stay for another month to do this Direct Consular filing? I recently received an 3-5 extended Visa from Germany and of course, I am living with my husband in his home.

What should I do? Would this Direct Consular Filing be right for me? Can anyone PLEASE help?

Thank you!

[payxibka 10,047]

there are certain advantages to the CR/IR1 visa... in the end it is a personal decision... Problem is the active I-130 at the service center... AFAIK, you cannot have two active petitions for the same benneficiary.

FWIW, you have not made a visa decision yet and the I-130 and the I-129F are still concurrently processing .......

Edited October 13, 2008 by payxibka

[MargotDarko 0]

Okay, just to make sure I'm clear on your situation. You have both the I-130 and I-129f pending at a US Service Center and you've been living in Germany on a resident visa for five months, correct? How long ago did you receive NOA1 on the I-130?

There are huge advantages to the immigrant CR1 visa over the K3 visa. I would personally never recommend the K3 visa unless the couple are separated and desperate to be together a couple months sooner.

If you have been resident in Germany for five months now and if you can stay in Germany for long enough to file the I-130 at the consulate there and receive NOA1 (probably about 1.5 to 2 more months from today), and if you only recently received NOA1 on the I-130, I would recommend doing direct consular filing. You do need to cancel the I-130 pending in the US, so if you decide to go this route, I would set about canceling that asap. I have not dealt with a US service center, so I am not sure how you cancel it, but I know other have so it can definitely be done.Unfortunately, I am pretty sure you do have to pay for the petition twice when you do it this way. Hopefully someone comes along to explain that process.

If you decide to do DCF, about five to six months after filing the new I-130 in Germany (maybe even less - I'm not sure on the timelines for Germany), your husband will have his immigrant CR1 spousal visa. That means that he will be a permanent resident as soon as he enters the US with it. He can work right away, get a SSN, and his green card will automatically come in the mail about six to eight weeks later. Then you don't have to worry about anything besides the free address form if you move until two years after his arrival when you would file to remove conditions on his two-year green card.

With the K3 process, he would receive a non-immigrant visa. When he entered, he would have to file for adjustment of status ($1,010) which includes application for employment authorization. It would be about three months after filing adjustment of status before he'd have approval to work, and quite a few more months before he would be a permanent resident and get his green card. And then two years after his green card arrived you'd also have to pay to remove conditions to get the 10 year green card.

[Marina Gavrilos 0]

there are certain advantages to the CR/IR1 visa... in the end it is a personal decision... Problem is the active I-130 at the service center... AFAIK, you cannot have two active petitions for the same benneficiary.

FWIW, you have not made a visa decision yet and the I-130 and the I-129F are still concurrently processing .......

Really? So, unfortunately I cannot go this route because I already have the I-130 & I-129F pending. Ugh! I hate this! I mailed the I-130 in August, received the NOA1 literally 2 weeks after mailing it.

I then mailed the I-129F in September and same thing, received the NOA1 a week or so after.

Payxibka...can I ask you. When a I-129F gets approved. What is needed is the Police Certificate, Birth Certificate, DS-230 & I-864?

Is this correct? I'm assuming when the I-129F gets approved it will state what else is needed.

Thanks so much. God, this is so incredibly stressful (and confusing) for me.

[MargotDarko 0]

there are certain advantages to the CR/IR1 visa... in the end it is a personal decision... Problem is the active I-130 at the service center... AFAIK, you cannot have two active petitions for the same benneficiary.

FWIW, you have not made a visa decision yet and the I-130 and the I-129F are still concurrently processing .......

Really? So, unfortunately I cannot go this route because I already have the I-130 & I-129F pending. Ugh! I hate this! I mailed the I-130 in August, received the NOA1 literally 2 weeks after mailing it.

I then mailed the I-129F in September and same thing, received the NOA1 a week or so after.

Payxibka...can I ask you. When a I-129F gets approved. What is needed is the Police Certificate, Birth Certificate, DS-230 & I-864?

Is this correct? I'm assuming when the I-129F gets approved it will state what else is needed.

Thanks so much. God, this is so incredibly stressful (and confusing) for me.

Since it was just August, I would very seriously consider canceling the I-130 petition and starting again in Germany. You don't have to do anything about the I-129f.

[payxibka 10,047]

When the petitions are approved (could be either one or both), they are transferred to the National Visa Center (NVC)... All the preliminary paperwork for the I-130 (CR/IR1 visa) are processed at NVC. If the I-129F is approved and you want the K-3 then all that work is done at the consulate...

For either visa you need police certificate, medical exam, and most likely DS-230 part I....

For the CR/IR1 visa you need in addition the DS-230 Part II, required vaccinations and I-864

For the K-3 visa you need in addition the DS-156 and I-134

There will also be other needed forms and evidence as well....