Hello Everyone! I have a question concerning a visa for my husband (as of one and a half weeks!). I am American, but my husband is Russian. He lives in Moscow, and I am currently studying in Canada. We got married here in Moscow, but only the ZAGs wedding. We are planning a second, church wedding in New York for next May. That will be the one for my family and friends. I have already reserved a reception venue and made arrangements with the pastor and the church for next May, so everything is set--except for my husband's visa. He has never been to the States, or out of the country in general, except to Turkey. He applied for a tourist visa once, but was denied. After the wedding, we are coming back to Moscow for one year, because I will be doing my graduate coursework in Mosocw. But after that year, we are planning on moving to the States. So the problem is, what type of visa should he apply for? With an immigration visa you have to spend more than half of the year in the United States, but we are coming back to Moscow after the wedding. So I was thinking that he needs a tourist visa, but I have heard that he is not guaranteed a tourist visa just because he is married to an American citizen, and that they may be suspicious that he will try to stay there on a tourist visa. I am really worried about the fact that he may be denied after I have made all the wedding arrangements there already. He really just needs to go over for 1-2 months, that's it. So is a tourist visa the best way to go? Besides the necessary documents, I guess I write him the invitation, and also I will try to provide a copy of the reception contract and a letter from the pastor. Unfortunately, I don't have any documentation from the graduate program yet, that would prove I'm coming back to Moscow. Has anyone had a similar situation? Any advice would be helpful, concerning type of visa, approximate processing times, how to improve his chances, and what's the possibility of him getting turned down?
Thanks a lot!
Alexandra

Hello Alexandra,i guess it would be very hard to find such type of visa for your husband,since they always conect this to the possibility that he will stay there,and even if in Russian for some reaosn he could get this visa,there is not a garantee that in the airport he will be allowed to stay in your country,but you could try,who knows may be this day in teh embassy will work a nice person who could understand your situation...

Oleksandra.

The possibility of the tourist visa being denied is unfortunately very high. Have you made any wedding arrangements yet? I suggest looking into the requirements for him to visit Canada and perhaps have the church wedding there in a border city close to your relatives.

Yes, the thing is, I have made all the arrangements! The reception venue is booked, the arrangements with the church and pastor have been made! Money has been paid and contracts signed! This is not looking good now, I don't know what to do! Any other suggestions?

Oh dear... when is the date? Sometime in May? That may be enough time to get a K3 visa if the tourist visa is denied, but with the K3 he'd have some complications with going back to Moscow for a whole year, but I don't think those complications are insurmountable. I'm not sure about the timelines for a K3 for the embassy in Russia though. Something that would help the tourist visa application is proof of your studies in Moscow, especially if you've already been accepted somewhere and paid some tuition fees.

Yes, the wedding date is May 18th. You know, I was thinking that maybe the K3 is the way to go. My only questions then would be concerning financial issues. Since I am a student, I do not own property, and I do not have a huge bank account--i.e., I cannot prove that I can support my husband in the United States. We would be living with my parents at first, and then find a place to rent--do you know if it is possible to use my parents' financial information to support him? And also I did not do my taxes last year becasue I was living and studying in Canada and therefore did not work in the U.S., and also because I was a dependent of my parents (before I got married, that is, which was just over a week ago). Any insight on these issues? If that can be worked out, then maybe I should skip the tourist visa and we should just try for the K3 and later apply for the exemption, because unfortunately at this point I have no documents proving my future studies in Moscow.

Yeah, sounds like starting asap on the K3 is the way to go. You'll need a joint sponsor - hopefully your parents would be willing and able.

When you convert your earnings in Canada to USD, is it more than the threshold before having to filing? If so, you'll need to backfile. www.irs.gov is a good site and calling their helpline is surprisingly helpful. No matter where a USC lives in the world, if they earn over the filing threshold they're supposed to file a tax return. Income up to $82,000 something can be excluded so you don't have to pay any taxes just file. It doesn't matter if you were a dependant of your parents - if you earned over the threshold, you still have to file. Call the IRS though - they'll help you sort it out.

All the financial stuff can be worked out later once the I-129f is approved and being processed at the NVC. I would get the I-130 and the I-129f in the mail ASAP. Have your husband print off the G-325a form (all four) sign them and send them to you quickly. That's all he needs to do at this point though I believe.

EDIT - Do you have the marriage certificate? If it's Moscow, get him to mail a copy to you quickly.

I would consider involving yoiur Senators in this, but not to count on them. Your faith in booking the hall and committing to those arrangements is staggering. I hope all your money isn't committed, yet. I'd stall on that as much as possible.

When you do settle in in Russia to your year of study I would IMMEDIATELY file the papers at the Embassy to return permanently to the US. God knows how long it will take, IF they approve it at all.

Margot--I cannot thank you enough! You have been so helpful answering all of my questions so quickly! Now, a few more details: I am still in Moscow right now, and will be here until August 28th. What can I do from here, without being in the United States? I only today decided to go the immigration route, so I'm kind of lost! We need to apply for the I-130 before the K3, is that correct? And what is the I-129f? Are those the first two things that need to be done? Is there a section of this site that explains the process step by step? And can I do anything here , or do I need to wait until I go to the U.S.? Can I have my parents prepare something for me? As for the marriage certificate, should I have the original in the United States, or should my husband keep it with him here in Moscow? And what is the G-325a? Sorry for bombarding you with questions. Thanks in advance! p.s. Regarding taxes, I did not make money over the threshold anywhere, so I guess if I call the IRS they could maybe just provide me with some document that would say that?

Here is a link for you, to the VJ guide on I-130. Filing the I-130 is what you need to do ASAP. It will get your man in line for receiving either greencard or K3. I believe both GC and K3 should allow your husband to travel for your wedding ceremony and then out of the US.
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...page=i130guide1

The I-130 is the first thing you need to do and it can be done from Moscow. In order to prepare I-130 package you need to translate your marriage certificate into English (easy to do in Moscow, your husband will help to find this service).
Call the embassy - see if they allow you to file I-130 with them directly, this would be a faster route. If not, you will have to mail I-130 to USCIS office in the USA. Considering that you are going back to US in August, you may find it cheaper and faster to prepare the whole package and then mail it from the US the day when you arrive to the US. Because Russian mail is either expensive or sucks.

You can worry about taxes, your parents signing on his financial support and I-129F (application for K3 visa) after you mailed your I-130 out.

Hope this helps.

Rika

Thanks so much, Rika! You have helped a great deal, just what I needed!

Glad to help.

Are you just visiting in Moscow? If you have any type of resident visa, you may be able to file directly with the US embassy in Moscow. If you are just a visitor though, you wouldn't be able to do that.

You can prepare the package while you're still in Moscow as long as you have access to a printer. I would leave the original marriage certificate with your husband and keep some copies with you. The original will need to be brought to his interview. If like someone else says the post in Russia is not fast or reliable, you are probably better off waiting to send it as soon as you've returned home.

The guides here are good. Follow the K3 guide. The I-130 is a petition for an alien relative to apply for an immigrant visa, and you will use the I-129f petition for your husband to be able to apply for the K3 visa (which a non-immigrant interim visa that should be processed faster than the immigrant visas). The G-325a is the bio form about you both. It's explained in the guide. The guide will tell you which forms you need. Here's a link to all the most up to date forms - http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

So your next step is to prepare the I-130 and the I-129f and gather the documents that need to be submitted with them. Get it altogether in a package to be mailed when you land in the US. The US money order for the filing fee ($355) will be easier in the US - maybe your parents could do that part for you now.

Do everything you can to do it as quickly as possible. You are still shaving it very close and it's possible he won't have the K3 in time. The regional folder here for Russia should have some more help specific to the K3 process through the embassy in Moscow. Good luck!

You welcome
Just so you know - your choice is either K3 visa or GC (greencard). I-130 is the form to file for GC. I-129F is the form to file for K3 and it requires that you first file I-130 and provide a receipt from USCIS from filing it (so called NOA1) as a part of I-129F package. In reality this means that you will only be able to file I-129F about 3-4 weeks after you file for I-130. Sometimes, USCIS is really slow with sending you NOA1 or just loses it somewhere and then you can not file I-129F for months!..
Lately people report that spousal I-129Fs take longer to get approved than I-130. Up until March, K3 visa route was faster than GC. Now it seems that GC is faster. This can change again, so sometime when your I-130 is filed and you can relax a little bit, you can check VJ timelines and decide whether it is worth to you to file the I-129F.
Another way to send your prepared I-130 package, is the famous "Russian express". It is an informal post service provided by travelling Russians
Ask you husband, if he has any friends who go to the US soon, scientists are a good bet, or people with relatives in the US. They would likely agree to take your prepared package and mail it for you from the US.
If not, those are also the people who can likely suggest a more reliable and fast postal service than regular Russian mail. It will cost you an arm and a leg, but it is still surely less than losing all your wedding investments.
Three stages of the process you will go through with I-130 (GC) if you have to file in the US:
USCIS - about 3.5 - 4 months average
NVC - 2-3 months average
Russian embassy - I am guessing 3-4 months.
That is if there are no complications.
So, as you see you are really cutting it close. If you can talk US embassy in Moscow into allowing you to file I-130 with them directly, the whole process should be less than 6 months. Tell them about wedding arrangements, cry in the office of the chief official - whatever it takes.

Rika

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I don't know too much about this process--what's the difference between a K3 and a GC? I thought that eventually my husband would get a green card...So I called the American embassy in Russia, and they directed me to immigration services, where I was told that only American citizen residents of Moscow could file the I-130 in Moscow. Is there hope that I could talk someone into it though, or are they pretty strict about that? Right now the plan was to try to prepare the I-130 by beginning of next week and send it DHL or UPS to the States. But, another hassle is that first I have to send it to my parents so they can put a money order in, and then have them send it in. Unfortunately I don't know anyone going to the States in the near future, and I don't think I could find someone that fast. But I'm really worried about the time constraint, any other suggestions to speed up the process, anyone? Oh yes, and about the proving the bonafide marriage thing--how am I supposed to do that? We don't own property together or have joint bank accounts...does the "other documents" proving you're married part include pictures and things like that? Or do we need to try to get friends to sign something in front of a notary public?