New Member - Long Story

[ponyespresso 0]

Hello everyone, I'm a new member here, and I look forward to any help my wife and I can get!

I am a USC, my wife is British. We met in the UK in 1993, applied for a fiancee visa in June of 1994, got visa in Aug 1995 and got married in Sept 1995 in the US. We lived in the US (Los Angeles) from Aug 1995 to Jan 2002.

During that time my wife applied for her GC. As part of that process she received her SSN and her work permit.

After several years, my wife finally received a stamp in her passport "Processed for I-551 Temporary evidence of lawful admission for permanent residence valid until Feb 10 2001. Employment authorized." We were told that this would do until she received her physical GC. However, her physical GC never arrived. After Feb 10, 2001 came and went, we went back to the INS office, where she received and got an extension of the I-551 stamp until Feb 09, 2002, and again we were told that a physical GC would be issued to us. That never arrived either.

During our seven years in the states, we had 2 children, so they are both USC. However, during that time as well, my wife's grandmother, mother and then sister all died within a short space of time. In January 2002, we made a decision to move back to the UK to help her ailing father, the only person left alive in her family.

Well, after being in the UK for seven years, now my mother and father are extremely ill and we are starting to make plans to move back to the US to help them in their last few years of their life.

Myself and our two children are all USCs, I'm assuming that we will have no trouble just walking back into the US after being away, we all have current US passports. Am I wrong to just assume this?

Now, after doing some initial research I'm extremely frustrated that it seems that we are going to have to go through ALL THAT HASSLE AGAIN that we had to endure for YEARS just to get my wife back into the US. We have been married for 13 years, we have a valid US marriage certificate, my wife has a valid SSN, do we really need to apply for the K3 (or similar) Visa for my wife to re-enter the US and stay?

Many thanks in advance for anyone's help and advice!

Edited November 8, 2008 by ponyespresso

[Beautiful_years 0]

Sorry to go through all those troubles all over again as you have been away for too long and since she did not wait to get her green card you will have to file for her as your spouse all over again, as it would seem she had abandoned her initial petition...

Immigration can be so time consuming and stressing, i think the best thing to do now is discuss with a lawyer... also go to the guides section here on visa journey you ll get good instructions on how to go about filling and what to do... there are a lot of knowledgable people here on vj, they would surely advice you on where to start from...i wish i knew soo much!

Well goodluck and post updates as you go....

[SwanTiger 0]

Hi

It sounds like you might qualify for Direct Consular Filing. That usually goes faster. Try here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...om&page=dcf.

Good luck!

[frali 2]

What visa do you have in UK?

I am sure you won't have any problems filing Directly for spousal visa at US Embassy in London.

Good luck!

[*Snowdrop* 604]

Hi - unfortunately I think you do have to go through the whole visa process again - the only way to avoid it, is to become dual citizens and then you can both move to either country without visa applications.

If you are both living in the UK though you will be able to do DCF which is MUCH quicker than applying though the service centers. People seem to get through in a few months (3-6) rather than the 10-12 it takes the other way. Also - it won't be a K3 - that's for when the USC is already in the US - you would get an IR1 as you have been married for ages already.

If your children all have US passports they will just be able to go straight back with you without any need for applications.

***One thing you may want to consider before heading home is to apply for UK citizenship - you would become a dual citizen and then you would have the same rights as your wife and children to live in the UK in the future should you wish to. If you have been in the UK for 7 years you should be eligible.***

Then when you get back have your wife do the same thing - get US citizenship after 3 years back there, become a dual citizen. Then you are both able to move back and forth between the two countries without any problems.

[pushbrk 12,898]

It's too bad you had such a problem getting the green card but the LPR status would have ended years ago anyway because your wife no longer resided in the USA. You would be starting over regardless of past issues.

A few months before you're ready to move back to the US, just follow the DCF guide here.

[World Citizen 0]

What's up with the fact that if you're married to a USC for certain amount of time you get the GC without even having to live in the US??

[pushbrk 12,898]

What's up with the fact that if you're married to a USC for certain amount of time you get the GC without even having to live in the US??

Nothing, because there is no such fact. Green card = legal permanent resident status. Residing is one of the requirements for the status. Google "maintaining permanent resident status".

[ponyespresso 0]

Hi

It sounds like you might qualify for Direct Consular Filing. That usually goes faster.

Good luck!

Yea, I'm thinking that that might be the best route, cheers for your help!

[ponyespresso 0]

If you are both living in the UK though you will be able to do DCF which is MUCH quicker than applying though the service centers. People seem to get through in a few months (3-6) rather than the 10-12 it takes the other way. Also - it won't be a K3 - that's for when the USC is already in the US - you would get an IR1 as you have been married for ages already.

Cheers, for that, I'm thinking that a DCF is the way to go.

However, I'm struggling to find anything about an IR1 on either the USCIS website or the US Embassy/London website. In fact, the Embassy website simply has IR1 as just a classification symbol, not an actual form

Could you let me know more about what an IR1 is?

Cheers!

[pushbrk 12,898]

If you are both living in the UK though you will be able to do DCF which is MUCH quicker than applying though the service centers. People seem to get through in a few months (3-6) rather than the 10-12 it takes the other way. Also - it won't be a K3 - that's for when the USC is already in the US - you would get an IR1 as you have been married for ages already.

Cheers, for that, I'm thinking that a DCF is the way to go.

However, I'm struggling to find anything about an IR1 on either the USCIS website or the US Embassy/London website. In fact, the Embassy website simply has IR1 as just a classification symbol, not an actual form

Could you let me know more about what an IR1 is?

Cheers!

It's not a form. It's a visa category. Click the word Guides at the to of any page, then follow the DCF guide.

[ponyespresso 0]

What's up with the fact that if you're married to a USC for certain amount of time you get the GC without even having to live in the US??

Yeah, I know what you're saying.

I have a military record with an honorable discharge, I don't have any convictions, no bankruptcies, I've been nothing but an honourable citizen, you would think there would be some kind of pay off, especially after being married for 13 years.

I mean, if you are married more than 10 years, there should be some kind of default status that kicks in, so that spouses can just walk right in and not have to fill in these ridiculous frickin forms!!!

[Gemmie 142]

It's about residency, not marital status, unfortunately. I think they figure that after a long period of time of living in the US, the non-USC would have filed for citizenship (so hence if you moved to the UK and wanted to move back, you'd have the same rights to just walk right in without paperwork). It's such a shame that you had problems with the GC.

I hope you have a speedy process, I think the DCF is the best option for your circumstances.

[*JG* 2]

Wow, that is a bummer. So sorry.

Good luck in starting the journey again!

[Frenchwife 1]

Contact your embassy

you certainly qualify for Direct COnsular filing at the embassy

This is shorter than directly in the US and can receive special attention.

Don't go for K3 eventually but of IR (I130 only)

marginally longer but avoiding paperwork in the US you know it can last.

Edited November 9, 2008 by Frenchwife