Question on spouse visiting the US on a B-2 tourist visa during DCF and then returning home for the embassy interview or potentially adjusting status in the US

[David753 0]

I am a US citizen who has been  living abroad for the last 15 years. My wife is not a US citizen. We have been married for 10 years and have 3 children who were born overseas but received US citizenship through CRBA. 

 

My current employer would like to transfer my job back to the US and asked me to relocate. This was decided in March and we would like to relocate in the summer so that the children can start school in the US in September. My wife does not work - so getting work authorization for her quickly is not a key consideration.  I applied for expedited DCF due to the job offer to get my wife an IR1 at our local US embassy. It took them some time to respond to my e-mail request but they finally did approve the request to expedite and offered us an appointment to file the I-130 in early June which is coming up. They said that this was the earliest possible appointment. 

 

We would really like to leave by the end of July at the latest so that we can find a place to live and get set up in August. From what I have understood - it is not very likely that we will be able to complete the DCF process and have the visa issued by then. We will ask at the embassy when we have the I-130 appointment, but we are trying to decide the best approach to take if it becomes evident that the I-130 will not be issued in time for us to depart. 

We are considering 3 options. 

 

1) Waiting until the DCF process is complete. I assume that this will take until well into the fall. The big downside of this is that our children will have to start school mid-year which is not ideal. They are fairly young and their English is basic -so this will be a big adjustment. We do not want to make it worse by having them start mid-year. 

 

 

2) Have my wife enter the US with her B-2 visa and return home for the interview - My wife has had a B-2 visa for some time which we have used to enter the US for visits on several occasions. I am wondering if it is feasible for the entire family to travel to the US in July as planned and then have my wife travel back sometime in the next few months to complete the visa process. We were thinking of coming back to her country over winter break for a family visit so we are considering buying round-trip tickets when we leave for the US in July. From what I understood - you select the date for the embassy interview from the NVC web site - so hopefully we can time it. I don’t think there is any issue for her to enter the US on her B-2 visa once the I-130 has been issued and we are waiting for an appointment for the visa to be issued - but looking to confirm that. Is this true?

 

The advantage of this approach is that we can relocate in July as planned. The disadvantage is that it requires at least my wife to make a trip back home just for the interview. In addition - I suppose there is some risk that her visa could be delayed and it will take some weeks to get issued. This could be very disruptive for me as it would interfere with work and upsetting for the children if there was a long separation from their mother since they are fairly young. 

 

3) Applying for Adjustment of Status from the US - The last option would be for her to enter with her B-2 and then apply for Adjustment of Status from the US. I realize that this would likely be a longer process than returning home to complete DCF at the embassy. I also realize that the B-2 visa is not dual intent and when she enters she is not supposed to be intending to stay. However - if it turns out that it is not easy or convenient to schedule the interview to coincide with a visit - perhaps this would be a preferable option. We would not decide on this for the first 3 months in the US - so I think we can claim that the decision was made later as her intent in entering the US in July will be to go home for the interview in the next few weeks. Does this seem reasonable - or are we at risk of running into trouble if she enters with a B-2 and we apply for AoS. I understood that many couples where one spouse is a US citizen do this. Any thoughts?

 

Which of these 3 approaches is best?

 

In addition - is the Embassy sympathetic at all to the fact that we would like our children to start school in September and that being separated from their Mother is a hardship for them.? If it is possible to get the visa issues in July that would clearly be better for us - but I am not sure the Embassy cares and is capable of expediting the process so that we can go from an I-130 appointment in early June to the visa being issued in July. Any hints or tips to make that happen?

 

Thanks!
 

[David753 0]

One other point to add - I assume that our I-130 petition will be approved in June and that we will have that with us if we leave for the US in July. If we do apply later for AoS from the US - I understood that we could use this I-130 approval for that instead of DCF and it would still be valid. I even read that it could make AoS process go quicker because we already have a valid I-130 establishing our marital relationship. Is this true?

[OldUser 6,979]

6 minutes ago, David753 said:

One other point to add - I assume that our I-130 petition will be approved in June and that we will have that with us if we leave for the US in July. If we do apply later for AoS from the US - I understood that we could use this I-130 approval for that instead of DCF and it would still be valid. I even read that it could make AoS process go quicker because we already have a valid I-130 establishing our marital relationship. Is this true?

Do not come to the US to adjust. It will be messy if USCIS assumes she had immigrant intent coming on B visa. DCF is already a fast track. AOS is long, expensive and limiting (cannot work, cannot travel for some time).

[OldUser 6,979]

10 minutes ago, David753 said:

 AoS process go quicker because we already have a valid I-130 establishing our marital relationship. Is this true?

No it's not true. I-485 will sit undecided in the queue of undecided I-485s however long it needs.

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

27 minutes ago, David753 said:

I am a US citizen who has been  living abroad for the last 15 years. My wife is not a US citizen. We have been married for 10 years and have 3 children who were born overseas but received US citizenship through CRBA. 

 

My current employer would like to transfer my job back to the US and asked me to relocate. This was decided in March and we would like to relocate in the summer so that the children can start school in the US in September. My wife does not work - so getting work authorization for her quickly is not a key consideration.  I applied for expedited DCF due to the job offer to get my wife an IR1 at our local US embassy. It took them some time to respond to my e-mail request but they finally did approve the request to expedite and offered us an appointment to file the I-130 in early June which is coming up. They said that this was the earliest possible appointment. 

 

We would really like to leave by the end of July at the latest so that we can find a place to live and get set up in August. From what I have understood - it is not very likely that we will be able to complete the DCF process and have the visa issued by then. We will ask at the embassy when we have the I-130 appointment, but we are trying to decide the best approach to take if it becomes evident that the I-130 will not be issued in time for us to depart. 

We are considering 3 options. 

 

1) Waiting until the DCF process is complete. I assume that this will take until well into the fall. The big downside of this is that our children will have to start school mid-year which is not ideal. They are fairly young and their English is basic -so this will be a big adjustment. We do not want to make it worse by having them start mid-year. 

 

 

2) Have my wife enter the US with her B-2 visa and return home for the interview - My wife has had a B-2 visa for some time which we have used to enter the US for visits on several occasions. I am wondering if it is feasible for the entire family to travel to the US in July as planned and then have my wife travel back sometime in the next few months to complete the visa process. We were thinking of coming back to her country over winter break for a family visit so we are considering buying round-trip tickets when we leave for the US in July. From what I understood - you select the date for the embassy interview from the NVC web site - so hopefully we can time it. I don’t think there is any issue for her to enter the US on her B-2 visa once the I-130 has been issued and we are waiting for an appointment for the visa to be issued - but looking to confirm that. Is this true?

 

The advantage of this approach is that we can relocate in July as planned. The disadvantage is that it requires at least my wife to make a trip back home just for the interview. In addition - I suppose there is some risk that her visa could be delayed and it will take some weeks to get issued. This could be very disruptive for me as it would interfere with work and upsetting for the children if there was a long separation from their mother since they are fairly young. 

 

3) Applying for Adjustment of Status from the US - The last option would be for her to enter with her B-2 and then apply for Adjustment of Status from the US. I realize that this would likely be a longer process than returning home to complete DCF at the embassy. I also realize that the B-2 visa is not dual intent and when she enters she is not supposed to be intending to stay. However - if it turns out that it is not easy or convenient to schedule the interview to coincide with a visit - perhaps this would be a preferable option. We would not decide on this for the first 3 months in the US - so I think we can claim that the decision was made later as her intent in entering the US in July will be to go home for the interview in the next few weeks. Does this seem reasonable - or are we at risk of running into trouble if she enters with a B-2 and we apply for AoS. I understood that many couples where one spouse is a US citizen do this. Any thoughts?

 

Which of these 3 approaches is best?

 

In addition - is the Embassy sympathetic at all to the fact that we would like our children to start school in September and that being separated from their Mother is a hardship for them.? If it is possible to get the visa issues in July that would clearly be better for us - but I am not sure the Embassy cares and is capable of expediting the process so that we can go from an I-130 appointment in early June to the visa being issued in July. Any hints or tips to make that happen?

 

Thanks!
 

 

1.  You, the US citizen, can leave after submitting the I-130.   Your spouse can wait out the process outside the US.

2.  Possible...as long as CBP allows her into the US.  

3.  Not an option.  Adjustment of Status is not available to her.  She cannot  legally enter the US as a visitor with the intent to stay and adjust status.

29 minutes ago, David753 said:

I even read that it could make AoS process go quicker because we already have a valid I-130 establishing our marital relationship. Is this true?

No.

[David753 0]

Thanks for the helpful answers!

 

With respect to the second scenario - having my wife enter the US on her Tourist Visa and then return home to complete DCF once the interview is scheduled - I have a follow-up question. 

 

Is there any reason CBP would not let her in on her B-2 visa if she has a return plane ticket prior to the 180 day period and documentation that she has started DCF and has an interview scheduled? This seems to me pretty compelling evidence that she intends to return and comply with the B-2 visa restrictions. We have never had an issue entering the US before. Is it safe to conclude that the chance of her being denied entry is minimal?

Edited May 16 by David753

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

12 minutes ago, David753 said:

Thanks for the helpful answers!

 

With respect to the second scenario - having my wife enter the US on her Tourist Visa and then return home to complete DCF once the interview is scheduled - I have a follow-up question. 

 

Is there any reason CBP would not let her in on her B-2 visa if she has a return plane ticket prior to the 180 day period and documentation that she has started DCF and has an interview scheduled? This seems to me pretty compelling evidence that she intends to return and comply with the B-2 visa restrictions. We have never had an issue entering the US before. Is it safe to conclude that the chance of her being denied entry is minimal?

I think the risk of CBP denying her entry would be very, very low.  

[D-R-J 192]

I would let the embassy know your plans when you submit the I-130 petition. You might get a sympathetic ear. My impression from my process was that they timed it so that my wife and I could travel together. They asked my wife during her interview when I was scheduled to leave and told her that assuming no AP issues they would have her visa ready by then.

[mam521 2,111]

Which consulate are you dealing with?  You should fill out your timeline: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=471560

[David753 0]

Thanks for the info D-R-J - I will explain the situation to them. Hopefully they will be able to arrange it so that her visa can be issued before we travel.