Can someone help me understand this?

[paitence 1]

Maybe I'm just airheaded but this part of the instructions for a K-3 process just does not make sense... No matter how much I read it, I don't understand it.

Important Notice: When both petitions have been approved by USCIS and sent to the NVC or when USCIS approves the I-130 before the I-129F, the availability of, as well as the need for, a nonimmigrant K-3 visa ends. If the NVC receives both an approved I-130 petition and an approved I-129F petition:

The nonimmigrant K-3 visa case will be administratively closed.

The application process explained below will not be available to the foreign-citizen spouse and cannot be used.

The NVC will contact the U.S. citizen sponsor and foreign-citizen spouse, with instructions for processing the IR-1 (or CR-1) immigrant visa. For more information on the immigrant visa process, review the Immigrant Visa for a Spouse webpage.

[Hypnos 6,576]

The K-3 is a defunct visa and is rarely issued anymore. It used to be the case that IR-1 / CR-1 visas used to take much longer to process and so K-3 visas were useful; since processing times are much shorter now then the need for K-3 visas is almost over.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Hypnos

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Maybe I'm just airheaded but this part of the instructions for a K-3 process just does not make sense... No matter how much I read it, I don't understand it.

Important Notice: When both petitions have been approved by USCIS and sent to the NVC or when USCIS approves the I-130 before the I-129F, the availability of, as well as the need for, a nonimmigrant K-3 visa ends. If the NVC receives both an approved I-130 petition and an approved I-129F petition:

The nonimmigrant K-3 visa case will be administratively closed.

The application process explained below will not be available to the foreign-citizen spouse and cannot be used.

The NVC will contact the U.S. citizen sponsor and foreign-citizen spouse, with instructions for processing the IR-1 (or CR-1) immigrant visa. For more information on the immigrant visa process, review the Immigrant Visa for a Spouse webpage.

A simplified explanation for K3 (married people)

File I-130 petition for spouse. When you get the NOA1 receipt that I-130 was accepted, then--

File an I-129F (fiancé petition, but that's what they use)

Then there is a race to see if I-130 or I-129f petition wins approval first.

I-129f winner = K3 visa

I-130 winner = CR1 or IR1 visa

I-129f always won by many months. Then the processing for I-130 got much much faster. So they added to the rules that if I-130 wins or ties, they throw out (administratively close) the I-129f and you get no choice but having a CR1 or IR1 visa. (There is no difference in those two for application purposes. It depends on how long you've been married...less than two years gets CR1.)

Now the I-129f never wins, so is always thrown out. That's why people say don't bother because you aren't going to get a K3 anymore even if the possibility is still on the books.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Nich-Nick

[paitence 1]

Now the I-129f never wins, so is always thrown out. That's why people say don't bother because you aren't going to get a K3 anymore even if the possibility is still on the books.

That is pretty interesting, because I was going to go through a attorney consultant company, and just recently decided to give up on them after paying an excess of 1000 GBP because they were really confusing and didn't really make anything clear to me. This was just a week ago that I decided to drop them, and from the start of our correspondence I was thought to be filing for a K-3 visa. Strange how "professionals" would recommend a visa that isn't even really a visa anymore...

Oh I don't know, I'm getting more and more confused by the day. Once I feel like I'm getting control of this whole thing, it looks like I'm getting thrown off left and right.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

That is pretty interesting, because I was going to go through a attorney consultant company, and just recently decided to give up on them after paying an excess of 1000 GBP because they were really confusing and didn't really make anything clear to me. This was just a week ago that I decided to drop them, and from the start of our correspondence I was thought to be filing for a K-3 visa. Strange how "professionals" would recommend a visa that isn't even really a visa anymore...

Oh I don't know, I'm getting more and more confused by the day. Once I feel like I'm getting control of this whole thing, it looks like I'm getting thrown off left and right.

If you will follow Holly who has just gotten her CR1 visa through DCF London, then you will be in good shape. Send her a private message and she will answer your questions. I see she responded to your other thread, so you know who she is.

DCF is different than most of the others on here that file I-130s, so don't get confused by others who are applying in the US. London has their own thing too, so don't follow people from other countries. Holly is smart and helpful and has just done what you are starting.

A simple guide for you--

USCIS approves petitions. Then the Dept of State approves visas because they are over the embassy. It's two different government agencies involved.

So in London USCIS happens to have an office. Think of them as renting space in the embassy because they aren't part of the Dept of State or embassy. Lucky you gets to file at the London USCIS office instead of where the other masses file. THE I-130 just gives you permission to bring a spouse to the US. When they approve, instead of sending your file to the NVC (National Visa Center) in the US for 2-3 months, they send it straight to the Immigrant Visa Unit of the embassy in London. You skip everything to do with NVC. When they send your approved petition to the Visa unit of the embassy, it's with a totally new US agency---the Dept of State, even if it really was only sent to a different floor within the same building. That's when hubby will fill out new forms to actually apply for the visa. Before it was just a petition to say you qualify to bring a spouse to the US. Now it's the visa application, medical exam, gathering documents to take to the interview, and waiting for an interview date to be assigned.

Come over to the UK forum because your medical, document, and interview questions will get better answers from people who got visas in London. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/99-united-kingdom/