Moving to a different country while I-130 Processing, Intentionally delaying Timeline, General timeline questions

[bauran 0]

Hi, I'm a US Citizen and I filed for my wife for the I-130 in mid April, 2024. I currently work in my wife's home country Japan. However my job provided me the opportunity to also work in France for roughly 2 years. It would be a big jump in my career and overall a benefit for both of us, but my concern is that I have already submitted the I-130. I have a few questions I'm hoping for answers to.

 

1.) Is there any disadvantage or reason we could not continue the process from France? And what points must we notify the USCIS and/or NVC?

2.) At what points is it possible to purposely delay the timeline slightly? For my work they want me to be there for ~2 years.

My understanding was there is two points:

Point a. Once the I-130 is approved its sent to the NVC and from there we would have to initiate the process with the NVC, however we have 6 months to initiate the process and if want to delay longer we can call the NVC or send a letter explaining the reason for a delay and extend the deadline? But I'm unable to find an exact source. Is this true?

Point b. Once the visa is approved, we have 6 months or a year. A lawyer I spoke to was not sure, is there any exact source if its 6 mo or one year? And is there any way to extend this?

3.) Does the Visa serve as a re-entry permit for up to one year? meaning we could go together to the US, submit documents proving in the US and then return to France for up to a year?

 

If it is impossible to delay up to being there for two years I might have to consider just cancelling the I-130 once and re-applying once we're in France.

 

Lastly this is my rough schedule, if anything seems wrong please correct me

1.  April 2024 Submitted I-130, Processing time should be 13 to 14 months from what I researched

2. May 2025 I-130 Approved, case transferred to NVC

3. October Submit Documents to NVC to assign case (asking above in my post if its possible to delay more)

4. Jan/Feb 2026 Interview (france wait time 3-4 months for interview I think)

5. March 2026 CR-1 VISA approved

6. September 2026 Move together back to America

 

If this schedule would be fine then I would be okay with continuing our application, if possible I'd like us to be able to stay in France a little bit longer though so wondering about the above questions.  

I would genuinely appreciate any help, I tried researching but its a fairly niche situation. Thank you for reading and any response in advance.

 

 

[Crazy Cat 41,811]

Don't withdraw the I-130.  Once your case gets to NVC, it can be delayed there indefinitely.  You can just delay submitting documents and/or paying the fees.  As long as you contact them once a year, the case can remain open there.  Then, continue the process from France when you are a few months away from re-locating to the US.

 

Note:  Upon approval, a visa is normally valid for 6 months after the date of the medical exam.....but could be less. 

Edited August 3 by Crazy Cat

[Jess & Jack 2]

My husband and I delayed his case at NVC from 2018-2024. We filled out the NVC contact form every 6 months to notify them to keep our case active and if there were any changes. We never gave them an explanation on why and they never asked. We are now preparing for my husband's interview in September.