Filing for Spousal Visa when Spouse is working outside home country

[VERDE05 0]

Hi Visa Journey,

 

I am from the Philippines working in Saudi Arabia and my husband is a US Citizen, Would like to ask if it's possible for us to file for form I-130 visa in Saudi Arabia so I can wait for the process here while working and go for final exit and return to Philippines once approved?

[pushbrk 12,898]

Your question is not really clear, but I think you want to know if your husband can file the petition in the US while YOU yourself are living in Saudi Arabia.  If that is the question, then yes, you can complete the visa application process in either your country of residence or country of citizenship.  Where you travel between visa issue and US entry is entirely up to you.

 

If you return to the Philippines before the visa interview, the case can be transferred to Manila.

[VERDE05 0]

To pushbrk

 

Thanks a lot. Just wanna make things clear for you. I am in Saudi Arabia under an open working visa, means that I can extend work or exit anytime since my contract I finished (so I'm staying for an extension as long as I want). I learned that the petition will take 6-8 months or more so I just wanna make use of my time working while waiting.

 

So now after the petition is approved, can I also apply for immigration and do the interview here in Saudi as well? Or I should go back to the Philippines? I'm just concerned about this since I'm on a working visa, I don't want to complicate things with my employer in Saudi.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

4 hours ago, VERDE05 said:

Hi Visa Journey,

 

I am from the Philippines working in Saudi Arabia and my husband is a US Citizen, Would like to ask if it's possible for us to file for form I-130 visa in Saudi Arabia so I can wait for the process here while working and go for final exit and return to Philippines once approved?

Is he currently working there in KSA?  Are you saying that you want to interview in the Philippines?

 

NVM - you cleared it up.

 

The US Embassy Riyadh is awesome as it turns out.  They're fast, they communicate with you by email every step, and they stay on the case once they receive it.  You can definitely work there and wait or have the case transferred. 

 

The police certificate part is tricky.  You can't get it unless you have a letter from the embassy asking for it and after you leave it is unavailable.  That is the only thing that might hang you up - it will be a missing document that I am not sure may or may not affect your case.  If you go ahead and interview in Riyadh it's a pretty smooth process though.

Edited October 29, 2017 by Nitas_man

[VERDE05 0]

My husband is in US. While I'm here at Saudi on a working visa.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

20 minutes ago, VERDE05 said:

To pushbrk

 

Thanks a lot. Just wanna make things clear for you. I am in Saudi Arabia under an open working visa, means that I can extend work or exit anytime since my contract I finished (so I'm staying for an extension as long as I want). I learned that the petition will take 6-8 months or more so I just wanna make use of my time working while waiting.

 

So now after the petition is approved, can I also apply for immigration and do the interview here in Saudi as well? Or I should go back to the Philippines? I'm just concerned about this since I'm on a working visa, I don't want to complicate things with my employer in Saudi.

You can definitely interview in Riyadh even if you are a Philippine passport holder.  My wife isn't Saudi.  The clock starts ticking on the medical date and you have 6 months to be in the US. 

It is really, really quick.  Our medical was today, our interview is next week on the 8th.  They do not drag their feet at that embassy.

[VERDE05 0]

Oh thanks, I'm glad to hear that the process in US Embassy is faster than Manila. I'm so relieved. So now, I'll just ask my husband to put my details in at Saudi as current residence? and permanent residence Manila? Correct? Thanks a lot for this.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

3 minutes ago, VERDE05 said:

Oh thanks, I'm glad to hear that the process in US Embassy is faster than Manila. I'm so relieved. So now, I'll just ask my husband to put my details in at Saudi as current residence? and permanent residence Manila? Correct? Thanks a lot for this.

They only want to know your present residence and present address.  I just looked up my petition from awhile ago and all I put was the Saudi address as residence and permanent address.  So if your contract is open-ended and you aren't in any danger of being sent home for another contract period I believe it would be beneficial for you to do the same thing we did.  They verify your residency by eyeballing your Iqama, if it's valid, you're good to go.

[VERDE05 0]

Oh, you put the Saudi Address as permanent as well. Hmmm well my current address here bears the name of our company since I am living on a provided accommodation. I hope that doesn't make any problems later. And yes I do have a valid Iqama, just renewed this month. This is very helpful. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

12 minutes ago, VERDE05 said:

Oh, you put the Saudi Address as permanent as well. Hmmm well my current address here bears the name of our company since I am living on a provided accommodation. I hope that doesn't make any problems later. And yes I do have a valid Iqama, just renewed this month. This is very helpful. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Everyone's address in KSA I think bears the company name - Including ours today.  They know that.  Good luck to you guys!

[pushbrk 12,898]

1 hour ago, VERDE05 said:

To pushbrk

 

Thanks a lot. Just wanna make things clear for you. I am in Saudi Arabia under an open working visa, means that I can extend work or exit anytime since my contract I finished (so I'm staying for an extension as long as I want). I learned that the petition will take 6-8 months or more so I just wanna make use of my time working while waiting.

 

So now after the petition is approved, can I also apply for immigration and do the interview here in Saudi as well? Or I should go back to the Philippines? I'm just concerned about this since I'm on a working visa, I don't want to complicate things with my employer in Saudi.

I thought I answered your questions.  With a working visa, you ARE a resident of Saudi Arabia.  You can choose whether to stay there to interview for the visa or do it in Manila.  Think in terms of an interview in 12 to 14 months from the time the petition is filed.

[pushbrk 12,898]

48 minutes ago, VERDE05 said:

Oh, you put the Saudi Address as permanent as well. Hmmm well my current address here bears the name of our company since I am living on a provided accommodation. I hope that doesn't make any problems later. And yes I do have a valid Iqama, just renewed this month. This is very helpful. Thanks for sharing your experience.

There are no permanent address questions, only present, past and intended address in the US.

56 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

They only want to know your present residence and present address.  I just looked up my petition from awhile ago and all I put was the Saudi address as residence and permanent address.  So if your contract is open-ended and you aren't in any danger of being sent home for another contract period I believe it would be beneficial for you to do the same thing we did.  They verify your residency by eyeballing your Iqama, if it's valid, you're good to go.

Again, there are no "permanent address" questions as part of this process.

[pushbrk 12,898]

1 hour ago, VERDE05 said:

Oh thanks, I'm glad to hear that the process in US Embassy is faster than Manila. I'm so relieved. So now, I'll just ask my husband to put my details in at Saudi as current residence? and permanent residence Manila? Correct? Thanks a lot for this.

NO, that is NOT  correct.  None of it.  You'll interview at the US Embassy in Riyadh, or the US Embassy in Manila.  Neither is "faster".  There are no "permanent address" questions.  The closest there is would be the questions asking your citizenship country. 

[pushbrk 12,898]

1 hour ago, Nitas_man said:

You can definitely interview in Riyadh even if you are a Philippine passport holder.  My wife isn't Saudi.  The clock starts ticking on the medical date and you have 6 months to be in the US. 

It is really, really quick.  Our medical was today, our interview is next week on the 8th.  They do not drag their feet at that embassy.

For a petition filed in the US, the interview date would be assigned by the National Visa Center and you would already know the date of your interview before you did your medical exam.  The space of time between medical and interview was determined by YOU doing the medical.  It is quite common to do the medical exam from 2 to 10 days prior to the already scheduled interview.  

 

Please be careful what you say.  Riyadh is not faster than Manila or any other Consular Immigrant Visa Unit.

[VERDE05 0]

 

3 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

NO, that is NOT  correct.  None of it.  You'll interview at the US Embassy in Riyadh, or the US Embassy in Manila.  Neither is "faster".  There are no "permanent address" questions.  The closest there is would be the questions asking your citizenship country. 

Oh I see. Thank you for clearing that matter. I understand that the process will take a long time. I'm concerned because I rather work while waiting and thank you for answering that.