I-130 vs K-1, can anyone offer insight?

[nenanaman 1]

Hello all..thanks in advance for reading this and taking the time. My fiance is currently in the US on B-1/2 visa issued from her previous employer (International Airline), and has been traveling frequently in/out of the country for 4+ years. She resigned last year after we had our son and has been in the US for 2+ months. My fiance was pulled into questioning last week after returning from a short visit back to her home country. Thus, we have decided to get married and are trying to decide to apply for I-130 vs K-1. We have a 10 month old child together that was born overseas, and we already went through the laborious process of obtaining his citizenship birth rights and bringing him here to US. I feel this would establish our relationship as valid. Additionally had she not been questioned so heavily we probably would continue as we are now for awhile..meaning our decision to get married is being expedited by her scary experience. Her visa was not obtained with the intention of traveling here to get married, and she had it long before we met.

 

Any insights?

 

Thank you :)

[Just Paul 4,595]

6 minutes ago, nenanaman said:

Hello all..thanks in advance for reading this and taking the time. My fiance is currently in the US on B-1/2 visa issued from her previous employer (International Airline), and has been traveling frequently in/out of the country for 4+ years. She resigned last year after we had our son and has been in the US for 2+ months. My fiance was pulled into questioning last week after returning from a short visit back to her home country. Thus, we have decided to get married and are trying to decide to apply for I-130 vs K-1. We have a 10 month old child together that was born overseas, and we already went through the laborious process of obtaining his citizenship birth rights and bringing him here to US. I feel this would establish our relationship as valid. Additionally had she not been questioned so heavily we probably would continue as we are now for awhile..meaning our decision to get married is being expedited by her scary experience. Her visa was not obtained with the intention of traveling here to get married, and she had it long before we met.

 

Any insights?

 

Thank you

Since she is in the country you could marry and either do consular processing abroad or adjust here.    If she does consular processing she may continue to have a hard entering.  Generally she should spend more time out of the US then she does inside.  If she adjusts here she would not be able to travel  or work either getting a green card or advanced parole/EAD.

[nenanaman 1]

20 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

Since she is in the country you could marry and either do consular processing abroad or adjust here.    If she does consular processing she may continue to have a hard entering.  Generally she should spend more time out of the US then she does inside.  If she adjusts here she would not be able to travel  or work either getting a green card or advanced parole/EAD.

Thank you for responding. It was the recent adjustment in lengths of stay that resulted in her being "flagged" when entering back into the US (staying for 2 months, leaving for 1 week, then returning to US). Our goal is to keep our family together while adjusting. If not her and our son would have to go back and process at the consular in Manila (yuck).

 

If we file an I-130 and adjust here, will she be able to also file to work and/or travel?

[Dashinka 24,767]

1 hour ago, nenanaman said:

Thank you for responding. It was the recent adjustment in lengths of stay that resulted in her being "flagged" when entering back into the US (staying for 2 months, leaving for 1 week, then returning to US). Our goal is to keep our family together while adjusting. If not her and our son would have to go back and process at the consular in Manila (yuck).

 

If we file an I-130 and adjust here, will she be able to also file to work and/or travel?

Since she is here now, you can get married, file the I130 and I485 along with the I765 Employment Authorization and I131 Advanced Parole which will allow her to work and travel.  My understanding is that the I485/I130 combo may take 14-18 months for processing, and the I765/I131 somewhere between 4-6 months.

 

Good Luck!

[payxibka 10,047]

I would be careful about adjusting from inside the USA because of the secondary inspection on her last arrival.   What questions were asked of her during the inspection?

[Just Paul 4,595]

9 hours ago, nenanaman said:

If we file an I-130 and adjust here, will she be able to also file to work and/or travel?

She would not be able to work or travel until getting Advance Parole and EAD cards, respectively.  Right now that is 4 to 6 months.

[nenanaman 1]

Hello all, thank you for the responses and the good info.

 

Update: we consulted with a couple of immigration attorneys, and decided not move forward with the I-130/AOS from her current B1/B2. She has a son in her home country, and the we were told that after we get married and file for AOS that I would also need to file a separate AOS for him to come here. Essentially two separate applications, two separate sponsorships. Does anyone have any insight into this?

 

As the I-130 seems to be taking forever these days we have been considering to go K1/K2 route instead. Our idea is to apply for K1/K2 while she is here in US via her B1/B2. Hopefully we can schedule the interview around the same time her 6 month visit is set to expire, and thus minimize the time our family is separated. Has anyone tried this? Anything we need to be aware of or pitfalls to watch out for?

 

Thanks so much! I'm learning so much from this website!

 

 

[SalishSea 18,125]

1 hour ago, nenanaman said:

Does anyone have any insight into this?

You will still have to pay separate fees for her son's AOS.

[nenanaman 1]

49 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

You will still have to pay separate fees for her son's AOS.

Well, the fees will be what they will be. Not too concerned about that. It's more of the logistics of processing two separate AOS (I-130), versus filing a K2 along with her K1 and processing them both together.

[SalishSea 18,125]

26 minutes ago, nenanaman said:

Well, the fees will be what they will be. Not too concerned about that. It's more of the logistics of processing two separate AOS (I-130), versus filing a K2 along with her K1 and processing them both together.

It really is no difference though.  They will both need separate I-485s in the long run.  Or rather, she would need one in either scenario, and he would need a separate one as a K-2.   Since her son is abroad, if you petitioned for him as a stepchild, the green card would be processed as part of the I-130 petition.