Husband and his kids

[Darkmoonfaerie 19]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I went through the K1 process in 2012 but had to abandon it before the medical when we did not get permission to move his boys at that time. I'm preparing to file a petition for the CR1 visa and wanted to check on something. Do I need to fill out a separate I-130 form for my husband and each of his two boys (both under 18)? Also, does that mean that I have to pay the initial $460 x 3 when I file? They all just went on the same application for the K1 but thought I read that they each need a separate application now.

Thanks

[jkelly07 120]

yes,420.00 each

[Ian H. 207]

Hi,

As a USC you need to file 3 separate petitions at $420 each. Unlike the K1, they have to be petitioned separately and can't be included in the same petition. Although I think it would have been more or less the same costs because they would have had to adjust status as K2's, which itself costs a few bucks.

Please note that although it's separate petitions, they should be filed together in the same envelope so that they can be processed and approved at the same time and have one interview. Good luck.

[NikLR 13,227]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I went through the K1 process in 2012 but had to abandon it before the medical when we did not get permission to move his boys at that time. I'm preparing to file a petition for the CR1 visa and wanted to check on something. Do I need to fill out a separate I-130 form for my husband and each of his two boys (both under 18)? Also, does that mean that I have to pay the initial $460 x 3 when I file? They all just went on the same application for the K1 but thought I read that they each need a separate application now.

Thanks

Yes each person immigrating needs an I-130 and appropriate documentation. that's $420 x 3. It will also be $325 x 3 when they get to the visa application stage.

How long have you been married?

[Darkmoonfaerie 19]

Thanks everyone! Looks like I'll be saving up a little more money before sending off the new petition, then will be putting extra away for the next part. I was out of work for 6 months this past year with a medical situation requiring major surgery and am self employed so we were down to one salary for a bit and it's taken its toll financially. I am finally getting caught up on bills and such and we really want to move forward with this because we're so tired of waiting. Thinking right now that it's better to skip a trip to see each other and focus on the visa process to be here for good.

@ NLR: We were married 08/24/13 so it looks like we'll most likely qualify for the IR-1 by the time we get the visa. At least that's one plus to this whole mess, right?

[Ian H. 207]

Yes, the good thing is that if you enter after 8/24/15 your husband and the children will all get 10 year GC's and won't have to do ROC.

Also, you don't have to wait to have the money for the visa fees either. The good thing about this process is that you can stretch it out when you need to.

For example, when you get the money for the petitions, you submit them, they will take their good 6 to 8 months processing if you don't get any RFE's.

In this time you can gather the money for the visa fees. However, you don't have to pay anything right away. My cousins took months to send out the packages and pay the fees.

As long as you contact the NVC at least once in the year, you can stretch out the process quite a bit until you can pay for everything. At least this way the petitions can be processed and you don't have to worry about this afterwards. I wish you luck on your journey.

[Darkmoonfaerie 19]

Thanks Ian. We had to drag out the K1 process at the London Embassy so know all about being able to put things off. We went through 18 months of hell with UK courts rescheduling and asking for more info about the visa before the judge decided to drop our case and have us re-file later. Where we ran into the issue was trying to cancel and get confirmation of cancellation of the K1 application. That took ages and multiple letters /calls to the embassy and DOS.

I'm working on the paperwork and have a couple of more questions:

Do I need to do a G325-A for the kids as well?

I *think* there's an A number for Alan from the K1 visa paperwork - do I put this on the paperwork for the CR-1?

They now require a signature on the G325-A so I'm guessing this means I get to email it to him then have him sign it and snail mail it back to me so I can add it to the package to mail off. I don't remember needing his signature on anything for the initial petition with the K1 but I might be wrong.

Sorry if I end up with a million questions. I felt much more prepared when I did the K1 application back in 2012.

[NikLR 13,227]

Thanks everyone! Looks like I'll be saving up a little more money before sending off the new petition, then will be putting extra away for the next part. I was out of work for 6 months this past year with a medical situation requiring major surgery and am self employed so we were down to one salary for a bit and it's taken its toll financially. I am finally getting caught up on bills and such and we really want to move forward with this because we're so tired of waiting. Thinking right now that it's better to skip a trip to see each other and focus on the visa process to be here for good.

@ NLR: We were married 08/24/13 so it looks like we'll most likely qualify for the IR-1 by the time we get the visa. At least that's one plus to this whole mess, right?

Well that's for sure. One less money pit anyhow, and with the kids, it would be advisable to miss it if possible.

You do not need a G-325a for the children. You need different documents for their petitions than you do the father's. They each need: copy of the marriage certificate, copy of any divorce decrees, and a copy of the child's birth certificate.

[Ian H. 207]

I agree with NLR. You need to submit separate copies for each. In the instructions, it says what each person needs. So you don't need 3 marriage certs for example, just 3 regular photocopies clipped to each petition. Also only the children need birth certs, your husband doesn't.

As for the g325a it has to be signed so here's what you should do: Have your husband get certified copies of the birth certificates for himself and the kids, and the marriage cert if you don't already have your own copy and have him just mail it all to you with the g325a.

This way you can kill two birds with one stone because he will need to mail these docs later on anyway for the NVC processing. It's good to take advantage now and have all the docs sent one time. I would tell you to have him send the police certs as well, but I'm pretty sure they expire after a certain time. Also any copies you need later on like the passport copies, he can email to you.