I-130 petition for wife

[maisflocon 0]

Hi, all

I am very happy to have found this site. Right now I am preparing to file for I-130 for my wife.

I got my US citizenship this year, right now my wife and I are residing in

Canada as Canadian permanent residents.

My goal is to be with my wife as much as possible and get her to states as soon

as possible so we can settle down and reduce our expenses (such as rent in two

countries)

I am unsure of how to proceed further:

1) Should I do a direct consular filing or file the I-130 within the US?

2) Should I file for a K-3 for her? Is that the fastest way to get her to the US

or there is another way?

3) I read on the Department of State website that "The embassy or consulate

where you, the spouse of an American citizen, will apply for a K-3 visa must be in the

country where your marriage took place." We are both from different countries, and it would

be a lot of hassles for me to apply at the country where we married (my country of origin).

Is K-3 out of the question then?

Please advice. Thanks.

[payxibka 10,044]

Hi, all

I am very happy to have found this site. Right now I am preparing to file for I-130 for my wife.

I got my US citizenship this year, right now my wife and I are residing in

Canada as Canadian permanent residents.

My goal is to be with my wife as much as possible and get her to states as soon

as possible so we can settle down and reduce our expenses (such as rent in two

countries)

I am unsure of how to proceed further:

1) Should I do a direct consular filing or file the I-130 within the US?

2) Should I file for a K-3 for her? Is that the fastest way to get her to the US

or there is another way?

3) I read on the Department of State website that "The embassy or consulate

where you, the spouse of an American citizen, will apply for a K-3 visa must be in the

country where your marriage took place." We are both from different countries, and it would

be a lot of hassles for me to apply at the country where we married (my country of origin).

Is K-3 out of the question then?

Please advice. Thanks.

If you are a legal resident of Canada for at least the past 6 months, you may qualify to submit the I-130 petition directly to the consulate and avoid the stateside USCIS process...

[YuAndDan 153]

1) DCF if possible, requires 6 months residency in foreign country, but is is the quickest method of getting a CR-1 visa.

2) K-3 cannot be filed for through DCF. Note for Canada K-3 may save you a month if processing I-130 through USCIS service center in the states, but K-3 will COST you in time and $$ after entry to the USA, K-3 is NOT work auth so cannot work, get SSN or even apply for a Drivers license, until they have EAD or a green-card. EAD can take 90 days or more to get.

CR-1 get green-card upon entry to the USA and is work authorized.

3) K-3 can be interviewed for either at consulate in country of residence or country of marriage. CR-1 needs to interview in contry of residence.

Again if considering K-3 think carefully about it. CR-1 and K-3 tend to take about the same time, K-3 may save you about a month, however the K-3 has the added pain of adjustment of status, and it NOT a work authorized visa, so also has the added period of limbo waiting for EAD to be able to do things like take a job, get SSN, etc...

For the most part CR-1 tends to take a bit longer than K-3 to get if you prepare for NVC when they request I-864 fee, and Visa fee, as well as documents requested by NVC. In many cases the CR-1 petition reaches the consulate just before K-3 interview, which causes K-3 to get dropped and the interview becomes a CR-1 visa interview.

K-3:

I-130: $355

I-129F: NONE

Consulate: $131

AOS: $1010

($1496)

CR-1

I-130: $355

NVC I-864: $70

NVC Visa fee: $400 ($355+$45)

($825)

I see many posts from K-3 holders stating, "Wow this sucks, I am stuck at home because I don't have EAD, DL, etc, or I am having hard time getting added to bank accounts because of NO SSN." K-3 has a 90 day or longer period of limbo while waiting for EAD or Green-card.

K-3 was developed at a time when CR-1 was taking much longer that today, NVC has greatly streamlined the CR-1 process to the point where K-3 becomes irrelevant.

[maisflocon 0]

Thank you for your useful info, I am very impressed (as I have not gotten info like this before).

We have only been in Canada as permanent residents for 2+ weeks, so we don't meet the 6-month requirements. Prior to this, we did stay in Canada on temporary residents visa (work visa) for about 2 years up 'til 3 months ago.

Does the residence requirement include only permanent residents?

[Reba 2]

And if you are not currently residing in Canada, you may even lose your LPR status. Being a permanent resident kinda requires that one actually be resident.

[YuAndDan 153]

Thank you for your useful info, I am very impressed (as I have not gotten info like this before).

We have only been in Canada as permanent residents for 2+ weeks, so we don't meet the 6-month requirements. Prior to this, we did stay in Canada on temporary residents visa (work visa) for about 2 years up 'til 3 months ago.

Does the residence requirement include only permanent residents?

If you did not have a break between permanent and prior temp residence then perhaps this may satisfy the consulate for DCF filing.

[maisflocon 0]

Thank you for your useful info, I am very impressed (as I have not gotten info like this before).

We have only been in Canada as permanent residents for 2+ weeks, so we don't meet the 6-month requirements. Prior to this, we did stay in Canada on temporary residents visa (work visa) for about 2 years up 'til 3 months ago.

Does the residence requirement include only permanent residents?

If you did not have a break between permanent and prior temp residence then perhaps this may satisfy the consulate for DCF filing.

There was a break between temp and permanent residence. Should we consult US Consulate in Canada about this requirement? Does that mean our only option is to file the I-130 within the states? Please advice.

[pushbrk 12,104]

Thank you for your useful info, I am very impressed (as I have not gotten info like this before).

We have only been in Canada as permanent residents for 2+ weeks, so we don't meet the 6-month requirements. Prior to this, we did stay in Canada on temporary residents visa (work visa) for about 2 years up 'til 3 months ago.

Does the residence requirement include only permanent residents?

If you did not have a break between permanent and prior temp residence then perhaps this may satisfy the consulate for DCF filing.

There was a break between temp and permanent residence. Should we consult US Consulate in Canada about this requirement? Does that mean our only option is to file the I-130 within the states? Please advice.

Yes, confirm with the Consulate whether you qualify to file directly. If not, you file through the Chicago lockbox and the case is forwarded to the appropriate service center. If your Consulate would be Vancouver for a K3, there is indeed a significant time savings to go that route. For Montreal, no real time advantage.