Processing Question re:IR/CR1/K3 Visa for Wife and Stepdaughter

[top_secret 2,414]

1 hour ago, ROK2USA said:

@top_secret did you not switch from k1 to cr1/ir1? Or was that someone else?

I have seen cases where members had an approved k1 waiting for interview switch to a spousal visa and get approval fairly quickly... 

I never actually filed anything for the K1.  At first we had planned to do a K-1 visa based on some couples I know who said it was faster.  As I started preparing for that I wound up here.  I don't recall specifically when, it could have been Crazy Cat's omnipresent K1 vs CR1 spiel😁, but it became very clear CR1 would be the prefered course of action.  However in 2020 pulling off a wedding with travel being very close to impossible due to the Philippines travel ban and Utah online marriages seemed unproven at that time, so for a while I was still preparing in parallel for either K1 or a CR1 depending on what was actually possible.  Finally Costa Rica opened up and rather fantastically ticked off every requirement for the wedding so at that time I just abandoned the K1 idea and went all in on the CR1.  Best decision ever made.  Thank you VJ.

 

As for the quick approval I really can't attribute it to anything but luck.  I didn't try the K3 trick or do anything special to get it expedited.  I tried to make the evidence concise and impactful as if it were a business presentation so that it would be an easy job for a reviewer to approve with minimal effort on their part.  But I think the real trick is that my stepdaughter knows how to look ridiculously cute in family photos.  It would be impossible for anyone to not to approve her.  That, plus for proof of the relationship I submitted evidence that I taught my wife and stepdaughter from the Philippines, how to snow ski in Korea.  I bet they see a lot of different types of evidence for proof relationships but I bet USCIS never saw snow skiing Filipinas before.

 

 

[JQK Law 1]

Not a bad idea to do it. In case the spouse I-130 is sped up and approved but the child case is pending, you can contact USCIS to expedite the child's case so it can move forward at the same pace as the parent. I've done it before. A little more work, but worth doing.

[Jimmyzr1 36]

All people should have to wait their turn, in my opinion, for the processing of the GC visas and shouldn't expedited over another's case, unless medically needed. We all are wanting to be with our spouses and/or children.