K-1 visa mexico should I start now or wait? my situation

[TNRebel 5]

My fiancee is in Mexico finishing school, she finishes in September, we are planning a ceremony for march 2016 in mexico, then do the legal marriage her in the US.

From my researching the boards I realize Juarez is one of the busiest processing centers so should I start now then be able possibly schedule an interview, ( after she graduates in september would be Ideal),

or wait until say april, may or june to start the process. One of my concern is what I have read is the amount of visas processed by Juarez and if my petition I-129F expires before being processed

"The I-129F petition is valid for four months from the date of approval by USCIS. A consular officer can extend the validity of the petition if it expires before visa processing is completed." how much trouble/ how hard is it to get this extended?

Thanks

[TBoneTX 47,308]

This question is asked and answered often. Petition validity is extended automatically by the consulate for 4-month periods for up to a year. In regard to the Juarez consulate, you're worried about straw dogs.

[Pheebs1201 269]

Might be worth considering making the marriage legal now, applying for a CR-1 visa which takes about a year anyway, and then have a proper "wedding" once she arrives with her visa?

[TabeaK 517]

If you are, and based on your state, going to end up at Texas Service Center for processing, I'd file now. Due to the massive backlog they are working through - which I suspect will get much worse with DACA being extended let alone Obama's additional provisions - the processing takes forever. If you would file the I-129F in February, with the current state of affairs, you can expect 6-8 months for approval and an additional 3-5 months for the consulate state. So this is going to take all of 2015 and I would not worry about your petition expiring...

Edit: The CR-1 route, if you wanna go down this path, takes 14months+ these days.

Edited February 1, 2015 by TabeaK

[KayDeeCee 4,900]

Juarez is a busy consulate, but it doesn't actually take that long to get an interview once they have your approved petition. You schedule it yourself, so you could add more time by scheduling it as far out as the online tool will allow you to. As TBone stated, the I-129F petition can be extended, so you can always e-mail the consulate asking that they extend the validity of you petition, if you end up needed more time before you interview for your visa. Then once the visa is approved, you typically have 6 months to use it to enter the US. Check the expiration date on it. You do not have to enter the US with it right away, just before it expires.

[TNRebel 5]

Thanks,for the input. We want to the ceremony there, so her family can attend, also the cost for what we are getting is better than in the states,( plus a beach wedding), we are renting a private villa for the ceremony. We really do not want to be apart anymore than we have to, especially if we are legally married. I was trying to time everything, with her finishing up school, hopefully everything will go somewhat smoothly. I found a family friend that has a lot of experience with visas, so I will start this week getting everything together and let him review everything before I send it. I will post any other info I have from him to help others out.