When to File I-130 after Marriage?

[Paco415 60]

Please forgive me if this question has been answered, but I could not find an answer in the forums:

 

How long after a departure from the USA by the spouse beneficiary is a I-130 "acceptable" for filing? In other words, if a petition is filed too soon after the spouse departs for their home country, does it look bad? Or is this all content driven? Thanks!!

[Dashinka 24,984]

18 minutes ago, Paco415 said:

Please forgive me if this question has been answered, but I could not find an answer in the forums:

 

How long after a departure from the USA by the spouse beneficiary is a I-130 "acceptable" for filing? In other words, if a petition is filed too soon after the spouse departs for their home country, does it look bad? Or is this all content driven? Thanks!!

I don't think it really would look bad.  Heck, two people from different countries took a big step to get married, and the foreign spouse returned home, I would think they would expect a CR1 would be filed soon afterward (heck even before the spouse left) as how many married couples want to live apart for an extended period.

 

Good Luck!

[JFH 12,191]

You can file as soon as you have the official marriage certificate. 

[Precisely 95]

You can file as soon as. We filed one month after our marriage for no particular reason.

 

You may have known each other for 20 years and finally decided to get married and start the application. Great. Or, you may have met just 1 day before your marriage. Suspicious. So yes, it is content driven - you would need to put in as much evidence of your relationship as possible. 

Edited September 26, 2018 by Apelcina

[lngtimecoming 40]

We mailed ours on the way to the airport. So it was mailed the day I left to come home (3 days after our wedding) never actually thought anything about what would be acceptable, just wanted to start the process ASAP.

[R&OC 375]

We filed as soon as we had the marriage certificate in our hands. And we still needed a week extra. All in all, we filed about 3 weeks after we got married. 

[Mrsamoah2019 593]

Got married 5/28

filed 6/18

soon as i got back i started to get to work..lol

[little immigrant 801]

5 hours ago, Apelcina said:

You can file as soon as. We filed one month after our marriage for no particular reason.

I did the same. Everything went well. 

[carmel34 3,664]

I think it all depends on the specifics of your situation.  In our case, we wanted to get my husband added to my work benefits, health insurance, pension plans, etc. so that evidence of co-mingling financial resources could be included with the petition package.  For most of those things I needed a marriage certificate, and an English translation of the certificate, so it took about a month after our honeymoon trip and I returned to the US before everything was ready and looked good.  Many VJ posters have suggested front-loading with evidence of a bona fide relationship as a good idea and collecting and organizing all of those documents takes time to do it right.  I would also suggest that you not rush the petition and package in order to avoid careless mistakes and RFEs that could slow down approval later on.  Check and re-check everything to make sure all questions on the forms are answered or you write "N/A."  Some people have even made the payment incorrectly, silly things like that in their rush to send off the package.  Have someone else review everything thoroughly to make sure there are no mistakes.  When you are absolutely certain that everything is there and done correctly, then make two copies and send it!  Good luck!  

[pushbrk 13,254]

12 hours ago, JFH said:

You can file as soon as you have the official marriage certificate. 

While this is absolutely the correct answer, if the foreign spouse is leaving soon, I recommend filing as soon as you are ready, after they leave.  That way, you can indicate the spouse is NOT currently in the US.  This keeps them from making the mistake it's an adjustment of status case instead of a visa case.  If they will be here more than a month or so after the marriage certificate is available, then just file when ready with the marriage certificate.  The timing after marriage is NOT an issue otherwise, in a visa case.