carmel34

Lagos is about 2 years for a spousal visa, so likely somewhere around November 2025 if all goes well. I also recommend that you try to visit her in Nigeria during this very long process as often as you can. Not only will this help with the relationship and feelings of missing each other, but documentation of those visits (upload at the NVC stage) will greatly increase the likelihood that the visa will eventually be approved. I visited my husband 8 times in Brazil while waiting on the CR-1 process. One advantage of the long wait in Lagos is that your wife will probably get an IR-1 visa and a 10-year green card on arrival in the US, bypassing the very crazy I-751 and removal of conditions process.

The best path forward through the Montreal Consulate is for your US citizen husband to move to the US 4-6 months before your estimated visa interview date, to establish domicile, get a driver's license, rent or buy a place to live, open a checking account, etc., and get a job as your primary financial sponsor, then he can go up to Canada for a week to help you move to the US after your visa is in hand.

Current W-2 income is best, with liquid assets like cash in a savings account next. The interviewing officer will look at the totality of the petitioner's circumstances and make a judgment, and the I-134 income requirement is lower than the I-864 for adjustment of status after marriage on the K-1. If your current annual income is borderline, liquid assets could help but there is no guarantee. Have you considered a joint sponsor?

Just be aware that any entry to the US is at the discretion of the CBP officer, whether land crossing or airport. They tend to be very wary of Canadians who enter too frequently and stay too long. There is no written "rule." Plus, they will be able to see on their computer system all of her previous entries. Short visits of a few weeks each, with plenty of time between visits, will be less likely to be cause for concern. The default is to assume that she is trying to live in the USA without the proper visa. You should also seriously consider visiting her in Canada more often to avoid problems during the K-1 or CR-1 process.

Utah online marriage via Zoom is fast. https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/Clerk/Marriage/ceremony.html

She can file for divorce on her own and seek alimony in court. She doesn't need his "permission" for that. Not paying taxes means that the N-400 will be denied. I agree with others that paying for a very experienced immigration attorney is in his future. Plus a good divorce attorney. Advise him that he may need a second job to pay for everything.

Consular processing is the normal route, they are the same. 1-2 years from filing the I-130 petition to spousal visa interview in her country of legal residence. You'll need a marriage certificate to file the petition to start the process. It is not fast.

An American marrying a Brazilian in Brazil is not a simple process. I did it, and it takes a lot of time, documents, and effort. I had to get all of my civil documents certified by the secretary of state in each state that issued the US documents (a big hassle), translated to Portuguese (can only be done by expensive government-approved translators in Brazil), and sent to the local cartorio in Brazil where you intend to get married. All of this has to be done well in advance, just to file an application for marriage, which is required a few weeks before the intended marriage date. The documents can be sent via FedEx from the US to the translator who then sends the translation to the chosen cartorio. The marriage application required my signature, but my work schedule did not allow me to make a special trip to Brazil just to sign the marriage application and then fly down there again a few weeks later for the marriage, so I had to prepare a limited power-of-attorney for my husband's friend so that someone could sign the application on my behalf, and that document had to be certified by the secretary of state in the state where it was issued, and go through the same official translation process in Brazil, then to the local cartorio. After all required documents are accepted and the marriage application signed, there is a waiting period of about a month during which they post public notices of the intended marriage. We chose to get married in Brazil, but it took about three months and considerable expense. If you get all of the documents and translations to the cartorio before your trip to Brazil in December, you will still need to both sign the marriage application at the cartorio and wait a month before the actual marriage. If you can't stay in Brazil for a month, I recommend that you get married via the Utah County Zoom option when you are together in Brazil, keep evidence of being together in person for the online ceremony, then file the I-130 petition online as soon as you get the marriage certificate which is only a week or so later. The spousal visa process will take 1-2 years from filing the I-130 petition to the visa interview. Your wife will need to interview at the US consulate in Rio or she can choose Australia if she will still have legal status there in 1-2 years. Good luck!

No

Check out Utah online marriage via Zoom, it is fast to get the marriage certificate and is valid for US immigration purposes. You will also need to include, with the I-130 petition, documentation that you have been together, in person, during or after the online wedding. https://www.utahcounty.gov/dept/clerk/marriage/ceremony.html

K-1 is about the same as CR-1, 1-2 years. There are many advantages to CR-1, which seems the best path in your situation. DCF may work after you get married, but you'll first need to contact the US consulate/embassy in Manila to ask and explain your exceptional circumstances. If they say no, then regular CR-1 processing, 1-2 years from filing the I-130 petition to visa in hand.

Here are two good resources. The first is a forum similar to Visa Journey but for immigrating to Canada. The second is the official Canadian government immigration site. Good luck! https://secure.immigration.ca/forum/forums.html https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html

Your US citizen spouse should send an email inquiry to the US Consulate, Montreal, asking if they will consider a DCF for a spousal visa. You don't have to travel to Montreal to do this step. That would come later for a visa interview. A written job offer in the US for the citizen with a short timeline to make the move (a few months), will be necessary to even be considered for DCF (takes 2-4 months typically). If the answer is no, you will have to go the regular spousal visa route, US citizen files the I-130 petition online via the USCIS website, takes 1-2 years. Also pay attention to the US citizen's domicile in the US and financial sponsorship with US-based income or a joint sponsor will be needed.

Drug use 20 or more years ago needs to be declared and will be considered of course by the interviewing officer, but more important for a B2 would be current ties to the home country. Family in the USA would show strong ties to the US and evidence of immigrant intent, making it difficult to get a B2. The only way to possibly overcome that is a long-term, full-time job, property owned, family obligations in the home country, etc.

You entered the US with ESTA in March 2023 and did not leave until August. You overstayed so ESTA is now gone. Hopefully your letter to USCIS, requesting a change to consular processing worked, once the I-130 is approved you'll find out. Since you initially filed the I-130 with an adjustment of status application (I-485), there is a chance that you'll have to file a form I-824 (can add a year) to send the approved petition to NVC then to the consulate abroad. Your US citizen husband can visit you in your country during the process.

When he returns to the US, make sure you help him get the very best medical care you can afford, a psychiatrist, and a good therapist. In Miami you should be able to find qualified Brazilian doctors and counselors who live there and practice. If you really love him and want to be together, you will do everything you can so that he gets better. It can be done. My Brazilian husband was terrified of driving when he first arrived in California nearly five years ago (he had never driven a car before), and had an awful time adjusting to life in the USA, but with the help of a good psychiatrist and a Brazilian therapist, he overcame his anxiety and eventually got his driver's license, a job, and is now a US citizen, very happy. Good luck!

If you're in Richmond VA, I would suggest picking them up at Dulles airport. It's only 2-3 hours by car depending on traffic of course.

From your post in December of 2023 you mentioned that you got engaged in October. Is the person you are engaged to in the USA, or in Jamaica? Did this come up during the B2 visa interview when you were denied? Having a fiancé(e) in the US could make it difficult for you to get a tourist visa.

You received two emails for the two separate cases, yes of course he has to attend his interview, and you attend yours. He will need his own medical as well.

I assume you will return to the US together after the wedding. If so, and you go through the same line together at the POE, it increases the chance that they will ask questions about your relationship. If so, be completely honest. Hopefully everything will go smoothly. Korea is not a high-fraud country so you should be okay.

Send the letter to the same USCIS office address on the 48 month extension notice (I-797), and request that they convert your joint I-751 to a divorce waiver. Include a photocopy of the certified divorce decree, all pages.

At this point you wait to hear from the CJ consulate for next steps. CJ is very backed up, it may take many months before you get an email regarding the K-1 visa interview scheduling. Check the Mexico forum for posts regarding the long wait time.

The F-1 visa denial is now part of her permanent record. ESTA will very likely be denied because of this. She could apply for a B-2 tourist visa to visit you for a few weeks and then return home, but given her track record and a boyfriend in the US, that could be difficult as well. If you really want to be together, either file an I-129F petition for a K-1 or get married in Spain and file an I-130 petition for a CR-1. Both take about the same amount of time, 1-2 years, before she can enter the US. Visit her in Spain as frequently as you can during the long wait.

No. He applies on his own. An invitation letter could reduce his chances as it shows stronger ties to the USA than his home country. He has to be absolutely truthful on the visa application and include all relatives in the US and his actual marital status. Nothing fake or omitted.

You should consider filing an N-400 for naturalization. Doing so could speed up the I-751 as it has for many here on VJ, request a combo interview.