Are they going to let me marry my Taiwanese girlfriend?

[rmncm 0]

I would like to cue in a response here if I may, If the op hasn't notice or been told, vermont is slow on cr1's but really fast on K1's from what I have seen. There are a great many people that have been waiting 6 plus months or more (some over a year) for Vermont to give a noa2 for their I-130. This is also somethbing you should take into consideration.

[Todd-Leah 0]

Leah, I really appreciate you taking the time to write all of this out. I actually had to read it three or four times to grasp what it laid out.

I still have some questions, if you don't mind.

These are the options you have:-

Unmarried

- you file I-129F petition with the USCIS service center, Vermont or California, depends on where's your residence in US.

- The I-129F petition results in a K1 visa for your fiancee to enter US with the intention to marry you within 3 months.

-She then has to adjust status to get work authorization and green card.

So, for instance, if my parents' house is my permanent residence in the US, I can just mail all my stuff to Vermont, and they'll send all the resulting documents to my parents? Do you have any idea how long the above would take.

I should note here, that I talked to my parents today, and, contrary to what I mentioned before, they said that if we have to get married here first, then that's fine. They just want us to get back to the US as easily and quickly as possible.

For I-129F for fiancee, you mail to Vermont ot Calirfonia service center.

For I-130, you mail your petition to the Chicago lockbox address, it will be forwarded to Vermont or California depends on your residence.

Yes, they will mail all the notices to your parent's residence if that's what you have on file as "mailing address".

Married

- you can file I-130 petition with the ATI (if you qualify) which is DCF. That will get your wife a CR1 to enter US. She will receive the green card in the mail a few weeks after the visa being activated. She can apply SSN, driver license and can work immediately.

You mention "a few weeks after the visa is activated." How long does it take for the visa to be activated?

A visa is a document for entering the US, when she uses it to enter the US, it's activated.

-if you do not qualify for DCF, you file I-130 with USCIS service center.

-you have a choice of filing I-129F after you receive the notice of action for I-130.

- Filing I-130 alone gets her on a CR1 path.

- Filing I-130 and I-129F gets her on a K3 path.

- K3 was started as a non immigrant visa for spouse who has a pending immigrant visa to shorten the separation period, but for many countries, K3 and CR1 do not vary much in time.

- With CR1, she gets green card, can work and SSN within a few weeks.

- With K3, need to file for work authorization and adjustment of status (AOS), she will get green card when AOS completed, which can take months. Choose K3 path carefully, it cost more, involve more paperwork and your spouse won't be able to start work immediately.

You do not need to be in the US to file any of this, but you need to maintain US domicile.

It's advisable to have a US address and a reliable person to receive correspondences from USCIS, so you can avoid delay and uncertainties of International mailing system.

Leah

Leah (or anyone else), if you were me, which of the above paths would you take? Which one do you think would be best, taking both time and money into account? (putting just a little more weight on the "time" side)

I'm really looking for the fast way to get back and settled in the US, even if it costs a little more or if it means that my fiance can't work right away. If it costs an arm and a leg, though, we'll have to settle for a slower method.

Vermont is currently fast for I-129F fiancee petition but has a backlog for I-130 petition.

(1) File the I-129F for fiancee a.s.a.p, hopefully by the time you are about to leave in Nov/Dec, the petition is approved.

(2) File with ATI in Taiwan (you need to find out and be sure you are qualify)

First option is fast, but then you continue to deal with USCIS and it cost more in the long run. Need more paperwork for work authorization and green card.

Second option is fast, cost less and no paperwork needed for work authorization and green card. You do not have to deal with USCIS except when it's time to remove condition on her 2-year conditional green card.

But then, you need to meet the DCF requirements in Taiwan.

The third option is to file with USCIS service center, I-130 or both I-130 and I-129F, Vermont has a very severe backlog for this. So, I would skip this option if I am in your shoes.

[rmaguir 0]

So, I'm sitting around on my Sunday, trying to sort all of this stuff out.

I'm looking at the stuff for the K-3 visa (http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k3k4visa-outline.html). Let me see if I understand this:

1) we get married here in Taiwan

2) I send the I-130 info to USCIS in Vermont

3) They'll send the receipt (the I-797)to my parents' house in South Carolina, which they will send to us in Taiwan

4) I then file an I-129F visa "using the I-797 receipt as 'proof of filing an immigrant petition'." [Why? I thought the I-129F visa was a fiance visa. Also, what's this mean: "There is no fee for petitions for K-3 status based on an immigrant petition filed by the same U.S. citizen.]

5)"When the petition is approved, it is sent to the NVC for processing and then the appropriate Consulate is notified and processing for the K3/K4 non-immigrant visa is begun, including medical, police check, I-134 affidavit of support, and Consular interview. The fee will be the same as the current K1 fiance(e) visa."

6)My then-wife will receive her K-3 visa and can come to the US

7) In the US, she will apply for adjustment of status (I-485) [Does this really costs $1,010? Did I miss something?]

Is this correct?

Is there a place that outlines all of the fees for CR1, K-3, etc.?

Is there a way to have an idea of what the time involved in each step of these procedures is?

[Todd-Leah 0]

So, I'm sitting around on my Sunday, trying to sort all of this stuff out.

I'm looking at the stuff for the K-3 visa (http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k3k4visa-outline.html). Let me see if I understand this:

1) we get married here in Taiwan

2) I send the I-130 info to USCIS in Vermont

3) They'll send the receipt (the I-797)to my parents' house in South Carolina, which they will send to us in Taiwan

4) I then file an I-129F visa "using the I-797 receipt as 'proof of filing an immigrant petition'." [Why? I thought the I-129F visa was a fiance visa. Also, what's this mean: "There is no fee for petitions for K-3 status based on an immigrant petition filed by the same U.S. citizen.]

5)"When the petition is approved, it is sent to the NVC for processing and then the appropriate Consulate is notified and processing for the K3/K4 non-immigrant visa is begun, including medical, police check, I-134 affidavit of support, and Consular interview. The fee will be the same as the current K1 fiance(e) visa."

6)My then-wife will receive her K-3 visa and can come to the US

7) In the US, she will apply for adjustment of status (I-485) [Does this really costs $1,010? Did I miss something?]

Is this correct?

Yes, you are correct.

Is there a place that outlines all of the fees for CR1, K-3, etc.?

Is there a way to have an idea of what the time involved in each step of these procedures is?

K3 was originally introduced in 2001 (I think) to shorten the separation for married couples. While waiting out for the I-130 to get approved, the spouse of USC gets a K3 to enter US and then adjust status.

The whole idea of filing I-129F for spouse is: you must have a pending I-130. That's why there's no fee for filing a I-129F along with I-130.

But, along the way, there is some misunderstanding among this bureaucrats, they now don't approve I-129F until your I-130 is approved, which defeats the purpose of its original intention.

Yes, it's confusing, married couples use the same I-129F to file for K3, the unmarried couple use the same form to file for K1, that's because they never get around to come out with a new form.

Currently, for many countries, the time difference between K3 and CR1 is probably 2-3 months.

As you pointed out, there is $1010 for adjustment of status for K3 holder. Another big disadvantage is you continue dealing with inefficient USCIS for work authorization, green card and remove condition. She cannot work until her work authorization is approved.

For CR1, the total cost is less, she gets a visa to enter US, receives a 2-year green card in the mail few weeks after her entry to US and can work immediately. The next time you deal with USCIS is when it's her turn to remove condition on her 2-year green card to get a 10-year one.

I have seen several threads on VJ that outline the cost for both CR1 and K3, do a search on VJ, I am sure you can pull up quite a few.

Leah

[rmaguir 0]

UPDATE:

I emailed AIT and explained my situation in more depth, clearly stating several times that I had only been here for two months this time, but that I could prove that I had been here for a total of 20 months of the last 24. The response said that they view all petitions on a case by case basis, which is kind of uplifting to me, because they didn't say "no." Am I wrong to think that there's still a chance that my 15 months before will be able to count for DCF?