Can my I-130 the place of I-129F in line?

[Boggy1974 124]

Hello Everyone,

Two months ago I file for I-129F for my fiancee who now my wife. We recently filed for I-130 because we both read alot about the obvious advantages of the I-130 over the I-129F. So my question is: if both get approved and get forwarded to NVC, can I request that the I-130 take the place (priority) over the I-129F? (Especially I-129F has 8weeks headstart over the I-130, would we be credited with the time?). Ideally, we would like to stick with the I-130 because of the obvious advantages of it being less expensive overall and she getting a green card right away when she enters the US. Ofcourse, we only found this out after we joined this forum and had already filed the I-129F. Now we both realize it was a waste of our money and time. Knowing what we now know, we would have waited to get our marriage certificate and file the I-130 instead.

Thanks in advance for any advice, comments and/or suggestions.

[Cathi 5,610]

The 129f is for unmarried couples, for a fiance to come to the US and get married in this country. 129f is not an option for you,now that you have gone ahead and married. Your only option now is the i130. I suggest you study the links at the top of this page

Edited December 18, 2012 by mimolicious

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello Everyone,

Two months ago I file for I-129F for my fiancee who now my wife. We recently filed for I-130 because we both read alot about the obvious advantages of the I-130 over the I-129F. So my question is: if both get approved and get forwarded to NVC, can I request that the I-130 take the place (priority) over the I-129F? (Especially I-129F has 8weeks headstart over the I-130, would we be credited with the time?). Ideally, we would like to stick with the I-130 because of the obvious advantages of it being less expensive overall and she getting a green card right away when she enters the US. Ofcourse, we only found this out after we joined this forum and had already filed the I-129F. Now we both realize it was a waste of our money and time. Knowing what we now know, we would have waited to get our marriage certificate and file the I-130 instead.

Thanks in advance for any advice, comments and/or suggestions.

NO. And you must withdraw the I-129f. Should have been done before filing the I-130. You cannot have both in progress. Send a regostered letter to USCIS referencing the case number of the I-129f and withdraw that petition.

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

NO. And you must withdraw the I-129f. Should have been done before filing the I-130. You cannot have both in progress. Send a regostered letter to USCIS referencing the case number of the I-129f and withdraw that petition.

[Boggy1974 124]

Withdrawing is not what I want to do at this point. Thanks though.

[Pinkrlion 2,607]

Withdrawing is not what I want to do at this point. Thanks though.

You cannot have two open cases at USCIS. Since you have decided to marry, you are no longer eligible for I 129f. Therefore, to keep from having issues later on, it is being suggested that you let USCIS know that you got married. The petitions are processed separately as they are different immigration processes. You will not move up eight weeks as you said into your I-129F slot, as you are on a different waiting list, and your petition for wife will be denied.

[Boggy1974 124]

Ok when they both get approved I will post copies here for you. Thanks.

[LeftCoastLady 441]

Ok when they both get approved I will post copies here for you. Thanks.

We'll be here to read all about it.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Withdrawing is not what I want to do at this point. Thanks though.

No one cares what you want, especially not USCIS. You blew up the I-129f when you got married, it is for FIANCEEs, you do not have a finacee, you have a wife.

You CANNOT have two such petitions in progress, if you do, you will get BOTH denied.

Withdraw the I-129f, it is not a choice if you want anything approved.

You're welcome.

Ok when they both get approved I will post copies here for you. Thanks.

Please do.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

You cannot have two open cases at USCIS. Since you have decided to marry, you are no longer eligible for I 129f. Therefore, to keep from having issues later on, it is being suggested that you let USCIS know that you got married. The petitions are processed separately as they are different immigration processes. You will not move up eight weeks as you said into your I-129F slot, as you are on a different waiting list, and your petition for wife will be denied.

This is simple.

In order to get an I-129f petition approved you must BOTH be eligible to marry. You are not, you are married already to each other! The I-129f is dead, you killed it the moment you got married. You do not have to like it, want it, or agree with it. It just is. Nothing bad, nothing new and you are not the first or the last to change their mind (you think I am guessing about this, right? )

You now have an I-130 in there also. The I-130 REQUIRES that you be married to the person you are petitioning. When they see you also have an I-129f for the same person,(they WILL see that) they are not going to approve the I-130 because you have another document on file which says you are NOT married to this woman.

You have one official document saying you are NOT married to Jane Doe, and another official document saying you ARE married to Jane Doe. You cannot be both single AND married to Jane Doe at the same time. USCIS is not going to try to decide which is correct. Why would they waste their time and make someone else wait while they sort out the nonsense? They just deny both and let you re-apply. "Kill them all and let you sort them out"

Withdraw the I-129f with a registered letter to the Service Center referencing the case number on the NOA1, explain what has happened and also reference the NOA1 case number of the I-130. There is nothing bad here, nothing wrong. You changed your mind, just tell them and get on with it. You are out the cost of the I-129f petition and the brief headstart. So what? It is nothing in the scheme of things overall.

OR...don't. My wife is already a citizen, makes no difference to me.

[TBoneTX 43,060]

Withdrawing is not what I want to do at this point. Thanks though.

Meanwhile, please construct your VJ timeline (singular) for us. Edited December 18, 2012 by TBoneTX

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I am also at a total loss to understand the @obvious advantages@ of the I-130. You had already filed an I-129f and in order to file an I-130 and save a few hundred dollars (that's ALL you will save) in the cost of reaching the point of a Green Card, you had to take another trip to your (then) fiancee and get married. I am assuming that was not free. Maybe it was?

She will still have to go through ROC and citizenship the same as a K-1

So for this "obvious advantage" you threw away the money you had already paid for the K-1 and incurred the expense of the trip to get married before you could file the I-130 and the process of the I-130 (which you have no choice but to follow now) is considerably longer than the K-1.

Money is such a non-issue as to be laughable. The fees associated with this process are NOTHING compared to the costs of life. My wife incurred more than $32,000 in tuition alone in the first 2 years of being here. Not to mention all the other costs of life, insurance, medical bills, cars, homes, utilities...you think that occasional $500-600 fees even show up on the radar? You're joking, right? I mean I did this process for THREE people, wife and two sons, so all the fees were TIMES 3...and it still did not matter. All the costs of life were TIMES 3 also! The increase in my grocery bill for a couple months would pay the visa fees!

The main advantage to the I-130 is that the immigrant is eligible to work and travel right away. Period. That's it. If that is not a factor for you, then the I-130 has NO advantage, obvious or otherwise.

The way to think of this is simple.

BOTH petitions have about the same amount of time from filing the petition until the issuance of a green card. The K-1 allows you to do part of the process while you are together in the USA. The CR-1 (I-130) requires that your wife remain outside the USA until she gets the green card. Check out some timelines, mine is there for you to look at. Note the time from petition to green card (AOS) for K-1s and the time of visa issue for CR-1s

For someone with children between the ages of 18-21 the K-1 is the only route but I am fairly certain that is not an issue for you.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

NO. And you must withdraw the I-129f. Should have been done before filing the I-130. You cannot have both in progress. Send a regostered letter to USCIS referencing the case number of the I-129f and withdraw that petition.

We actually sent a letter withdrawing ours and had the embassy send it back after USCIS ignored the original letter. I explained the situation in the I-130 cover letter, but I sure hope it is enough.

OP, you are stuck with the I-130 and its priority date. Do not proceed with the I-129F even if it does get approved for some odd reason. You will find yourself in hot water, especially if you end up misrepresenting things on paperwork to continue with the K1.

With luck, your I-130 might even be approved before the I-129F would have been with the current NBC processing times.

[RichF 13]

Withdrawing is not what I want to do at this point. Thanks though.

I await your post with great anticipation.

If you cannot take advice given to you then why bother asking the question?

You seem intent on getting what you want without regarding the Rules.

[Boggy1974 124]

Wow...we have made a decision that may affect us only. Thanks!