K3 Visa Confusion

[Duhhbeach 0]

Hello,

I am very confused about this K-3/CR-1 process as I continue to read conflicting information.

My husband is From France and we got married last February 2012 and have been a couple since December of 2009.

I have just put my nose to the grindstone in getting started with this process because I thought I had time!

I was under the assumption that the K-3 spouse Visa would allow my husband to come live with me here in the US..

After all this reading I am just getting more and more confused and worried as my husband has given notice at his job in France already.

My plan was to submit the Visa I-130 and when it was accepted send on the I-129F with a letter attached explaining we would like to pursue K3 route so that my husband can come to live with me while the CR1 visa process continues..

I am seeing many postings that they will close my K-3 129F which would mean my husband could not come here in September as planned.

I am sick over this as we have already been apart so long as it is...

Can anyone tell me and not just GUESS or give their opinion unless they know beyond a shadow of a doubt, what the heck I should do??

Thanks so much!

[jkelly07 120]

you will see the k-3 in some guides, the k-3 is not used any longer as of two years ago,no longer in use, you use the 1-130 married cr-1,it serves the same, years ago you would file 1-130 and 1-129 togather at the same time as k-3,but they don't do that any more.

[Inky 1,111]

The K-3 does not allow him to come live in the USA while the process " continues ". By no means does it do that. He has to stay in his country until the process is finished and he has the K-3 visa in hand.

Regardless the K-3 is no longer issued and is closed by the NVC.

[jkelly07 120]

you file the 1-130 for spoues., family,mother father sister brother,sons , daughter,-the 1-129f you only use that form if your not married yet it's for fiance,e

[Duhhbeach 0]

you will see the k-3 in some guides, the k-3 is not used any longer as of two years ago,no longer in use, you use the 1-130 married cr-1,it serves the same, years ago you would file 1-130 and 1-129 togather at the same time as k-3,but they don't do that any more.

Then why is it still on the website?

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2993.html#1

I don't get it??

[Cathi 5,778]

you file the 1-130 for spoues., family,mother father sister brother,sons , daughter,-the 1-129f you only use that form if your not married yet it's for fiance,e

the i 129 was also used for spouses to come on a non immigrant visa while awaiting the process of the i130/ cr-1 when the wait for the i 130 was much longer in the past . It is now obsolete and no longer available for spouse as the cr1 processing time is the same.

[LeoMed 0]

The i-129f Is still being used. I petitioned for my Wife in January 2012 and once the I-130 was accepted I sent in the I-129F. I called NVC several times and they did tell me that my if both petitions got approved at the same time, they would close the i-129F and work only on the i-130. That was not the case. USCIS approved both petitions at the same time in May. To this date, NVC hasnt even entered the I-130 into theirs system. I received notification last week that the i-129F was not closed and the consulate sent me a letter to Schedule her interview and she will be interviewing for her K-3 visa at next week. The I-129f is still being used, however, very few are allowed to continue their process when the i-130 and the i-129f are approved simultaneously. The problem is that you have no say on whether NVC closes or allows the i-129f to continue. I can say we were blessed, My wife will be with me in the U.S. in less than five months after we started the process.

[Ning 619]

Hello,

I am very confused about this K-3/CR-1 process as I continue to read conflicting information.

My husband is From France and we got married last February 2012 and have been a couple since December of 2009.

I have just put my nose to the grindstone in getting started with this process because I thought I had time!

I was under the assumption that the K-3 spouse Visa would allow my husband to come live with me here in the US..

After all this reading I am just getting more and more confused and worried as my husband has given notice at his job in France already.

My plan was to submit the Visa I-130 and when it was accepted send on the I-129F with a letter attached explaining we would like to pursue K3 route so that my husband can come to live with me while the CR1 visa process continues..

I am seeing many postings that they will close my K-3 129F which would mean my husband could not come here in September as planned.

I am sick over this as we have already been apart so long as it is...

Can anyone tell me and not just GUESS or give their opinion unless they know beyond a shadow of a doubt, what the heck I should do??

Thanks so much!

You do have time and you are very confused. There is no visa that allows your husband to come to the USA to await a different visa. See the guides here on V J so you can decide for yourself what you can & should do. That way you will avoid the opinions of others or feel they are just GUESSING. Start with the CR 1 type visa. Send in the 130 petition which will start the process. Check the timelines here on V J to where you will find it will take many months ( 6 to 8 ) to obtain USCIS approval. That will be well after September depending on when you file.

I believe he can visit the USA for 90 days without a visa as France is a VWP country so there is a way to see him during the waiting period for the immigrant visa.

[Ryan H 3,819]

The i-129f Is still being used. I petitioned for my Wife in January 2012 and once the I-130 was accepted I sent in the I-129F. I called NVC several times and they did tell me that my if both petitions got approved at the same time, they would close the i-129F and work only on the i-130. That was not the case. USCIS approved both petitions at the same time in May. To this date, NVC hasnt even entered the I-130 into theirs system. I received notification last week that the i-129F was not closed and the consulate sent me a letter to Schedule her interview and she will be interviewing for her K-3 visa at next week. The I-129f is still being used, however, very few are allowed to continue their process when the i-130 and the i-129f are approved simultaneously. The problem is that you have no say on whether NVC closes or allows the i-129f to continue. I can say we were blessed, My wife will be with me in the U.S. in less than five months after we started the process.

You are conflating the terms I-129F and K3. I-129F is a petition form, K3 is a visa type; the two terms are not interchangeable.

Your case is one of those rare cases where the I-129F arrived at the NVC ahead of the I-130 which allowed the K3 process to continue. The NVC will administratively close an I-129F if they have an approved I-130 on station per their own policy.

To the OP:

The K3 officially remains on the books but in practice, it's rare that one is actually obtained given current NVC policy.

[Darnell 8,479]

You are probably looking at timelines from 5 to 6 years ago .

Sorry.

[Cathi 5,778]

You do have time and you are very confused. There is no visa that allows your husband to come to the USA to await a different visa. See the guides here on V J so you can decide for yourself what you can & should do. That way you will avoid the opinions of others or feel they are just GUESSING. Start with the CR 1 type visa. Send in the 130 petition which will start the process. Check the timelines here on V J to where you will find it will take many months ( 6 to 8 ) to obtain USCIS approval. That will be well after September depending on when you file.

I believe he can visit the USA for 90 days without a visa as France is a VWP country so there is a way to see him during the waiting period for the immigrant visa.

yes there is...it is called the K3 but it is rarely processed anymore

[Penguin_ie 5,995]

1. The K3 is almost always closed at NVC level. LeoMed's is the only case in the last year or so I have come across where a K3 reached embassy stage.

2. Even if your K3 gets through, you will not save much time- a few weeks at the most. It will still take 6+ months to get the visa. Your husband will not have the visa in September this year, sorry. But as a French citizen, he can visit you for up to 90 days on the visa waiver program.

[pushbrk 13,033]

Descriptions of the K3 that give the impression it allows the spouse to wait in the USA while their immigrant visa is being processed are outdated by several years. Yes, this was the intent back in 2001 when the K3 came into being but back then the CR1 and IR1 visas were taking 4 and 5 years, while the K3 could often be obtained in just about a year. Things have changed. IR1 and CR1 visas can be obtained quite a bit faster now than a K3 could be obtained in the early part of the last decade. K3 remains on the books and on the websites because there has been no NEW immigration reform or laws passed that would remove it. Nevertheless, it has been rendered virtually obsolete by a combination of USCIS and Dept. of State (NVC) procedure changes.

You read about the rare exception where a K3 slips through but it's not something to plan on.

I should add, the prime reason for these changes is that people commonly never completed their immigrant visa processes. Instead, they simply exercised their option to adjust status from within the USA after a K3 entry instead of returning to their home country to interview for an immigrant visa.

My wife entered on a k3 visa in August of 2006 and later adjusted status. This process saved about 4 to 6 months of apart time for us. THEN in November, 2006, USCIS started processing the petitions together instead of separately and the time savings evaporated immediately. Even before the February 2010 change by NVC that made the K3 obsolete, it hadn't saved any meaningful time for over three years.

Edited June 7, 2012 by pushbrk