My wife and I are currently processing through our K-3 petition and should be entering the NVC phase. My wife read somewhere that there are some advantages to returning to her country of origin to complete processing of our I130s (heres and my step-son's age 4) after they enter on the K-3. Is there anything to this? What are the advantages/disadvantages over US AOS processing? Is anyone familiar enough with the process to outline a timeline for country of origin processing?
Thanks

dagobert,

In some cases the immigrant visa can be faster than AOS now that the USCIS SCs are processing I-130 as fast or faster than I-129f, and providing that the USCIS doesn't hold the I-130 because the I-129f has already been approved. Will depend on the backlog at the USCIS District or Sub office v. the backlog at the consulate.

Can also be less expensive than AOS, expecially if the person wants to make a visit back home anyway.

Yodrak

Thanks Yodrak. It seems that USCIS has approved I130s simultaneously with the I129F. Would there still be some advantage to filing the I824 and paying the $200 fee? Would it interfere with the K3 process at all? In other words does the option to enter on K3 and file AOS still exist after an I824 is filed?

dagobert,

No advantage that I can think of.

Yodrak

If the I130 and I129F got approved at the same time. The USCIS will send your I130 to the National Record Center (NRC) to be held. If you stated on your I130, line 22 that the I130 should be processed at your consular post, then you should not have to fill out the I824 and pay the $200 fee. This happened to me, so I called CSC to point this out, and they are in the process of retrieving the I130 from NRC and will forward it to National Visa Center (NVC) for me without extra forms or fees.

Regarding your other question, I don't see why it would interfere with the K3 process. The only thing that would happen is if your I130 gets to your consulate before you have your K-3 interview, then the consular will proceed with the I130 (CR-1/IR-1) interview instead of the I129F (K-3) interview.

How did you know they sent it to the NRC? Did they notify you somehow? It would be good not to have to pay the additional fees and file additional forms. Also, the USCIS system only shows one I130 approved and not the other so I doubt I will get all of the paper NOA2's necessary to file the I864's. How did you go about contacting the CSC directly? That is a tricky business.

I received my NOA2 for I-130 stating that it was approved and sent to NVC. 5 weeks later NVC still did not receive it so I decided to call CSC to check on this. Turns out the NOA2 they sent me was incorrect and that they actually sent it to NRC (due to my K-3 being approved).

Contacting CSC directly is a tricky business, but this is how you do it:
Call the USCIS line 1.800.375.5283
1 - for english
2 - for main menu
2 - to report an issue with your case
4 - regarding RFE
2 - RFE problems
1 - to enter your case number
[Enter your case number] - I think the case number is used to automatically direct the call to the appropriate SC
1 - if what you entered is correct - will give you some message about your case
1 - to speak to a CSC representative