IR1 Timeline and Required docs....advice please

[travis1983 0]

Hello All

Well, finally I have just about worked enough to have my US teaching licensed issued! Looking forward to returning home next year to teach. So, for those that may or may not know, I have taught in China for the past few years. I am also married to a Filipina. We married in 2014, in the Philippines. No children yet. I have been reading a lot about processing times and I have gotten horrible information and people making up stuff simply because of the new administration. Concrete info is appreciated. So here is what I have as far as evidence for USCIS:

 

Tax returns (I always file). She is listed as MFS as she has no income. However she is listed as spouse on the returns. I have 2-3 of these.

 

Pay Stubs. I do not have any of these. As I work in China, pay stubs are not usually given. However, I do have my work contracts with salary stipulations. (Note: Once I return the the USA I will be employed. I will have pay stubs. I will NOT have 2+ years obviously, but I will have them from the job I will be working next year in the US upon my return. (I was told I should have 2-3 months of pay stubs before I apply for her visa).

 

Philippine Marriage License

 

Church Marriage Paper

 

Divorce Court Papers from my first marriage in the USA

 

Photos of us in various places and countries, historic places

 

Airline ticket reservations and some ticket stubs if places we have been to

 

My Chinese work visa and Residence Permit and Her Residence Permit here in China where we live

 

I do NOT have a joint bank account with her. The US is a pain to get one with her and the Philippines is worse and China.....forget it. 

 

 

 

Now these are the documents I have. Should these be enough to file? I have heard they are more than what many people use.

 

 

Also.....can anyone give me a proper timeline? As we have been married quite a while it would be an IR not CR.

 

 

Many many thanks.

[milimelo 4,477]

Top of the page and click on guides. All you need is in there. Get all forms from USCIS.gov. Expect a year and be lucky if it's less than that. 

[caliliving 606]

Read the guides. Apply for the Cr1 Visa. wait a year. it is a good idea to go to america ahead of time and set up residence before her. 

[truelove29 218]

I agree with reading the guides on here. You don't have to wait to start the process. You won't have to show anything about income until you hit phase 2 of the process. The first phase (sending the I-130 & documents you listed) will take anywhere from about 6-10 months depending on which processing center it gets sent to. By that time, you'll be back in the U.S. & have pay stubs to send to the NVC for the second phase. You do not need to have a joint bank account together, I believe a lot of people don't have that (myself included). Any documents you have that are not in English (marriage certificate for example) you'll need to get translated & send that along with a copy of the original. Basically it's about 10-14 months on average from start to finish. Good luck!

[mallafri76 1,012]

Your salary in China won’t matter unless it’s gonna continue from the same source once you move to the US, so I would just leave all the salary stuff out. 

 

Pictures are good. Do you live together in China? If so, enclose the joint lease or mortgage deed. 

 

Airline tickets don’t really show that you travelled, just that you booked a trip. If you have boarding passes, they’re way better.

 

it doesn’t matter if it’s a cr-1 or ir-1, they both have the same timeline, about a year. The benefit of having been married at least two years when entering the US is that you don’t need to ROC.

 

Good luck with your visa journey.