submitted 129f in sept. of last year

[benk 0]

I talked with a couple of lawyers in august of 2010 and they both recommended submitting a k3 as the most efficient method of getting my wife into the country. We got married in july and she is from Russia. The noa1 was received for the 129f on sept 23, the forms were sent from the lawyer I went with. Now 3 months later we are still in "intial review" status. As I read the forums it looks like the 129f is no longer valid as of early 2010. Which angers me a bit as a couple of laywers still told me to use it. But leaving my frustrations behind, I have a couple of questions hopefully someone could help with

1. Should I wait out the forms I have currently submitted? Or should I start looking into a cr1 now?

2. Is there anyway she can come back and visit the US while we wait on the papers to be finalized and hopefully approved? Someone had told me about "advanced parole" but from what I see that may not apply.

Thanks for any help

[YuAndDan 153]

K-3 involved first filing an I-130 for a CR-1, and the following up with an I-129F later, the I-130 is still in play and WILL result in a CR-1 visa process when it reaches NVC. Processing of these petitions are in the 5-6 month timeframe.

Keep in mind during the early 90's I-130 for spouse visa was taking YEARS to process, snce then USCIS has reduced the processing time down to the point that the I-130 is being approved as fast as the I-129F, it makes the reason the K-3 was offered to no longer exist, and this is why NVC closes all I-129F for K-3 when they receive them at same time as the I-130 that the K-3 is for.

K-3 was so that a couple could be reunited and WAIT out the long I-130 approval at which point they could either apply for immigrant visa, or adjust status. This no longer needed since I-130 is approved before the K-3 is even issued.

NVC process is only 2-3 months, and interview tends to happen within a month after that.

FAQ about visit while process: http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-application.html#4.6 (Applies to spouse too)

[benk 0]

thanks for the reply. So we had subitted the 130 and then waited for the noa1 before submitting the 129f. It seems like at this point we should wait for the 130 to be processed.

I am worried that we screwed something up and am causing this process to slow down as it has been over 3 months now and still in "initial review", but maybe that is because the holidays slowed things down?

thanks again for the reply

[YuAndDan 153]

thanks for the reply. So we had subitted the 130 and then waited for the noa1 before submitting the 129f. It seems like at this point we should wait for the 130 to be processed.

I am worried that we screwed something up and am causing this process to slow down as it has been over 3 months now and still in "initial review", but maybe that is because the holidays slowed things down?

thanks again for the reply

Yep simply wait for the I-130 to be approved and sent to NVC, NVC will simply close the attached I-129F and proceed on with the I-130 for a CR-1 visa.

MORE: http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2993.html#4

[benk 0]

thank you.

One more question, is there anyway she can come back to the us while we are waiting on the approval process?

[YuAndDan 153]

thank you.

One more question, is there anyway she can come back to the us while we are waiting on the approval process?

Only if she can apply for and get a B-2 tourist visa, The consulate always assumes immigrant intent, and would need to prove otherwise, having a spouse immigrant visa in process tends to show immigrant intent.

Again, the K-3 use to be the option for this purpose, however since the processing for I-130 has been reduced from years down to months, the K-3 has no function.