File I-130 and extraordinary circumstances after filing

[C-Sweden 11]

Hi, 

I have read loads of threads here that have all been very helpful so thanks to VJ! I have some different questions and hopefully you can help me sort things out😊

 

We are getting married in January (I want my family present that wouldn’t be able to travel if we applied for a K1 visa and got married in the US) and right after the wedding we will file for a I-130 (CR-1) visa. My boyfriends family will travel from the US to be present which feels great!

 

We live together in another EU-country (I am Swedish and my husband to be is US/EU dual citizen) and we are planning to move to the US and start our lives there. I know that the timeline for a CR-1 visa is approximately a year from applying and it is what it is.

 

My understanding is that it’s not worth applying for a K3 Visa to shorten the timeline (if even the case)? And also, what we like about the Cr-1 is that I can start working when we get there and we don’t have to wait further with an adjustment of status.

 

We have also seen that you can get an exception (extraordinary circumstances) for a short notice job offer and that you may have a DCF (we live in a country that doesn’t have an USCIS office). When we are moving we are only going to move when my husband gets the right job offer. If that would happen before our regular I-130 process is done, can we apply at our local embassy and ask for permission to file a I-130 from here (we belong to the UK office area) and have 2 cases or do we need to wait for the first application to be approved?

What exactly do we need to file - a signed contract with a start date or an offer stating that the offer is valid only if the start date will be before a specific date (it wouldn’t feel right to sign a contract and then say that we can’t move there in time if we can’t get the exception to apply from here). It can be an option to wait for the right offer and only apply this way, but that is also a big risk if they would deny our request and then we would have lost quite some time and have to wait longer for the approved visa.. 

 

We have had a long distance relationship during 6 months when my boyfriend moved to another EU country and before I moved here too and as many of you know, the less time apart the better it would be. We met in March 2017. 

 

Thanks everyone! 

[Roel 7,192]

1. K3 is no longer issued, pretty much. CR1 is a way to go.

Unsure if Sweden has DCF or not. If it DOES then you file it right away, why bother with CR1....?

 

2. If US citizen (your husband) receive a job offer in the US, then he is free to move. It doesn't affect or speed YOUR immigration process at all.

Make sure you remember about his domicile requirement.

 

It's so unclear where you actually live right now. You talk about DCF and then you said you live in the country where it's not possible?  If you don't live and you're not a legal resident of a DCF country, then you cannot do DCF.

 

PS. This is hardly extraordinary... just saying. Don't clickbait people.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Roel

[C-Sweden 11]

2 minutes ago, Roel said:

1. K3 is no longer issued, pretty much. CR1 is a way to go.

2. Sweden is not a DCF country.

3. If US citizen (your husband) receive a job offer in the US, then he is free to move. It doesn't affect or speed YOUR immigration process at all.

Make sure you remember about his domicile requirement.

 

It's so unclear where you actually live right now.  If you don't live and you're not a legal resident of a DCF country, then you cannot do DCF.

 

PS. This is hardly extraordinary... just saying. Don't clickbait people.

Hi, 

1. That’s my understanding too

2. Correct and the country we live in now is not a DCF country either

3. There is a document stating that a short notice job offer is an exceptional circumstance: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2012/May/DOS-I130May1412.pdf and I have read about other that have done this here on VJ.

 

My boyfriend moved to Sweden to study, a year after he graduated he moved to Ireland for a job (where we now live)  he couldn’t say no to and so that we could get more time together before deciding on our future (we didn’t want to rush anything before we lived together and got to know each other much better). His plan was always to move back to the US.

[Roel 7,192]

If you don't live in the DCF country, you don't qualify for any DCF benefits. That's my understanding.

 

I mean like I said, if you US husband get hired in the US, he can move. You cannot until your CR1 is approved. Your job offer to not affect your immigration.

 

I've never heard of any CR1 expedited or allowed to change into DCF based on what you're saying. If it exists, it must be extremely rare.  So maybe someone else knows about this.

[EandH0904 1,184]

While I have heard of non DCF countries hurrying along a 130 on exceptional circumstances the link for the memo you specifically provided also gives examples of what those would be. A job offer is not listed.  Exceptional situations are. 

 

It's hard for all if us to be separated from our spouses. We would all "do better" with them. I've seen my husband only 8 days in 2018 and I can assure you I dont love him any less than you love yours. 

 

If he gets a job offer and moves to US then you will have to wait for completion of your process. You could have a civil ceremony tomorrow and file your papers on Tuesday to get a 4 month head start and do your official wedding in January as planned. 

[C-Sweden 11]

7 minutes ago, EandH0904 said:

While I have heard of non DCF countries hurrying along a 130 on exceptional circumstances the link for the memo you specifically provided also gives examples of what those would be. A job offer is not listed.  Exceptional situations are. 

 

It's hard for all if us to be separated from our spouses. We would all "do better" with them. I've seen my husband only 8 days in 2018 and I can assure you I dont love him any less than you love yours. 

 

If he gets a job offer and moves to US then you will have to wait for completion of your process. You could have a civil ceremony tomorrow and file your papers on Tuesday to get a 4 month head start and do your official wedding in January as planned. 

Hi,

 

The memo does specify short notice job relocation (page 2).

 

I know that we all want to be with our loved ones and I am not different from anyone else and I know that there are many couples that haven’t seen each other for more than a year and I’m lucky in that case. That is also not what I’m saying  - I just trying to sort our options to see what suits us.

 

We are not going to change our date for the wedding and like I said - we want the real ceremony with our closest family since  some family members that can’t travel elsewhere and other are flying there.

 

 

[JFH 12,190]

You can certainly try to get your case expedited based on a job offer (if you even get a short-notice job offer). It costs nothing to ask.  But it's my understanding that this clause (the short-notice job offer) is more about people who have been head-hunted  for high-level positions where their skill and expertise is needed right away - specialist surgeons, scientists, engineers, etc and not just someone who's applied for an office job somewhere and been offered the position. Otherwise all overseas-based USCs could fall into that category. 

 

You need to be prepared for some separation in this process. If you get through it without separation that's wonderful, but very unusual. You will find that making comments here such as "we don't want to be apart" when you have the "luxury" of living together already will not sit well with the people whom you are asking for help. Some find it very upsetting and it hits a raw nerve because they have been apart for months or years. So, a little piece of advice from he would be to not mention this and be mindful of the circumstances of others. Some people here have had very long and complex journeys to be together. 

Edited September 16, 2018 by JFH

[Roel 7,192]

1 hour ago, C-Sweden said:

Hi,

 

The memo does specify short notice job relocation (page 2).

 

 

 

I agree with JFH, that the job offer would need to be absolutely top tier - the kind where your husband would be picked because there aren't any other US citizens around to perform it. Not just some random job.

 

If it was that simple, don't you think that EVERY US citizen who live abroad with their spouse would be going for it also?

[C-Sweden 11]

1 minute ago, Roel said:

I agree with JFH, that the job offer would need to be absolutely top tier - the kind where your husband would be picked because there aren't any other US citizens around to perform it. Not just some random job.

 

If it was that simple, don't you think that EVERY US citizen who live abroad with their spouse would be going for it also?

I agree and “more” US citizens abroad “should” do it I guess, but I saw 2 cases here that went this route and got approved so wanted to explore the option.

 

My husband to be have a specialist job and he has a strong resume both in the US and in Europe so hopefully that will help us. 

[C-Sweden 11]

26 minutes ago, JFH said:

You can certainly try to get your case expedited based on a job offer (if you even get a short-notice job offer). It costs nothing to ask.  But it's my understanding that this clause (the short-notice job offer) is more about people who have been head-hunted  for high-level positions where their skill and expertise is needed right away - specialist surgeons, scientists, engineers, etc and not just someone who's applied for an office job somewhere and been offered the position. Otherwise all overseas-based USCs could fall into that category. 

 

You need to be prepared for some separation in this process. If you get through it without separation that's wonderful, but very unusual. You will find that making comments here such as "we don't want to be apart" when you have the "luxury" of living together already will not sit well with the people whom you are asking for help. Some find it very upsetting and it hits a raw nerve because they have been apart for months or years. So, a little piece of advice from he would be to not mention this and be mindful of the circumstances of others. Some people here have had very long and complex journeys to be together. 

Thanks, I know that other people here have a completely different reality and situations and off course I feel for them too. I hope that this forum welcomes all of us looking for advice and other peoples experiences regardless living situation and history😊

[JFH 12,190]

44 minutes ago, C-Sweden said:

Thanks, I know that other people here have a completely different reality and situations and off course I feel for them too. I hope that this forum welcomes all of us looking for advice and other peoples experiences regardless living situation and history😊

We certainly do welcome all and we are non-judgmental. The advice and support from those who have been through the process already is priceless here. We accept all. I still stick around almost 2 years after I moved here. If my experience (USC husband has a felony and been denied a visa to live in the U.K. so this was plan B - it took over 2 years of paperwork for us to be together) helps just one person achieve their goal, I'm happy. We are all here for the same reason - love. 

[JFH 12,190]

To get back to your original question - if circumstances change after filing you cannot "switch" to DCF but you can request an expedite from USCIS or NVC (depending on which stage of the process you are at when the change in circumstances happens). 

Edited September 16, 2018 by JFH

[Jorge V 195]

Here's a thread in the DCF forum that might help you, seeing as how it's also someone from Sweden with a short notice job offer: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/662470-visa-interview-update-dcf-with-exceptional-circumstances-stockholm/ . There is at least one other person in that thread who reported success filing via DCF from Sweden under the same circumstances.

 

While the OP's attorney seemed to ham up her importance to the new company, if I remember correctly the job itself wasn't highly specialized. I frequently read others on here say that a normal job offer is not enough to DCF from a non DCF country (and that if it were possible everyone would do it), but we occasionally get posters reporting success on the DCF forum doing exactly this. In my opinion you should at least give it a try. Worst case scenario is that your petition will not be accepted. I'm pretty sure they won't charge you the $535 as you first have to get approval before even sending that in, but you might want to double check. You can also try messaging those two users directly to get more details.

 

Edited September 16, 2018 by Jorge V

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

3 minutes ago, Jorge V said:

Here's a thread in the DCF forum that might help you, seeing as how it's also someone from Sweden with a short notice job offer: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/662470-visa-interview-update-dcf-with-exceptional-circumstances-stockholm/ . There is at least one other person in that thread who reported success filing via DCF from Sweden under the same circumstances.

 

While the OP's attorney seemed to ham up her importance to the new company, if I remember correctly the job itself wasn't highly specialized. I frequently read others on here say that a normal job offer is not enough to DCF from a non DCF country (and that if it were possible everyone would do it), but we frequently get posters reporting success on the DCF forum doing exactly this. In my opinion you should at least give it a try. Worst case scenario is that your petition will not be accepted. I'm pretty sure they won't charge you the $535 as you first have to get approval before even sending that in, but you might want to double check.

 

but they are not in Sweden 

don't  forget that you will need the Swedish police report also

and the USC must establish residency in the US/ using parents address seems to be acceptable if that is where u intend to reside when 1st coming to the US

those who try to expediate are rarely successful / only case i know of was a child and mother coming for a life saving surgery 

 

people here are usually not judgemental /  they respond according to what we have experienced and seen in our embassy and the experiences here of others

the answers here are from personal experiences/you are from Sweden / should be no problems but the wait will still be at least a year/  Nebraska is the slowest for CR1

 

Good luck from all of us / marry and have a beautiful life together

[Jorge V 195]

5 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

but they are not in Sweden 

don't  forget that you will need the Swedish police report also

and the USC must establish residency in the US/ using parents address seems to be acceptable if that is where u intend to reside when 1st coming to the US

those who try to expediate are rarely successful / only case i know of was a child and mother coming for a life saving surgery 

 

people here are usually not judgemental /  they respond according to what we have experienced and seen in our embassy and the experiences here of others

the answers here are from personal experiences/you are from Sweden / should be no problems but the wait will still be at least a year/  Nebraska is the slowest for CR1

 

Good luck from all of us / marry and have a beautiful life together

Maybe you're right that they're not in Sweden, but OP does say that she is Swedish, that they live in an EU country, and that they are in the UK field office's jurisdiction (which Sweden is). Maybe I'm missing where she says exactly where they are, but even if they are not in Sweden, the rules for filing via DCF from a non DCF country are the same.

 

The US citizen doesn't need to establish residency, but rather, he needs to prove intent to reestablish residency. A job offer certainly helps, as well as things like signing an apartment lease and buying 1 way plane tickets.

 

I agree that expedites are rarely granted, but this isn't an expedite. This is a request to file at a USCIS field office from abroad while not living in that field office's country (but living in that field office's jurisdiction). These have a much lower barrier to overcome than expedites. In my time on VJ, I've never seen an expedite be approved, but I have seen several requests to file DCF from a non DCF country approved, and most of them have been due to short notice job offers.