F2A - Petitioner becomes US Citizen

[Rafay 1]

Hello,

 

My wife's PD is May 2021. I have just become a US Citizen. We have already waited for 3 years. My question is should I change her Visa category to IR? and if I do that, does it affect her PD? Please give your suggestion. Thank you!

[appleblossom 2,428]

3 minutes ago, Rafay said:

Hello,

 

My wife's PD is May 2021. I have just become a US Citizen. We have already waited for 3 years. My question is should I change her Visa category to IR? and if I do that, does it affect her PD? Please give your suggestion. Thank you!

 

Yes, you absolutely should. There will be no PD as the spouse of a USC, as there is no waiting time for immediate relatives of USC's.

[nastra30 2,284]

5 minutes ago, Rafay said:

Hello,

 

My wife's PD is May 2021. I have just become a US Citizen. We have already waited for 3 years. My question is should I change her Visa category to IR? and if I do that, does it affect her PD? Please give your suggestion. Thank you!

I'm assuming the case is at NVC? If so contact NVC right now to upgrade the case to IR1 because visa numbers are always available. It will affect the PD in the sense that you won't even have to rely on PD at all.

[Rafay 1]

3 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

Yes, you absolutely should. There will be no PD as the spouse of a USC, as there is no waiting time for immediate relatives of USC's.

Thank you. My only concern is that after changing her category, NVC would put us at the back of the IR line and we have to wait for couple more years. Does our wait of 3 years under F2A category would speed up the process? Kindly help, Thanks again.

[Rafay 1]

4 minutes ago, nastra30 said:

I'm assuming the case is at NVC? If so contact NVC right now to upgrade the case to IR1 because visa numbers are always available. It will affect the PD in the sense that you won't even have to rely on PD at all.

Yes, the case is at NVC. Thanks for your response.

 

[appleblossom 2,428]

9 minutes ago, Rafay said:

Thank you. My only concern is that after changing her category, NVC would put us at the back of the IR line and we have to wait for couple more years. Does our wait of 3 years under F2A category would speed up the process? Kindly help, Thanks again.

 

Back of the line for what? There is no wait for a Priority Date to become current if she's the spouse of a USC.

 

There may be a wait for an interview depending on your consulate, but if you stick with F2A she's still a long way off even being added to the line for that, whereas as an IR1 applicant she'd be in the line right away. 

 

No, your previous wait won't speed up the process. But if you switch to CR1 she could be win the US by summer (again, depending on the wait for an interview at her consulate). Which consulate is it?

 

Edited March 15 by appleblossom

[Rafay 1]

It's Islamabad Consulate. Thanks

[appleblossom 2,428]

19 minutes ago, Rafay said:

It's Islamabad Consulate. Thanks

 

Ah. Unfortunately a long wait then either way. But at least if she's IR1 she's in the line straight away, whereas if she stays as F2A it could be another year or two before her wait for an interview even starts. 

Edited March 15 by appleblossom

[Crazy Cat 41,774]

52 minutes ago, Rafay said:

My question is should I change her Visa category to IR?

You must change her visa category.

 

Immigrant Visa for a Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR1 or CR1) (state.gov)

 

"If You Were an LPR and Are Now a U.S. Citizen: Upgrading a Petition

 

If you filed a petition for your spouse when you were a lawful permanent resident (LPR), and you are now a U.S. citizen, you must upgrade the petition from family second preference (F2) to immediate relative (IR). You can do this by sending proof of your U.S. citizenship to the National Visa Center (NVC). You should send:

• A copy of the biodata page of your U.S. passport; or
• A copy of your certificate of naturalization"

Edited March 15 by Crazy Cat

[top_secret 2,394]

20 hours ago, Rafay said:

Thank you. My only concern is that after changing her category, NVC would put us at the back of the IR line and we have to wait for couple more years. Does our wait of 3 years under F2A category would speed up the process? Kindly help, Thanks again.

 

While I can not speak specifically about Islamabad, I have been watching Manila's backlog very closely and seen reports by quite a few F2A to IR1 conversions. NVC kept the IR's in order by Documentarily Qualified date.  Inevitably, F2A's had been waiting much longer and had much older Documentarily Qualified dates then other IR's and therefore took a place in the very front of the IR line the moment they converted.  Most often they got interview letters first in the next batch to be sent out.  So waiting under F2A does count in the IR queue and it is a very positive time saving change converting to IR1.

 

(with the usual caveat about any derivatives)