CR-1 better and faster then K3?New at VJ and need help!

[Swedishwife 0]

Hello!

I am Swedish and got married to my American husband in New York September 2009. I had to rush back to Sweden for a family emergency and now I wan to return as soon as possible. I was gonna apply for the K3 visa but as it seams on VJ, teh CR-1 is much better? and faster to?

I am all new here at VJ but have found so much comfort and reliefe so far... I really want to be able to go back to my husband as soon as possible, but we a re both very confused and don´t know what road to take. Please let me know whatever inforamtion or advice you may have about this, and your personal experience. What I should expect and what I can hope for without being unrealistic?

Good luck to all of you, and thank you for you respons and your answers!

[christeen 966]

sure about faster, however it is a far superior visa AND takes about the same time as the K3...

The benefits are that it is cheaper, you get the GC when you enter the USA and can work, travel, get Drivers Licence etc... The wait times are about the same and it seems that when you file the K3, your I-130 (CR1) gets pulled from the line to wait for the K3 application to be approved, thus you do not save any time. The K3 requires you to file for Adjustment of Status (another $1,010)... The K3 is pretty much an obsolete visa invented when the CR1s were taking years to process... Now that the CR1 is about 5-9 months it does not save anything...

[Deb+Steve 13]

At the moment, they take roughly the same amount of time. You file the I-130 first, when you receive your NOA1 with your receipt # you file the I-129F for the K3.

K3 is a non-immigrant visa and the CR1 is the immigrant visa.

Read the guides. There is no benefit to applying for the K3 other than it MAY be processed quicker. There will be extra costs with the AOS, EAD etc. When we applied in September, we decided to not pursue the K3 as well because of this. 4 months for our approval on our I-130 petition but the benefits outweigh the costs and the time it takes to adjust from the K3 to the CR1.

Good luck ...

[Swedishwife 0]

At the moment, they take roughly the same amount of time. You file the I-130 first, when you receive your NOA1 with your receipt # you file the I-129F for the K3.

K3 is a non-immigrant visa and the CR1 is the immigrant visa.

Read the guides. There is no benefit to applying for the K3 other than it MAY be processed quicker. There will be extra costs with the AOS, EAD etc. When we applied in September, we decided to not pursue the K3 as well because of this. 4 months for our approval on our I-130 petition but the benefits outweigh the costs and the time it takes to adjust from the K3 to the CR1.

Good luck ...

Thank you so much!

So I should expect about 4-6 months before I can return to my husband? Can I visit on a tourist visa while the papers are filed?

[Mrs. Diaz 1]

Welcome to VJ!

You should read the guidelines and make your own opinion. I do believe the CR-1 is better in the long run though.....(cost less etc)

The K3 route will probable not get you to America faster(than the CR-1) Remember that each case is different though.....

Good luck!

Hello!

I am Swedish and got married to my American husband in New York September 2009. I had to rush back to Sweden for a family emergency and now I wan to return as soon as possible. I was gonna apply for the K3 visa but as it seams on VJ, teh CR-1 is much better? and faster to?

I am all new here at VJ but have found so much comfort and reliefe so far... I really want to be able to go back to my husband as soon as possible, but we a re both very confused and don´t know what road to take. Please let me know whatever inforamtion or advice you may have about this, and your personal experience. What I should expect and what I can hope for without being unrealistic?

Good luck to all of you, and thank you for you respons and your answers!

[christeen 966]

Welcome to VJ!

You should read the guidelines and make your own opinion. I do believe the CR-1 is better in the long run though.....(cost less etc)

The K3 route will probable not get you to America faster(than the CR-1) Remember that each case is different though.....

Good luck!

In looking at timelines, India and a few other countries have about a 2 week to 2 month faster processing for the K3, European countries generally it is about the same processing time. I believe that the K3 is an obsolete visa.. Filing it also has been slowing down the approvals of the CR1 as USCIS pulls the I-130 out of processing to wait for the I-129 to catch up... so in the long run it causes more delays than it solves... My .02 cents

As far as visiting, yes it is possible to enter on the VWP, however your spouse should be prepared to show very strong ties to Sweden (lease, school, job, family, house etc...) to counteract any fear that the officer has that they might decide to stay... But many people have come and visited without an issue... you can check the threads and regionals to get more specific info...

[inzango 0]

Hi there,

Welcome to VJ. My personal opinion is to go with CR-1. It's much better in many ways as described by others.

I think there is a very high approval rate as well. Time difference between CR-1 and K-3 is not that much. If you are looking at my timeline, we had to fix some stuff during the process that's why it took a little longer. Just in case if you serch my timeline.

Wishing you best of luck on your journey ahead.

No worries, we are here to help.

[spectheintro 18]

Swedishwife:

The pertinent difference between the two is essentially the following: the CR-1 visa allows for a much smoother immigration process, while the K-3 takes priority during the NVC/consulate stages. Basically, the K-3 "skips" a bunch of steps that arranges for your permanent residence in the U.S. You WILL have to cover these later if you plan on working/studying/living in the US, and it will be expensive. (Another 1K, I believe.) However, the K-3 is not processed at the NVC--instead, it is forwarded to the embassy very quickly, and you are scheduled an interview (on the whole) prior to CR-1 applicants.

Thanks to improved processing times at USCIS, and the guides here for the NVC, you can minimize the time difference between the CR-1 and the K-3, at least for the processing stages. At the embassy level, K-1 and K-3 applicants always get priority before CR-1 applicants for interviews. If your consulate is not terribly backed up, this makes virtually no difference for you. For some, though, (namely Montreal, Canada), it makes a huge difference: CR-1 applicants had a MUCH longer wait time for interviews than those who filed K-1 and K-3.

In my personal opinion, apply for a CR-1 visa and save yourself the headache. It may add a bit of time to your process but it will dramatically reduce the expense and the paperwork you'll need to file once you arrive in the US. Since you live in a VWP country, you can probably see your husband during this time, as long as you make it clear that you intend to return to Sweden until your immigrant visa has been issued.

Edited January 28, 2010 by spectheintro