Follow-To-Join Confusion

[mcs 686]

Hi,

My fiancee has 2 children (4 and 11) who live in the Philippines.

She will come here first on a K-1 Visa from Thailand (where she's been living and working for years), we will marry and then settle and get the house prepared for children, etc.

I will list both children on the I-129f but we will not be ready for the kids to join us within the year.

Once my then wife adjusts her status, will the kids still be able to get here as part of the Follow-To-Join process or is that only for the K-2 which needs to occur within the year?

Also, I've read that, if we have to go the I-130 route, it may be faster if I apply for them as Step Father since I am a US citizen? Is that true?

We're really concerned about both getting the kids here too soon (before we're both employed and the house is ready) and the possibility it taking a really long time to get them here...

Any help, as always, will be greatly appreciated.

[Darnell 8,479]

errata:

1. K-2 follow to join cases are common in the PI, but rare when the primary beneficiary does not interview in the PI.

2. A copy of the casefile needs to be transferred to Manila IV immediately after her interview - have her ask the IV Unit there in Thailand about it on interview day. Ask for a Vice-Consul, as the local workers are clueless. Usually this copy is stored in SAFEFILE, a DoS Electronic Filing System, but at this point I'd be seeking Consular Advice from a Vice-Consul in Thailand even before the interview.

3. study (after setting up an account) at ustraveldocs.com/ph , as this system handles all instructions and calendar for self-schedule for Manila IV.

4. The kids have 1 year to interview, from your lass' interview date.

Go Get Em, and Good Luck !

[mcs 686]

Does anyone have any experience, good or bad, with getting children later from the Philippines via the I-130 process?