Is it mandatory to apply for IR1 while applying for K3?

[Writer 0]

Hello All,

Here is my little story, we met on one of my trips to US, last year. Developed a relationship over the phone and internet. Got married a week ago, while I was visiting again. Now I am back, nervous and confused about what to do now. Cause, I pretty much understand how long the whole thing is going to take.

Please, advice me on following issues, any ideas are very welcome and highly appreciated.

1) K3, read a lot about it. What confused me was, as I understand, you have to file both 130 and 129 forms at the same time and if 130 gets processed earlier, you go straight for IR1, and that I assume takes longer than getting K3. My question is, can't we just apply for K3 and then adjust a status after I move?

2)As long as I am not in US, and marriage took place in US, he has to file papers for me? And where will I have my health check then? Will they afterwards forward the papers to local embassy?

3)OK, he needs to have place to leave, be 125% over poverty line (I guess they consider family of two, and I have no idea what's the line in California). Would he need to fill out the affidavit of support with the 130 and 129 forms?

4)We just had a civil marriage, no guests, one witness cause we plan on having a big wedding later on, whenever we can gather our huge families together. Would I still need to send our photos and stuff with the rest of the documents?

5)K3 355 USD, Adjustment of status 1100 USD, what am I missing here?

We want to get on the track ASAP cause I am back for 5 days only and it is already intolerable!

Thanks all, T

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

You pay for the I 130 and you can file the K3 for free. However most all of them are closed because they are no longer faster than the Cr1 ( Cr1 if you have been married less than 2 years / IR for longer marriages)

[engineer21 51]

Hello All,

Here is my little story, we met on one of my trips to US, last year. Developed a relationship over the phone and internet. Got married a week ago, while I was visiting again. Now I am back, nervous and confused about what to do now. Cause, I pretty much understand how long the whole thing is going to take.

Please, advice me on following issues, any ideas are very welcome and highly appreciated.

1) K3, read a lot about it. What confused me was, as I understand, you have to file both 130 and 129 forms at the same time and if 130 gets processed earlier, you go straight for IR1, and that I assume takes longer than getting K3. My question is, can't we just apply for K3 and then adjust a status after I move?

You can certainly 'apply' for K3, but when USCIS sends your 130 and 129 to NVC, the forms will more than likely arrive together. And if both arrives together, NVC will administratively close the K3 and process the CR-1/IR-1. Might as well just apply for CR-1/IR-1 because these days K3 is not necessarily a faster process anymore

2)As long as I am not in US, and marriage took place in US, he has to file papers for me? And where will I have my health check then? Will they afterwards forward the papers to local embassy? Regardless of where the marriage took place, he has to petition for you to be able to immigrate to the US. Yes, the NVC will eventually send the papers to the embassy.

3)OK, he needs to have place to leave, be 125% over poverty line (I guess they consider family of two, and I have no idea what's the line in California). Would he need to fill out the affidavit of support with the 130 and 129 forms? The poverty guideline is the same for all states except for Alaska and Hawaii. No, the affidavit comes later in the process, you bring it with you to the visa interview

4)We just had a civil marriage, no guests, one witness cause we plan on having a big wedding later on, whenever we can gather our huge families together. Would I still need to send our photos and stuff with the rest of the documents? Some people send lots of pictures, some people save them for the interview... No real hard and fast rule about this but IMO can't hurt to send some photos

5)K3 355 USD, Adjustment of status 1100 USD, what am I missing here? That is theoretically correct, but the K3 will most likely be closed and CR-1/IR-1 will be processed instead, which means, you won't need to pay the $1100 AOS fee later.

We want to get on the track ASAP cause I am back for 5 days only and it is already intolerable!

Thanks all, T

[Darnell 8,478]

Some light reading?

Comparison on K-3 vs CR-1 - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/204324-wondering-if-i-made-a-mistake-marrying-in-us/page__view__findpost__p__3060767

K-3 administratively closed - http://www.visajourney.com/news/2010/02/07/department-of-state-to-close-k-3-visas-if-i-129f-and-i-130-petitions-approved-and-received-together/

[Writer 0]

You pay for the I 130 and you can file the K3 for free. However most all of them are closed because they are no longer faster than the Cr1 ( Cr1 if you have been married less than 2 years / IR for longer marriages)

Thanks, I'll read deeper into CR1

Some light reading?

Comparison on K-3 vs CR-1 - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/204324-wondering-if-i-made-a-mistake-marrying-in-us/page__view__findpost__p__3060767

K-3 administratively closed - http://www.visajourney.com/news/2010/02/07/department-of-state-to-close-k-3-visas-if-i-129f-and-i-130-petitions-approved-and-received-together/

It's not like I haven't read a lot, and I plan on rereading it bunch of times, but I have just started yesterday )

[Writer 0]

Dear Engineer,

Thanks a lot for detailed answer, I will start doing my homework reading of guides right away )