My husband and I filed for an I-130 in the second week of September. We have still not gotten a receipt for that application but are hopeful it will come by Jan or Feb. We have looked at estimated times of this visa which aren't acceptable to us, it's unfair to ask a family to stay apart. However, we decided to look into sending in a I-129f within this next month esp if that gives us the option to file an AOS once he is approved as well as having the I-130 just so we have many options open to us where he is given the option of joining me here in the US. The reason we waited is we thought you needed your receipt from I-130 to send the I-129f however I do have the overnight delivery receipt of it being sent so I am hopeful that will work. We are looking at the quickest way to get us together, even if the process itself takes a long time it's hard to be apart in two different countries.

I am a US citizen and he is a UK citizen and we were married in August in the US while he was on a VWP and after a month he left to go back to work. We were apart for approx. three weeks while i stayed in the us and he was back in the UK. We did not file for AOS because we wanted to do things the legal correct way and did not want to risk him overstaying. I have been with him for the past three months in the UK and am just now getting home in the US facing a long separation. I am a student at a University so I don't have a job. I am not able to make the 17,000 per year the visa applications require me to make, I am not qualified enough to get a job with that salary, besides the fact that minimum wage is very low in my state and I am a full-time student. I also own a pet that UK does not let in (pitbull mix) and generally do not like the country as far as living there goes, I dont want to give up my US status, I love being an american citizen and my husband would love to join me. My husband has secured a job where he can get in writing or whatever else he needs that his current income will continue after he arrives in the USA. Is that sufficient for the I-129f or I-130 affidavit of support? We are in a unique situation as we are both young 22 and 23 and do not have a large sum saved in bank account to use as assets. Any chance of a co-sponsor is gone as my parents are retired and everyone besides them is even older and retired as well so cannot help. Its hard to find information about what is right and what is wrong in these cases and we dont want to prolong something even more than it already has been due to receipting delays. We also want to make sure that if we submit the I-129f, the financial situation would be accepted. The best I can think to do, is fail school and look for a job that meets the requirement. If it doesn't, maybe we can save up enough assets to make up for it. However, I do not know how much money or assets they are looking to find, we are both young in our careers. I would appreciate any and all advice or support as we are terribly confused and sad at our options.

A job with sufficient income that can be documented to continue in the US, has an excellent chance of passing muster on any affidavit of support.

I would advise against filing an I-129 nearly 4 months after the I-130. That's about as much time as you could possibly hope to gain anyway, so you are far better off with the CR1 visa. If you decide to file, be advised that a receipt from the post office is not evidence of filing an I-130. An image of the front and back of a cancelled check would be.

Question tho, she has not received her NOA1 yet for her I-130 so could she not wait for that and file. She basically has the same story as Kris and I, except for the ages and money issue. Since the delay in getting the NOA1 for the I-130's four months has become like one month prior to June of this year. And yes I agree with his income if its continuing upon entering the USA. Darn learning a little each day.

Just curious Push as you know I do respect your advice here.

Cheers


p.s yes on the sad part but what can we do but continue the journey and at the end of that journey we shall know it was one heck of a fight to make it happen. Just hurts alot going through it./ Six months here without hubbie - sighs but holds head up high and stays focused!

Thank you for the quick reply. I wanted to confirm that his job is based in the UK but is telecommute for a boss who is basically his mentor and has agreed to a contract that states he will be paid the same even while residing in the USA. If that does work, how would we state that on the affidavit? should I include a letter stating the circumstance, the questions often seem misleading to me while looking to fill it out properly. Thank you also for the receipt notice about our case, I will check to see if I can find a way to get an image of the check. I unfortunately could only afford singles, stupid me! and Since they haven't cashed it, it doesn't exist yet.

Also, we thought an I-130 especially with our(and many others ) delay would bring us to the point of being apart for a year or more. Would the I-129f get us together sooner than that? We are hoping of some chance for a Late Summer/Fall reunion. I keep reading that an I-130 can take two years or more? does that mean if there are issues, or can it take that long even if a pristine case is submitted?

I think a letter from the employer signed and on company letterhead will do as supporting evidence. Otherwise fill out the I-864 according to the instructions. They are very good, but you must pay close attention to detail.

I don't comprehend "could only afford singles". Are you really saying USCIS hasn't cashed the check for the filing fee yet?

Check the timelines here filtered by visa type and country but I doubt you're looking at more than about 9 or 10 months total for a CR1 from London. Others will correct me, if I'm wrong on that.




Of course, she COULD wait for the NOA1 to file but unless there's something weird going on with her I-130, every day that passes just makes filing the I-129F at all, less and less valuable. I already think it is too late to have any benefit.

Hello Tiane,

I didn't get the receipt for my 130 either. I filed in June. My check for the 130 got cashed though and that cashed check had the WAC for the 130 behind it. I ended up filing the 129F based on that.

Hope this helps.

Thank you to everyone for your replies, it is really keeping me positive and hopeful in this process. We thankfully received our NOA1 just this week and are thrilled even though the check hasn't been cashed yet. An immigration officer told me our I-130 should be approved by March or April at the latest at the California Service Center. I've been looking around at timelines for the NVC and the consulate. If I am correct, we are looking at hopefully being approved for Jeff to enter the US as a permanent resident somewhere around September. We have not yet filed the I-129f but are considering it just as back up if it happened to get processed quicker. Would the I-129f and AOS result in US citizenship for my husband sooner than waiting for a complete I-130? I see we might not gain any time but consider filling it out as it's free to do so if you've already applied for the I-130. Will having both petitions at the USCIS center cause delay for either of them? It's exciting to get the NOA1 and yet depressing at the same time to know there will be another good 8 months till I see my husband again.

I don't think the I-129f will help you at all at this point. The reason for the initial long delay is because a Visa number has to be assigned and you have to wait until one is available. It sounds like you finally have a number, so you're best bet is to wait it out. From experience, I know that the wait times are over exaggerated. From the time my husband and I filed our I-130 to his actual Visa interview was a total of 6 months, so try not to get discouraged.

Coming in on a K3 and then doing AOS would mean adding quite a bit of time before being able to apply for citizenship. When he enters the US on a CR1 visa (the visa he will get by following the I-130 path), he will be a permanent resident and the three-year clock starts right away. If he enters on a K3 visa and then adjusts status, the clock will not start until he has his green card, which can take months, sometimes even a year. Also, entering a K3 means he's not allowed to work or have an SSN until he has employment authorisation, which takes up to three months. I think that would leave him in a sticky situations being in the US and working even if it is for an overseas employer - maybe someone else can comment on that.

I will second pushbrk - sticking out the I-130 is definitely the best thing to do at this point. Trying to file the I-129f, even though the petition is free, will just cause unnecessary hassle really. At best, it's more forms to fill out that come to nothing. At worst, they could approve the I-129f first or simultaneously and forward only the I-129f to NVC, leaving you without the choice of continuing the I-130 without paying a large fee and filing the I-824, which takes months for approval (this is fairly standard practice now).

It will not save you time at this point, and it's possible that he could be in the US with the CR1 even sooner than September. Once the package is with the embassy in London, things move more quickly than they are now.

This is not really true. USCs do not have to wait for their spouses to be assigned numbers. The long delays are just due to the volume of petitions being processed and the fact that USCIS is a big, slowly turning beaurucratic (sp!) wheel. Also, since July of 2007, wait times for NOA2 have incresed to the large increase in petitions sent in right before the fee increase. 6 months from I-130 to visa interview would have been very fast before July 2007 and esstentially impossible now unfortunately unless the couple is living abroad and able to do direct consular filing.

Re-reading this post before posting it, it may come across as slightly harsh (and it is not the way it is meant to come across), but we are seeing this type of post much more frequently lately.

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I see a lot of posts recently where the USC has waited many months for an I130 receipt and then is either thinking about cancelling the whole thing and starting from scratch (so that they can file both petitions together), or is thinking of filing a K3 at this very late stage. I really cant understand the logic behind it, it is most confusing

If you have waited 3+ months for an I130 NOA1, you will potentially have to wait another 3 months for your I129F NOA1. Your I129F will not miraculously be entered into their system as soon as you send it to them, it will be at the bottom of the postroom pile that your I130 has already sat in. So this will make your I130 roughly 6 months old (by the received date, which USCIS are saying they will honour), by the time they even enter your I129F petition into their system. If USCIS happen to approve your I130 before your I129F is even looked at, let alone paired to your I130, then their current proceedure is to cancel the I129F petition entirely and lock you into the I130. Such a huge amount of time between sending the I130 & I129F make this very likely.

One thing to bare in mind, is that the CR1/IR1 journey and K3 journey (for the UK and most other countries - Canada is one of the exceptions to this, plus other embassies who treat the interview times differenty) have only a couple of months difference in length. That difference is made negligible by the fact you have already waited 3 months before filing the K3. The K3 only manages to save that extra time if they are either filed together or filed within a couple of weeks of each other (in the ideal world - pre-April 2007 - that is exactly the way the process worked).

Well, it may be due to miss information. I know that I read all the time online that I-130's for a spouse don't have as good of a chance at getting done sooner than the K3. I say this because it seems as though people wait sometimes 2+ years to get their I-130 sent to the consulate and approved for entry into the US. Every account of the K3 I've read seems to take a maximum of 9 months to fully approve. I am not concerned with how long the process is when my husband gets to the USA as we just want to be together. He also telecommutes so it is not a problem to not have a SS or work authorization right away as it continues from his source in the the UK. I don't see the harm in sending in a K3, as insurance if the I-130 takes years to process. They don't cancel your I-130 if your I-129f is approved to my knowledge, do they? or vice versa? I guess it might seem silly to send in the K3 so late in the game but I am looking to try every avenue possible to get my husband home with me. It can't hurt, is what I'm saying, I am not banking on it being faster but I am scared at reading how long some people with a spousal I-130 take. I am unsure if it takes years because there are circumstances or RFE's or if it's because some cases go quicker than others for no apparent reason.

Also, I asked earlier if my husband who lives in the UK, if he has a job in the UK that is documented to continue if that is proof enough for the affidavit of support but recently came across this at visa journey:

"The foreign fiance's income can NOT be counted on either affidavit (except when the foreign fiance has been
living with the fiance, married, and in the US for six months), however the foreign fiance's assets CAN be used if
they are readily convertible into cash. The USCIS is concerned ONLY about the US fiance's income/assets. (Note
that in other situations the foreign spouse's income MAY be counted on I-864 affidavit, such as foreigner in U.S.
on work or student visa who marries and then files for adjustment of status. IF the foreign spouse has LIVED IN
THE HOUSEHOLD of the U.S. spouse for at least 6 months, then his/her income CAN be counted. There are
NO situations involving fiance visa in which foreign spouse's income can be counted, as far as I know, when
interviewing for the fiance visa or when filing adjustment of status within 6 months of arrival in the US.)"

He does not have assets and I am a student with no income so am I right to still think that his income WILL count for the affidavit of support even though he hasn't lived in the USA for 6 months? he has only lived with me for 1 1/2 Months in the US and is currently in the UK. The only other option I am thinking is my mother does get disability retirement, would that count as a co-sponsor? Again, thanks for everyone's input, it's all quite confusing at times.

I130s do not take years to approve in normal cases (they only take 2-3 months longer than a K3 and the delays arise at the NVC stage, as explained in my post above, and at certain consulates of which the UK is not one).

Delays may be because of name checks, which happen with BOTH types of petition (see VJer GoGo, who I believe is now following the I130 but started with a K3, or VJer The_Dip_Sticks who is still on the K3 path). You can receive 6 week delays if RFE information is required and, should your I129F be paired with your I130, you face the possibility that both petitions will be approved using the I29F receipt date.

As for the financial information you are looking for, I suggest you browse or ask in the UK forum. I know I have seen this question posted in there previously and there were numerous answers to it.

Good luck on your journey, whichever route you decide to take

If the I-129f is approved first or simultaneously, they will, as I explained, hold back the I-130 and you will not have the option of continuing the I-130 without paying a new, high fee and filing a form and waiting for months. And at this point, the K3 will not save you much if any time on the process. So yes, it could potentially hurt. Also, the I-130 from start to getting the visa really shouldn't take more than a year for a UK citizen without a criminal history or problem with the medical. If you're reading about it taking two or more years, those are not standard cases and would involve problems like administrative processing (which is rare through London) or waivers, etc.