Petitioning for husband DCF in Colombia

[monkeym 0]

moving this from K-3 Forumn to DCF Forum --- in case others have the same questions. This if or anyone LIVING WITH THEIR SPOUSE OUTSIDE THE US who wants to apply for an immigrant visa through a US embassy/consulate abroad. That's what DCF means.

I've spent hours searching this website - loads of great info! But I can't seem to find anyone with a case like mine. Please send me links to appropriate forums or reply here.

My husband lived in the US for 9 years, went as a child and his parents never really explained what their resident status was. He was illegal for 2 years after the age of 18, which is supposedly what matters in his case. (He'll probably have to apply for a waiver for the 10-year-ban for anyone who was illegally in the US for more than 1 year.)

He chose voluntary departure, and we moved to Colombia in June 2008 and got married here in June 2009. We're just now applying for his residency so we can go back to the US. I filed form I-130, which I think means we're filing for the K-3 Visa.

I've heard that my husband should get his interview pretty fast (2-3 months, as opposed to the 6-8 months it takes when you file by mail in the US), because we are doing "direct consular filing" in Bogotá. I can't figure out if I'll get NOA (notice dates), since I'm not doing any of this by mail. I also don't understand if this will all go through NVC (National Visa Center -- someone who knows about all this should put up an FAQ of all the abbreviations used!). The explanation of NOA1 says, "the date USCIS enters your petition into the system to begin processing it." Because I'm applying DCF, I think that happened at the same moment that I filed the I-130 in person. Is that right?

I want to find a timeline for someone similar to me but am not finding much about people with waivers. I've seen some US-based couples say they got waivers in about a month, but the guy at the embassy said it would take 6-8 months, so now I'm confused.

I seem to be having a hard time finding anyone who understands the process we're going through, so I'm hoping I can find it here!!

Main Questions:

By filing I-130, did we, by default, file for a K-3 visa? (Or IR-1 or CR-1??? What's the difference?)

Will I get NOA1 and NOA2? By mail?

How will I be notified when/if my husband is accepted for the interview (the guy at the embassy said it should be in 2-3 months)?

If he gets approved at the interview and has to apply for a waiver for his prior offense, how long will the waiver take?

Thank you!!

No K-3 visa, sorry.

IS I-130 petition, culminating in CR-1 Visa.

You filed in Bogata, so is NO NVC involvement.

all notices will be via postal mail.

at some point, must submit DS-230 and I-864 prior to interview day.

We've a DCF forum here - suggest you switch over to it, have a read there?

IF the visa is approved, ya, maybe need to file the waiver - usually file waiver after the interview, and can take anywhere from 1 month to 2 years, depending.

Here's a VJ guide for you (please click the link, read it ) http://www.visajourney.com/content/dcf

Good Luck !

Edited March 31, 2010 by monkeym

[monkeym 0]

Thank you for your great response Darnell -- I would love to hear from anyone else who has done this before, especially the waiver part.

Edited March 31, 2010 by monkeym

[nichelle00 0]

Was your I-130 approved? I am in a similar situation.