Any active duty US Military members here?

[David A. 0]

Anybody here a US citizen on active duty in the US military that is in the process of petitioning their foreign spouse to enter into the US as an LPR?

If so...

What route did you take?

Any command involvement?

Processing times?

Expedited service?

[Raqiwin 2]

Anybody here a US citizen on active duty in the US military that is in the process of petitioning their foreign spouse to enter into the US as an LPR?

If so...

What route did you take?

Any command involvement?

Processing times?

Expedited service?

I'm AD Air Force and I'm still in the process of getting a K-1 for my girl. I've got many folks in my unit that have gone our route before and most have not had to deal with anyone in our command. There are a few perks but none in terms of faster processing unless you are about to deploy for who knows how long. And even then, I don't know myself what can be done for us.

I just sent my I-129F petition just like everyone else. Things are a mess right now since IMBRA came about so everyone'####### or miss. I filed in Mar 06, just now got a response that CIS had responded to my RFE. Hopefully I'll get NOA2 after 5 months. then it's another five supposedly for my fiancee to apply for the visa.

As long as you're truthful in your paperwork and make sure all the K-1/K-3 requirements are met, in place, settled, whatnot...you should have no problem at all with the whole process in general. Just be prepared to wait a long while. Good luck

[Private 1]

I am active duty navy i want to know also.

[Rob&Marife 0]

First of all I need a little more info on what branch of service etc… It can be different for each branch. I am active duty Army and because of my position and security clearance I had to do a few things to stay in compliance with unit SOP and Army regulations. I was required to notify my chain of command that I was marrying a foreign national. I did this through a formal memorandum for record to CYA. Then through another memorandum for record I had to notify my security office of my intent to marry a FN. They then contacted me and had me come over for a brief interview about the relationship and her. Since she is from the Philippines it wasn’t really a big deal and wasn’t even required to fill out a SF-88 for a background on her. I see your fiancée is from Australia so I don’t think you will have any problems in that department. Unless you have a TS/SCI clearance I don’t think you have to do much of anything as far as with your specific branch of service.

As Raqiwin stated you don’t really get any advantages with being in the military during the visa process. In some cases they will expedite for deployment but they rejected my request recently. I guess it was because I am not going to OIF or OEF, just some undisclosed location where I can be kidnapped, tortured, and killed but hey according to USCIS it doesn’t meet their guidelines… what a bunch of J@ckA$$es.

Now there is advantage after you are married and she is a permanent resident. She is immediately eligible for citizenship and doesn’t have to wait the 5+ years that other permanent residents do. Other than that just sit back and relax because you are in for a wait. Hell I got $100 that says I’ll deploy in November for my 6 months be back and she still won’t have a visa… any takers?

[meauxna 15]

David,

If she's in Australia, please tell me you've read up on DCF...

[hollywood79 0]

Hi there,

My husband is active duty AF (soon to be 0-3) and really there is no way to get things done quickly. We go through the same process as everyone else. JAG can't help you, they don't know much about immigration law.

I have been watching this site for about 2yrs now and it seems to get an Aussie spouse processed it takes on average 8-12 months for an immigration visa.

You could email the US consulate in Sydney (they are the only US office to look at visas) about DCF. There might be an exception for military personnel not being a resident of Australia.

Unfortunately it takes time a stess. This why we have deferred our journey for some time and I constantly fly b/w the two countries every few months. A bit stressful on our litte boy.

Best of luck to the two of you!!

[meauxna 15]

Hi there,

My husband is active duty AF (soon to be 0-3) and really there is no way to get things done quickly. We go through the same process as everyone else. JAG can't help you, they don't know much about immigration law.

I have been watching this site for about 2yrs now and it seems to get an Aussie spouse processed it takes on average 8-12 months for an immigration visa.

You could email the US consulate in Sydney (they are the only US office to look at visas) about DCF. There might be an exception for military personnel not being a resident of Australia.

Unfortunately it takes time a stess. This why we have deferred our journey for some time and I constantly fly b/w the two countries every few months. A bit stressful on our litte boy.

Best of luck to the two of you!!

There is an exception for *every* USC's residence for Australia---any USC can file locally for their Australian spouse. I'm sorry you didn't find out about it sooner.

Or maybe there was some other reason it didn't work out for your family. Back when, it was a one day in and out deal.

[Officer's Fiance 0]

Hey tgere

My fiance is active duty in the Navy. We sent in our I129f a few weeks ago and trust me, I've checked to see if we can get anything expedited, but everyone gets in line...no special treatment! He gets deployed for 6mths in Jan and we can only keep our fingers crossed that I'll get my visa while he is gone so that I can move to the US right away when he gets back in July. Timelines vary by consulate, so anywhere between 6 months to1 year is realistic to expect approval and hot visa in your hands!

Good luck!

Tanya

[Isabel 0]

hi there,

as soon as our CR1 reached the NVC our consulate was able to speed things up a lot, because he is active duty, so give it a shot.

LG Isabel

[girl 37 7]

Not to derail this thread, but welcome back, Isabel!