I-130 approved quickly without expedite

[TWISTIE 30]

11 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Service Centers (SC) are assigned after the I-130 is filed. It is not based on where you reside. For example, OP lives in Georgia and the SC happened to be California Service Center. But other petitioners who also live in Georgia may or may not have a different SC.

By the Certifying Acceptance Agent signing the W-7 the foreign spouse avoids having to send-in the original passport to the IRS Austin, TX address for processing: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-i-apply-for-an-itin

Where to apply?

Option 1

Mail your W-7, tax return, proof of identity, and foreign status documents to:

Internal Revenue Service
Austin Service Center
ITIN Operation
P.O. Box 149342
Austin, TX 78714-9342

You will only file a tax return to the address above once, when you file Form W-7 to get an ITIN. In subsequent years, when you have an ITIN, you will file your tax return as directed in the form instructions.

If you will need your original documents for any purpose within 60 days of submitting your
ITIN application, you may wish to apply in person at an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center or
CAA. You may also choose to submit certified copies of documents from the issuing agency
instead of original documents. Original documents you submit will be returned to you at the
mailing address shown on your Form W-7. You don’t need to provide a return envelope.
Applicants are permitted to include a prepaid Express Mail or courier envelope for faster return
delivery of their documents. The IRS will then return the documents in the envelope provided
by the applicant. If your original documents aren’t returned within 60 days, you can contact the
IRS. 

Option 2

Apply for an ITIN in-person using the services of an IRS-authorized Certifying Acceptance Agent. This will prevent you from having to mail your proof of identity and foreign status documents.

Option 3

Make an appointment at a designated IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center. This will also prevent you from having to mail your proof of identity and foreign status document                                                                                                                                                     

After processing, the IRS will issue your ITIN through the mail.

Thank you so much..it would be hard for a foreign spouse to get ITIN when there is no close by IRS taxpayer Assistance center...

[Steffen & Rafael 31]

Just now, TWISTIE said:

With I-130, people file I-129f too...some people...for k-3 visa (not k-1)...to bring their spouse quicker to US if I-130 is taking long time to adjudicate...Since your spouse is living just 20 minutes away then its not a problem to certify those documents which are needed for ITIN, otherwise its hard for immigrant-spouse who are living far far away and wherein there is no IRS authorized representative for ITIN...

Oh yes the K-3. I believe that is near obsolete… it wouldn’t make much sense to pay extra for it lol. But you are right: the proximity does make things easier. 

[TWISTIE 30]

1 minute ago, Steffen & Rafael said:

Oh yes the K-3. I believe that is near obsolete… it wouldn’t make much sense to pay extra for it lol. But you are right: the proximity does make things easier. 

There is no doubt that CR-1/IR-1 is the best option by far...it saves lots of future filing and extra expenses...

[HRQX 4,145]

13 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

otherwise its hard for immigrant-spouse who are living far far away and wherein there is no IRS authorized representative for ITIN...

After you marry your fiance both of you can go to a CAA in India with W-7 and the complete 2021 tax return: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/acceptance-agents-india

6 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

I-129f can not file online??

I-129F must be mailed-in: https://www.uscis.gov/forms/direct-filing-addresses-for-form-i-129f-petition-for-alien-fiancee

If you live in the United States or abroad and are filing Form I-129F, then file your petition at:

Note: U.S. Citizens petitioning for K-3 visas for their alien spouses must include a copy of the Form I-797C, Notice of Action, showing they have filed Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, on behalf of their spouse listed on the form.

In addition, they must provide a marriage certificate, evidencing the legal marriage between the citizen and the alien.

 

The USCIS Dallas Lockbox

For U.S. Postal Service:

USCIS
P.O. Box 660151
Dallas, TX 75266

 

For Express mail and courier deliveries:

USCIS
Attn: I-129F
2501 South State Highway 121 Business
Suite 400
Lewisville, TX 75067

2 minutes ago, Steffen & Rafael said:

it wouldn’t make much sense to pay extra for it lol.

Filing I-129F for K-3 attempt has a $0 filing fee.

[cubanchic 13]

20 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

By the way, did you submit/file both petitions - I-130 and I-129f together at the same time and online? All the documents that you mentioned about submitting were submitted thru online? One can submit that many documents online? 

And yes, all the supporting documents I mentioned were submitted online. Each file just need to be under 6MB in size if I remember correctly. I consolidated as much as possible and didn't have any issue. eg. All 50 photos were in 1 documents. All 17 itineraries in another document etc. Adobe Acrobat Reader can compress the size of PDF documents to help you meet the size requirement.

[Steffen & Rafael 31]

4 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Filing I-129F for K-3 attempt has a $0 filing fee.

Oh really? I didn’t know that hahaha. I would’ve given it a shot. But I don’t want think I really need it anyways.

5 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

There is no doubt that CR-1/IR-1 is the best option by far...it saves lots of future filing and extra expenses...

Exactly. There’s no need for adjustment of status which is more time and money.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Steffen & Rafael

[cubanchic 13]

15 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

Did you submit anything with I-129f or just the receipt for I-130? Why you chose to file I-129f later on, and why not together with I-130? I-129f can not file online??

I submitted very few things with the I-129F. If i recall it was just the receipt, a copy of marriage certificates, passport bio-page, passport photos and anything else the instructions asked for (i cant recall everything right now). I filed I-129F later on because there was no option to submit it online like the I-130. I needed a couple days to get all the documents together hence i finally mailed it off on May 12th.

[TWISTIE 30]

2 minutes ago, HRQX said:

After you marry your fiance both of you can go to a CAA in India with W-7 and the complete 2021 tax return: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/acceptance-agents-india

I-129F must be mailed-in: https://www.uscis.gov/forms/direct-filing-addresses-for-form-i-129f-petition-for-alien-fiancee

If you live in the United States or abroad and are filing Form I-129F, then file your petition at:

Note: U.S. Citizens petitioning for K-3 visas for their alien spouses must include a copy of the Form I-797C, Notice of Action, showing they have filed Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, on behalf of their spouse listed on the form.

In addition, they must provide a marriage certificate, evidencing the legal marriage between the citizen and the alien.

 

The USCIS Dallas Lockbox

For U.S. Postal Service:

USCIS
P.O. Box 660151
Dallas, TX 75266

 

For Express mail and courier deliveries:

USCIS
Attn: I-129F
2501 South State Highway 121 Business
Suite 400
Lewisville, TX 75067

Filing I-129F for K-3 attempt has a $0 filing fee.

Although I-129f (for K-3 visa) costs nothing to file but later on people would file DS-160 with NVC which I think costs $265...So, filing this additional application- DS-160 costs extra money, I guess...

 

In India wherein these CAA are located is far far far from my wife’s place...would need to take plane both way...it would cost us at least $700 (round trip airline tickets for both of us, taxi money to and from local airport to CAA, eating, commuting, hotel stay for a day). Its really not worth.

 

If I-129f can not be filed online together with I-130 then its better to mail out both petitions together because by submitting both together in one envelope you don’t have to submit any document whatsoever with I-129f, otherwise its would a lots of hassle to submit same documents again..for example- in my case it would be certainly at least 600 pages of documents would be because I must need to front load tons of documents given the facts that in my previous marriage my ex wasn’t get approved because I didn’t submit enough documents and case was dragged on for 3 yrs...besides, I have many many red-flags in my case now more...so front loading could only be my lifesaver if any...and I was previously married many times...so tons of documents related to those divorce decrees.. each of them have 40 pages of decree...lols...so its gonna be tons of documents...sending them again with I-129f will be tough, harder and unnecessary time and money consuming...in my opinion...

[TWISTIE 30]

12 minutes ago, Steffen & Rafael said:

Oh really? I didn’t know that hahaha. I would’ve given it a shot. But I don’t want think I really need it anyways.

Exactly. There’s no need for adjustment of status which is more time and money.

And since your marriage is more than 2 yrs now then your spouse would get IR-1...an immigrant visa for full 10 yrs green card which means no need to spend money, time, paperwork for Removing the condition as well....

[Steffen & Rafael 31]

Just now, TWISTIE said:

And since your marriage is more than 2 yrs now then your spouse would get IR-1...an immigrant visa for full 10 yrs green card which means no need to spend money, time, paperwork for Removing the condition as well....

Yes that was one of the reasons why waited lol. The other is I’ll be going to nursing school soon and I’ll need help. So we decided it was time to file 

[TWISTIE 30]

4 minutes ago, cubanchic said:

I submitted very few things with the I-129F. If i recall it was just the receipt, a copy of marriage certificates, passport bio-page, passport photos and anything else the instructions asked for (i cant recall everything right now). I filed I-129F later on because there was no option to submit it online like the I-130. I needed a couple days to get all the documents together hence i finally mailed it off on May 12th.

Do you have any idea (just an idea) as to how many pages altogether of documents you submitted with I-130? Believe me, I wanna file I-130 online too as it would quick and sure way in the system the way I want, but since I need to submit I-129f too which can not be filed online then I would have no choice just to mail both petitions together because in my case there would be at least 600-800 documents I would need to submit with I-130 because I have tons of red-flags and many issues...Thus, I believe that given the number of documents which would be needed for both petitions then I would be better off for sending both petitions together because then I would need to submit those documents only once....

[HRQX 4,145]

9 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

then its better to mail out both petitions together because by submitting both together in one envelope you don’t have to submit any document whatsoever with I-129f, otherwise its would a lots of hassle to submit same documents again..

I'd recommend to just send the specific things that the I-129F instructions require. Like OP mentioned above not much is sent with the I-129F.

9 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

DS-160 costs extra money, I guess...

Odds are the I-129F wouldn't get that far. For example, OP's I-129F is now administratively closed so DS-160 should not be submitted. For IR-1/CR-1 the next form to be submitted is DS-260.

Edited August 31, 2021 by HRQX

[TWISTIE 30]

5 minutes ago, Steffen & Rafael said:

Yes that was one of the reasons why waited lol. The other is I’ll be going to nursing school soon and I’ll need help. So we decided it was time to file 

Smart man...-:)

[TWISTIE 30]

2 minutes ago, HRQX said:

I'd recommend to just send the specific things that the I-129F instructions require. Like OP mentioned above not much is sent with the I-129F.

Odds are the I-129F wouldn't get that far. For example, OP's I-129F is now administratively closed so DS-160 should not be submitted. For IR-1/CR-1 the next form to be submitted is DS-260.

Thank you...Yes, odds are the I-129f wouldn’t get that far, but there is never a guarantee and we can not say for sure...even if we assume for 1% for the sake of odds that it would go that far then I am toast because consular officer might not have every document that I would submit with I-130...and then history will repeat again what happened in my previous marriage’s filing...besides, I have tons of red-flags left and right...I can’t and shouldn’t take any chance...I would need to front load anything and everything if I want to get succeed because my case gonna be very complicated...Even though instructions say about only few documents to be submitted with I-129f, I can’t take that chance given my case will be very complicated...Front loading is my only chance to give everything to them before they decide to drill me and my future wife...and take years to process our case...

[cubanchic 13]

4 minutes ago, TWISTIE said:

Do you have any idea (just an idea) as to how many pages altogether of documents you submitted with I-130? Believe me, I wanna file I-130 online too as it would quick and sure way in the system the way I want, but since I need to submit I-129f too which can not be filed online then I would have no choice just to mail both petitions together because in my case there would be at least 600-800 documents I would need to submit with I-130 because I have tons of red-flags and many issues...Thus, I believe that given the number of documents which would be needed for both petitions then I would be better off for sending both petitions together because then I would need to submit those documents only once....

For the I-130 i submitted online these are the page counts:

• 2 Affidavits were --> 3 pages 
• Screen shots of text messages --> 15 pages 
• All bank statements Western Union/PayPal transactions --> 17 pages 
• Gift receipts --> 12 pages 
• Invitations --> 6 pages 
• Photos --> 27 pages 
• Travel Itineraries --> 51 pages 
• Wedding Expenses --> 46 pages 

 

For I-129F, at most, it might have been 13 pages (for the i-129F form) plus 6 more pages for the other stuff they asked for and the 2 passport-size photographs. It was a very small package. I only submitted the exact things they asked for. So if you were to only mail-in this package it shouldn't cost too much.