I-130 questions

[GabrielM 0]

Hello everyone, it's great to see this forum exists! It is very confusing to go through this process. I am a US citizen petitioning for my wife, we got married in Mexico a year and two days ago and we are now trying to get through the I-130 process.

I have a couple questions about the process in general, so I will state first what is happening currently in the process:

- I used to live in Mexico with my wife; decided to come to the USA. I came here first (I am in TX) and started the I-130 process through a third party. We have been in the process for 6 months now.

- The case status is as follows: Case was approved, we received what I think is the NOA2 (The letter that says "yes, you are approved") on Sep 30, 2009. Right now, we just sent in the I-864 (affidavit of support), and I paid the $400 IV fee (the $70 AOS/I-864 fee was paid a long time ago). The $400 IV payment appears as "PAID" on the web site, so I think we are supposed to file the DS-230 ASAP. Things are progressing OK, I think.

- I think the person handling the case for me wasted time because these documents (I-864 and DS-230) should have been filed very soon after the Sep 30 3009 date. (Am I correct in this?)

- My wife has never been to the USA, never applied for a US visa.

- I do not have much information about my case, since it is being handled by this person, and so I do not have exact dates, but I have been contacting the NVC directly and I know that the case's status is as I described above.

OK, let me know if I should post more information.

Here are my questions:

1) K3 Visa

I think the person handling my case screwed up in that it appears from my research that we could have filed for a K3/I-129 visa so my wife could come here while the application was progressing, correct? I read about people filing the I-129 at the time they file the I-130 or right after they get approval for the I-130.

So my question is: At the point I am now (just sent I-864, will send DS-230 shortly), does it make sense to file an I-129 and apply for K3 visa? Or will the processing for that take just as long as I have to go right nowfor the I-130 processing? As I understand it, after the DS-230 is sent, the NVC will receive it, and a couple weeks later we will be given an appointment in CDJ for the visa in 1-2 months after that. Am I correct in this? Should I just ignore the K3 visa now?

2) Waiver

I read about a lot of people needing a "waiver." From what I have read (and please correct me if I am wrong), a waiver is required if you have some condition that excludes you from getting a visa at the appointment because of several conditions (you were in the USA illegally, or you have some illness, etc...). Having looked at the list, my wife will most probably not need a waiver.

Am I correct in what I state about waivers? Or does it mean something completely different and I have read wrong?

3) Visa grant

When we go to the interview in CDJ (Ciudad Juarez, Mexico), if everything goes well, will a visa be issued then and there? Will it be reasonable to expect that if all papers are in order, and the interview goes well to have a visa on that day or the day after? Or do we go to the interview and then we have to wait more time until my wife can come to the USA?

This is a very important question because it is expensive to travel, and I also have to get authorization from work to miss that time. Most of all, I want to get my wife ready emotionally in the case that all will be ok and she still will not be able to come to the US with me. This time apart has been very stressful. I'm counting the days 'till we can be together, but she's counting the hours :-( .

4) Visa appointment

I read the FAQs at the CDJ web site. In there it says that only the "applicant" can go into the interview. What does this mean in our case? Does it mean that I have to stay outside (I'm the "petitioner," correct?), or will I be able to go into the interview with her?

5) Vaccines

Last, but not least, is it a good idea for my wife to get the vaccines she needs prior to the medical exam to be done at the Ciudad Juarez clinic? My wife is a registered nurse, and so it would be trivial for her to just get the vaccines at the hospital where she works, while she has spare time. If she does so, will those vaccines be validated at the clinic?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am just getting caught up in my case. I should have done this a long time ago and we would not have wasted the time between Sep 30 2009 and a couple days ago, when the I-864 was finally sent.

Thanks!

Edited February 3, 2010 by GabrielM

[GabrielM 0]

ALSO: What is a "Touch"? I see this on several occasions... What does it mean to have a "touch" on your case?

Thanks again :-)

[Lia792 5]

Hi Gabriel,

I really don't see how a K-3 would help you now. It would cost you $1010+ more and since you are about to get an interview date, it wouldn't speed up your case. (And I don't think you can file it this late in the game anyways, but I defer to wiser members.)

Once your file goes through NVC with the paperwork you just sent, they send you an interview date. (NVC schedules interviews for Ciudad Juarez.) So you should be receiving it any day now. I thought Packet 3 asked for both I-864 and DS-230 together...but I could be wrong, I would think you should send that in.

Check the current timelines if you want to see if you are going slowly. I feel that you are going a bit slowly for Mexico, maybe a month, but that does tend to happen when you use a third person who is not as committed to getting you through the process urgently. That is why most VJ people recommend to do things yourself. Since you are almost done, I wouldn't really worry about that now. You can also put in your timeline to find out if you are on-schedule or not.

You shouldn't need a waiver given the conditions you listed. Most people don't, and Ciudad Juarez is one of the easier consulates in my opinion. A waiver is given when someone is inadmissible for a visa based on various criteria or has received a ban. BIG WARNING: Ciudad Juarez does have a habit of giving out three-year bans to anyone who admits to drug usage during the medical exam even once in their life no matter how long ago.

I don't like Ciudad Juarez's system of returning the visa. The beneficiary has to stay in Ciudad Juarez until they mail it to DHL in CJ, usually that day if you get out early, or the next day is most probable. But watch out for weekends. People tend to suggest leaving a day between the medical and the appointment in case there is no room at the clinic or results are delayed or something, but most people can get in and out of CJ in 3 days.

You can't go in. I don't like that rule either.

Ok, the vaccines are really expensive. I have, however, as of yet to see a beneficiary from Mexico have luck proving they already had the vaccinations. I see a lot of cases where they double vaccinate. even with the titers or whatever they are called. I have heard of some people being successful coming with documentation from a US doctor. It's a risk because she could be double vaccinated, but maybe they would give her more credence being a nurse. It's up to you...

Touches occur at the USCIS stage. You are way past that You should start getting ready for the interivew - gather the items listed here under Packet 4: http://ciudadjuarez.usconsulate.gov/immigr...visa-forms.html

Good luck!

Edited February 3, 2010 by Lia792

[GabrielM 0]

Lia,

Thank you for your reply. I now have a much better idea of what to expect on the interview... I will tell my wife to hold off on the vaccines, we might as well do things the way they are used to doing them, so it will be easier for everyone.

Thanks again!

[GabrielM 0]

Thank you all for your help earlier. My wife got her appointment at CDJ finally, we went over there and all went well. She is now here in Austin, TX with me (yay!!). We are having the problems many people wish they had, such as learning English, looking for a job for her (mainly to give her something to do besides English classes), and so on. The wait was long but very worth it!

I would like to mention some details about our appointment trip to CDJ, so that people reading this are better prepared than we were:

Pre-Appointment

• We received the appointment notice about three weeks before the appointment time. My wife's appointment was May 7th, 2010 (Friday).
  
• I made flight and hotel reservations immediately upon receiving the appointment notice.
  
• We stayed at the Quality Inn near the consulate. It is a very clean hotel, it has computers for checking your package delivery status, and also has free WiFi for you to use your own laptop. There is a very nice restaurant on the other side of the parking lot for the hotel, called Diana. Great food, but not McDonald's prices. The hotel cost us about USD$75/night for the stay. We were very satisfied with the hotel and the service they provided us. The hotel holds your bags after you check out so you do not have to pay for an extra night if you want to check out of your room on the day your visa arrives (theoretically) in the afternoon.
  
• We arrived in CDJ two days before the visa appointment.
  

Consulate visa processing/appointment

• We went to the medical exam the day before the appointment, we did not need to arrive specially early for it (I think we walked over to the clinic at about 8:30am), and we were out very quickly (1.5 to 2 hours, I believe).
  
• We did end up spending about $340 USD in the clinic, instead of the indicated $165 on the appointment info packets. I think pretty much everyone that goes there will need additional vaccines, so plan on bringing extra money for the vaccines. We were not prepared for this, and it is pure coincidence we had enough cash on hand. I had like $2 USD left over after paying for the clinic fees.
  
• It is almost for sure cheaper to get the vaccines somewhere else beforehand, but I cannot speak to that, since I do not know what the documentation prerequisites are, or it is even allowed by the consulate. Maybe someone that knows about this can speak about it.
  
• There is a building labeled "waiting room" about a short block away from the consulate. I think this is a place for the security guards to send people who arrive way too early for their appointments. We never went there at all, we went straight to the consulate about 1/2 hour before our appointment.
  
• Don't forget to give the person going to the appointment about USD$8 or MXN$100 so they can pay the DHL fee. I forgot to give my wife money and yes, by dumb luck she had money on her, but the cashier had to take two pesos less than due because my wife did not have enough cash on her. with all the restrictions on what you cannot take into the consulate it's easy to forget taking the DHL cash in.
  
• Agree on a place where the appointee can find you if they are sent out to gather some missing document and need to find you quick. There is a sea of people waiting outside the consulate for their relative to come out. It can be hard to find someone quickly.
  

After visa processing/appointment

• My wife was told when the last interview was over that her visa was approved. We did not need to wait for the DHL package to arrive to find out.
  
• My wife was not told when the visa would arrive at the DHL office.
  
• I was under the impression that if you get approved, you get the vis on the same day's afternoon, specially if your appointment was early in the day and you did not need any "forgiveness" for having been in the USA illegally, etc. No such luck. Our waiting time was two full business days after the appointment.
  
• My wife had her appointment Friday morning, Monday was a holiday (people in Mexico decided not to work on May 10th, mother's day, jeez), so we got the package Tuesday evening. That is a LOT of time on one's hands, and HUGE hotel bill compared to what we were prepared to spend (I read everywhere that we would get the visa package the same day of the appointment because our appointment was early in the day).
  
• The visa was delivered to the DHL office at about 6pm, the DHL closes at 6:30pm. We had barely enough time to get the package in time, we could have been late and had to wait yet another day.
  
• Even if you do not want to go to the USA, you need to go to the international bridge in order to process your visa. You can then go back into Mexico if you want (And your visa allows).
  
• We were at the processing site on the border for about 1 hour. It was quicker than we thought it would be, and there were few people there. Maybe it was because of the long weekend, who knows.
  

Things I wish I would have known

• Plan to spend and bring about $400 USD for the medical exam.
  
• Plan to wait a couple working business days for the visa to arrive. Look at a calendar and do the math for your hotel stays.
  
• Thursday and Friday appointments suck. Get mentally prepared for a long period of uncertainty as you wait over the weekend for the visa. My wife was told the visa was approved, but verbal info is not binding. We were anxious to see the visa ourselves, in our hand. That took a long time.
  
• The wait is awful. Be mentally prepared for it.
  
• No one can tell you how long it's going to take for the visa to arrive. We heard several stories of people waiting in the hotel for up to a month to get the infamous DHL package.
  
• Bring something to do while you wait. We went out to the Walmart and bought some cards. I taught my wife to play poker.
  
• When you check on the DHL web site for the delivery status of your visa, when it says anything other than "package information received", it probably means that you will have delivery that same day.
  
• Taxi cabs charge a LOT more to take you to the international bridges. Here are some typical fares:
  
• - Downtown from Consulate area: $120 pesos each way
  
• - DHL office from Consulate area: $80 pesos each way
  
• - International bridges (Mexican side) from Consulate area: $30 USD
  
• The whole immigration process for my wife (who had never been to the USA or had a tourist visa before) took about 9 months. We were expecting much less time than that. People starting this process would be well advised to not expect speediness on any part of the process. Everything took longer than expected: Submitted documents to be checked, things to be approved, information to be sent, etc...
  

Hmm, I think that's it. If I missed any detail that would be useful, please let me know.

Thanks to the community again for answering the questions I had some time ago.