Hi Friends!

We just found out that we should have filed a I-130 for my wife's daughter (both in the Philippines) along with the I-130 we filed for mom. That means another 2-4 months of waiting for my step-daughter's I-130 to be processed to catch up with her mom's.

So her mom's I-130 is sitting at the NVC waiting for me to submit the I-864 (support docs) and pay the $380 for the DS 230. However I am told to wait on this until the I-130 for my step-daughter gets to the NVC too.

Here's the question. Should we just not submit the I-130 for my step daughter since Laguna Niguel is processing our I-129F at this moment? If they received the paperwork around July 2007, isn't the processing time 180 days from then meaning they should have it approved or disapproved by February 2008? Would it be faster and easier to wait for the decision on the I-129F or submit the I-130 for my step-daughter and follow that process until it reaches NVC too?

I'm sorry if this might sound a bit confusing but the reason we are waiting to file the I-130 is that her daughter may need to get a revised birth certificate and that might take some extra time too!

Thanks for any advice and help in advance!

Scott in AZ

The I-129F will probably ultimately be faster but far more expensive. If you decide money is more important than time, then forget the I-129F and wait for the daughter's I-130. Alternatively, you could continue with your wife's CR1 visa track and leave the daughter behind until hers catches up. I doubt you want to do that.

If time is more important than money, then don't respond to NVC on your wife's I-130. Just wait for the I-129F.

Can you please give me some idea of the additional cost associated with the I-129F? Time IS actually more important than money BUT I would like to have an idea of how much more money and how soon I would need to pay this money?

Thanks so much for your help!

Scott in AZ

The additional cost through the AOS process is about $730 more, per person going the K3 route. The AOS fee is $1010 plus a visa fee of $100 each, compared to the $380 each for the CR1/CR2. That doesn't take into account the several months of potential earnings lost while waiting for work authorization.

$1010 for moms and $600 for anak for AOS alone.

Huh? "anak"?? We don't know the age of the child. I think it's a bit less for AOS if the child is under 14. You can check the link to the new fees at the top of the list of forums.

we went through the same process...in that we did not realize the kids' had to have their own I-130s. We got all messed up on derivative status cause we also filed the I-129.
Anyway, we followed through on the I-130. My petition was months ahead of the kids. I actually had an interview scheduled at the consulate when my kids were still at NVC. I had their NOAs but no approval. We had not received the requests for I-864 or DS-230 for them yet. On the USCIS website, they were linked to me. Long story short, with many calls to the consulate, emails back and forth....the kids' petitions were fast forwarded and they interviewed at the same time as me. The consulate accepted all documentation that the petitions required and we paid all outstanding fees there as well.

My suggestion is to take care of the birth certificate problem (if there is one). I don't know but don't you need it for the I-129 anyway? Then decide to send in the I-130 for the step-daughter if your 1-129 is not skipping along.
There is a true benefit to the CR1/CR2 if you decide to wait besides the savings in fees and it was real nice to have an almost 2 year break from anymore immigration paperwork.