Seeking advice for moving back to the US with my wife

[US-Ecuador 0]

I (US citizen) married my Ecuadorian wife (who received a BS in North Carolina after living there with a student visa for 4 years) in NC in May 2015. We lived in Germany for 6 years and now live in Spain but want to move back to the US if we get a jobs there (currently applying). My wife has a B1/B2 tourist visa valid until 2031. What is the quickest and cheapest method for both of us to move and start working in the US? Does it decrease the waiting time or cost if we were married in the US 7 years ago?

 

Based on my research it seems like Direct Consular Filing is the best approach, and this website estimates it to take 7-18 months and costs $1,200. Is this correct? I also read that it's possible to expediate this process but the rules are vague. If we both get job offers with starts dates sooner than 7 months would this allow us to expediate it?

 

I also thought about moving there together if I get a job and adjusting her status to a green card. However, that same website says this would take 21-38 months and costs $1,760. Is this really correct? If so, then it would be cheaper and better to keep living abroad until the process is complete but it seems paradoxical at face value.

[Mike E 11,739]

7 minutes ago, US-Ecuador said:

Does it decrease the waiting time or cost if we were married in the US 7 years ago?

No it doesn’t.  
 

Any family based path she takes to a green card is going to require some separation unless you can find a job in the USA that lets you work remotely. So in that situation  you would establish domicile in the USA (job, residence, bank account, mobile  phone, etc) in the USA by the time she pays the affidavit of support fee.   
 

Alternatively she might be able to obtain an employment based at immigration visa.  

[Crazy Cat 41,836]

20 minutes ago, US-Ecuador said:

I also thought about moving there together if I get a job and adjusting her status to a green card

That is visa fraud.....don't do it. It is illegal to enter the US as a visitor with the intent to stay and adjust status.

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

you can not plan to move here and AOS to stay / that is immigration fraud

 

you need to follow the guides for the spouse visa

very important from your post are the criminal reports u will be needing:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MDD-Madrid.html

 

If you are older than 16 years of age:  The original police certificate from your country of current residence and countries of previous residence. If these three items are all true, you must bring a more recent police certificate to the interview:

 

the USC needs to show he has filed US tax returns 

and needs a US income to support the petition 

[US-Ecuador 0]

45 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Alternatively she might be able to obtain an employment based at immigration visa.  

 

36 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

That is visa fraud.....don't do it. It is illegal to enter the US as a visitor with the intent to stay and adjust status.

So if she gets a job that would support her with a work visa, could we move there together and then get her permanent residence since we are alrady married?

 

37 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

needs a US income to support the petition 

So you're saying I need a job offer to bring my wife with me?

[Mike E 11,739]

5 minutes ago, US-Ecuador said:

So you're saying I need a job offer to bring my wife with me?

Job offer or a joint sponsor who lives in the USA and is an American (citizen, LPR, Samoan).  

Edited July 7, 2022 by Mike E

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

11 minutes ago, US-Ecuador said:

 

So if she gets a job that would support her with a work visa, could we move there together and then get her permanent residence since we are alrady married?

Not just a job offer but an employer willing to do the paperwork (usually requires they pay an attorney ) to sponsor her but this is a temporary nonimmigrant  visa / but these visas can take a long time

still she needs the criminal reports from Ecuador,  Germany and Spain

 

So you're saying I need a job offer to bring my wife with me?

U need US income to financially support your wife or a joint sponsor with US income that will fill out the I 864 and give u tax returns to prove income  / its a lot to ask someone to sign an agreement to joint sponsor an immigrant for 10 years(or until the person goes thru naturalization)

 

[US-Ecuador 0]

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

Job offer or a joint sponsor who lives in the USA and is an American (citizen, LPR, Samoan).  

OK, so if I get a job offer then can we do Direct Consular Filing? I was now reading that they closed many offices and there aren't any in Spain.

 

How long can I expect it to take from when I have a job offer until she can start working?

[SalishSea 17,818]

9 minutes ago, US-Ecuador said:

OK, so if I get a job offer then can we do Direct Consular Filing? I was now reading that they closed many offices and there aren't any in Spain.

 

How long can I expect it to take from when I have a job offer until she can start working?

The DCF program is gone, and now it is by special permission/exceptional circumstances only.   You don’t appear to qualify.   If you have a formal job offer, you could ask the consulate to consider.

 

Otherwise, you need to petition her for a spousal visa, and get in the queue like everyone else.

 

She needs a green card to be able to work.   The process from start to finish is taking up to two years.

[Redro 4,611]

23 minutes ago, US-Ecuador said:

OK, so if I get a job offer then can we do Direct Consular Filing? I was now reading that they closed many offices and there aren't any in Spain.

 

How long can I expect it to take from when I have a job offer until she can start working?

DCF takes 4-6 months. 

Unless you are military you need a job offer in the US to qualify (and some consulates are not accepting job offers for DCF purposes at the moment).

If you have no pending job offer you'll have to file with USCIS. This process takes 1-2 years. You'll have to decide if you are comfortable with some separation during the process (so you can find a job to sponsor your spouse) or finding a joint sponsor.... 

Either way, there is no "quick and easy" solution to US immigration.

Good luck...

I will say when you file make sure to file with a US mailing address... I've seen a pattern of couples living overseas together wait at least 12 months for the I-130 to be approved. 

The spousal visa is all about family reunification and if you're already living together there is no reason for USCIS to prioritise your petition. 

Edited July 7, 2022 by ROK2USA

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

7 minutes ago, US-Ecuador said:

OK, so if I get a job offer then can we do Direct Consular Filing? I was now reading that they closed many offices and there aren't any in Spain.

 

How long can I expect it to take from when I have a job offer until she can start working?

If you apply for spouse visa (as u need to do),  it will be about 18 months to process to interview (perhaps longer if it takes u long time to get the 3 criminal reports -Ecuador can be a difficult country to get documents ) , 

and when she gets the spouse visa , she can work immediately upon arrival in US

 

u need to apply (online) and get the paperwork started

[US-Ecuador 0]

9 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

If you apply for spouse visa (as u need to do),  it will be about 18 months to process to interview (perhaps longer if it takes u long time to get the 3 criminal reports -Ecuador can be a difficult country to get documents ) , 

and when she gets the spouse visa , she can work immediately upon arrival in US

 

u need to apply (online) and get the paperwork started

Why would she need a criminal report from Ecuador? She hasn't lived there for 12 years.

[US-Ecuador 0]

26 minutes ago, ROK2USA said:

DCF takes 4-6 months. 

Unless you are military you need a job offer in the US to qualify (and some consulates are not accepting job offers for DCF purposes at the moment).

If you have no pending job offer you'll have to file with USCIS. This process takes 1-2 years. You'll have to decide if you are comfortable with some separation during the process (so you can find a job to sponsor your spouse) or finding a joint sponsor.... 

Either way, there is no "quick and easy" solution to US immigration.

Good luck...

I will say when you file make sure to file with a US mailing address... I've seen a pattern of couples living overseas together wait at least 12 months for the I-130 to be approved. 

The spousal visa is all about family reunification and if you're already living together there is no reason for USCIS to prioritise your petition. 

Thanks for the info. With such a long and unknown timeline, then it seems best to keep working in Spain until we can move there. Once we get the visa, how long do we have to quit our jobs abroad and move there before we lose it?

[Redro 4,611]

1 minute ago, US-Ecuador said:

Thanks for the info. With such a long and unknown timeline, then it seems best to keep working in Spain until we can move there. Once we get the visa, how long do we have to quit our jobs abroad and move there before we lose it?

After visa is approved you have 6 months from medical... 

but you can change interview after DQ and prolong the timeline... depends on your plan.

Husband and I live in Korea together and we are just rolling with process. Filed July 5, 2021 interview scheduled August 22, 2022. 

Hopefully we will book our flights a couple days after visa is issued. 

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

1 minute ago, US-Ecuador said:

Why would she need a criminal report from Ecuador? She hasn't lived there for 12 years.

because that is her country of birth 

best to  read the guides from the guides above in the blue bar

or the Us embassy in Spain that has the steps and needed supporting document list for the 2nd stage and interview

I sent the link