Can I catch up this F2A availability if I go back to my home country and get married immediately?

[Kelvin-Philly 0]

I am an U.S. permanent resident and I need to wait to get citizenship before I apply K-1 visa for my girlfriend who still lives in my home country. However, I don't know how long it's going to take and I can't endure the suffering of separation.

I am thrilled to hear F2A Petition is available in August. Here are my questions:

1. If I go back to my home country, get married and start to apply for her immediately, can we catch up this F2A Petition availability? I hear some people say this availability is going to benefit only the spouse beneficiaries who already live in the U.S.

Check this link

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/7/prweb10925298.htm

2. If the answer of question 1 is a "YES", what's the best way to process our case. Shall we get married in our home country, then I come back to the U.S. alone and apply for my spouse under F2A category? Where to start? What documents do I need to turn in to which agency?

I am a newbie in this kind of issue. Please help.

[kalloo 4]

I dont think it is going to be any help for you. first you have to file I 130 that takes atlease 12 - 14 months in approaval now days after that you can get think about Visa availability. by the time you will get I 130 approval, visa dates will retrogress back to at lease 3 years.

Thanks

[shtu 11]

I dont think it is going to be any help for you. first you have to file I 130 that takes atlease 12 - 14 months in approaval now days after that you can get think about Visa availability. by the time you will get I 130 approval, visa dates will retrogress back to at lease 3 years.

Thanks

Why do you think visa bulletin will retrogress this bad?! I wouldn't say that I130 takes so long nowadays, some 2013 folks were already approved. Everything changed so fast and unexpectedly, we can't really predict how they will process everything further.

[tataocb 2]

You might be able to take advantage of the Current status of F2A under certain conditions.

The normal process for the F2A category is through consular processing. The consular process basically consists of the following:

1. You send the i-130 petition and wait for it to get approved...(some people who sent their i-130 in 2011 are still waiting to be approved while others who sent it in 2012 or even 2013 have already been approved, so there is no way to determine how long it will take)

2. Then it goes to the NVC where you send the affidavit of support form and the Immigrant Visa form, wait for them to be processed and if everything is fine your case is completed....(check the timelines in the Immigration Timelines link above to see how long it is taking other users under the F2A category to complete their case)

3. If by the time your case is completed, your PD (priority date) is current in the visa bulletin, then NVC schedules a date for your spouse's interview in her country where she must go and take certain required documents and if she is approved, then she can travel to the US. OR if your PD is not current (this could be because it retrogressed to a date before your PD) then you must wait until your PD becomes current in the visa bulletin for the interview to be assigned. Your priority date is going to be the date when they receive your i-130 petition)

Now that the F2A category is set to Current, some people, who are legally in the US, are not waiting for their i-130 to get approved and are filing for an AOS (adjustment of status). This process had only been available to spouses of US Citizens since they always had a visa immediately available and the F2A category had not been set to Current. Some people are even filing concurrently I think, which means they are filing the i-130 at the same time they are filing for an AOS, which is a process that again had only been available to spouses of US Citizens. Users who have filed this way have done so starting August 1st which is when the F2A category was set to Current, so there is not much information about that process, although they seem to be getting a positive response from USCIS. You can follow their progress in this thread:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/445225-aos-filers-happy-filing-and-keep-us-updated-on-progress/

Based on that, it would seem that you might be able to take advantage of the fact that the F2A category has been set to current only if your spouse is legally in the US when you file the i-130 and for the AOS. So this means that if you go to your country, marry her there, you both come back to the US, and once inside the US you file the i-130 and the AOS, then you might get a chance to stay together in the US under legal status while you wait for her to receive her green card. If your spouse has no way of traveling to the US legally to file concurrently once in the US, then you would have to go through normal consular processing.

There are other variables that are still unknown for those who are adjusting status in the F2A category. Like for example, what would happen if the category retrogresses before they have received their green card. Which would mean that by the time an interview is scheduled, a visa would no longer be available for them. Some say that in this case, they are given a special permit that allows them to work legally and travel abroad and come back to the US while they wait for their PD to become current again, but there is no empirical evidence as this process had never been available to the F2A category. If that is the case, it wouldn't be a problem because your spouse is allowed to be with you legally in the US while you wait for her green card.

Another scenario is what if you get married, and your wife travels to the US using a visitor visa and then files concurrently...the issue here is that it is illegal to use a visitor visa with the intent to immigrate. But some users say that the authorities might not pay too much attention to that and it might not be grounds for a denial, but again, there is no empirical evidence.

I just want to point out that I am not a lawyer, so I might be wrong, but I hope the info helps you in your case.

[kalloo 4]

Why do you think visa bulletin will retrogress this bad?! I wouldn't say that I130 takes so long nowadays, some 2013 folks were already approved. Everything changed so fast and unexpectedly, we can't really predict how they will process everything further.

My friend may it will not retrogress that bad but it will go atleast 1.5 to 2 years. and for I 130 it used to get approved in 5 to 6 months, not now.

check all the timelines in this site or other tracking sites, even USCIS processing time says 12 to 14 months.

I wish things move faster. I am also in same boat but reality is now there is big backlog in I 130.

Thanks

Kalloo

[shtu 11]

My friend may it will not retrogress that bad but it will go atleast 1.5 to 2 years. and for I 130 it used to get approved in 5 to 6 months, not now.

check all the timelines in this site or other tracking sites, even USCIS processing time says 12 to 14 months.

I wish things move faster. I am also in same boat but reality is now there is big backlog in I 130.

Thanks

Kalloo

I wouldn't relay on USCIS website, they are pretty slow on updating it. Now they state processing times as of May 31. Lots has changed.

In the timelines there are 3 folks from CSC with 2013 pd that had been approved and I've seen other reports in the forum regarding 2013 approvals. I'm hoping this means that they will clear the backlog and return to their normal processing times very soon.

Main concern is why approvals seem so random. There are folks in 2011 that haven't been approved yet (((

Keeping my fingers crossed that this whole situation will improve. is terrible.