Best advice you can give us? and total financial cost of CR1

[BillyJean 0]

Hi!

First off, I'm so happy for you and your husbands. It gives me hope to see you guys reunited and I can't wait until I get to feel that happy.

My husband and I have been married for six month and we have a 2 month old baby boy.

He was not able to be at the birth of his son and it makes us both so sad that he is missing this special part of his life.

We are almost (financially) ready to file and we want to do it the best possible way so my hubby does not have to miss anymore of our son's life and so we can be together again.

We want to be completely financially ready. I was wondering if you could tell me, other than the initial $420 for the I-130, how much did you spent in total from the time you started the process to the moment he landed on US soil.

We just want to be ready for every step of this process and want nothing to delay it.

Also how did you mail things to him or him to you, like the G-325A for him??? Haiti's post is not exactly famous for its speed or effectiveness....

I'd appreciate any help you could give us.

Thank you!!!

[mike411 15]

$420 for i-130

$88 for i-864

$404 for ds-230

$700 one-way airline ticket

$257 medical exam + vaccines

$100 mailings

$300 for passport, official papers and certificates

$50 for photo books and photo development

my cost may be different from your requirements.

[TimeTravel 78]

medical exam + vaccines cost can be different based country to country. In India, I paid $80 USD for medical. And passport and other official certificate cost depend up to your country.

[Ryan H 3,834]

I would estimate total costs for a CR-1 visa from petition filing to visa issuance to be $1000.

[Knockse 1]

I would estimate total costs for a CR-1 visa from petition filing to visa issuance to be $1000.

It's also a matter of choice.

You need to calculate the FedEx costs also if you want to speed things up.

Don't forget the translation costs if needed and the fee's you will pay for certified documents, wedding, notary, lawyer, etc.

We have sent in our I-130 a few days ago and I'm keeping a budget. Total cost untill now, about 1.000,00$ without wedding ceremony.

We still have to do the I-864, the DS-260, medical, ambassy, airplane tickets, all the UPS/FedEx costs, possible RFE's, translations and certified docs for the mentioned forms.There are lots of hidden costs which people don't count, be they are there for sure.

I'm counting another 3.500,00$ / 4.000,00$.

in total count +-4.5k$ to 5k$

[Ryan H 3,834]

I would estimate total costs for a CR-1 visa from petition filing to visa issuance to be $1000.

I'll be more specific, I would estimate total government fees from petition filing to visa issuance to be $1000.

[Amanda&Elvio 12]

Total cost of the forms, as mentioned above is $420 (I-130), $88 (I-864) and $404 (DS-230) = $912. Everything else totally depends on the country of the beneficiary. My husband's civil documents and translations only cost around $30 total. I'm not sure how much medical will cost as we haven't gotten to that point yet.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Amanda_and_Elvio

[jaycali 415]

Hi!First off, I'm so happy for you and your husbands. It gives me hope to see you guys reunited and I can't wait until I get to feel that happy.My husband and I have been married for six month and we have a 2 month old baby boy. He was not able to be at the birth of his son and it makes us both so sad that he is missing this special part of his life.We are almost (financially) ready to file and we want to do it the best possible way so my hubby does not have to miss anymore of our son's life and so we can be together again.We want to be completely financially ready. I was wondering if you could tell me, other than the initial $420 for the I-130, how much did you spent in total from the time you started the process to the moment he landed on US soil.We just want to be ready for every step of this process and want nothing to delay it.Also how did you mail things to him or him to you, like the G-325A for him??? Haiti's post is not exactly famous for its speed or effectiveness....I'd appreciate any help you could give us.Thank you!!!

The cost is like other posters have mentioned around $1000 for filing fees. The good thing is, only $420 of it is "due" at initial filing (for the I-130).

The other costs are really country specific. Like a medical here in Norway can easily cost $200 - $400, whereas in some countries I'd imagine it costing less than $100. Official documents may also cost money, depending on country.

Another thing that may add to the cost depends on the amount of evidence you want to include in your filing. Photo printing etc. If your husband lives in Port-au-Prince, he'll be close to the embassy, but if he lives far away he may have to travel there. These are all fees that are very case and country specific. The embassy in Norway doesn't do IV interviews, so I have to fly to Sweden and get a hotel for my interview..

As for mailing things, the G-325A of your husband is the only form that doesn't have to be signed. You'll still need his passport style photos though, so I'd suggest he signs it and mails it along with his passport style photos anyway.

I personally would never mail these things in regular mail. Haiti must have some kind of DHL, FedEx or UPS service. It's a lot more expensive, but a lot faster and much more reliable.

Altogether, this is costing my wife and I about $2,000 - $2,500, but that includes courier mail, plane tickets to Sweden for interview, hotel, medical etc.

Edited February 25, 2012 by jhsm85

[BillyJean 0]

Thank you guys!

Any extra advice that you wished someone gave you before you started the process?

[jaycali 415]

Thank you guys!Any extra advice that you wished someone gave you before you started the process?

Read the guide here on VJ and make your own checklist based on it.

Check off everything in your package not once, not twice, but three or four times.

Proof read everything not once, not twice, but three or four times.

Begin to prepare for the NVC stage as soon as you send in the I-130 package. You'll have a lot of time, but better to have everything ready to send once your I-130 is approved.

Most of these I did lol.

As for something I wished I had done before starting.. Start now! Don't hesitate or procrastinate! We were married 11 months ago, due to poor plannig we ended up sending in the I-130 petition a month ago

Every day the I-130 package has not been sent is another day you'll spend apart.

[SuperDuper! 230]

I said it B4 and I will say it again: If a petitioner is in DOUBT whether or not he can afford his Foreign Bride, he should look no further than his bank acct. If you have less than $5K in the bank the day that she arrives in your arms, then you will be struggling. So, when you begin dating her, and making travel plans to meet, you should have around $10K, and thatz no joke!

[angelo gutierrez 6]

Hi!

First off, I'm so happy for you and your husbands. It gives me hope to see you guys reunited and I can't wait until I get to feel that happy.

My husband and I have been married for six month and we have a 2 month old baby boy.

He was not able to be at the birth of his son and it makes us both so sad that he is missing this special part of his life.

We are almost (financially) ready to file and we want to do it the best possible way so my hubby does not have to miss anymore of our son's life and so we can be together again.

We want to be completely financially ready. I was wondering if you could tell me, other than the initial $420 for the I-130, how much did you spent in total from the time you started the process to the moment he landed on US soil.

We just want to be ready for every step of this process and want nothing to delay it.

Also how did you mail things to him or him to you, like the G-325A for him??? Haiti's post is not exactly famous for its speed or effectiveness....

I'd appreciate any help you could give us.

Thank you!!!

My estimate for our case which is my spouse is located in Philippines:

I-130: $420

AOS: $88

VISA: $404

MEDICAL: $ 230