I-130 filed by U.S. Service member

[mtommie84 0]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to the site and have already found out some useful, and also some unfortunate information and averages. And I want to start by thanking all of you for sharing, and hope you will continue to do so in ideas and help for me and my wife.

I know everyone has their own story, and if you're not interested it the meat, skip a paragraph or two and I'll have my question at the bottom

I am a proud member of the U.S. Coast Guard and have now served for five years as of May 2013. During an overseas deployment to Bahrain from July 2010-11, I met the woman who is now my wife, a British citizen. After returning from deployment, she visited me twice here in the U.S., and I met her in England once. We waited to get married because she wanted to finish her teaching contract in Bahrain. Finally we were married August of 2012 where I'm stationed, here in New Orleans. We were originally applying for the visa for fiances, before we were married, but unforseen circumstances in both our lives prevented us from pursuing that. So after returning to England, we submitted our I-130, and to cover the bases anyway, the I-129F for spouses.

I've looked at the timelines and seen no real pattern to processing for UK citizens, as it seems completely random. In not so many words, speaking with an attorney, we were recommended for her to come on a visitor's visa, and apply for adjustment of status. Obviously, they didn't outright say it, because it would be fraudulent entry. She's not willing to try it, because she isn't willing to risk my security clearance, and it would be awkward for me to be called to deport my wife. I've since been in touch with my state Senator(AL), whose office was pretty much given the standard "it's in process" answer, and have promised to check on it again for me at a later date, we'll see how that works out.

My question is there anything I can do to expedite the process. We thought me being a service member, and her being British would make this simple, but it would seem that's not the case. Also, is there any grounds for a humanitarian case, we are being denied the human right to be a family, or financial distress, since it's costing us thousands of dollars just to spend time together every few months, and because we can't guarantee timeline, she cannot take any more working contracts and is making very little money.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated,

Thank you!

[Tim&Sveta 2]

I think you can get an expedited visa because you are military, I am by no means an expert but I have seen some very fast responses from other military applications good luck

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Only expedites for deployment. Otherwise no. Most everyone here has gone through the same thing. It will take a year so she should be able to take contracts.

[lost_at_sea 995]

Also, is there any grounds for a humanitarian case, we are being denied the human right to be a family, or financial distress, since it's costing us thousands of dollars just to spend time together every few months, and because we can't guarantee timeline, she cannot take any more working contracts and is making very little money.

Everyone on here would be filing for that expedite if it existed. I'm sorry.

As Harpa says, the military expedite is for actively deployed/soon to be deployed service people. You can try and get your senator or congress person involved to see if they can put pressure on, but a lot of people try this with limited success.

The expedite information can be found here, for further reading: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=16a6b1be1ce85210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Alas, no expedites for you for the reasons you thought up. It could easily be 2014 before her visa interview. The timeline will be like every other country. UK doesn't get the fast lane. Then, unfortunately she could face additional processing before her visa is issued because of the Bahrain connection. It often happens at the London embassy for those with Middle East connections either by family there or living/working there. They do optional security checks that can take 4-8 more weeks or many months. She really should try to find a job since it could be next summer before she is able to immigrate.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Nich-Nick

[mtommie84 0]

Sigh, I expected as much. I was hoping someone on here had discovered something that might help us, but it was only recently we found out how long before it could be before we are together. It's definitely difficult, as I know you all are aware of. Thank you for your time