Expedite CR1 petition

[Tokyopuppy 0]

Hi All,

I have a question about expediting our CR1 petition.

I recently (22 June 2012) submitted an I130 for my husband (Japanese) to the Chicago lockbox address.

I was wondering if we could ask for the National Visa Center to speed up the process.

Reason:

- I am the petitioner (US national) and I am 5 months pregnant. Have arranged to give birth in the US in December (Due date 4 Dec 2012).

- I lost my mother last year and have had anxiety issues since then, which seems to be becoming worse the more heavily I get pregnant.

- I am seeing the doctors in the next couple of weeks - hoping to get a doctor's note.

Other information:

- I will be on QUEST from the end of this month, which will cover the hospital fees of delivering the baby.

- Sponsor of my husband will be my sister who lives in the US.

I am in Tokyo right now with my hubby and am planning to travel to Hawaii at the beginning of November (my sister lives in Hawaii).

I am hoping my husband can accompany the travel to Hawaii.... I'm getting really worried that I will travel alone, then give birth alone....

Do I have enough grounds on requesting an expedite of petition/visa application?

Any advice would be really grateful.

Any success stories you have would be fantastic too.

Thank you very much.

Edited June 27, 2012 by Tokyopuppy

[jkelly07 120]

there is no expediting for being pregnant it wont help it any faster, you can try under medical or hardship. request to be expedieted good luck.

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

Your petition will already be fast tracked as you live abroad, assuming you used your Japanese address on paperwork.

As mentioned, there is no expedite for pregnancy unless it is high risk. Your anxiety issues would need to be severe and documented by several doctors to possibly qualify.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

This is going to sound harsh and I really don't mean it to be

USCIS expects you to plan your life. If your anxiety about being pregnant and having the baby alone was so sever, then you should have planed your life better - ie getting pregnant after your husband has already moved to the US

Now I am not asking you to be defensive here, I am just asking you to see it from USCISs view - they rarely expedite on the grounds of pregnancy for the above reason. Now you can still apply for one, but do not expect it to get approved

Good luck

PS - also check with the airline, you'll be travling at 8 months pregnant, some airlines won't let you travel if that pregnant

[GlobeHopperMama 95]

Here are the expedite criteria from USCIS:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=16a6b1be1ce85210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Pregnancy in itself isn't normally considered a reason for expedite, unfortunately. If you face a surgery or an urgent medical procedure, related to the pregnancy or not, there may be a way to argue for expedite.

I know it's terrible to imagine giving birth to your first child with your husband in a totally different country. 4 years ago, I was in the same place as you are now. It was difficult, and I struggled mightily in those months leading up to the birth, but my husband was there by Skype the whole time and he even grabbed some video of my son's first moments of life, it's one of our favorite memories from that day/night. And when he finally met our son, 4 months later, it was such a beautiful moment, and it made all the heartache worth it. If you can, try as much as you can to mentally focus on this baby, on the happy memories that you will have together as a family as the baby grows up into a child, on the things you look forward to about being a mom, and try to let the immigration process be its own current. Which I know is way harder to do than to say. Being pregnant during immigration processing is just so scary and stressful, and it certainly doesn't do anything to alleviate the anxiety that can increase as a byproduct of pregnancy hormones but I found out the hard way that if you give in to that stress and the frightened, negative thoughts, it can make the final weeks and labor so much more difficult. Do all you can to be prepared for each stage of your husband's immigration process, research and make sure you have all documents in order, and then try to prioritize your health and pregnancy as much as you can. That way, whether you get to have your husband there or not, you will know you've done all you can for both the immigration process and for your baby's health. Even though being together for a baby's first days is ideal and much better than the alternative, there are lots of us who have been through it and found that the whole experience made us stronger!

[GlobeHopperMama 95]

PS - also check with the airline, you'll be travling at 8 months pregnant, some airlines won't let you travel if that pregnant

That's a good point. Most airlines do restrict flight past a certain number of weeks, and also, they may require a doctor's certificate, issued in like the past 72 hrs, clearing you to fly, so make sure to check on all this before you finalize plans.

Your petition will already be fast tracked as you live abroad, assuming you used your Japanese address on paperwork.

I wish that had been the case for us. We waited just as long as everyone else even though I was living in Mexico when we filed. I thought the only way to get fast-tracked while living abroad was to file DCF, which I didn't qualify for at the time. Hopefully what Penguin describes will be true for you.

[Tokyopuppy 0]

Your petition will already be fast tracked as you live abroad, assuming you used your Japanese address on paperwork.

As mentioned, there is no expedite for pregnancy unless it is high risk. Your anxiety issues would need to be severe and documented by several doctors to possibly qualify.

I really hope so but I had to file through the Chicago lockbox address so it's not a DCF...

Although I did use our Japanese address

Noted about the severity... We will see how the pregnancy progresses...

Thanking you!

[Tokyopuppy 0]

Hi Carlos and Amy, thank you so much for your encouraging words and your personal story. Ive been thinking about giving birth in the US alone... It does really creep me out but as you say perhaps it can only make me stronger.... Still very scared!!! But will try not to be!

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply!

Will be re-reading it to encourage myself every now and then