I was seeing that the I-130 is approved and sent to NVC for forwarding to the appropriate embassy where an interview is scheduled. My confusion is where does the K3 fit into that? I mean if we had not filed I-129F, an interview date would still be generated. But since we did file I-129F, the embassy holds the K3 until after the interview (head is spinning). What happens then if the interview happens before the I-129F is approved?

Does the petition even get forwarded to the embassy before the I-129F is approved? *takes deep breath* I am just trying to see where these two things join or are dependand on eachother etc. We are so confused.

Orimai

It is a bit confusing. But, just to clarify,it's the K-3, not the I-130, that makes the pit-stop at NVC and a interview occurs shortly thereafter. The K-3 was created as a non-immigrant visa to allow your spouse to come to the US. At some point in time, I-130 approvals were taking years and spouses were being unceremoniously separated. The K-3 "fixed" that.

Now that your I-130 is approved, you will be assigned a case number by NVC. Check out the NVC forum for what to expect. You still have a few more months before an interview with a I-130 approval. You are on your way, but not quite finished, yet.

If your I-130 petition makes it thru NVC to the embassy in your home country before your I-129F gets approved and sent, then the I-129F for K3 becomes null and void, and you will have an interview for the immigrant (CR1) visa.

Sounds as though you're well on your way with the immigrant visa, so you can probably just forget about the K3 altogether.

Ok so the CR1 is default if the I-129F is not approved by the time an interview is generated..... It seems as thought it may be close, is there a cut off time for the I-129F approval? Or can it be approved anytime up to the interview?

Also, if she does go for CR1 because I-129F is not approved by then, when can I bring her to the US then?

Thank you
Orimai

Here is another corny question I have. Why do people even pursue a K3 visa when at the interview it is for CR1 by default? You cant come into the US without the K3 and you cant get the K3 until after the interview. Am I really confused? Or what sense is there in this? hehehe

Orimai

the CR1 interview will only happen if your I130 has gone through NVC and all the process there, ie the bills and fees and the rest of the Immigrant process that occurs there, this usually takes months ...
the K3 only stops off at NVC long enough to be issued a number then goes to the embassy, this usually takes a couple of weeks.
Sometimes.... the process at NVC is very very slow and the K3 visa interview will happen months before the I130 arrives at the embassy.. Hence why people do both, however if your case has flown through the NVC and both of your petitions are at the embassy at the same time or close enough... it is best to get the CR1.

I think from your post you might think that the K3 visa interview can be a CR1 interview by default... this is incorrect and will only happen if the above scenario is happening with both of your cases being at the embassy at the same time. If only your K3 is at embassy then thats what you will interview for. You can continue processing your CR1 and return later to the embassy for your CR1 interview, to save the hassle of applying for AOS here in the States.

Looking at your timeline, I think you were confused about when to file the I-129f. You filed it with the *approval* notice of the I-130, by which time you did not need it.

The I-129f is meant to be filed with the NOA1 (submission receipt) of the I-130, because it used to take 2-3 years for the I-130 to be approved. The I-129f/K-3 option let the foreign spouse come to the US sooner than 2-3 years.
In your case, your I-130 was approved relatively fast. The I-129f would likely not have been approved faster, so it would have only been an insurance policy against a long I-130.

At any rate, the K-3 will be nothing to do with you. Stay on top of your mailings to and from the NVC now; that is how you will be able to get to the interview more quickly.