First post - Questions about K-1 vs. IR-1/CR-1

[VegasJohn 29]

Greetings all!

 

First ever post here - so glad to have found this forum! I'm a US citizen, born and raised. My Colombian fiancee and I have been researching the immigration process and I have to admit it's a little overwhelming.  I'm a lawyer, but unfortunately not an immigration lawyer, and even for someone like me who is accustomed to reading laws and regulations and procedures, the multiple step processes and forms can be difficult to keep track of and daunting, and we obviously want to do everything right in order to allow us to be together as soon as possible.  I live in Las Vegas, Nevada and she lives in Medellin, Colombia.  While we are fortunate that I am able to spend a week a month there for work, we hope the process moves quickly so that she can move to the states and live with me and get married and live together in the US as soon as possible. 

 

As my initial post, I'd like to throw out a question as well as a general request for comments from anyone who have gone through or are going through one of the two options we are considering. Apologies if I'm posting this to the wrong forum, but here goes:

 

First of all, our goal is for her to be able to move to the US and live with me ASAP. She's a licensed professional in the field of special education and would like to work here as soon as possible as well. We have decided that we are going to submit an I-129F to apply for a K-1 Visa, and I'm familiar with all of the steps and forms, etc.  I spoke with an immigration attorney at length last week, and there was some suggestion that we might be better off and the process would be faster for her to get to the states and work here if we were to instead get married now and then submit an I-130 form to apply for a IR-1/CR-1 Visa (we have no reason to wait and would like to marry as soon as possible so long as the goal of her moving here isn't delayed).  

 

So, my questions are:  From what I'm seeing on this site regarding processing times, it would appear that the 1-129F / K-1 Visa processing times are overall faster from start to finish than the average times for the I-130 IR-1/CR-1 Visa processing times from start to finish.  Is that an accurate generalization?  I realize that it's impossible to know exactly what's going to happen in the future and anything can happen to make either application take longer than expected.  But based on the current processing times, it seems that the I-130 application takes longer if the goal is simply to get the visa allowing her to enter the country and live here.  She finishes her current work contract at the end of 2018, and ideally we would like for her to move here at the end of 2018/start of 2019.  So I guess my question is really: will it be more likely for her to be able to move to the US by us filing the Fiancee Visa forms now (Mid March), or would her ability to move here likely be faster if we get married in Colombia at the start of April 2018 and then submit an I-130 immediately after I return (that would be sometime in mid-April)?

 

I'd appreciate any comments from anyone who has specifically looked into this choice, or has experience with the current wait times on an I-130 form for spouses.  I've read a lot of different things and I think that maybe the longer average processing times for the I-130 might be due to the fact that they are not separating out spouses from other family members...so I'm not sure. What we really want to avoid is getting to the end of 2018 and into 2019 and still be waiting around with her unable to move here.  

 

Another question I have is whether there's a way to have the I-129F form routed to the Vermont Service Center?  Based on the processing times, those applications are being processed about 100 days faster than the TSC and CSC.  I know that the applications is required to be delivered to the dropbox in Texas, but for the life of me I can't figure out how it is determined which service center the application gets sent to. Obviously if we are able to submit it to the VSC and hope for continued quick(er) processing times there, we want to do that. 

 

Finally, any other thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.  I'd be especially interested in hearing from anyone who has gone through the process with a Colombian fiancee/spouse.  By way of background, we are compiling all of the evidence and documents we need, and I don't think it should be a problem at all to prove any of the things we need to prove.  We first met in September 2017 in Medellin.  I have traveled throughout South America for many years for work and pleasure, and after meeting my fiancee we have spent time together in person in Medellin every month (I have an office I am able to work from there) and another month she traveled to Mexico and we spent time together there before returning to our respective home countries. Any suggestions, tips, comments, answers to the above questions, etc., would be greatly appreciated as we embark on this journey. 

[Roel 7,192]

Well the answer is pretty simple. Processing time for k1 is around 8 to 10 months. Then you have AOS after the wedding that takes about 12 months. About 4 months in that process your new wife gets her work permit. 

 

Cr1 takes about 12 to 14 months but you wife can work immediately after arrival. 

 

There is no secret, faster way or faster processing times. 

 

There are couples who are lucky and get the visas faster than others. There are also couples who wait longer than processing times and it's really no way to tell how long exactly you will wait. 

 

Just don't make any solid plans. 

[CaseyCobos 100]

Applications only go to the Vermont Centre if there are things such are criminal records etc that need to be looked at in depth, so an average application wouldn’t be able to be transferred.

[VegasJohn 29]

7 minutes ago, Roel said:

Well the answer is pretty simple. Processing time for k1 is around 8 to 10 months. Then you have AOS after the wedding that takes about 12 months. About 4 months in that process your new wife gets her work permit. 

 

Cr1 takes about 12 to 14 months but you wife can work immediately after arrival. 

 

There is no secret, faster way or faster processing times. 

 

There are couples who are lucky and get the visas faster than others. There are also couples who wait longer than processing times and it's really no way to tell how long exactly you will wait. 

 

Just don't make any solid plans. 

Thank you for the reply. I realize there's no secret or rhyme or reason to why some might take longer or shorter. So I guess what you said, and the processing times, agree with my conclusion that the immigration attorney I spoke with wasn't exactly correct when he said that the CR1 would be a faster route for us than the K1 - because if the goal is to get her to the US and able to work, we're looking at 8-10 months plus 4 months for work permit for the K1 (so 12-14 months), or at 12-14 months for CR1, so either way same amount of time.  

 

So given this seemingly similar timeline, my follow-up questions: does either of the two processes tend to have a higher risk of being denied, higher risk of taking a ridiculous amount of time, or better chance of getting lucky and taking a short amount of time?  (e.g., is one or the other more subject to possible delay?) Or is there no rhyme or reason to whether to whether there are unforseen hurdles that arise on one application vis-a-vis the other? (Let's assume that on either application, I complete everything properly and have thorough evidence as required).  I read that for CR1 applications for spouses receive priority processing -- does the 12 month average timeline include both spouse/priority beneficiary as well as non-priority beneficiary wait times, or is that the average wait time for priority beneficiaries?  

 

Also, can anyone speak to whether one process is more difficult than the other just in terms of time spent, documents to obtain, non-monetary costs, etc. (I know that the K-1 application might have higher filing fees due to the multi-step process).  

 

I appreciate your comments - and yeah unfortunately we know not to plop down any deposits for a big fancy wedding on any particular date, that's for sure. I already realize I'm in for the long haul, but it's going to be worth it

[VegasJohn 29]

2 minutes ago, CaseyCobos said:

Applications only go to the Vermont Centre if there are things such are criminal records etc that need to be looked at in depth, so an average application wouldn’t be able to be transferred.

That's interesting... thanks.  I have researched all over and been unable to determine which applications go to Vermont, so thanks.  It's odd that having something unique like a criminal record would get you to a processing center which is currently processing I-129Fs twice as fast (I-129Fs being processed from November at the VSC compared to the other two centers currently processing applications from August).   

 

(Reference: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1historical) -- I-129F Processing Time at Service Centers --> I-129F NOA1 to NOA2 (Approval) Time 

 
 

 

Maybe from what you said, the Vermont stats are deceiving if for example an application was sent to the VSC after already going through a RFE or something like that; not sure about all of the nuances behind these average times. 

 

[Roel 7,192]

28 minutes ago, CaseyCobos said:

Applications only go to the Vermont Centre if there are things such are criminal records etc that need to be looked at in depth, so an average application wouldn’t be able to be transferred.

I don't think that's true? 

[geowrian 22,337]

24 minutes ago, Roel said:

I don't think that's true? 

It is. All I-129Fs for a K-1 are routed to CSC by default. The only ones that get to VSC are transferred there afterwards. This is to complete additional background checks (the most common one being due to AWA offenses). A case doesn't get sent to VSC (or anywhere other than CSC currently) without a reason.

 

Edit: I would note that there are only 7 VJ timelines for an I-129F at VSC since 1/1/2017. Of those, 2 have been approved and the others were either not approved or never updated. That matches pretty well how often VSC actually gets I-129F cases relative to the general submission pool.

Edited March 12, 2018 by geowrian

[geowrian 22,337]

As for the OP's situation, it really comes down to what you really want most. The K-1 will get you together sooner. The CR-1 will get you a green card sooner, and likely get work authorization a little sooner.  The K-1 was that awkward period of not being able to work, sometimes not being able to drive, etc...it's tough on a relationship having one person being basically stuck inside and dependent on the other. Another nice thing with a CR-1 is you can plan out your wedding better instead of trying to arrange everything on a moving timeline out of your control (immigration) + 90 days of legal status in the US. The CR-1 process is definitely smoother IMO. But it does come at the cost off taking longer.

 

Both visas have fundamentally the same requirements (except being married or not). The CR-1 is slightly more likely to approved in the end solely because if the visa is refused due to not proving a bona fide marriage, USCIS can reaffirm the petition. With a K-1, if it gets refused for relationship evidence reasons then the petition dies and you need to start over (or marry and start over with a CR-1 anyway).

Edited March 12, 2018 by geowrian

[John & Rose 7,239]

7 hours ago, CaseyCobos said:

Applications only go to the Vermont Centre if there are things such are criminal records etc that need to be looked at in depth, so an average application wouldn’t be able to be transferred.

I believe you mean Virginia, not Vermont.

[John & Rose 7,239]

One other "advantage" of the CR-1 is that it is considerably cheaper than K-1/AOS/EAD/GC.  The timing is a big difference but I am almost 10 months in without an NOA2 so CR-1 would have been cheaper, easier and quicker in my case.  Hindsight is 20/20.  I am stuck now in the K-1 process and it will most likely be longer than the CR-1 if we started it last June.

Edited March 12, 2018 by John & Rose

[John & Rose 7,239]

7 hours ago, VegasJohn said:

That's interesting... thanks.  I have researched all over and been unable to determine which applications go to Vermont, so thanks.  It's odd that having something unique like a criminal record would get you to a processing center which is currently processing I-129Fs twice as fast (I-129Fs being processed from November at the VSC compared to the other two centers currently processing applications from August).   

 

(Reference: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1historical) -- I-129F Processing Time at Service Centers --> I-129F NOA1 to NOA2 (Approval) Time 

 
 

 

Maybe from what you said, the Vermont stats are deceiving if for example an application was sent to the VSC after already going through a RFE or something like that; not sure about all of the nuances behind these average times. 

 

ALL K-1s go to California.  Vermont is for more detailed criminal checks.  CR-1 I believe are spread out through all service centers but I am not 100% sure about that.

Edited March 12, 2018 by John & Rose

[geowrian 22,337]

8 minutes ago, John & Rose said:

I believe you mean Virginia, not Vermont.

There is no USCIS service center in Virginia. There is one in Vermont (VSC).

[John & Rose 7,239]

Just now, geowrian said:

There is no USCIS service center in Virginia. There is one in Vermont (VSC).

OK.  I'm a moron.  I wonder where I got that idea?  I will see if I can edit those posts.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

 

Here is a great side by side comparison chart.

[John & Rose 7,239]

47 minutes ago, LionessDeon said:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

 

Here is a great side by side comparison chart.

Excellent information.  I hadn't seen that before.