bringing my husband from Afghanistan to USA CR1 / i 130/ spousal visa

[Overthepondlove 0]

So I have a few questions... Sorry my grammar and all is bad.  So Forgive me in advance. 

 

Backstory:  Me 39 y/o US citizen Married to a 25 y/o Afghanistan citizen , we were introduced by his sister which I have known for 8 years when i lived in Germany. Currently I live in the USA now.   Me and my husband have been talking for a year, and we married in Afghanistan the first visit we met.   Met all the family mother father uncle's cousin's etc etc. HUGE FAMILY!@  , had a great wedding and allot of positive beautiful interaction.   I had been married before years ago.  And divorced now ( thats why I was in Germany.. married)   I want to start the process of getting him here,  he was Military Afghanistan army low rank solider for 6 years, but stepped away from that to focus more on the future to come.  I work,  No convictions,  nothing unusual between us or anything  nothing crazy about us, just a couple like anyone else.  He is Muslim I am a recent convert ( by choice)   I think that covers the basics.  Now to the questions.  

 

1.  Can I do the paperwork myself. Or Should I get a lawyer.?  Being our huge age difference culture difference and etc.   

2.  Anyone have experience with similar parts of my story i.e. Bring a spose from Afghanistan ,or significant age difference or culture difference.  Did it bring any problems up, slowed things down? 

3.  If suggested to do the paper work myself, should I start as soon as possible, or visit more (which I plan to go again in the next 4 months ) before filing. We already have our trips planned for the next year  and do it online or through a company?  

4.  If suggested to get a lawyer, what are flags for a bad lawyer and what to look for in a good lawyer

5.  Do any of the current immigration laws in place effect people coming from Afghanistan to the USA on a spousal visa?

6. Please add any questions or , experiences or suggestions in the right direction you might have.  

7. Can he visit the USA on a visitors/ tourist  visa, if we wanted to get that before or during the process? curious on this.

 

One suggestion I cannot do is live in Afghanistan for present conflicts their.  He wanted me to live their... but currently I said I would visit often but wont live till peace has come one day. 

 

Thank you so much in Advance.  I really appreciate the insight and help.   

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Overthepondlove

[Crazy Cat 41,886]

32 minutes ago, Overthepondlove said:

So I have a few questions... Sorry my grammar and all is bad.  So Forgive me in advance. 

 

Backstory:  Me 39 y/o US citizen Married to a 25 y/o Afghanistan citizen , we were introduced by his sister which I have known for 8 years when i lived in Germany. Currently I live in the USA now.   Me and my husband have been talking for a year, and we married in Afghanistan the first visit we met.   Met all the family mother father uncle's cousin's etc etc. HUGE FAMILY!@  , had a great wedding and allot of positive beautiful interaction.   I had been married before years ago.  And divorced now ( thats why I was in Germany.. married)   I want to start the process of getting him here,  he was Military Afghanistan army low rank solider for 6 years, but stepped away from that to focus more on the future to come.  I work,  No convictions,  nothing unusual between us or anything  nothing crazy about us, just a couple like anyone else.  He is Muslim I am a recent convert ( by choice)   I think that covers the basics.  Now to the questions.  

 

1.  Can I do the paperwork myself. Or Should I get a lawyer.?  Being our huge age difference culture difference and etc.   

2.  Anyone have experience with similar parts of my story i.e. Bring a spose from Afghanistan ,or significant age difference or culture difference.  Did it bring any problems up, slowed things down? 

3.  If suggested to do the paper work myself, should I start as soon as possible, or visit more (which I plan to go again in the next 4 months ) before filing. We already have our trips planned for the next year  and do it online or through a company?  

4.  If suggested to get a lawyer, what are flags for a bad lawyer and what to look for in a good lawyer

5.  Do any of the current immigration laws in place effect people coming from Afghanistan to the USA on a spousal visa?

6. Please add any questions or , experiences or suggestions in the right direction you might have.  

7. Can he visit the USA on a visitors/ tourist  visa, if we wanted to get that before or during the process? curious on this.

 

One suggestion I cannot do is live in Afghanistan for present conflicts their.  He wanted me to live their... but currently I said I would visit often but wont live till peace has come one day. 

 

Thank you so much in Advance.  I really appreciate the insight and help.   

 

 

 

My frank opinion:

 

1.  You can do the paperwork yourself.  However, you have some glaring red flags which could cause concern.  Age difference, cultural difference, marriage on the first visit.  These will are facts the CO will consider.  

2.  Your story is not unique.  We have this exact scenario many times.  Some cases have taken years to conclude.  But, every case is different.

3.  The very best way to prove that the relationship is genuine is by evidence of time actually spent together.  I recommend you visit as much as possible.

5.  There will be background checks, and some cases from MENA countries go through extended administrative processing after the interview.

7.  He can visit you during the process if he has a proper travel document (pending CBP discretion)  However, I would think the odds are very slim that he will qualify for a tourist visa. He will have to be prepared to show strong ties to his country.  He can apply, but having a spouse in the US is a major tie to the US.  By law, he will seen as someone who wants to stay in the US and adjust his status rather than going through the legal process.

 

Good luck, but this could possibly be a very long process.    I wish you the best.

Edited January 1, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[Boiler 45,525]

Currently B Visas are not being processed, a visa required to visit, what does he do, obviously a B may be a challenge but cheap to apply.

[JeanneAdil 6,510]

1. Lawyer????  you would still collect all documents and English translations ,  give to lawyer,  he /  she copies and mails it in

a lot of money to have something mailed out

2. more than a 10 year age difference is a red flag and you have an uphill climb for visa approval/in a short intro letter with the application saying how you met and married ,  include you converted on your own and that his family approves of the marriage.  and some of your photos should show you and his family not just you and him (a few photos -don't overwelm USCIS by too many  BTW my husband and i had a big age difference as many on here do.

3.  do the application ASAP as will be a long wait and you can have several visits and show time spent together by time of interview

4.  lawyers?   no advise there but on this site i have read too many times that a lawyer messed up the application.  just make sure you read the application and everything is perfect as you are ultimately responsible for the content and can not blame anyone else if there is a mistake

5. let's say we don't know if current administration will come up with new EO's before he leaves the offiice

6. tourist visa -he can apply but not probably going to get a tourist visa with a wife in the US

See him as much as you can and keep the boarding passes to prove the visits

 

Best to you both

[carmel34 3,633]

For a big age gap and marriage on the first visit, I suggest that you do as much financial co-mingling as you can while living in different countries (joint credit card, beneficiary on life insurance, retirement accounts, bank accounts, included on US spouse's health insurance, power of attorney, will, living will, etc.) and make lots of visits, as often as you can, to show evidence of more time spent together before the interview.  For example, I visited my husband a total of 9 times in two years and he was approved despite a much larger age gap than you have.  Good luck!