US Immigration from Kenya

As a USC, I wish to sponsor both my parents. They currently live outside the United States. What route would you recommend: (1) bring them here on a tourist visa, file I-130 and then I-485, or (2) have them go the consular processing route?

I hear that wait times for I-130 approval are quite long (roughly 12.5 months). So does it make any sense for them to come here and go the route of I-485 when it's just going to take a really long time even getting to I-485 due to I-130 wait time? Or are they able to obtain Advanced Parole and EAD while waiting for I-130 approval?

Hope someone can provide which is the best route to take.

Thanks!

Hello all,

I did not see a recent thread for this group of filers so i thought I would start one just in case someone needed a place to share any updates or encouragement on their VJ. Since I have not been on the site in a while due to sheer discouragement with my own immigration case, I decided enough is enough, it is time to get back in the fight. So, it is truly a waiting game to say the least. I am the U.S. petitioner and my husband is in Kenya. We got married on August 16, 2021, I filed (with a lawyer mind you which is another story) in September making our our priority date September 27th, 2021. The case went from the Potomac Service Center and winded up in the National Benefits Center in Lee Summit ,MO(the dead zone when you have mishaps with your case from the lawyer) in February 20222. I reached out to my State Senator in April 2022. And they have little by little moved our case along. I received an update from the Senator's office in April 2023 that our case is now in the Saint Louis, Mo field office awaiting a selection of an officer to adjudicate our case. USCIS sent an e-mail last week to the lawyer ( who I haven't heard from by the way) and me indicating they were acknowledging his request for inquiry into our case being overdue for a decision. They stated they will either schedule me an interview or waive the interview and adjudicate our case. So, now we are no longer in limbo as we were for the first leg of our journey and our patience with this process has taught us a lot of valuable lessons such as hope, a deeper insight into ourselves and the process. We are weathering many hardships including finances, my new health challenges, etc. Stay the course even though it is difficult because it is well worth the effort!

Hi VJ,

One of the key requirements for the F2B visa is that one has to be unmarried. I also understand at the embassy one has to back up info provided on the DS260 with documentation and proof. Being unmarried is a major requirement when pursuing this visa.

That said, does one need to prove this through documentation or they will just 'trust' your word? If so, how do you even prove this?

Any one experienced this? What us the work-around? This happens on the latest edition of form I-130 when you try to fill on Adobe

I found a woman that I want to marry from Kenya. We both have a lot of the same values, & interests. We've been video chatting almost every day for quite a while now, & want to take the next step.

My overhead is about $1,100/month to live that includes the child support that I'm paying. I make $2,100/ net.

I don't know anything about the process except for the hours of research that I've been doing & it seems like a lot of the info chronology is contradictory.

Can anybody please tell me what to expect, or anything that's not on websites?

Do we have to meet each other first? Can we do online marriage?

Should we do a tourist visa first?

Thank you for your time.