Direct Consular Filing?

[llevy1 0]

I'm fully confused. My husband and I have begun the filing process and had a question. I am a US citizen-- he's British. (married in the US) We live here now but would like to get his paperwork together so we can live in the US in the future -- this could be 6 months to a year from now. We want a visa so he can apply for work in the US. Basically, we want the option to live and work in the US but do not need to do this right away as we're living in England now. When I say we want the option, we don't want to put an exact date on when we would move back to the US. It could be up to two years from now.

We have filed the I-I130 with the embassy and the visa petition has been approved by the US Embassy. We just sent the DS-230. Are we on the right track? How does this work with a K3 Visa--which seems to only be valid for two years. Do we need to apply for this or does the I130 do this? And will we need to interview in the US for this?

I just want to be sure we're doing the right thing.

Thanks so much,

L

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

Welcome to VJ!

You may want to take a long read of the guides and consider your options. If you have just returned the DS-230 back then your are about 65% of the way along to getting the visa for your husband. Most people would have only a month or so more to wait to have the visa in hand, at your stage. You are faced with 2 deadlines that are going to force you to either abandon this visa application or move sooner than you might be planning.

First, you I-130 is only good for a year. You will have to wait for someone a bit more knowledgable to come along to tell you if the date the year starts is when it's submitted or when it's approved, but either way, I believe that, best case scenario, the latest the visa can be issued is less than a year from the date it was approved.

The second deadline you face is that the visa once issued is only good for 6 months. You must enter the country during that 6 months, and take up permanent residence. Of course you can go before the 6 months are up, and come back. You should be able to do that for a short while, but if your husband wants to return to the UK for any significant period he will need to apply for a re-entry visa which is a chore in itself.

So option 1: abandon the process until you know within a 6 month window when you want to make the move.

option 2: contact the embassy and try to delay your interview as long as you can.

I hope that clears up some of your confusion

best of luck

[llevy1 0]

Hi,

Thanks so much for your quick reply. I think I spoke too soon-- we didn't return the DS-230 at this time.

However, if you are saying that that I130 is only good for a year-- then we must return the DS-230 within that time period as well.

I guess I will contact the embassy and speak to someone about this as soon as I can.

Thanks

L

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

Hi,

Thanks so much for your quick reply. I think I spoke too soon-- we didn't return the DS-230 at this time.

However, if you are saying that that I130 is only good for a year-- then we must return the DS-230 within that time period as well.

I guess I will contact the embassy and speak to someone about this as soon as I can.

Thanks

L

If you haven't returned the DS-230, then your in a better position. You can hang on to that for a couple of months. But your right, you should contact the embassy and let them know that you're not abandoning your visa application, you're just taking it slow.

The phone line to the embassy is often known as the 'extortion line' and the misinformation line' so be careful with the info they give you. Often the best course of action is to call the extortion line, say that you would like to send an email regarding your situation, and they give you a code to put in the subject line of your email. Then email with your query. The email response is not only more satisfactory that the misinformation line, but also, then you have it in writing.

Like I said, I'm not sure when the I-130 countdown starts ticking, anyone care to jump in?