When to file

[tim131 14]

Hi there,

had another topic there last night about our Cr-1 F2A application!

Wondering, my wife (US LPR) will be returning from a trip here to Ireland in the next month or two, it will be to a different state, so she will have to wait 3 months to file her n400 - which she is eligible for.

Should we wait until she become a US citizen and then file, or just file away now as an LPR.

IS there any benfit to having the application already sent in, and then upgrading our petition, does it save us time at all?

Realisitcally how long do you think we'll be waiting, we figured, if we send it in now, she goes back to the states, and gets her n400 sent off in say Sept 14, becomes a citizen in maybe Feb 15, and then assuming the petition is already pending get it upgraded and processed by Oct 15 - is that unrealisitc, too fast, too slow?

Is there a massive benefit sending the petition in just now, or should we wait? - I understand there are threads already about this, but no one has had to wait the three months to do the N-400 application

Thanks,

Tim

[Patra&Ricardo 4]

Hi there,

had another topic there last night about our Cr-1 F2A application!

Wondering, my wife (US LPR) will be returning from a trip here to Ireland in the next month or two, it will be to a different state, so she will have to wait 3 months to file her n400 - which she is eligible for.

Should we wait until she become a US citizen and then file, or just file away now as an LPR.

IS there any benfit to having the application already sent in, and then upgrading our petition, does it save us time at all?

Realisitcally how long do you think we'll be waiting, we figured, if we send it in now, she goes back to the states, and gets her n400 sent off in say Sept 14, becomes a citizen in maybe Feb 15, and then assuming the petition is already pending get it upgraded and processed by Oct 15 - is that unrealisitc, too fast, too slow?

Is there a massive benefit sending the petition in just now, or should we wait? - I understand there are threads already about this, but no one has had to wait the three months to do the N-400 application

Thanks,

Tim

Hi Tim,

I would recommend that you let your wife go ahead and file you petition now as they are actually approving F2A ( Spouses of Permanent Resident) pretty quick right now. US Citizen petitions are heavily backlogged right now, so it's taking almost a year to have a petition approved, where as Spouses of Permanent Residents petition are taking 5 months. My hubby sent my petition the end of November with a December 2 priority date and I have already been approved. My hubby is also eligible to apply for citizenship this year in April. I would say that sending your petition now will definitely save you a lot of time as most likely by time your wife officially becomes a citizen your petition would already be approved and send on to the second stage NVC.

[tim131 14]

Hi Tim,

I would recommend that you let your wife go ahead and file you petition now as they are actually approving F2A ( Spouses of Permanent Resident) pretty quick right now. US Citizen petitions are heavily backlogged right now, so it's taking almost a year to have a petition approved, where as Spouses of Permanent Residents petition are taking 5 months. My hubby sent my petition the end of November with a December 2 priority date and I have already been approved. My hubby is also eligible to apply for citizenship this year in April. I would say that sending your petition now will definitely save you a lot of time as most likely by time your wife officially becomes a citizen your petition would already be approved and send on to the second stage NVC.

Hi There

Thank you very much for the response!!

Ok this is good new about the Permanent Resident category going quick, but I thought it was still processing from Sept 13 and was stuck there for the past month or so. When you say approved what does that mean exactly? your application has been approved and sent for processing? Does it not get approved straight away normally if you're an LPR, is that what the wait time is for? to get approved? It's quite a bit to take in, still not sure whats what haha.

But thanks so much for the positive news, I will get Ana to send in the application ASAP, and hopefully, we wont have to wait too long in that queue.

thanks again

[Patra&Ricardo 4]

Hi There

Thank you very much for the response!!

Ok this is good new about the Permanent Resident category going quick, but I thought it was still processing from Sept 13 and was stuck there for the past month or so. When you say approved what does that mean exactly? your application has been approved and sent for processing? Does it not get approved straight away normally if you're an LPR, is that what the wait time is for? to get approved? It's quite a bit to take in, still not sure whats what haha.

But thanks so much for the positive news, I will get Ana to send in the application ASAP, and hopefully, we wont have to wait too long in that queue.

thanks again

You are welcome. Let me firstly explain the differences with petitions for spouses of US Citizen vs Permanent residents. Firstly all petition with one spouse in the US (Citizen & Permanent Residents) and the other in their native country go through 3 main stages. You have the USCIS stage where the initial I-130 petition is filed, if approved the petition is then sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) where you submit another set of documents, once you case is completed at the NVC you file is then sent to your local embassy for you interview. Now let explain what happens to a petition filed by a US Citizen vs a Permanent Resident. The main difference between the two is that if you file for your spouse a US Citizen a Visa Number is readily available whereas if you file as a Permanent Resident you have to wait until a Visa Number ( When your priority date is current) is available before they would schedule you interview. The wait for a visa as a spouse of a permanent resident was normally about 2.5 years but since last year the wait right now should be about 1.5 years (the may change very soon). The September 08, 2013 date that you are referring to has to do with Visa Numbers, it basically mean that Visas are readily available for most people who have a Priority Date before Sep 8, 2013. If you file your pettion now by time your wife is a citizen your pettion would mostly already been approved by the USCIS and sent to the NVC where it would be waiting for a visa number to be available. Your wife could update your petition at the NVC and you case should process pretty smoothly after that.

[tim131 14]

You are welcome. Let me firstly explain the differences with petitions for spouses of US Citizen vs Permanent residents. Firstly all petition with one spouse in the US (Citizen & Permanent Residents) and the other in their native country go through 3 main stages. You have the USCIS stage where the initial I-130 petition is filed, if approved the petition is then sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) where you submit another set of documents, once you case is completed at the NVC you file is then sent to your local embassy for you interview. Now let explain what happens to a petition filed by a US Citizen vs a Permanent Resident. The main difference between the two is that if you file for your spouse a US Citizen a Visa Number is readily available whereas if you file as a Permanent Resident you have to wait until a Visa Number ( When your priority date is current) is available before they would schedule you interview. The wait for a visa as a spouse of a permanent resident was normally about 2.5 years but since last year the wait right now should be about 1.5 years (the may change very soon). The September 08, 2013 date that you are referring to has to do with Visa Numbers, it basically mean that Visas are readily available for most people who have a Priority Date before Sep 8, 2013. If you file your pettion now by time your wife is a citizen your pettion would mostly already been approved by the USCIS and sent to the NVC where it would be waiting for a visa number to be available. Your wife could update your petition at the NVC and you case should process pretty smoothly after that.

Brilliant post, many thanks for your post, thats brilliant.

So sending it now is better because at least that way by the time she gets her citizenship the petition should have passed the first stage, and at the NVC waiting for the visa slot to come up.

Wheras if we waiting for her citizenship and then send it away, we'd have to wait for it to get to the NVC.

How long usually does it take to get to the NVC stage? from sending it in?

Thanks so much for your help thats brilliant, we're going to send it in soon - we're just really struggling with evidence