Foreign citizen who marries a U.S. citizen outside the U.S. application for K-3 visa in country of marriage?

[Sharif Shakhshir 5]

According to https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/family/spouse-citizen.html 

 

"It should be noted that under U.S. immigration law, a foreign citizen who marries a U.S. citizen outside the U.S. must apply for the K-3 visa in the country where the marriage took place."

 

Has anyone else gone thru this and does anyone have perspective on processing time frames?

 

 

[geowrian 22,335]

K-3 is obsolete anyway. The USC/LPR should file an I-130 for the foreign spouse so they can obtain a CR-1. ETA: 12-14 months (assuming the petitioner is a USC since you mentioned K-3).

 

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

Note that the latest I-130 uses an I-130A instead of the G-325A.

Edited May 17, 2017 by geowrian

[aleful 1,905]

hi

 

K3 is obsolete, you will go through consular processing in your country

 

 

[Sharif Shakhshir 5]

Why do you say that K-3 is obsolete?  It is all over USCIS and State Dept websites...

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/family/spouse-citizen.html#5

 

[geowrian 22,335]

4 minutes ago, Sharif Shakhshir said:

Why do you say that K-3 is obsolete?  It is all over USCIS and State Dept websites...

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/family/spouse-citizen.html#5

 

It's still on the books and can be issued, but the overwhelming majority of the I-129Fs are either rejected or approved then administratively closed once they reach NVC. We're talking like ~180 issued all last fiscal year, versus hundreds of thousands of CR/IR based visas. K-3 was common back when a CR-1 was taking 2-3 years to process...now that they're taking "only" a year or so, they are no longer needed.

Edited May 17, 2017 by geowrian

[Sharif Shakhshir 5]

thank you for this...

do you have a reference or a link that talks about this concurrent process?

[sy1983 31]

Yeah. File for CR-1, why do K-3 as a non-immigrant when you can file as an immigrant with a green card. 
Processing time is not too bad right now and less headache in the long run.

[Sharif Shakhshir 5]

A little more detail...

 

My wife entered US last Nov 2016 on B1/B2 visitor visa.  At the time, we had no plans on relocating to the US but we had a change of heart while she was here and decided to marry while she was with me in US.  She left mid Dec 2016 and I filed I-130 in late Jan 2017.  

 

For family, cultural and religious reasons, I came to Jordan in April 2017 and we also did marriage there.

 

We are awaiting USCIS approval but now we are concerned that the I-130 > NVC process will result in a CR-1 visa after the time that her 2 sons need to be in the US in order to start school in mid August 2017 so this is why I am exploring all options for her to enter the US this summer.

 

When I read on the State Department website that "It should be noted that under U.S. immigration law, a foreign citizen who marries a U.S. citizen outside the U.S. must apply for the K-3 visa in the country where the marriage took place." from https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/family/spouse-citizen.html#5, it appeared that she MUST apply for K-3 in Jordan and I am also hoping this process would expedite her entry into the US.

 

Thanks for your time and guidance!

[geowrian 22,335]

18 minutes ago, Sharif Shakhshir said:

thank you for this...

do you have a reference or a link that talks about this concurrent process?

Here's the K-3 workflow: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k3flow

Guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k3guide

Just note that the timelines there are considerably outdated, and the I-130 is likely to be approved before the I-129F gets to NVC (thereby having the I-129F closed). When that happens, the I-130 remains open and the beneficiary can apply for the CR-1/IR-1 visa.

 

From I-130 filing to CR-1 visa in hand is about 12-14 months.

Guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

Note that the latest I-130 uses the I-130A instead of the G-325A (and the latest I-129F no longer uses the G-325A, too).

 

1 minute ago, Sharif Shakhshir said:

My wife entered US last Nov 2016 on B1/B2 visitor visa.  At the time, we had no plans on relocating to the US but we had a change of heart while she was here and decided to marry while she was with me in US.  She left mid Dec 2016 and I filed I-130 in late Jan 2017.  

Did you file the I-129F already? If not, your I-130 is likely to be approved long before an I-129F now. Even if so, the I-130 is still likely to be approved before the I-129F.

 

1 minute ago, Sharif Shakhshir said:

For family, cultural and religious reasons, I came to Jordan in April 2017 and we also did marriage there.

Marriage meaning a renewal of vows or religious ceremony, I hope. You cannot get legally married if you are already married (even to the same partner).

 

1 minute ago, Sharif Shakhshir said:

We are awaiting USCIS approval but now we are concerned that the I-130 > NVC process will result in a CR-1 visa after the time that her 2 sons need to be in the US in order to start school in mid August 2017 so this is why I am exploring all options for her to enter the US this summer.

That's correct...you will most likely end up with a CR-1 visa. Did you file I-130s for your 2 stepsons?

 

1 minute ago, Sharif Shakhshir said:

When I read on the State Department website that "It should be noted that under U.S. immigration law, a foreign citizen who marries a U.S. citizen outside the U.S. must apply for the K-3 visa in the country where the marriage took place." from https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/family/spouse-citizen.html#5, it appeared that she MUST apply for K-3 in Jordan and I am also hoping this process would expedite her entry into the US.

You married her within the US, though.

"If the marriage took place in the United States, the NVC will send the petition to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate that issues visas in the foreign-citizen spouse’s country of nationality."

[Sharif Shakhshir 5]

Okay... thanks again for the clarification.  If, as you say, that the process is dictate by the marriage that took place in the US, it looks like I must await the pending I-130 process.  The marriage in Jordan was fully legal and registered so I now I must hope that I didn't make a mistake by doing the marriage twice!

[milimelo 4,191]

What marriage certificate did you send with I-130? Hopefully it was the U.S. one. 

 

Highly unlikely kids kids will start school this summer, most likely next summer.