CR-1 Visa No primary Residence

[AmericanGuy 0]

Good day to all. I hope to find you well.

 

My wife and I are trying to complete a CR-1 visa application and we would like to have some guidance for our situation.

 

We got married in Colombia October of 2018. 

We lived in separate countries until April of 2019. We left Colombia to travel around Asia. We have been through a handful of countries, bouncing around through hotels and Airbnbs. We started living together in April of 2019 and are currently staying in an Airbnb. We want to get the process started and return to Colombia when it is time for the interviews with the embassy.

 

Is it possible to begin the application process or should we be doing something else?

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you

 

[Pmta1 39]

Yes, you're welcome to apply for the I-130 and be back for the interview. Notice that you should research whether you're allowed to file in some sort of international USCIS office (if it exists in your place) thereby reducing your waiting time. Otherwise, you send it to the US service centers.

[Crazy Cat 42,635]

16 minutes ago, Pmta1 said:

Yes, you're welcome to apply for the I-130 and be back for the interview. Notice that you should research whether you're allowed to file in some sort of international USCIS office (if it exists in your place) thereby reducing your waiting time. Otherwise, you send it to the US service centers.

All Stand alone I-130s from outside the US are sent here to a lockbox:

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by missileman

[AmericanGuy 0]

32 minutes ago, Pmta1 said:

Yes, you're welcome to apply for the I-130 and be back for the interview. Notice that you should research whether you're allowed to file in some sort of international USCIS office (if it exists in your place) thereby reducing your waiting time. Otherwise, you send it to the US service centers.

Thank you! I believe we can apply online now. I could be mistaken. 

19 minutes ago, missileman said:

All Stand alone I-130s from outside the US are sent here to a lockbox:

 

I believe we can apply online now. Does that sound right?

[Crazy Cat 42,635]

4 minutes ago, AmericanGuy said:

Thank you! I believe we can apply online now. I could be mistaken. 

I believe we can apply online now. Does that sound right?

Yes, supposedly,  I-130s can be filed online now. 

[SalishSea 18,227]

6 hours ago, Pmta1 said:

Notice that you should research whether you're allowed to file in some sort of international USCIS office (if it exists in your place) thereby reducing your waiting time.

DCF is not available for people who are tourists.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Jorgedig

[SalishSea 18,227]

OP, you will want to research the financial/income and domicile requirements for sponsoring your spouse.

[pushbrk 13,207]

You can file online, but first I would complete the I-130 and I-130a forms as stand alone PDF's.  You are likely to have questions including what to use for each of your mailing and physical addresses and how to properly complete the address and work history sections.

 

You are not applying for anything in the beginning.  You are filing a petition for alien relative, in this case the relative is your spouse.  When the petition is approved, she will be invited to apply for a visa.

 

You'll want to be fully aware of the US domicile and financial sponsorship requirements and have a firm plan to deal with both.

[Quarknase 1,072]

4 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

You can file online, but first I would complete the I-130 and I-130a forms as stand alone PDF's.  You are likely to have questions including what to use for each of your mailing and physical addresses and how to properly complete the address and work history sections.

 

You are not applying for anything in the beginning.  You are filing a petition for alien relative, in this case the relative is your spouse.  When the petition is approved, she will be invited to apply for a visa.

 

You'll want to be fully aware of the US domicile and financial sponsorship requirements and have a firm plan to deal with both.

This is good advise - however I want to share my experience with this. I filled the standalone PDFs first, wanting to be prepared when I file online. Turned out to not be necessary at all. I felt like I wasted my precious time   You can save the online form at any point in time, it's being stored for one month. Some parts were even easier/more clear than on the paper/pdf version.

[pushbrk 13,207]

Just now, Quarknase said:

This is good advise - however I want to share my experience with this. I filled the standalone PDFs first, wanting to be prepared when I file online. Turned out to not be necessary at all. I felt like I wasted my precious time   You can save the online form at any point in time, it's being stored for one month. Some parts were even easier/more clear than on the paper/pdf version.

People are not the same.  Circumstances are not the same.  My advice was based on the OP's circumstances, which will complicate completion of the forms.  YMMV

[AmericanGuy 0]

 

3 hours ago, pushbrk said:

You are likely to have questions including what to use for each of your mailing and physical addresses and how to properly complete the address and work history sections.

This is what I am worried about the most. You're saying I need to be living in the US full time after the petition is approved? My parents have a house in the US. I work for a US company and file income taxes in the United States.

[Just Paul 4,595]

27 minutes ago, AmericanGuy said:

 

This is what I am worried about the most. You're saying I need to be living in the US full time after the petition is approved? My parents have a house in the US. I work for a US company and file income taxes in the United States.

You just need to show either you currently domicile or intend to domicile in the US upon approval of the VISA.   That is pretty far down the road.

[SalishSea 18,227]

35 minutes ago, AmericanGuy said:

 

This is what I am worried about the most. You're saying I need to be living in the US full time after the petition is approved? My parents have a house in the US. I work for a US company and file income taxes in the United States.

If your US-based salary will continue after moving back, that will be in your favor.

[pushbrk 13,207]

1 hour ago, AmericanGuy said:

 

This is what I am worried about the most. You're saying I need to be living in the US full time after the petition is approved? My parents have a house in the US. I work for a US company and file income taxes in the United States.

Not saying that at all.  I meant exactly what I said.  You need to understand....

[AmericanGuy 0]

25 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Not saying that at all.  I meant exactly what I said.  You need to understand....

Ok thank you. I am really at a loss of what to put for my address. I haven't been to the United States in over a year and our address changes regularly as we move through Asia together.