Am I even eligible for a CR-1 Visa?

[Rebecca W. 0]

I married my husband, a Japanese national, in Japan.

Right now, we are both residing in Japan, but I intend to return to the States in March for good.

Are we eligible to file for a CR-1 visa, or do we have to wait until I return to the States?

[jaycali 415]

He's fully eligeble for a CR-1 visa! (unless he has a criminal record etc.)

You file an I-130 petition from Japan. If the US Embassy in Tokyo allows filing at the consulate, you can file there and it'll even go a lot faster. (You have to have been residing in Japan for at least 6 months) If they don't allow this, you file from Japan at the Chicago lockbox.

As a friendly note, it's extremely unlikely that he'll have the visa in hand by March, and he cannot move until he has the visa in his passport.

Also, you need to provide an affidavit of support for him a little further down the filing process. USCIS does not accept foreign income as a source for this affidavit, so unless you have steady income again in the US by that time you will need a co-sponsor in the US.

[Laure&Colin 558]

Japan is not on the list of countries that have a USCIS fiel office (http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=1ac900c262197210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=1ac900c262197210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD) which means that you'll be filing through the Chicago lockbox.

The affidavit of support is at NVC stage, not USCIS though.

So yes, you are eligible for a cr1 visa, no need for you to go back to the US before filing, as long as you can prove intent to move back there permanently at the time of your spouse's interview.

I would add an advice: file now. For a few months, members in your situation (including me), which means USC residing abroad but unable to file DCF, have been approved extremely fast at USCIS stage (the very first stage), saving about 5 months in the process. If I were you, I'd go for it before USCIS change their mind and decide not to adjudicate cases like ours with high priority (for a reason nobody knows).

[Rebecca W. 0]

As a friendly note, it's extremely unlikely that he'll have the visa in hand by March, and he cannot move until he has the visa in his passport.

Oops, I forgot to mention that he wants to come to the US sometime between August - November of 2012. Doable?

Thanks for the response too!

Japan is not on the list of countries that have a USCIS fiel office (http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=1ac900c262197210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=1ac900c262197210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD) which means that you'll be filing through the Chicago lockbox.

The affidavit of support is at NVC stage, not USCIS though.

So yes, you are eligible for a cr1 visa, no need for you to go back to the US before filing, as long as you can prove intent to move back there permanently at the time of your spouse's interview.

I would add an advice: file now. For a few months, members in your situation (including me), which means USC residing abroad but unable to file DCF, have been approved extremely fast at USCIS stage (the very first stage), saving about 5 months in the process. If I were you, I'd go for it before USCIS change their mind and decide not to adjudicate cases like ours with high priority (for a reason nobody knows).

Thank you! I am trying to file ASAP.

DCF means Direct Consulate Filing? Meaning that sending these documents from Japan to Chicago will be adjudicated faster? Sorry, I'm a newbie to all this

[jaycali 415]

Oops, I forgot to mention that he wants to come to the US sometime between August - November of 2012. Doable?

Thanks for the response too!

November is absolutely doable. August normally would be cutting it close, but as Laure&Colin mentioned, some cases where the petitioner has been residing in the beneficiary's country have been adjudicating very fast through the USCIS lately. So if that's still the case, I'd say August isn't unlikely either. Normal processing times for CR-1s tend to be 8 - 12 months.

Thank you! I am trying to file ASAP.

DCF means Direct Consulate Filing? Meaning that sending these documents from Japan to Chicago will be adjudicated faster? Sorry, I'm a newbie to all this

Yes, DCF is Direct Consulate Filing, but as Laure&Colin mentioned, Tokyo doesn't accept DCF, so you'll have to file through Chicago Lockbox. However, since you're residing in Japan, it should move through the USCIS faster than most CR-1s, perhaps cutting as much as 4 - 5 months of waiting time.

[Laure&Colin 558]

Oops, I forgot to mention that he wants to come to the US sometime between August - November of 2012. Doable?

Thanks for the response too!

Thank you! I am trying to file ASAP.

DCF means Direct Consulate Filing? Meaning that sending these documents from Japan to Chicago will be adjudicated faster? Sorry, I'm a newbie to all this

Direct Consular Filing means doing the entire CR1 process through a US consulate abroad, but it doesn't exist in Japan, or in France. It used to, but it's no longer available. So you don't have to worry about that.

You'll take the regular USCIS -> NVC -> embassy route. It usually takes 8 to 10 months, but with the anomaly I mentioned, you COULD have it done in less than 6. There 's no guarantee though, and you might as well end up waiting 5 months in USCIS like most people.

If you haven't done it before, print out the guides and put them under your pillow

Step 1 - http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

Step 2 - http://www.visajourney.com/examples/NVC_Process_Flowchart_v1-2.pdf