H-1B vs. DCF w/citizen spouse

[CBKB 12]

Kind of a complicated situation and I could use some advice. I'm a US citizen and my wife is a Japanese citizen; we've been married for about 25 years and living in Japan for about the last 10 years. She was a green card holder for many years until we moved to Japan (and had to give up her green card). We were planning on eventually moving back to the US but recent events accelerated those plans.

 

I got a job in the US that had a very short-notice start date and was granted permission for Direct Consular Filing. I have an appointment in Tokyo next week to submit an I-130 and related documents at the Embassy. However, my wife just a few hours ago got a job offer from a U.S. university that is offering to sponsor her for an H-1B. They are flexible on the start date but would like to get her to the U.S. as soon as possible (as would we). 

 

Three questions:

1. Which method is likely to be faster? I know that H-1Bs through universities typically get people working within 4-6 months, but I've also heard that some universities can do it in just a couple of months? This seems even quicker than DCF (and maybe minus the hoops of the medical exam and criminal history search?). It's also appealing because the university handles all of the paperwork and pays all of the fees. I really am not clear on how long we can expect DCF to take.
2. Can we do both in parallel? I don't mind paying the I-130 fees and other things twice but I worry that starting one process would close off the possibility of the other. Again, our goal is for her to be able to move to the U.S. as quickly as possible. If we go down the H-1B route I need to figure out what to tell the Tokyo Embassy pretty quickly.
3. Is there an advantage down the road to doing DCF? I have never even thought about what's involved in changing from an H-1B if you've already married to a U.S. citizen. I don't want her to get stuck in some sort of limbo waiting years to get her green card. 

 

Thanks for any insight you may have! I don't imagine that many people have been in a similar situation but I know there's a lot of experienced people here.

[Redro 4,611]

DCF via UK or Germany takes around 3-4 months. 

I know someone in Japan went the DCF route a few months ago and IIRC it took about the same time. I can't find that post right now but...

Here is a post from 2022. It might be quicker these days or a little slower but from initial interview to visa issuance: Feb 14 I-130 interview---> April 29 VISA in hand. 

 

DCF is better because your spouse will arrive to the US with and be issued a 10 year green card vs H1B where you apply for visa then apply for adjustment of status after you arrive (more expensive and an additional step). ... residency will take longer to obtain. But, because H1B is a dual intention visa your spouse should be allowed to work and travel while they wait for the GC. 

 

[millefleur 5,046]

It seems to me the spousal visa via DCF is still the better option, merely because you'd have less work and money to spend later adjusting to a green card. 

 

In terms of which is faster, do you have the I-864 and other steps ready to go for the spousal visa, such as proof of intent to re-establish domicile? Often DCF timelines depend on how fast or slow the applicant themselves can get that ready. Your wife would also have to do the medical as well, although usually people get appointments very quickly. 

 

I have no experience with work visas, so I'll let someone else chime in if they can compare the wait time/workload of a DCF application vs a work visa.

[CBKB 12]

@Redro and @millefleur thanks both of you for those ideas/insights. 3-4 months and then no immigration messing around for 10 years does make the DCF route appealing. We're dreading the medical exam because when we did the green card the first time in the late 1990s, there were only the tiniest handful of clinics that could do the exam--in fact I just checked and even now there are only three designated clinics in the entire mainland of Japan. We don't live near any of them so it requires time and travel; hopefully it's not too hard to get appointments.

 

I'm also not sure what's going to be required for the criminal record check; the Japanese one it looks like we can get a report within about a week from the prefectural police but if she needs some sort of FBI check it seems difficult due to the fingerprinting requirement. The simplest sounds like it might be for her to visit the U.S. and go to a post office that does FBI electronic fingerprinting for quickest turnaround.

 

@millefleur to answer your question, yes I believe we have all of our ducks in a row. Tokyo actually asks for the I-864 at the same time as the I-130; we have a comfortable amount of assets in the U.S. plus I have a good job so I'm not concerned about showing assets/income. I also have started my job and have a home address here in the U.S. now, so I've already re-established U.S. domicile. I'm lucky to be able to "commute" between the two countries as we work things out.

[milimelo 4,475]

There will be nothing you need to provide for her prior stay in the US - just the Japan police/court certificate - whatever the requirements are for that consulate. 

[CBKB 12]

@milimelo oh wow, thank you for letting me know that. I had assumed all along that we'd need to get some sort of US criminal history (meaning lack of criminal history!) since she lived there for nearly 20 years. One less hassle!

[nastra30 2,284]

Op, did wife formally submit i-407 to abandon her LPR status?

When did/does wife's greencard expire?

[davidvs 337]

1 hour ago, CBKB said:

@milimelo oh wow, thank you for letting me know that. I had assumed all along that we'd need to get some sort of US criminal history (meaning lack of criminal history!) since she lived there for nearly 20 years. One less hassle!

The government already knows more about her time in the US than she does 🤪

[CBKB 12]

@nastra30 yes after we moved to Japan she did submit an I-407 at a US port of entry on one of our visits to the U.S. After that she always just got a tourist visa on landing/ESTA. 

 

Another question for those reading: should I say anything about her job offer when providing all of our docs at the embassy? My guess is that it's not something they even care about and I don't need to bring it up unless asked. I remember (from our first time through this in 1999) that submitting the I-130 and other docs didn't involve any sort of interview anyway.

[ShazShaz 32]

27 minutes ago, CBKB said:

Another question for those reading: should I say anything about her job offer when providing all of our docs at the embassy? My guess is that it's not something they even care about and I don't need to bring it up unless asked.

My opinion is not to bring it up.
 

When I had my I-130 (non dcf) interview last year, the CO asked what are my plans for life in the US. I guess this will be when your wife shares about job prospects awaiting her. I personally believe the CO needs to find questions to ask, so let this be their question. 
 

A possible follow up question CO might ask “what if I-130 visa is not approved”. Your wife can then share the university can offer h1b visa but she prefers I-130 as you both are married and work is secondary, hence she is going through spousal visa route first. 

[millefleur 5,046]

14 hours ago, CBKB said:

there were only the tiniest handful of clinics that could do the exam--in fact I just checked and even now there are only three designated clinics in the entire mainland of Japan. We don't live near any of them so it requires time and travel; hopefully it's not too hard to get appointments.

Perhaps try calling/emailing around the clinics to see how far out the medical appointments are, as that seems like the only hurdle standing between her and the spousal visa. 

 

If she can do the medical and interview in Tokyo, she could just make one trip there and do it all in one fell swoop. That's how a lot of people approach it when travel is required for the medical.

 

2 hours ago, CBKB said:

Another question for those reading: should I say anything about her job offer when providing all of our docs at the embassy? My guess is that it's not something they even care about and I don't need to bring it up unless asked. 

There's usually a generic "What do you intend to do in the US?" or "What are your plans for work?" question at the interview. She doesn't have to go into a lot of detail if she doesn't want, they probably definitely don't expect her to have a job offer already so I doubt they would expect more than just "I intend to work as an [X]" type answer. So, exactly as you said: no reason to go into detail unless asked.

[CBKB 12]

Thanks everyone for the info and advice. I'm feeling a lot more comfortable realizing that we don't actually have so many true hurdles with the DCF as long as my stack of documents is complete. We've actually gone through the whole thing before and did exactly what @millefleur suggests and had the medical and interview in Tokyo all in one trip. Due to difficulty with the medical exam (I don't remember if it was booking the appointment or waiting for results--or both?) we had to spend 10 days total in Tokyo, which isn't feasible this time around as our younger kid is still in school. From what I understand I don't actually need to be there for the actual interview for issuance of the I-551.

[millefleur 5,046]

2 hours ago, CBKB said:

From what I understand I don't actually need to be there for the actual interview for issuance of the I-551.

Correct, you (the USC) don't need to attend the interview or the medical. 

 

I hope the medical goes faster this time. Good luck!

[CBKB 12]

Just an update in case anyone is curious or comes across this thread looking for information. I visited the embassy last Friday and all went smoothly. I was in and out in about an hour; the consular officer signed off on the I-130 after a few cursory questions and what sort of felt like praise on the completeness of my I-864. I received the paper I-130 approval letter before leaving the embassy, which my wife used to get the police certificate ordered today--it's expected to be done within a week. We're still waiting for her case to show up in the system so we can schedule the medical check and fill out the DS-260. From what I've read it typically takes a few days to show up, so we're hoping to see the e-mail from the embassy mid-week.

[millefleur 5,046]

7 minutes ago, CBKB said:

the consular officer signed off on the I-130 after a few cursory questions and what sort of felt like praise on the completeness of my I-864.

Nice! I think that's a first I've seen here on VJ haha. A+ student, good work.