Why should K1 visa applicants get interview date before I-130 applicants!

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

You had the choice of a K1 or CR1. You chose the CR1, of course it takes longer due to service centers and the NVC phase.

Why are K1's quicker than CR1's ? Why shouldn't they ? It's apples and oranges.

Jamaica is not that far to get to, visit more often.

You say :

"Every true relationship would want to be with their spouse so I was not hitting out against K1 applicants who have a true marital relationship but the ones who do this process for other reasons."

There are plenty of married people doing the process for other reasons too. Just how would you determine all the "other reasons" unless

you are in queue to get adjudicated and then interviewed ? I don't get your reasoning. By the way we spend 16 months in AP, then were denied,
weren't able to marry due to the third country's laws and had to re file a second K1 that was approved. We had a 5 year journey and I was not bitter

for those who skipped past us with speedy approvals.

It is what it is by nature of the visa you chose.

[Dal&Rose 45]

There is nothing wrong with being a housewife. By far it is the most difficult job on the planet, and there is no pay, vacation, breaks. Obviously you have never held this position.

In theory, we could be considered a housewife though. I have my home - I take care of all the needs of my home. But I also work outside the home. So housewife, in just being a housewife, is much easier than being a housewife and holding an outside job.

Now, just realize, housewife means just that. I'm not talking about being a parent. That is entire different world and is the hardest job in the world.

I'm married, I'm a wife, and I take care of my home - without my husband considering he lives in a different country. So yes, to me, being a housewife only would drive me nuts also. I prefer having employment outside the home - to get away from the home.

As for the K1 being faster than the CR1 - yes, it sucks, but the benefits of knowing my husband is being a given a green card upon passing through the POE is good enough. My husband and I chose the CR1 route knowing he wouldn't want to be a househusband. He's not cut out for it. Though, I guess technically he is that too now, he has a house, he has a job, and he takes care of all his needs of his house. But he would hate being ONLY a househusband. (Note: Again, not talking about being a parent at all.)

Edited March 14, 2016 by Dal&Rose

[JFH 12,191]

There is nothing wrong with being a housewife. By far it is the most difficult job on the planet, and there is no pay, vacation, breaks. Obviously you have never held this position.

I didn't realise this was a personal discussion about my career choice and my husaband's finances but since you are asking... No, we've never been able to afford for me to stay home. I have a university degree and I am the main breadwinner between us. My husband was unemployed when we started the process and has only ever made minimum wage. We simply could not afford for me not to work. Great for those that can afford to stay home but for us, it's not possible. Hence no K-1. And as someone else has pointed out, many professionals cannot stay out of work for long as they will find it very difficult to get back in. They will have missed out on new developments and been "left behind". Their value in the job market decreases rapidly. As we rely so heavily on my income, at times it was our only income (so I guess my husband was the housewife), I cannot be out of work for any length of time.

[Advanced Aardvark 82]

K1 can't work. K1 can't travel freely. K1 have trouble getting their driver's licence. Each visa has its + and -.

Add to that the time required for the AOS process, and the time frames to receive a conditional green card for K1 is not much different than PR for an I-130.

Edited March 14, 2016 by Tim & Olga

[Georgia16 2,858]

I don't think anyone can judge other in what path is best for them, we all have different goals and different things we have to keep in mind.

We did talk about what would be best for us. We chose the K-1. Unlike others for us it is fine that I'm home til the EAD comes. I have a son who is coming with me and for us it was important that I'm home and can help him getting into the English, school, friends, soccer and just having to start a new life over there. Could I do this on a CR-1 too of course I could have but for us it was very important not to be apart after we got married.

Does this mean that I have to look down on others who choose different from us, absolutely not I don't know why they picked what they did but I'm sure they did what was right for them.

So should we be put in the back of the line just because we chose differently then you, are our journey less important then yours. All in all we will all be together with the ones we love. CR-1/IR-1 have to get through more security checks because they do get the GC right away.

And I do not like how you imply that most K-1 are just for the GC, people who do that kind of thing would also do it with CR-1/IR-1.

I know you are frustrated but don't blame others.

Wish everybody a good and easy visa journey.

[mallafri76 1,012]

Whether you're on the K-1 path or the CR/IR-1 path, I think we can all agree that the US immigration process is flawed and in desperate need of some serious overview and reconstruction.

[mallafri76 1,012]

There is nothing wrong with being a housewife. By far it is the most difficult job on the planet, and there is no pay, vacation, breaks. Obviously you have never held this position.

Maybe I missed a post but I haven't heard anyone saying there was anything wrong with being a housewife?!?!?! Just like there's nothing wrong with being a nurse, a doctor, a teacher, a CEO or anything else that someone chooses to be. Everyone is different and people should do what makes them happy and what works for them and their family, without having to defend their choice, whether that choice is working or staying at home.

[EricAndOrn 30]

Also, be careful what you wish for.

For arguments sake, lets say K-1 takes 90 days and IR1/CR1 takes 1 year.

You complain that K-1 unfairly takes less time than a IR1/CR1 and you go out to lobby congress for a change.

What will the most likely result be?

My guess is, that then the K-1 and IR1/CR1 will both take 2 years minimum, cost twice as much, require twice as much paperwork.

That's how government works.

[GabbyBird 53]

My wife was forced to return to her home country to complete our CR1 even though she had been living in the US legally for over a decade as a student due to a 2 year homestay requirement (J-visa I believe) from when she was a high-school exchange student that prevented AOS. Luckily she had gone home to visit over the years and only owed 6 months, but it was a painful and frustrating 6 months and I feel for those separated even longer. Fast forward years later and we're waiting on her removal of conditions we filed last year because Vermont is way behind and odds are we'll be filing for citizenship before we ever hear from them.

Through this whole process, we hardly complained because that's what it takes to do this properly. The only time I have gotten huffy is when our Gov. talks about making the path easier for illegals or when I hear of the waivers from people breaking the rules.

Edited March 14, 2016 by GabbyBird

[AverysMom 76]

The interview is longer for married couples because not much is processed before the K-1 couple gets married. It's after the marriage happens that the real wait begins. It's all relative, once you get you interview and green card you are all set, those of us that did the K-1 route no that there is a LOT more to do after the interview and well after we get married.

You are comparing apples and oranges.

[Andrea&Henry 311]

As a former k1 visa holder I can tell you is not easy. Yes we were processed quick and but then I had to wait almost a year to get my freaking gc. I had to stay at home for 3 month with no ssn, no driver's license, no job and couldn't even go to visit my family.

Other thing: People tend to jump in when it comes to getting married. Some people simply don't do a proper research and they jump in to get marry thinking that will be faster just because your are the spouse of an USC.

I would love to get married in my homecountry but after realizing how much time it would take to be together (up to 10 month), we decided it was not worth it. We rather to have a small wedding here in the US than waiting 10 month to a 1 year.

k1 visa is definitely not a walk to the park but if you want to be with your loveone quick, is the best way to go.

Edited March 14, 2016 by Andrea&Henry

[moemac59 193]

I know everyone want their other half to be united with them but I find if unfair that people like myself who file our I-130 for our spouse have to wait longer for a scheduled interview than people who do the K1 visa. It just seem so unfair that some of these K1 visa applicants can get through so quickly and they don't even have a strong marital union. Some if not most of these cases are just for green card purposes. My point is how can these cases be approved for interviews while people who have I-130 cannot get a schedule interview more quickly. I am speaking on behalf of the marital unions who have been married for sometime and have to prove that our marriage is indeed true and not some quick made up (untrue) union. Why is it our interview approval get such a long waiting time as oppose to K1 visa applicants. We need our spouse with us in the states too and the process should either be less than K1 visa applicants or the same.

I came in on K1 visa from Canada (a low fraud country) and that took almost 7 months and this was back in 2012. The US immigration process is not fair and who knows why some people get approved quicker than others. My ROC application took almost a year before it was approved even though I submitted ample evidence and my husband and I have been together for almost 10 years (dating/engaged for 5, married for 4.5 yrs). I am in the final stages of the citizenship application and am waiting for the oath ceremony schedule date.

If you are complaining about how long your CR visa application is taking then you'd better be prepared for how long everything else takes. This process is not an easy one and it is still a long road to go.

While I can understand your frustration, try to research and see what the next process will be once your spouse arrives. The more informed you are about your immigration processes (next step of applications that have to be filed) the easier it will be to do those when the time comes.

Hang in there.

[felipeTAYA 18]

I bet your other half just became a US citizen. Immigrant visa for spouse and green card.

[Pennycat 880]

You are (naturally) thinking about immigration from the "getting to live with my spouse/ intended spouse" perspective. The end goal is to be married and to be together. This is because you are human and have a soul. Unfortunately for all of us, immigration is *actually* a lengthy government process with various routes/rules etc. The end goal is to get you legal permanent residency after a series of background checks.

Where it seems only natural that married couples "should be" together faster (maybe, to some), the reality is that the K1 and CR1 routes/rules are so different that you really can't compare the two.

Basically, when deciding between the two, from the government's perspective (which is the only perspective that counts), you're basically choosing between waiting for your green card abroad (CR1) or in the US (K1). That's it. It's not a "oh, K1s have to AOS so we'll do them faster to make up for it". Nope. It's simply 6 months worth of paperwork that gets done at a different stage in the process and therefore makes the K1 6 months faster (roughly). All of that is USCIS/NVC stages though. You seem to be talking specifically about embassy stage. If you're saying that K1s with similar "embassy received" dates as CR1s are getting interviews faster, that does seem unfair....until you realize that those are two different sections of the consulate-- Immigrant Visa Unit and Non-Immigrant Visa Unit. Sounds like the Immigrant Visa Unit has a backlog that NIV doesn't. This would be consulate-specific, too. Not the case everywhere.

Sorry, truly. It sucks. I'm very familiar with having been in a giant backlog (was at TSC at the time that it was averaging 7 months--210 days, when CSC was taking literally a tenth of the time-- 21 days).

Just know that this isn't an actual choice the government has made: "oh, let's let the fiances in faster because their relationships are better" or whatever. It's just simply a matter of order-of-events, combined with (possibly) a specific backlog at a specific consulate.

[lkerky 25]

I know everyone want their other half to be united with them but I find if unfair that people like myself who file our I-130 for our spouse have to wait longer for a scheduled interview than people who do the K1 visa. It just seem so unfair that some of these K1 visa applicants can get through so quickly and they don't even have a strong marital union. Some if not most of these cases are just for green card purposes. My point is how can these cases be approved for interviews while people who have I-130 cannot get a schedule interview more quickly. I am speaking on behalf of the marital unions who have been married for sometime and have to prove that our marriage is indeed true and not some quick made up (untrue) union. Why is it our interview approval get such a long waiting time as oppose to K1 visa applicants. We need our spouse with us in the states too and the process should either be less than K1 visa applicants or the same.

This post really frustrates me..

You had two options to choose from.. if you thought K1 would be faster you could have gone that way.

We went with K1 because we wanted to be together as soon as possible AND no one has to be married to have a "strong marital union". There are plenty of couples that consider themselves married without having a piece of paper signed.

We are all going through it, we have all had our frustrations but complaining about it doesn't speed up the process.