Living in Mexico, Filing in Korea, not exactly sure when we will move to the States

geowrian · February 27, 2017

5 minutes ago, zinmemini said:

I meant as in tourist visa.

I just asked around and it looks like the work visa (FM3) can come out in a month since my wife has FM3 already.

So I would need to wait for FM3 and then do a direct consular filing (which would take another 6 months to establish my presence + DCF)

or

US lockbox (10-12 months)

But if we do US lockbox, where would there be an interview?

Because my wife would be going to Korea and come back around September or August.

Okay, I thought as much but wanted to be 100% sure since it is a big difference.

I'll defer to others if your existing time in Mexico as a tourist counts towards the 6 months necessary. I really don't know how Mexico classifies a resident for DCF purposes, sorry. DCF is very embassy-specific.

You can choose where you want the interview for be (if using the US lockbox). It can be anywhere that the beneficiary (your spouse) has legal status.

Pennycat · February 28, 2017

The best piece of advice I can give you, or anyone going through this process, is don't try to "thread the needle" of pinning exactly when every step will happen, it's too difficult and can really set you up for disappointment. Simplify your plans and accept that there will likely be a period of separation. Planning to immigrate without an immigrant visa (ie, adjust status from tourist visa) is immigration fraud and with the state of things at CBP these days, I think that there is a very slim chance that they don't notice and question a married couple with an infant with one half of the couple coming in to "visit" her US citizen husband and infant.

From what I can understand, you're trying to figure out exactly when the interview will happen so that you know which embassy to choose to have her interview (because she's a resident in Mexico, she can choose to interview in Mexico or Korea). That's threading the needle there. I think it *may* be possible to request a change but you'll have to dig around on here, or State Department to find that answer because it is pretty unusual. That could possibly help resolve the interview question.

You're also trying to have the visa ready to go so that you can live together in Korea/Mexico and immigrate all together with little notice. Visas expire (meaning you need to use them within a certain timeframe) so without a solid answer on the job front, you're again trying to thread the needle on this one.

It's not ideal, but I think that you should consider applying soon, requesting the interview in Korea and she either stays in Korea until the interview, or requests a transfer to Mexico (if such a thing is possible). Once she has the visa in hand, she's got 6 months to use it. You can live together abroad for that long and if you happen to get a job in those 6 months, move together. If not, you'll need to file for an extension (which I believe is possible, again check that one), or move together without a job. If you get a job before she has the visa-in-hand, you'll need to handle the separation just as millions of families have before.