Confused about IR1-/CR-1

[midna 0]

Hi everyone,

 

Me and my husband got married in 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey and since then I have been staying here with him. We just decided to move to my home country but I don't know the process and from what I've read so far it requires for me to have an address in US and since I'm here with him I don't want to leave him here alone and go there to wait until the process is finished. We have been married for 5 years now and I was wondering what is the fastest way for us both to go together without getting seperated. He has ulcerative colitis and I have severe anxiety and when we get seperated we go under a lot of stress and that affects our health. My parents will be co-sponsoring him. What's the best way to go at this?

 

Thanks and any help is appreciated!

[little immigrant 801]

Hi there, I wonder if you're eligible for direct consular filing. Find the guide here. Best to call them and see if they allow you to file I-130 there. Here is the link to your embassy: https://www.usembassy.gov/turkey/

 

If that's not working, here is how we did it: He went back to the US, filed and then came back to be in Germany with me. We stayed the entire time we waited and we flew to the States together.

 

I absolutely understand your fear about his illness and your anxiety. I have ulcerative colitis as well. Thankfully I found a good doctor who put me on meds that work. Been in remission since 2013 now. I just urge you to make sure that he has continuous health insurance. I was missing health insurance for about 2 months and flared for 2 years. Or that he has at least a stash of his medication until he gets insurance. It's more difficult to regain remission than to stay in remission.

 

Good luck

 

 

[EG&XY 144]

As danda226 suggested, see if you are eligible for direct consular filing (DCF), this would be the fastest and easiest option if it is available.

 

if it isn't an option, then you can apply, but it will likely be easiest if you can use a mailing address in the us, perhaps your parent's address. You can still list your address in turkey as your physical address, just use the us address for mailing purposes.

 

in either case you will need to read up on "domicile". Hopefully you have maintained "domicile" in the us, otherwise read up on "intent to reestablish domicile in the us". This will be important as you get closer to the interview stage of the process (so you have some time to work this out). Basically they want to see that you will both move to the us, and that your husband isn't going and you will stay behind in turkey.

 

Something else to note, while you have been continuing to file taxes in the us? Or were you below the threshold for needing to file? If you were required to file and did not, then this will also become an issue as you get closer to the interview, so you should start straightening that out now while you have time.

[geowrian 22,337]

I don't believe Turkey has a USCIS office to permit DCF...

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices

 

Yes, US domicile (or sufficient intent to establish it) is necessary for the petitioner. They want to ensure that the petitioner won't remain abroad since the purpose of the visa is family reunification. There is some good info on this in the above post.

 

There's no direct need to be separated...you can file the I-130 from abroad fine. The only issue is domicile, as noted above. If insufficient evidence of domicile is presented, they will refuse the visa pending sufficient evidence...which can include the petitioner moving to the US first, or additional actions to show intent to establish US domicile.

Edited September 14, 2017 by geowrian

[midna 0]

19 hours ago, danda226 said:

Hi there, I wonder if you're eligible for direct consular filing. Find the guide here. Best to call them and see if they allow you to file I-130 there. Here is the link to your embassy: https://www.usembassy.gov/turkey/

 

If that's not working, here is how we did it: He went back to the US, filed and then came back to be in Germany with me. We stayed the entire time we waited and we flew to the States together.

 

I absolutely understand your fear about his illness and your anxiety. I have ulcerative colitis as well. Thankfully I found a good doctor who put me on meds that work. Been in remission since 2013 now. I just urge you to make sure that he has continuous health insurance. I was missing health insurance for about 2 months and flared for 2 years. Or that he has at least a stash of his medication until he gets insurance. It's more difficult to regain remission than to stay in remission.

 

Good luck

 

 

 

19 hours ago, EG&XY said:

As danda226 suggested, see if you are eligible for direct consular filing (DCF), this would be the fastest and easiest option if it is available.

 

if it isn't an option, then you can apply, but it will likely be easiest if you can use a mailing address in the us, perhaps your parent's address. You can still list your address in turkey as your physical address, just use the us address for mailing purposes.

 

in either case you will need to read up on "domicile". Hopefully you have maintained "domicile" in the us, otherwise read up on "intent to reestablish domicile in the us". This will be important as you get closer to the interview stage of the process (so you have some time to work this out). Basically they want to see that you will both move to the us, and that your husband isn't going and you will stay behind in turkey.

 

Something else to note, while you have been continuing to file taxes in the us? Or were you below the threshold for needing to file? If you were required to file and did not, then this will also become an issue as you get closer to the interview, so you should start straightening that out now while you have time.

 

19 hours ago, geowrian said:

I don't believe Turkey has a USCIS office to permit DCF...

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices

 

Yes, US domicile (or sufficient intent to establish it) is necessary for the petitioner. They want to ensure that the petitioner won't remain abroad since the purpose of the visa is family reunification. There is some good info on this in the above post.

 

There's no direct need to be separated...you can file the I-130 from abroad fine. The only issue is domicile, as noted above. If insufficient evidence of domicile is presented, they will refuse the visa pending sufficient evidence...which can include the petitioner moving to the US first, or additional actions to show intent to establish US domicile.

Thanks so much for your answers! Really appreciate the help and the support.

 

The only problem that I have right now is that since last year we didn't renew my staying permit since we had to move houses and had some financial problems. This means if I leave I might face a temporary ban. I was wondering if the US Embassy in Turkey can help me with this situation and try to waiver the ban somehow. All I want to do is bring my husband to the states without getting seperated so he can start working (he already has an offer for a job there). It really feels like we hit a brick wall and even though we both have families we are the only people that we trust in life and it would be a horror movie getting seperated.

[NikLR 13,227]

You just need to establish intent to reestablish domicile by the interview.  You have loads of time to do this and your family can help you.  As mentioned DCF is not available in Turkey so you'll send the I-130 to the Chicago lockbox. 

[truelove29 218]

51 minutes ago, midna said:

 

 

Thanks so much for your answers! Really appreciate the help and the support.

 

The only problem that I have right now is that since last year we didn't renew my staying permit since we had to move houses and had some financial problems. This means if I leave I might face a temporary ban. I was wondering if the US Embassy in Turkey can help me with this situation and try to waiver the ban somehow. All I want to do is bring my husband to the states without getting seperated so he can start working (he already has an offer for a job there). It really feels like we hit a brick wall and even though we both have families we are the only people that we trust in life and it would be a horror movie getting seperated.

Definitely take care of your permit problems first. You should still be able to renew, but do some research first if there are any penalties for waiting. Otherwise it will be a big mess if you try to leave Turkey, like you said with a temporary ban (although it could be a 1-5 year ban) & a big hassle to get a visa to come back. You can use your parents address if you plan to live with them for a bit when you make the move. But having the residence permit is really important so you know you can go to Turkey whenever you want for however long you want...while you're setting up domicile in the U.S.