k-3 visa please help

[T&T&T 31]

I am currently married, retired and living with my wife in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam, however my residence and mailing address is in the USA. Do I use my address in the USA or Vietnam on the I-130? I have returned to the USA twice in the last 18 months for a total of 13 weeks.

Also Item 21 on the I-130 wants dates I last lived with my spouse but will not allow me to enter "to present", should I attach a letter stating that I will be living here until the process is complete?

My address also determines the office to which I submit the I-130 package. thanks in advance...

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

*** MOving from "what visa" to CR-1/ IR-1 spousal visa forum ****

OP, your thread subject asks about the K3, but that is an obsolete visa usually closed at NVC stage anyways. You'll be wanting the IR-1 visa, which leads to an immediate 10 year greencard upon entry to the USA.

You can use either address, I would use Vietnam but if the postal service where you are isn't great, you may want to use the US. A cover letter with explanation is a good idea, also mentioning how long you have been there

[T&T&T 31]

Thanks for your reply...I am very new at this but if i understand you correctly, you are saying i should apply for a CR-1/ IR-1 visa and not a K-3 visa. We have been married for less than one month.

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

Ah ok I thought you were married 18 months, my bad. It would be the CR-1 then leading to a 2 year greencard but yes, that is what you;d apply for.,

For some reason, I cannot move your thread but you might want to ask future questions about the process in the CR-1 forum: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/110-ir-1-cr-1-spouse-visa-process-procedures/

[Chris & Trinh 15]

I am currently married, retired and living with my wife in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam, however my residence and mailing address is in the USA. Do I use my address in the USA or Vietnam on the I-130? I have returned to the USA twice in the last 18 months for a total of 13 weeks.

Also Item 21 on the I-130 wants dates I last lived with my spouse but will not allow me to enter "to present", should I attach a letter stating that I will be living here until the process is complete?

My address also determines the office to which I submit the I-130 package. thanks in advance...

You will need to apply for the CR-1 visa for your wife. A couple things to concider about which address to use are:

If you use your US address all mail will be sent there. Do you have family/friends staying at your US address?

If you use your foreign address in Vietnam, is it in a large enough city that the mail system is decent?

If you use your foreign address you will later have prove domicile in the US, which shouldn't be a problem if you have a house there still.

If you use your foreign address instead of the US address the USCIS stage of the process is most times faster. If you file from Vietnam your file will go to NBC to be processed. If you put your US address your file will most likely be sent to NBC then to your local office. This takes more time.

Those are just my opinions on what to use as your address. I live in Vietnam with my wife of over 2 years and we are going through the IR-1 visa process now.

As far as the space issue on the I-130, you can either leave it blank, print the form, then write it in with black ink, or you can add a continuation sheet to list any items that wont fit into the I-130 form, just make sure to lable them and also lable the sheet on the cover letter so they know what it is.

Good luck and this site is a great help with the process so post often for help, it makes everything easier!

Edited August 5, 2013 by Chris & Trinh

[NikLR 13,220]

If you are planning on staying abroad until you can return to the US with your wife, I suggest using your address abroad.

Anything that cannot be typed into the form can be hand written in.