I-130 vs I-129f confusion

[RichardH 0]

OK, I am somewhat confused.

My wife and I were married in August, in the US. We found out AFTER my return to the UK that it was an option to upgrade status while I was there, and not have to travel back here again at all. Unfortunately, we didn't do that.

I have filed my I-130, and received the I-797C. I have just sent my I-129f. I thought that the point of the I-129F was to get over there and working while my I-130 was processing, but I see that the processing time for both forms is 5 months. So I'm not sure what the point of the I-129f is at all.

My understanding of the process is this. One of those forms is approved, notice of this gets sent to London, I apply for my visa, go to an interview in London, get my visa, and move. I am able to work at this point. If it was the I-129f that came up first, I would still have to upgrade my status once the I-130 was approved. But seeing as they will come up at the same time, the I-129F becomes moot.

Is this correct? Am I missing something? Is there a way for me to be over in the US sooner (and working, visiting constantly is getting expensive!) Any other advice on getting this process through smoothly?

Thanks,

Rich

[at long last 58]

Hi There

the I-129F is a fiance(e) K1 visa. Can't be used if you are already married I"m afraid.

[souleymon 27]

The I-129 isnt an Option for u anymore since u r Married

[JesyNav 1]

the i130 is the correct form to fill out if you are already married and the i129f is if you are trying to bring your fiance but the i129f to my understanding does not pertain to your case since you have already been married. if you have recieved a notice stating that your i130 has been approved then it will be forwarded to NVC (national visa center) where they will assign a case number and then you have to submit the ds230 and ds3032.. correct me if im wrong anyone

Edited November 3, 2011 by JesyNav

[CJ8611 6]

Since you are married already, you have to follow the process of filing for an I-130, Petition for an Alien Relative and not the I-129F which is the Petition for Alien Fiance(e).

We are just in the preparation stage of submitting our I-130, this is what I could share for now. Just search through the forums, VJ is such a big help. Hope all goes well!

[bigdog 376]

i130 is the form.

[RichardH 0]

Wow, that's a lot of uneducated answers that ignore the point of my original post.

The I-129f is used to apply to bring a spouse to the US as well. The instructions for that form are full of references to using it that way. (not that they make much sense, but that's another story.)

So, no more "wrong form, dude" answers please. Can someone who knows what they're talking about and understands the original question help out at all?

[CanadaLove 16]

OP, the visa you applied for is the K3. It used to be faster than the *R-1, but that's no longer the case. Now, usually what happens is the I130 is pulled from the queue and tied with the I-129f. Both get sent together to the NVC which closes the K3 path and leaves the *R-1 path open.

Now, I'm not sure where you got this K3 gets to work faster idea from. K3, like K1 has to adjust status once you arrive in the States. That's more money and leaves you kicking around for about 4 months while your paperwork processes. The CR-1 will give you a 2-year green card when you enter the country, which means you can work once you get your social security number in approximately a month.

[RichardH 0]

OP, the visa you applied for is the K3. It used to be faster than the *R-1, but that's no longer the case. Now, usually what happens is the I130 is pulled from the queue and tied with the I-129f. Both get sent together to the NVC which closes the K3 path and leaves the *R-1 path open.

Why do they still recommend that you follow the I-130 with the I-129F then? Is there any circumstances where this is actually helpful?

Now, I'm not sure where you got this K3 gets to work faster idea from. K3, like K1 has to adjust status once you arrive in the States. That's more money and leaves you kicking around for about 4 months while your paperwork processes. The CR-1 will give you a 2-year green card when you enter the country, which means you can work once you get your social security number in approximately a month.

So the I129F is a complete waste of time in parallell with the I-130? I feel like this process is purposefully wasting my time at this point, and I'm still at the beginning of it all...

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Why do they still recommend that you follow the I-130 with the I-129F then? Is there any circumstances where this is actually helpful?

Who recommends it? If a lawyer: because they can get mopre money that way, as there is more paperwork to do in the USA, IF you can even get a K3 visa.

So the I129F is a complete waste of time in parallell with the I-130?

Yes. IF yours doesn't get closed at NVC stage, you may save 2-4 weeks, but you need to offset that against not being able to work in the US for the first few months and higher fees/ more paperwork once you arrive.

[CJ8611 6]

Oh, sorry we missed you're applying for a K-3 Visa. You actually got it right. You will need to apply for a work permit though once you get to the US while on a K-3 Visa, according to this link: http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare#dcf

K-3 Visa is costly plus waiting time is almost the same as that for an IR1/CR1 visa application so we opted to just follow the basic IR-1/CR-1 Visa route. I'm afraid these are the only options available in petitioning a non-USC spouse, either you file for a K3 Visa or the IR1/CR1 Visa.

[CanadaLove 16]

Why do they still recommend that you follow the I-130 with the I-129F then? Is there any circumstances where this is actually helpful?

Not sure who 'they' is referring to; but no, no circumstance where it is helpful due to the usual administrative closing of the K3 pathway. Whoever/wherever you got your information from is.. not completely wrong, as the K3 /can/ be filed for, it just no longer is a faster option of getting you reunited with your wife.

So the I129F is a complete waste of time in parallell with the I-130? I feel like this process is purposefully wasting my time at this point, and I'm still at the beginning of it all...

Agreeing with Penguin here, it's a waste of time. It shouldn't set you back too far in the process though. If you can make it through the waiting of the USCIS stage, you'll be fine.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Once upton a time long long ago , a normal petition for a spouse took years and the K3 was used to speed up the process. Now they take the same time and normally the K3 is closed.

[R and L 5]

OK, I am somewhat confused.

My wife and I were married in August, in the US. We found out AFTER my return to the UK that it was an option to upgrade status while I was there, and not have to travel back here again at all. Unfortunately, we didn't do that.

I have filed my I-130, and received the I-797C. I have just sent my I-129f. I thought that the point of the I-129F was to get over there and working while my I-130 was processing, but I see that the processing time for both forms is 5 months. So I'm not sure what the point of the I-129f is at all.

My understanding of the process is this. One of those forms is approved, notice of this gets sent to London, I apply for my visa, go to an interview in London, get my visa, and move. I am able to work at this point. If it was the I-129f that came up first, I would still have to upgrade my status once the I-130 was approved. But seeing as they will come up at the same time, the I-129F becomes moot.

Is this correct? Am I missing something? Is there a way for me to be over in the US sooner (and working, visiting constantly is getting expensive!) Any other advice on getting this process through smoothly?

Thanks,

Rich

Hi Rich,

Hope this helps as my hubby and I are pretty much on a similar journey.

1) We sent first the I-130 and got NOA1.

2) As soon as we got NOA1, we sent a copy of that with our I-129F.

When I-129F is sent after the I-130, that is a K3 route.

K3 means you go through the approx. 5months USCIS processing time (or hopefully less), which is the same time frame for CR-1 (meaning when you send only I-130.)

3)THEN, instead of National Visa Center (NVC) doing the their processing, your file just visits briefly NVC, but is then sent MUCH FASTER to the embassy, and you get your interview.

4) After successful interview, you can go to USA and apply for adjustment of status - which takes about 4 months I think - and then you get your green card and can start working etc. You can also apply for a work permit earlier, but it looks like it takes pretty long time to get that (3months?) so you might just want to wait for the adjustment of status getting approved and save some money as work permit is reasonably expensive.

Now, many times, including what happened in our case, the I-130 gets approved faster than I-129F, I-130 file gets sent to NVC and NVC closes I-129F. So bye, bye K3 option, the case gets modified to CR-1. Which means, dealing the process with NVC but after the interview you get your green card etc straight. Little bit longer route to be apart from your spouse, but that's just how it is unfortunately.

We wanted to try our luck with the K3 route as just wanted to be together faster, despite that it's much more expensive and you have to do the adjustment of status when in US. We sent the I-129F honestly immediately as soon as we got out NOA1 by mail (which was on Saturday), sent our I-129F file on Monday with express mail and it was at USCIS on tuesday (even though they finally registered it only few days later than that.) And still, our I-130 got approved in 4months, whilst our I-129F is still not approved after a month of our I-130 NOA2 date.

So what I would suggest is: 1)You can try your luck with K3, sometimes it is successful, but regarding work, you will most likely wait longer to be able to do that than in CR-1. But then again, if your I-130 gets approved sooner, and your case will be modified to CR-1, then you can work faster when in US. Doesn't hurt to try if you want to do the effort. OR 2) You just stick with the I-130 and forget the I-129F. And go the CR-1 route which will allow you to work as soon as your interview is approved and you get your greencard.

By the way, even though there are successful cases with getting married on VWP and adjusting your status, it is also risky. VWP has more strict rules than the other tourist visas etc You have to have clear, strong evidence that you had no intention to marry when you entered US with VWP. We considered this option too, but didn't want to take any chances and just took the CR-1 long route. Now, when on the CR-1 or K3 route, you can always visit your spouse with VWP, just remember to bring proof (like return ticket, reason to go back to UK etc.) I've done the visiting and had no problem at all (was also lucky as they didn't ask honestly nothing, even though I said my husband lives in US.) But yes, agree, it's MUCH more expensive to travel back and forth between europe and US, but hopefully you are together sooner than you can imagine!

Sorry, very long reply, but hope it helps even a bit! Good luck!!

[RichardH 0]

Thank you for the long reply, it was very helpful...

Just one question: If I send in the I129F as well, and the K3 comes up before the CR1, do I _HAVE_ to travel to the US on it at that point, or can I still stay in the UK until the CR1 is granted? IE is it a different route entirely, or just another option that becomes open to me?

My wife does most of the travelling back and forth for visiting, as I'm the breadwinner in the family. It does make awkward questions like that a little easier to answer! That does give rise to another question though - has anyone else had that situation? (Where the immigrant is the earner?) And how does it affect the means-based questionnaire? Will we still be ok at that point?

Rich