Thats just typical! Advice / Thoughts - re: CR1 / K3

[Mononoke28 135]

Chris,

I just noticed that your signature timeline is wrong. You put DS-3023 and it should be DS-3032.

Diana

[Chris Parker 11]

would it be really stupid to go on the K-3 and fly back to UK for the CR-1?? Is that even possible?

Yes, that is possible too, if the I130 has not been sent to the embassy by the time of the K3 interview, however:

(1) You'd need a new medical exam, new police certificate(s), etc. to present again at the immigrant visa interview. The affidavit of support may also need to be updated at the visa interview.

(2) You can't hold up the I-130 petition more than 1 year at NVC or at the embassy by delaying submitting the DS-230 parts, or Dept. of State must cancel the petition.

INA 203(g): ... The Secretary of State shall terminate the registration of any alien who fails to apply for an immigrant visa within one year following notification to the alien of the availability of such visa ...

Nevertheless, I'd still stick with the original advice of ignoring the K3 unless you have some good reason (none that I can think of) to delay obtaining permanent resident status.

Edited August 30, 2007 by Chris Parker

[Chris Parker 11]

I just noticed that your signature timeline is wrong. You put DS-3023 and it should be DS-3032.

Fixed, thanks for mentioning that...

[Urge To Race 2]

This is nothing new. An approved I130 does not stop the approval by USCIS of an I129F as you pondered in your previous post. Plenty of VJers have scheduled K3 interviews that were used for CR-1/IR-1 interviews since they had met all requirements for the immigrant visa when they should up for the K3 interview. This doesn't happen as much anymore since the USCIS put the policy in place of holding approved I130s for AOS and forwarding approved I129Fs to NVC in November 2006 (http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/PN_i-129f.pdf). There are still some that get both forwarded to NVC as NikkisPrecious, but it is becoming rarer.

It is true that a consulate will not schedule a K3 interview if the approved I130 is already on station.

If your I130 arrives before your K3 interview, and you have all of the requirements met (in terms of medical and docs, etc.) you can ask to have the CR-1 interview in place of the K3 interview.

...

Once an I130 is approved by USCIS, there is still the possibility of a long wait for the IV interview in addition to the extra NVC time. Depends on the country and consulate/embassy. It is possible that for some countries that the K3 interview would still happen months earlier even if the I130 only trails the I129F by a few days.

...

If you go to the CR-1 interview, you can tell the embassy that you are not pursuing the K3, and it will get kicked back and canceled then.

Actually, this message prompted me to lookup what the rule actually was...

FEDERAL REGISTER CITE: 66 FR 19390

DATE OF PUBLICATION: April 16, 2001

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

22 CFR Part 41

When is an Immigrant Visa Considered not to be Available for the Purpose of Obtaining a K3 Visa?

For the purposes of LIFE Act only, and in the absence of a definition of the term "availability of an immigrant visa" in that Act, the Department has given the phrase a narrow interpretation in order to maximize the number of aliens who may benefit from the Act's provisions. Therefore, an immigrant visa will be considered to be available only when the actual approved I-130 petition has been received at the consular post at which the visa application must be filed. If the petition has been received at post, any K3 nonimmigrant visa application filed by the alien spouse will be denied and he or she will have to apply for an immigrant visa.

Edited August 30, 2007 by Urge To Race

[NikkisPrecious 0]

Thanks so much guys, some intresting reading here as always