Hi, My name is Andrea. I'm a US citizen and I married April 26, 2006 to a Brazilian. My petition for the I-130 was recieved on June 3, 2006, and I'm still in the waiting process. My question is, should I wait it out for immigrant visa for my husband, or apply for a K-3? Other than the filing fee for the K-3, are there more fees after he comes here, or adjusting status, etc? Is it more complicated and expensive to get the K-3 than the I-130? I know the I-130 is a "stronger" visa, since it is an immigrant visa....I'm just already freaking out and missing him so much more than I thought...I just want him here! What to do.....?

maybe this will help:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...amp;page=guides

Yes, thank you, I've already read ALL of that....I'm really only asking personal opinions....Looking for surety that what I'm doing is the right way of doing it....or if there is a better, faster way....what to do to get on the ball.

HI Andrea!
I have a question.I cant understand why did you file the I-130 petition ?
Is your husband in the U.S right now? If your husband is not in the U.S right now ,you should guys file for the K-3 visa only
My best wishes.
Sincerely.

No, my husband is NOT in the US. He has never been to America. He is currently in his home country, Brazil. To file for a K-3, one would have to file FIRST for the 1-130, which you can wait for the completion, or file simultaneously for the K-3 to get the spouse to the US sooner, correct? Well, my question was should I just wait for the I-130 to be approved, or file for the K-3? Because I keep hearing and reading, that the I-130 is processing faster than the K-3 right now...

Hi Andrea,

The K3 allows your spouse to enter the US a bit quicker as a non resident alien and allows the both of you to attend the AOS interview within the US. You do however have to wait for your 130 to be approved first before you can file for your AOS. My 130 was approved a few weeks after my k3 was approved.
If you went with the 130, your immigrant visa interview will be held in the country of your husbands residence. I kinda wish I went through the 130 route, so I would still be working and making some money and just came in on a Permanent Resident status. But I chose the k3 because its been 7 years of being apart (relationship not married wise).

I waited 3 months for k3 to be approved. I entered US at the end of April 2006, filed my EAD, AOS at the end of May. I have my AOS interview on Aug 15 and still waiting for my EAD to be approved. Not sure how long the 130 route would have taken.

I'm not too sure about fees. It all depends on the forms the 130 uses for immigrant visa processing. There are always fees popping up left right and center and fees do go up annually i believe, for some forms. For the K3, my husband and I spent so far less than 1k.

Hope I was of some help. Good luck on your journey.





I do believe that the processing times depends also on your spouses country. Not sure but that is what I heard. You can only file your k3 once you received your first NOA from USCIS regarding your 130 petition. You have to file a copy of that with your application for a k3. I would apply for a k3 as well, nothing to lose but a few $$$. ) Every case is different. The choice is yours really.

I have recieved my first NOA, on June 3, 2006. I was under the impression that once I filed for the K-3, i couldn't cancel, even if the I-130 was approved first.....so, can i cancel the k-3 if the I-130 is approved first? and have I wasted too much time now, for filing the K-3, to make it even worth it? time and money wise?

That is right. If your 130 was approved first and your k3 is still pending, you can abandon your k3 and go the 130 route for an immigrant visa. You do have to inform uscis that you wish to abandon your k3 application. Money would be lost there cos they dont process refunds. Time wise, I think it would be worth it knowing that your spouse gets his k3 approved first and you get to reunite with him quicker. You would have an option between which route you wish to take. Money would be a waste if you're giving money to someone and they're not doing anything with your application. so yeah, money would be a waste if you went through both routes and chose one over the other.

Now, when you say "your 130 would have to be approved first", are you refering to the notice of application reciept thingy they send you in the mail...that basically just says, when then received your petition, and that you just have to wait now??? And being almost 2 monts into the waiting after the receipt notice, would it be too late or a waste of time/money (though time is of unequatable value) to start the K-3 visa when it's only taking approximately 6 months to approve the 130?

my apologies if i wasnt clear. if you received your first noa regarding your 130 already, which is what you've mentioned, you can start your k3 application right away. Even if your 130 is approved in 6 months, you still have to wait for an interview date to receive the immigrant visa for your spouse to enter the states. When they tell you that your 130 is approved, the NVC will mail you some forms to fill out. Then you fill more forms to mail back to them. Then from there I believe they set a date for the immigrant visa interview in your spouses contry of residence. That is the part where I"m not sure how long it takes to get an interview date.



Another clarification. When I said "130 approved first".. i was talking in relations to applying for AOS. Thats if you went through the k3 route and adjusting status to permanent residence (I-485) within the US.

With regards to applying for a k3, all you need is that first NOA you received for your 130 petition u just filed...the receipt 'thinggy..'797c.. so you can apply for k3 now if you wanted to.. the I-485 form is way down the road from now for you.

Sorry if I"m confusing you. I had to figure out a lot of stuff on my own when I started this paperwork with my husband. I'm glad that I didnt go through a lawyer or anything. Oh god.. Ive heard many nightmare stories. I think the lawyer route is even worst.

Also take into account that K-1's and K-3's are still going through a bit of delay because of IMBRA. Lately CR-1's are nearly as fast as a K-3, and you seem to already be aware of the added benefits of the CR-1. It doesn't cost that much more to file for the K-3, just keep in mind if the CR-1 gets to the embassy first the K-3 is automatically abandoned and the money you spent for applying is gone. If you can be a bit more patient CR-1 is the route to go, but if you want hubby home quicker worth it to apply for both and let them race to the finish line. Spend sometime in the Brazil forums and checking timelines from that area as well to get a better picture of a time frame both will take.

B

From reviewing the timelines of members on this site and various other sites, it looks like the I-130 is moving at a better pace than the K3 at this point. The IMBRA process screwed up the K3 big time and there seems to be a backlog that will take months to clearup.

Personal Opinion: I-130 is surely a better bet since it is an immigrant visa where your spouse enters as a permanent resident and gets a greencard. ........... K3 was suppose to re-unite loved ones quicker, but that looks like an oxymoron considering the huge backlog.

The AOS/EAD process after the K3 is also time consuming and its not worth it.

Thats just my 2 cents......

Hi, Andrea&Roberto,

Well this is our experience...
We were just going to apply for the CR-1 but then after waiting for over 5 months for the I-130 approval (NOA2), we decided to apply for the K-3. We should have applied as soon as we got the NOA1 but we didn't know things were taking so long at the CSC. (Also, I didn't start reading threads/immigration timelines here at VJ until January of this year.)

Our I-130 was approved the same day we got the NOA1 for the I-129F. And since then, both have been moving along quite well. We decided to carry on with both because we didn't know which would get to the consulate first. If we got the K-3 interview first, the plan was for me to go to that interview, and then come back to Canada for the CR-1 interview when it was scheduled.

Anyway, I received my K-3 interview letter in June (for an Aug. 8 interview). However, a couple of weeks ago, we learned that my CR-1 interview was also scheduled very recently (for Aug. 11). My husband was told that we should just show up for the CR-1 interview and that they made notes that we're going for that visa instead of the other one.

Check out the signature below to compare how the CR-1 vs. K-3 went for us. By the way, our I-129F petition was pre-IMBRA.

You could just try what we did and apply for both, then see what gets approved first. I don't know how long the AOS process takes. Oh, and if he gets here on a K-3, he'll need to apply for EAD if he wants to work right away.

Good luck!

Thanks to Andrea for starting this thread. I have the same question.

Thanks to all those who answered, especially interesting to see the varying experiences.

I am now encouraged to "throw a few more dollars" into the immigration lottery, and see if I can get my wife here faster on a K-3... sounds like it can't hurt!

definitely worth it to do both if you have the money. you never know when something will upset the process, such as the IMBRA did.

jessica and rob,

I-130 does not need to be approved before a K3 can apply to adjust status.

Yodrak

FYI, in order to qualify for a K-3 visa you must have an I-130 filed.

As for the OP, it really is a hit and miss thing. The NBC for the I-29F is working on the petitions from 3/5/06, so a little over 4 months processing. The CSC is working on I-130 cases from 1/16/06. Not quite a 2 month lead. Now depending on your consulate, the I-130 usually takes longer at the NVC, by about 4 months on average I would say. So all signs point to the K-3 as going faster. But of course when he gets to the US there are things he will have to do extra on the K-3 than on the CR1. I don't have as much experience with the K-3 after they get to the US, but hopefully I have given you enough to help you in your decision.

Actually yes it does because you need to provide the approval notice of your 130 with your AOS application. Its not the CR1 visa that needs to be approved, just the petition.

jessica and rob,

Actually no it does not. And one does not need to provide the I-130 approval notice with their I-485 - the instruction is a bit misleading in that regard. Ask all the people who submit I-130 and I-485 simultaneously.

Although I frequently caution that one person's experience does not necessarily mean that everyone will have the same experience, on this subject I will offer up that my K3 wife had no problem applying for adjustment prior to the approval of my petition.

(Of course an immigrant visa does not have to be approved first - if an immigrant visa application has been approved there will be no adjustment of status.)

Yodrak