Can I even get a K-3 now?

[BBCC 16]

Well I'm stunned. It's official. Last Friday 30 November, we received our NOA1 for our I-130 in the mail. I mailed off our I-129F K-3 petition yesterday morning and when I arrived home from work, the NOA2 (!) had arrived notifying us of approval of our I-130.

So is there any way our K-3 petition will be approved, particularly if the remaining I-130/CR-1 processes gets stalled?

Thanks.

[Inky 1,110]

November? its not November yet.

You can choose to go K-3 but CR-1 is cheaper and generally the K-3 is closed at the NVC anyways.

[BBCC 16]

November? its not November yet.

You can choose to go K-3 but CR-1 is cheaper and generally the K-3 is closed at the NVC anyways.

Sorry. Typo. Meant September. NOA1 30 Sept. NOA2 5 Oct. Dunno how so fast. But, hey....

How is the CR-1 cheaper? Is it cheaper NVC?

[Samantha78 117]

Well I'm stunned. It's official. Last Friday 30 November, we received our NOA1 for our I-130 in the mail. I mailed off our I-129F K-3 petition yesterday morning and when I arrived home from work, the NOA2 (!) had arrived notifying us of approval of our I-130.

So is there any way our K-3 petition will be approved, particularly if the remaining I-130/CR-1 processes gets stalled?

Thanks.

I'm going through the same thing. Since the K3 is designed to bring families together faster, but has what some say are less benefits, there are good and bad parts about it. I personally wish for my husband to be here with me now so I went the K3 route, but I was given the option to go CR1 since my I-130 and I-129F were also approved around the same time, like yours. NVC will be the ones to guide you in the direction this will go. Sometimes, they will administratively close the I-130 and automatically move forward with the I-129F, but this all depends on how fast they process them.

The CR1 is less expensive BUT......I was told just last week from NVC that I could wait for months before an interview date was given for CR1, but I already have my interview date for K3 (Nov 23). The K3 is more expensive in the longrun, approx $1500 more over a period of 1 year, so the decision is yours. Once your spouse is in the US, you will pay $1030.00 for an adjustment of status, which should be filed within the first 3 months of arrival to be sure it is processed and approved before the 2 year mark is complete. Then if your spouse wants to work, you will also have to pay $350.00? or something in that range, to apply for an EAD.

With the CR1, you pay everything up front and it is less money, but again, it will take longer.

Do you want to wait a little longer for the CR1, or get your spouse here faster through K3. Some people (not doing the K3 of course) on here will tell you the K3 takes the same amount of time as the CR1 visa but don't listen to them. If you read about the K3 anywhere, it was specifically designed to bring families together much faster...and that it definitely does. Also...look at my timeline and compare that to one filing a CR1. I started this process in mid July....I'll be done end of Nov. That says it all.

Good luck with the route you choose.

[pushbrk 12,877]

Well I'm stunned. It's official. Last Friday 30 November, we received our NOA1 for our I-130 in the mail. I mailed off our I-129F K-3 petition yesterday morning and when I arrived home from work, the NOA2 (!) had arrived notifying us of approval of our I-130.

So is there any way our K-3 petition will be approved, particularly if the remaining I-130/CR-1 processes gets stalled?

Thanks.

No. An I-129F for a spouse cannot be approved AFTER the I-130. The I-129F will be denied. Follow the CR1 or IR1 visa path as applicable.

I assume you mean your NOA1 arrived September 30. Are you certain your I-130 is approved? If so, see the line above and take it literally. Yes, I'm sure.

November? its not November yet.

You can choose to go K-3 but CR-1 is cheaper and generally the K-3 is closed at the NVC anyways.

Based on the circumstances described, the choice is gone. See earlier post.

Edited October 6, 2011 by pushbrk

[BBCC 16]

I assume you mean your NOA1 arrived September 30. Are you certain your I-130 is approved? If so, see the line above and take it literally. Yes, I'm sure.

Based on the circumstances described, the choice is gone. See earlier post.

Yes, we received our NOA1 I-797C in the mail on 30 September 2011 informing us that they had received our I-130 effective 20 September 2011 and is in process.

Then, yesterday, 5 October 2011 received (3!, three identical I-797C in separate envelopes) NOA2s informing us that our I-130 had been APPROVED effective 20 September.

So, technically, they took less than a week to approvate our I-130. We did not request for expedited processing.

The only possible explanation for this is that we filed a I-129F for a K-1 Fiance visa 60 days before this in July. Both this I-129F K-1 and the I-130 were processed at the California Service Centers. Perhaps their work was so similar for a I-129F vs I-130 that their I-129F work, perhaps already completed, was then carried over to the I-130?

[pushbrk 12,877]

Yes, we received our NOA1 I-797C in the mail on 30 September 2011 informing us that they had received our I-130 effective 20 September 2011 and is in process.

Then, yesterday, 5 October 2011 received (3!, three identical I-797C in separate envelopes) NOA2s informing us that our I-130 had been APPROVED effective 20 September.

So, technically, they took less than a week to approvate our I-130. We did not request for expedited processing.

The only possible explanation for this is that we filed a I-129F for a K-1 Fiance visa 60 days before this in July. Both this I-129F K-1 and the I-130 were processed at the California Service Centers. Perhaps their work was so similar for a I-129F vs I-130 that their I-129F work, perhaps already completed, was then carried over to the I-130?

That's certainly a possibility. It's a good thing all around then.