I have been weighing my options as to the best way to file in my situation. Sorry if I am sounding like a broken record, but I would like to get some input from someone who has attempted to 'dance to the beat of a different drum.'

I married my Mexican spouse in Mexico 2.5 years ago. I plan on bringing her to the US in August. She will come in as a tourist when she comes (unless for some reason they decide she can't). I had planned on filing the I-130 only as we are going for the IR-1 visa, and I had planned on filing either DCF or just via my service center and having her be here meanwhile or at least come back and forth until our interview, which apparently is legal so long as you can prove ties upon request.

After doing some digging I believe that there is a way to file once she's here and (best of all) avoiding having to travel back to her country to interview. The idea would be to immediately file the I-130 once she's here and indicate that she is currently in the US. On the I-130 form there is a space to insert information regarding the beneficiaries’ I-94. We would then file the appropriate AOS documentation which is extensive, but all of the interviews and medical exam would take place in the US (there are forms for all of that).

I have been told by many that this method works and that they have done it for a spouse, but others say I'm dreaming. I called USCIS and laid this scenario out completely and asked what kind of risks or repercussions this would have and the answer was that the greatest consequence was the ultimate price of the AOS forms, which is admittedly pricey but hardly a slap on the wrist if thats the worst of it. In an instruction form I found on the USCIS website, it states that the sponsor may file for his/her alien spouse or child if the sponsor is a US Citizen and the beneficiary is in the US legally at the time of filing (see link):

http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/A1.pdf

I'm strongly considering filing this way and I am pretty confident that it will work. Even in the worst case scenario, I seriously believe that they'd be very reluctant to deport her as we have a toddler together who is a US Citizen. Let me know what you think, especially if you or anyone you know has tried filing this way, please let me know if they were successful or unsuccessful and what the outcome was.