All,

I'm a US citizen with Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) residing in NJ. If I get married in India in a couple of years, it seems that I have 1 of 2 ways to get my wife into the US:

- Apply for a K3 visa from the US
- Direct Consular Filing (DCF) from the New Delhi consulate

These are my Q's:

1. What are the times associated with the above procedures? I see that K3 would take 8-10 months. For the DCF, it would take 3-4 months, with the condition that I must be residing in India for atleast 6 months - is this true?

2. I do not mind being in India for 6 months (or longer) for the DCF. However, what will I need to show in the I-864 affidavit of support? I do not own any home in the US, nor do I have any immediate relatives here.

3. Being an OCI, will that help in waving off the 6 months DCF requirement, or work to my advantage in any other way?

From my Q's, it should be very apparent that I'm not at all keen on waiting for a year, by applying for a K3 from here in the US.

Suggestions awaited!

For Delhi it usually is 3 months stay in India rather than 6 months, but do make sure you do show residential ties with India rather than just a tourist visa. I am not sure how OCI works, so can't say much.

And about your affidavit of support, well that will be when you are at the last stages of the visa process. You don't need to own a home, just make sure your last 3 years of taxation are above the 125% of poverty line. Here is the link for that --> http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/immigrant.../info_1327.html

And also since you are talking about something a year or 2 later, so do realise that processing rules do change time to time.

Do read more and analyse all the steps, there is fiance visa also which is the quickest, and there is CR-1 visa also, which is the slowest but it has its own advantages.

I see that for the IR1 visa, the couple has to be married for atleast 2 years. Also, I'm not sure I can apply for the IR visa while I'm residing in India - s this possible?

I'm not aware of the timelines associated with the IR/CR visas. It would be terrific if you could (or anyone else) can give me a sense of the times involved. I have browsed several forums, but most of the information available is for K visas and DCF.

Also, regarding the affidavit of support - you mean it would suffice if I had worked for 3 years in the US prior to applying for the visa? This conflicts with what visajourney.com quotes:

"A US Citizen living overseas that wishes to complete the I-864 Affidavit of Support for their spouse (as part of the DCF process to get an Immigrant Visa) will be required to have a US home/domicile to qualify as a Sponsor for the I-864. In addition to having a US domicile the US Citizen must have continued employement when they move/return to the US. Per the instructions on the I-864, the US Citizen and their spouse's assets may be used to qualify if the income requiment is not met. In many cases however a couple may need to get a joint sponsor to successfully fulfill the requirements on the I-864".

CR-1---> Close relative visa, IR-1--->>Immediate relative visa.

For CR-1 you don't need to be married for more than 2 years, you can be married the same day and apply, DCF and CR-1/IR-1 does the same thing. The only difference is that, with CR-1 your spouse will get 2 years of green card upon arrival in USA, where as with IR-1 yoru spouse will get 10 years of green card upon arrival. Now with CR-1, you will have to do further procession around the 21st month of your spouse being in USA, no extra fee, but you will have to fill up a few forms (I am not that educated about it because we have been married for more than 3 years, so that doesn't really apply to me)



No one can quote you a right timeline, but do say around 8 months to a year time for IR-1, but things are much faster now compared to last year because of the July backlog.



Let me try to explain it as much as I can, say you leave for India to get married on August 2009, and you apply for your wife's DCF at around November 2009, given that it usually takes 3 months time for getting an interview date with DCF, say she gets her interview date around February 2010, so during her interview you will have to submite the tax transcripts of 2006, 2007 and 2008 (past 3 years, which you did work in USA, till July 2009). Now, god forbid something happens and your case gets delayed, and she gets her interview around April of 2009, then you will have to provide them with 2007, 2008 and 2009's tax transcripts.

So basically since yours is a short trip(compared to others who live for years in their spouses country), so do plan it before hand. Also it never hurts to make sure you have a joint sponsor.

About domicile, you can use any of your friend's address or if you have your rented house/apartment still on lease then you can use that also. Domicile is just so that they can send you the green card once you and your wife arrives in USA.

Hope it helps, do read the guides and make a wise decision.

Best of luck

Hello!

I am not sure about all the information that the previous poster mentioned as I did not read it super carefully - a storm is headed my way right now so I need to get off the computer soon.

A couple of things:

1) Things could change drastically in a couple of years as far as Immigration rules are concerned! Keep an eye out for those changes in requirements at all times - just a few years ago it was 30 days stay in India required, then 90 and now (while it seems a little flexible depending upon your personal circumstances, for me it was 6 months stay in India before I was qualified to apply for the I-130 for my hubby.)
2) Once you have filed the I-130 application in Delhi (that is the current requirement, no matter where your future spouse lives in India) you can leave India, re-establish residence and job in the US and use that information when filling out things like the I-864. Yes, the Consulate will be looking at your past 1040's, but what they really want to know is if you can support the spouse RIGHT NOW - meaning you either have assets galore (over $52,500 THIS YEAR) or a job that will pay you over the 125% of the poverty line for the current year, right now, with recent pay stubs... The I-864 form is complex and a pain in the butt, but it can be sorted out.

Good luck!

if you have problem to have ur tax transcripts u can mail the IRS field an application and ur tax transcripts will be mail to the address u field
this is just to help everyone that they'r wifes/husbands forget to bring it
visit
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=110571,00.html
field the application and read the guide
love u all now i have a solution wooooooooooooooooooooohoooooooo