Escaping to another country while I-130 is in progress

[EverthingPossible 4]

Dear friends.

 

I have a question to those who have some knowledge of immigration procedures.

 

I live in Venezuela with my wife (American Born Citizen) and our daugther. We filled an I-130 on June last year, the USCIS case track hasn`t updated and it still says the case has been received. A few months ago I followed some suggestions from other forumers to call USCIS and place and inquriy for expedite processing in view of our situation here in Venezuela (lack of food, medicine, no personal security, losing my job, etc). The USCIS answered the inquiry and they denied the request for expedite processing, arguing that we didn`t provide enough evidence (they never asked about it neither we received information on how to send it).

 

Anyway, we feel that we need to escape from Venezuela, frankly, the conditions here are unbearable, the currency has lost all its value, food is extremely scarce. We are considering escaping to Argentina, although it will diminish considerably our funds for an eventual move to the US.

 

I have 2 question regarding this? If we move to Argentina and our I-130 is approved, can we continue there the immigration process or would we have to travel back to Venezuela to continue the process?

 

Please, In the name of the LORD I beg you to help me with any piece of advice.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Antonio

Edited January 24, 2018 by BelloAmante

[TBoneTX 45,289]

Thread is moved from the K-3 Process forum to the CR-1 Process forum.

[ASMS 86]

On 1/24/2018 at 3:58 PM, BelloAmante said:

Dear friends.

 

I have a question to those who have some knowledge of immigration procedures.

 

I live in Venezuela with my wife (American Born Citizen) and our daugther. We filled an I-130 on June last year, the USCIS case track hasn`t updated and it still says the case has been received. A few months ago I followed some suggestions from other forumers to call USCIS and place and inquriy for expedite processing in view of our situation here in Venezuela (lack of food, medicine, no personal security, losing my job, etc). The USCIS answered the inquiry and they denied the request for expedite processing, arguing that we didn`t provide enough evidence (they never asked about it neither we received information on how to send it).

 

Anyway, we feel that we need to escape from Venezuela, frankly, the conditions here are unbearable, the currency has lost all its value, food is extremely scarce. We are considering escaping to Argentina, although it will diminish considerably our funds for an eventual move to the US.

 

I have 2 question regarding this? If we move to Argentina and our I-130 is approved, can we continue there the immigration process or would we have to travel back to Venezuela to continue the process?

 

Please, In the name of the LORD I beg you to help me with any piece of advice.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Antonio

 

I feel your pain, since I'm going through a similar situation. My husband sent the application in April (not approved yet), and im still in Venezuela while he is in the US.

 

I believe that you can request a change of embassy once your case reach NVC stage.

In most of the cases they will allow the change only if the beneficiary have legal status in the second country, in your case Argentina.

However, I've read cases were the embassy could consider critical situations so they agree to process your application without having legal status.

 

In case you don't have a way to get legal status in Argentina, and you are not sure yet of going there, Peru and Ecuador are good options right now for Venezuelan people when is about obtaining legal status. In Peru, they are issuing temporary residence for Venezuelans that arrived before of December 2018.

In Ecuador, you can apply for temporary residence because of MERCOSUR agreements.

In both cases the permits are valid for a year. And it means you will be able to work there meanwhile you wait, giving you a relief to your finances.

 

Buena Suerte!

[EverthingPossible 4]

Hi friend, thanks for the information.

 

Yes, we

2 minutes ago, ASMS said:

 

I feel your pain, since I'm going through a similar situation. My husband sent the application in April (not approved yet), and im still in Venezuela while he is in the US.

 

I believe that you can request a change of embassy once your case reach NVC stage.

In most of the cases they will allow the change only if the beneficiary have legal status in the second country, in your case Argentina.

However, I've read cases were the embassy could consider critical situations so they agree to process your application without having legal status.

 

In case you don't have a way to get legal status in Argentina, and you are not sure yet of going there, Peru and Ecuador are good options right now for Venezuelan people when is about obtaining legal status. In Peru, they are issuing temporary residence for Venezuelans that arrived before of December 2018.

In Ecuador, you can apply for temporary residence because of MERCOSUR agreements.

In both cases the permits are valid for a year. And it means you will be able to work there meanwhile you wait, giving you a relief to your finances.

 

Buena Suerte!

Thank you for you help friend, I will discuss it with my wife.

 

I hope your petition gets approved soon. Good luck

[JOE2232 9]

It's normal , it takes longer time  to approve i 130 and get NOA2 when she or he the petitioner live outside of the US  . 

[pushbrk 12,883]

12 hours ago, JOE2232 said:

It's normal , it takes longer time  to approve i 130 and get NOA2 when she or he the petitioner live outside of the US  . 

No.  If anything, it's faster.  That said, US Citizens are pretty free to travel, including coming back to the US anytime they want.  Immigrant visa applicants can have their visa interview in EITHER the country of citizenship or country of residence.  So, if the family moves to Argentina, the immigrant(s) can have their interview there.  It would be best to obtain your police report while still in Venezuela.  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Venezuela.html

[ASMS 86]

11 hours ago, pushbrk said:

No.  If anything, it's faster.  That said, US Citizens are pretty free to travel, including coming back to the US anytime they want.  Immigrant visa applicants can have their visa interview in EITHER the country of citizenship or country of residence.  So, if the family moves to Argentina, the immigrant(s) can have their interview there.  It would be best to obtain your police report while still in Venezuela.  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Venezuela.html

The police report for Venezuela works completely online (they email it to you).

The family can leave the country, and 2/3 weeks before the interview request it through the website.

 

OP, just make sure to have all the rest of the documents updated before leaving, since you probably know is a hell to get certain documents in Venezuela such: birth certificates, marriage certificates, passports, apostilles and any validation. Make sure all the names are written correctly, since is very common for them to make mistakes, and they are visible only after showing then to international institutions/entities.

 

Check the price for medical examination and vaccination in the country you are going to, since they can change drastically.

In Venezuela there is no access to most of vaccinations, but some private clinics provide them for a high price. It would be helpful if you can get them in Venezuela since they would be probably cheaper than outside.

[lvsweets 89]

On 1/24/2018 at 1:58 PM, BelloAmante said:

Dear friends.

 

I have a question to those who have some knowledge of immigration procedures.

 

I live in Venezuela with my wife (American Born Citizen) and our daugther. We filled an I-130 on June last year, the USCIS case track hasn`t updated and it still says the case has been received. A few months ago I followed some suggestions from other forumers to call USCIS and place and inquriy for expedite processing in view of our situation here in Venezuela (lack of food, medicine, no personal security, losing my job, etc). The USCIS answered the inquiry and they denied the request for expedite processing, arguing that we didn`t provide enough evidence (they never asked about it neither we received information on how to send it).

 

Anyway, we feel that we need to escape from Venezuela, frankly, the conditions here are unbearable, the currency has lost all its value, food is extremely scarce. We are considering escaping to Argentina, although it will diminish considerably our funds for an eventual move to the US.

 

I have 2 question regarding this? If we move to Argentina and our I-130 is approved, can we continue there the immigration process or would we have to travel back to Venezuela to continue the process?

 

Please, In the name of the LORD I beg you to help me with any piece of advice.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Antonio

My prayers are with you and your family. I have to live in mexico in dangerous narco land. The border is horrible but its to hard to be apart from my husband. Best of luck to you. 

[pushbrk 12,883]

1 hour ago, ASMS said:

The police report for Venezuela works completely online (they email it to you).

The family can leave the country, and 2/3 weeks before the interview request it through the website.

 

OP, just make sure to have all the rest of the documents updated before leaving, since you probably know is a hell to get certain documents in Venezuela such: birth certificates, marriage certificates, passports, apostilles and any validation. Make sure all the names are written correctly, since is very common for them to make mistakes, and they are visible only after showing then to international institutions/entities.

 

Check the price for medical examination and vaccination in the country you are going to, since they can change drastically.

In Venezuela there is no access to most of vaccinations, but some private clinics provide them for a high price. It would be helpful if you can get them in Venezuela since they would be probably cheaper than outside.

No appostilles in this process.  No need to "update" birth or marriage certificates.  The data doesn't change and this is not Ghana.

[ASMS 86]

24 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

No appostilles in this process.  No need to "update" birth or marriage certificates.  The data doesn't change and this is not Ghana.

while the data doesn't not change and no one is talking about Ghana except you, you will be surprised of the legitimation of Venezuelan documents.

While I've never said apostille was necessary for the US, they are for South America, and the OP and his wife might be interested to work or get legal permits.

 

About the the data not changing, in Venezuela is necessary to update the documents before receiving legalization and apostille.

And while apostille is not necessary for the US, sometimes they give documents in here without the legalization, which you are only able to get by asking a new document, even if changes are not required.

 

[EverthingPossible 4]

Thank you guys for your valuable advice. In another forum they are also suggesting that I filled a new request for expedite processing, but I`m not sure if it will hurt my case.

[pushbrk 12,883]

8 hours ago, ASMS said:

while the data doesn't not change and no one is talking about Ghana except you, you will be surprised of the legitimation of Venezuelan documents.

While I've never said apostille was necessary for the US, they are for South America, and the OP and his wife might be interested to work or get legal permits.

 

About the the data not changing, in Venezuela is necessary to update the documents before receiving legalization and apostille.

And while apostille is not necessary for the US, sometimes they give documents in here without the legalization, which you are only able to get by asking a new document, even if changes are not required.

 

It's helpful to provide context with the original response.    I mention Ghana, because you actually do have to get updated birth certificates there.  Nowhere else I know of.

[ASMS 86]

On 1/29/2018 at 5:32 PM, pushbrk said:

It's helpful to provide context with the original response.    I mention Ghana, because you actually do have to get updated birth certificates there.  Nowhere else I know of.

I'm agree with you that it shouldn't be necessary to update something like a birthday certificate if the data hasn't changed. However Inefficiency and corruption is the main characteristic of the Venezuelan institutions. 

Theywill try to put obstacles to whatever you need, sometimes deliberately with bad intentions. To give you an example of Inefficiency: my ID expired in September, I started the renewal process at that moment. 4 months after I'm still waiting for it. Biometrics are not working, so the system can't detect anyone.

There's people that applied for passports in 2015, and they still waiting for it.

Venezuela is an exception when is about basics and documentation process are a nightmare

[EverthingPossible 4]

On 1/31/2018 at 11:37 AM, ASMS said:

I'm agree with you that it shouldn't be necessary to update something like a birthday certificate if the data hasn't changed. However Inefficiency and corruption is the main characteristic of the Venezuelan institutions. 

Theywill try to put obstacles to whatever you need, sometimes deliberately with bad intentions. To give you an example of Inefficiency: my ID expired in September, I started the renewal process at that moment. 4 months after I'm still waiting for it. Biometrics are not working, so the system can't detect anyone.

There's people that applied for passports in 2015, and they still waiting for it.

Venezuela is an exception when is about basics and documentation process are a nightmare

You are absolutely right. The level of corruption and inefficiency in Venezuela defies comprehension, some simple document could take months if not years, most of the times this delay is on purpose in order for you to give them money, and they are asking for those "tips" to be in dollars now!!!!. I don`t know how this kind of processes are deal with in Ghana, but as @ASMS wrote they are a nightmare here.

 

 

[EverthingPossible 4]

Btw, @ASMS congratulations on your I-130 Aproval!!!! we are very happy for you!!.