Ah help! K1, CR-1, or DCF?! [merged threads]

[Emily8460 13]

Hey guys! I feel SO thankful for finding this website. Here is my back story so everyone can offer best advice:

 

- We met October 2020 while living and working in Shanghai, China. I have been living there for 4 years and visited the states 2-3 times a year pre-covid and have filed my taxes. So I haven't worked in America since 2017. 

-We had been living together for many months in Shanghai and in June 2021 we decided we wanted to leave China together and visit his family so we left shanghai (we had to get out we felt trapped with the borders being closed) 

-July 2021 we landed in Tunisia to meet his family. We rented our own apartment and decided to stay here until the Visa is approved. We finished our entire K1 visa through Rapidvidsa. They told us K1 was best option. It was sent to the USCIS yesterday and we see there is an option to get it sent back to rapid visa to change our visa type.  

-We are only engaged not married but are willing to be married ASAP, whatever gets my fiancée to America the quickest 

-He is an aerospace engineer with many qualifications so we want his to work asap, now we see the K1 will hold off his work for many months. We want to move to America and buy a house and start a family. 

 

SO:

- We see we are able to stop our k1 now and switch it to spouse visa. Does this make the  most sense with our situation? 

-We also see the option of the DCF visa, would this fit our situation? We are going to call the embassy in Tunisia today to see if they are offering DCF visa. 

 

Any tips helps! You all are so helpful! 

[Boiler 45,516]

CR1

 

Do not see a a basis for DCF

[carmel34 3,631]

16 minutes ago, Emily8460 said:

We see we are able to stop our k1 now and switch it to spouse visa. Does this make the  most sense with our situation? 

-We also see the option of the DCF visa, would this fit our situation? We are going to call the embassy in Tunisia today to see if they are offering DCF visa. 

Yes, I agree that stopping payment on the I-129F check, then get married, then file an I-130 to start the spousal visa process, is the best path forward in your case.  Definitely do it yourself, save the money you would spend on Rapidvisa for another trip together somewhere during the process.  A spousal visa process takes 1-2 years, but a K-1 takes nearly that long in these COVID days and has all of the problems pointed out by others--difficult to get from Tunisia, no appeal if denied, many months to wait for work authorization after US entry and marriage, and some wait a year or longer for the green card because of the AOS process.  CR-1 is superior, he can work as soon as he enters the US, get a driver's license, etc.  You will need sufficient US-based income and proof of US domicile or intent to re-establish US domicile, at the NVC stage and visa interview.  Do more research on the I-864.  You may need to move to the US before your husband to show sufficient US-based income and to establish domicile.  There is also the option of a qualified joint sponsor if your US income is not enough.  DCF is only available for exceptional circumstances these days, where you live abroad together.  Some have been able to do DCF with a firm US job offer for the US citizen spouse, so it is worth a try, contact the US embassy in Tunisia after your marriage and ask before you file the I-130 stateside.  Good luck!

[Crazy Cat 41,857]

47 minutes ago, Emily8460 said:

I bet it was so hard to support your family on one income.

The immigration process requires a great deal of knowledge,  PLANNING, Time, Patience, and money.  Falling short in any of these areas can spell trouble.  This is especially true in current times.  Extended wait times and extended separation are the new norm, unfortunately.  

[Crazy Cat 41,857]

1 hour ago, Emily8460 said:

Hey guys! I feel SO thankful for finding this website. Here is my back story so everyone can offer best advice:

 

- We met October 2020 while living and working in Shanghai, China. I have been living there for 4 years and visited the states 2-3 times a year pre-covid and have filed my taxes. So I haven't worked in America since 2017. 

-We had been living together for many months in Shanghai and in June 2021 we decided we wanted to leave China together and visit his family so we left shanghai (we had to get out we felt trapped with the borders being closed) 

-July 2021 we landed in Tunisia to meet his family. We rented our own apartment and decided to stay here until the Visa is approved. We finished our entire K1 visa through Rapidvidsa. They told us K1 was best option. It was sent to the USCIS yesterday and we see there is an option to get it sent back to rapid visa to change our visa type.  

-We are only engaged not married but are willing to be married ASAP, whatever gets my fiancée to America the quickest 

-He is an aerospace engineer with many qualifications so we want his to work asap, now we see the K1 will hold off his work for many months. We want to move to America and buy a house and start a family. 

 

SO:

- We see we are able to stop our k1 now and switch it to spouse visa. Does this make the  most sense with our situation? 

-We also see the option of the DCF visa, would this fit our situation? We are going to call the embassy in Tunisia today to see if they are offering DCF visa. 

 

Any tips helps! You all are so helpful! 

If you are going to stop the I-129f, I would so it asap......once it is accepted, your fee is gone......

[Gomast 65]

1 hour ago, Emily8460 said:

Hey! So you did K1, correct. 19 months is sooo long!! I bet it was so hard to support your family on one income. How long was your process? We may change  it to CR-1 now or we just found DCF option. 

My wife has been working as a teacher, so it was not easy. I wasn’t working. I really didn’t expect to not be able to work for 1.5 years. We were lucky to receive occasional  financial help from our parents, which we definitely needed to allow us to support our children. 

[African Zealot 1,455]

This question has been asked so many times in so many different ways all with the same answer. I vote ✅ for moderators preparing an answer as a sticky. 

[Van jones 11]

14 hours ago, Coco8 said:

K1 are not being prioritized and many are having issues. Also, you have been living together for a year and some people have had problems of being "too married but not married" for a K1. 

 

What @crazycat said about cancelling payment, withdrawing application, seems most sensible. 

 

There is no way to move ASAP. 

 

Also, a work visa es extremely difficult to get. They are based on lottery because H1B have quotas. I don't see it happening unless unless he works at a international company. Plus, H1B quota for 2021 has been met. The next application round for H1B is April 2022. That's almost a year from now.

 

 

 

 

So living together as engaged couple is considered to married for k1? 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

15 minutes ago, Van jones said:

So living together as engaged couple is considered to married for k1? 

No, i think that line was badly phrased. Some people do enter in a ceremonial/religious/civil but non legal union  - that is too married for a K1 (but not married enough for CR1, which requires  a legal marriage)

[Boston_Gary 16]

3 hours ago, Emily8460 said:

Hey guys! I feel SO thankful for finding this website. Here is my back story so everyone can offer best advice:

 

- We met October 2020 while living and working in Shanghai, China. I have been living there for 4 years and visited the states 2-3 times a year pre-covid and have filed my taxes. So I haven't worked in America since 2017. 

-We had been living together for many months in Shanghai and in June 2021 we decided we wanted to leave China together and visit his family so we left shanghai (we had to get out we felt trapped with the borders being closed) 

-July 2021 we landed in Tunisia to meet his family. We rented our own apartment and decided to stay here until the Visa is approved. We finished our entire K1 visa through Rapidvidsa. They told us K1 was best option. It was sent to the USCIS yesterday and we see there is an option to get it sent back to rapid visa to change our visa type.  

-We are only engaged not married but are willing to be married ASAP, whatever gets my fiancée to America the quickest 

-He is an aerospace engineer with many qualifications so we want his to work asap, now we see the K1 will hold off his work for many months. We want to move to America and buy a house and start a family. 

 

SO:

- We see we are able to stop our k1 now and switch it to spouse visa. Does this make the  most sense with our situation? 

-We also see the option of the DCF visa, would this fit our situation? We are going to call the embassy in Tunisia today to see if they are offering DCF visa. 

 

Any tips helps! You all are so helpful! 

You will be looking at a few years to process your K1 visa. The CR1 maybe a better option. I doubt you will have any luck getting a DCF. You must follow the standard process like everyone else. Everyone is trying to get around the current backlogs and they have caught on to this. 

[Boston_Gary 16]

17 hours ago, Emily8460 said:

Hey! 
Currently in the k1 process with my Tunisian fiancé. It was just sent to the USCIS. We are worried it will take awhile and he will miss my brothers wedding in March. Has anyone received a tourist visa while they were in the k1 process? Any advice or tips is appreciated. 

Based on your other posts you seem desperate to get around the K1/CR1 backlogs. You're just going to have to wait the two to three years like everyone else. 

[TBoneTX 45,291]

Two duplicate threads have been merged and moved to the proper forum.  OP, please confine your further posting on this topic to THIS thread only.

 

VJ Moderation

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

6 hours ago, Emily8460 said:

Yeah he is an aerospace engineer with his masters degree and speaks 4 languages..

Hm I think a post of mine disappeared in the thread merge so I hope this isn’t a repeat:

 

There is nothing to stop him looking for a sponsor for a work visa with that kind of background. H1B (the most common) is a dual intent visa so it is ok to get one with stated immigrant intent. The logistics of the cap system make anything imminent (that is, within about the next year) impossible though, unless he can get a position at a university or similar institution which is not subject to the cap. (The ideal would be if he currently works for a company with branches in the US and can get a managerial transfer under L1…but I’m guessing that’s unlikely to be the case)

 

All that said, a word of caution that despite what looks like a great resume he may have somewhat restricted choice in his work options until he becomes a citizen. My understanding is that much of the work in this field in the US is defense or security related and those companies generally require employees to be citizens. 

[Villanelle 4,122]

To add on to @SusieQQQ there's also more extensive background checks done on those who work in fields like you described and that can not be sped up even if you are able to use DCF. 

 

You should withdraw the K. You can cancel the payment check and it will be rejected for non payment or if they have already cashed it you will have to formally withdraw. 

 

The next step would be to get married.  Once you have the marriage certificate if you want to try for DCF do NOT mail the 130. For DCF you can not have a pending 130 stateside. You would need to contact the local embassy and inquire on where and how to apply for permission to file DCF.  This is because the local embassy can not simply accept your DCF and begin processing it, you need to get permission first. 

 

So FYI if you don't know-the Embassies all operate independently but are under larger umbrellas- the international field offices. Tunisa falls under Rome which has been closed to the public atleast. So you may get a bit of the run around in where to apply. Just inquire at the local embassy and follow the directions they give you on where to submit the request and ultimately if approved to file it will be at the local embassy.  You should be prepared to submit evidence to show you qualify for DCF. Heres a link that explains more details about such, it is archived content as Rome is closed but as you will see it directs you to either file stateside OR contact the local embassy for directions on where to apply for DCF (the bit about extenuating circumstances/ further info https://www.uscis.gov/archive/italy-uscis-rome-field-office

 

Again do not file the 130 stateside. First attempt to get permission for DCF. If denied you then would file the 130 to the lockbox. It shouldn't take very long to get a yes or no on if you are able to use DCF. 

 

If you are eligible for DCF the process is generally the same as you see in the guides here, the only difference is instead of sending the 130 to USCIS and waiting apx 1yr for them to process it and send it to the embassy where you then interview and whatnot, the embassy will process the 130 in as little as a few weeks and your interview would be set quickly after. Typically DCF takes people anywhere from 1-3 months from when they apply but as I said due to the nature of his work and areas traveled (most likely) he will have additional security checks which need to be done before the visa is issued and those can take an average of 6 months to 1 yr to complete. 

[Emily8460 13]

Update: We stopped payment on the check.We are trying to intercept the package through USPS and hopefully it will never get to the lockbox. We decided we are going to get married asap and file a spouse visa. Thanks everyone! 😀