CR1 Visa or K3 for Cuban Husband

[calygirl75 12]

I am in the process of gathering the necessary supporting documentation to file a CR1 for my husband in Cuba. I thought I would file for a K3 but now I'm reading that this route is obsolete. I'm concerned because I read the following in this forum:

Your relative will become a U.S permanent resident only when he/she enters the U.S at a port of entry, until this time, he/she only has an immigrant visa that is valid up to 6 months from the interview date. If your relative cannot immigrate to the U.S within the 6 month allotted time, then his/her immigrant visa will expire, and the I-130 process must start all over again.

I know it will be a long time if not years for my husband to be granted an exit from Cuba due to his background in the medical profession. So does this mean that I will need to be submitting I-130s on his behalf every 6 months until he is given his exit? I'm so confused?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[aleful 1,905]

I am in the process of gathering the necessary supporting documentation to file a CR1 for my husband in Cuba. I thought I would file for a K3 but now I'm reading that this route is obsolete. I'm concerned because I read the following in this forum:

Your relative will become a U.S permanent resident only when he/she enters the U.S at a port of entry, until this time, he/she only has an immigrant visa that is valid up to 6 months from the interview date. If your relative cannot immigrate to the U.S within the 6 month allotted time, then his/her immigrant visa will expire, and the I-130 process must start all over again.

I know it will be a long time if not years for my husband to be granted an exit from Cuba due to his background in the medical profession. So does this mean that I will need to be submitting I-130s on his behalf every 6 months until he is given his exit? I'm so confused?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

no, that means that once they give him the visa, he has up to 6 months to enter the US.

[Darnell 8,478]

Visa Issuance occurs in Cuba.

Once issued, he has 6 months to get INTO the USA.

[hikergirl 277]

I am in the process of gathering the necessary supporting documentation to file a CR1 for my husband in Cuba. I thought I would file for a K3 but now I'm reading that this route is obsolete. I'm concerned because I read the following in this forum:

Your relative will become a U.S permanent resident only when he/she enters the U.S at a port of entry, until this time, he/she only has an immigrant visa that is valid up to 6 months from the interview date. If your relative cannot immigrate to the U.S within the 6 month allotted time, then his/her immigrant visa will expire, and the I-130 process must start all over again.

I know it will be a long time if not years for my husband to be granted an exit from Cuba due to his background in the medical profession. So does this mean that I will need to be submitting I-130s on his behalf every 6 months until he is given his exit? I'm so confused?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I know there are ways of dragging your feet through the process to delay things. There are people on here who have done it in the past. I believe you delay things by delaying payments and sending in paperwork slowly. Then once you are ready, you speed things up. I'm not sure how long you can stretch the process along for though.

How long does he have to leave Cuba once the Cuban Government gives him permission? If he takes too long do they rescind it?

Edited December 17, 2012 by hikergirl

[calygirl75 12]

I know there are ways of dragging your feet through the process to delay things. There are people on here who have done it in the past. I believe you delay things by delaying payments and sending in paperwork slowly. Then once you are ready, you speed things up. I'm not sure how long you can stretch the process along for though.

How long does he have to leave Cuba once the Cuban Government gives him permission? If he takes too long do they rescind it?

Thank you for the suggestion. If we go the CR1 route, I can see how delaying the process for the US side would benefit especially if you have no clue how long Cuba will take to approve a "salida definitiva" which I think is what they call it when the citizen exit is definite. If you have a certain profession and you are deemed necessary, you can't benefit from the simplified travel measures that will take place in January of 2013. Have you heard of the term: Robo de Cerebro?

We still don't know what we'd like to do. He was told that he could be given a temporary "salida" exit of 3 months (by Hospital Staff) to visit me. This can be issued to him within 4 months of his initial request and once given he has up to 1 year to use it before it expires. If this is true (not so sure since I have yet to talk to anyone that has benefited from this type of permission to leave and that works in the medical profession in Cuba...

We were leaning towards the K3 since that would allow him to have multiple entries while we decide what we want to do and where we want to live, etc.

It would definitely help if I could hear from someone in the same situation or that has already been through the process.

all the best!

[hikergirl 277]

I’m a little confused about what you are saying about the K3.

It’s actually more restrictive than the CR1 with regards to travel and such. The beneficiary cannot travel outside of the US after arrival until they receive AP (advance parole) as part of their adjustment of status (AOS) or the CR-1 is approved. It’s not multi-entry.

Why the K3 is virtually obsolete now is because it takes around the same time as a CR1 to get approved because of streamlining the system.

[calygirl75 12]

I’m a little confused about what you are saying about the K3.

It’s actually more restrictive than the CR1 with regards to travel and such. The beneficiary cannot travel outside of the US after arrival until they receive AP (advance parole) as part of their adjustment of status (AOS) or the CR-1 is approved. It’s not multi-entry.

Why the K3 is virtually obsolete now is because it takes around the same time as a CR1 to get approved because of streamlining the system.

I misspoke. You are correct in saying it is not a multi entry visa and that it is virtually obsolete. It is very clear that we have a long road ahead of us. I will need to finish gathering the necessary documentation for the CR1 submittal. I will also have to wait to hear from my husband once he obtains specifics on how he will be able to official request his permission to leave.

[hikergirl 277]

I wish you the best of luck in your journey.

Most of us on here only have to deal with the one government for the most part and you have the added worry about his government possibly not wanting to let him go.

I hope you have the best possible outcome for your journey and that it is quicker than anticipated!

[Darnell 8,478]

The K-3 is multi-entry, for a period of 2 years, timetick starts at first POE date.

[hikergirl 277]

I stand corrected. Thanks for the info Darnell.