Change from K-3 to CR1 Visa

[ryno 0]

Hi guys, 

 

Is there any way to change a K1 Fiance visa application to a CR1 Spouse Application? 

 

I apologize and know this has been addressed before on these forums, but I've read some conflicting answers and am really scared that my wife and I just made a huge mistake by getting married during the K1 process. 

 

Here's my story. 

 

My wife is Russian, and currently living in Russia.

 

We were fiances while she was here in the U.S. on a student visa, and were (ignorantly) confident that she could go back to Russia and get her student visa renewed as she was in the middle of a college program here in the U.S. with excellent grades and paid for the next semester. Our plan was to get married once she came back to the U.S. and change her student visa to a green card. 

 

The US embassy in Moscow denied her student visa renewal application in the summer of 2017. So she has no way to enter the U.S.

 

We began the K1 fiance visa process in July 2017. At that time, the wait time was an estimated 4-5 months.

 

Since then, the US and Russia have had a series of incidents resulting in the closing of some Russian embassies in the US, and more importantly the expulsion of all Russian employees from the US embassy in Moscow.  Subsequently, the US is no longer offering non-immigrant visas to Russians wanting to come to the US. Also, the interview appointment page on their website shows either month upon months wait, or simply no appointments available at all. 

 

Needless to say, this saddened and spooked us. Meanwhile, the wait time for the approval of the USCIS of our I-129 has pushed back at least 3 months (according to visajourney.com estimate) and continues to be pushed back by the day. Everyone we knew who'd done the foreign marriage thing before told us to get married in Russia as it would be much easier to get her back. Additionally, we figured that having her be my spouse would give her a better chance of getting an interview, as it would now be an immigrant visa, and not the non-immigrant k-1 version. 

 

Today, our estimated response time on our K1 I-129 USCIS NOA2 is Feb 8, 2018. I'm now reading that it is not possible to change our application to K3 or CR1, that we'd have to cancel our K1 and start all over again with an even longer (a year at least) wait time to get to any significant step. 

 

Did we just completely ruin our timeline/chance of getting a visa for her? What can we do at this point? Get divorced in Russia to go back to fiance status? Is there anyway to switch to a CR1 application with our current timeline of waiting (feb, 2018 for NOA2)? 

 

My stomach just hit the floor, as have my hopes. In a year of constant bad news regarding US-Russia visa/embassy relations, I'm in a state of shock that we might have made our situation even worse than what it has been by marrying each other. Please give us some good news. 

 

I appreciate your time and help.

 

Ryan 

[geowrian 22,336]

1 hour ago, ryno said:

Is there any way to change a K1 Fiance visa application to a CR1 Spouse Application? 

No. The I-129F for the K-1 is no longer valid and should be withdrawn as you are no longer eligible for a K-1. An I-130 (for a CR-1 visa) would need to be filed now. These are different forms with different requirements...there's no way to convert from one to another.

 

K-3 is obsolete. Plus it would require an I-130 then a new I-129F anyway.

 

1 hour ago, ryno said:

We were fiances while she was here in the U.S. on a student visa, and were (ignorantly) confident that she could go back to Russia and get her student visa renewed as she was in the middle of a college program here in the U.S. with excellent grades and paid for the next semester. Our plan was to get married once she came back to the U.S. and change her student visa to a green card. 

 

The US embassy in Moscow denied her student visa renewal application in the summer of 2017. So she has no way to enter the U.S.

The student visa was correctly denied...it is visa fraud to enter on an student visa with intent to stay/AOS.

 

1 hour ago, ryno said:

Today, our estimated response time on our K1 I-129 USCIS NOA2 is Feb 8, 2018. I'm now reading that it is not possible to change our application to K3 or CR1, that we'd have to cancel our K1 and start all over again with an even longer (a year at least) wait time to get to any significant step. 

 

Did we just completely ruin our timeline/chance of getting a visa for her? What can we do at this point? Get divorced in Russia to go back to fiance status? Is there anyway to switch to a CR1 application with our current timeline of waiting (feb, 2018 for NOA2)? 

You read correctly. The existing I-129F became invalid the moment you married.

 

You didn't ruin anything by marrying...many people have done this during the wait because they want to be married. However, it does mean more waiting as you go to the back of the line.

 

Getting divorced will not re-establish the I-129F relationship. A new I-129F would still be needed.

 

Sorry for the bad news, but it simply is what it is in your situation.

[gregcrs2 1,777]

1 hour ago, ryno said:

Hi guys, 

 

Is there any way to change a K1 Fiance visa application to a CR1 Spouse Application?  No, you can't change it.  Since you are now married, you are no longer eligible for a K-1.  The money paid for K-1 petition is now lost and you will need to apply for a CR-1.  Your timeline will start from zero.

 

I apologize and know this has been addressed before on these forums, but I've read some conflicting answers and am really scared that my wife and I just made a huge mistake by getting married during the K1 process.  Unfortunately, your decision to get married believing it would get her to the USA sooner may not have been the best decision.

 

 Did we just completely ruin our timeline/chance of getting a visa for her? She can still eventually get a CR-1 visa but your timeline starts all over again.  What can we do at this point? Best to just petition for the CR-1 and wait.  Get divorced in Russia to go back to fiance status? It would probably nullify your K-1 petition because much has changed (marriage/divorce).  Is there anyway to switch to a CR1 application with our current timeline of waiting (feb, 2018 for NOA2)?  Sorry, not possible

 

 

 

[payxibka 10,044]

10 hours ago, ryno said:

Hi guys, 

 

Is there any way to change a K1 Fiance visa application to a CR1 Spouse Application? 

 

I apologize and know this has been addressed before on these forums, but I've read some conflicting answers and am really scared that my wife and I just made a huge mistake by getting married during the K1 process. 

 

Here's my story. 

 

My wife is Russian, and currently living in Russia.

 

We were fiances while she was here in the U.S. on a student visa, and were (ignorantly) confident that she could go back to Russia and get her student visa renewed as she was in the middle of a college program here in the U.S. with excellent grades and paid for the next semester. Our plan was to get married once she came back to the U.S. and change her student visa to a green card. 

 

The US embassy in Moscow denied her student visa renewal application in the summer of 2017. So she has no way to enter the U.S.

 

We began the K1 fiance visa process in July 2017. At that time, the wait time was an estimated 4-5 months.

 

Since then, the US and Russia have had a series of incidents resulting in the closing of some Russian embassies in the US, and more importantly the expulsion of all Russian employees from the US embassy in Moscow.  Subsequently, the US is no longer offering non-immigrant visas to Russians wanting to come to the US. Also, the interview appointment page on their website shows either month upon months wait, or simply no appointments available at all. 

 

Needless to say, this saddened and spooked us. Meanwhile, the wait time for the approval of the USCIS of our I-129 has pushed back at least 3 months (according to visajourney.com estimate) and continues to be pushed back by the day. Everyone we knew who'd done the foreign marriage thing before told us to get married in Russia as it would be much easier to get her back. Additionally, we figured that having her be my spouse would give her a better chance of getting an interview, as it would now be an immigrant visa, and not the non-immigrant k-1 version. 

 

Today, our estimated response time on our K1 I-129 USCIS NOA2 is Feb 8, 2018. I'm now reading that it is not possible to change our application to K3 or CR1, that we'd have to cancel our K1 and start all over again with an even longer (a year at least) wait time to get to any significant step. 

 

Did we just completely ruin our timeline/chance of getting a visa for her? What can we do at this point? Get divorced in Russia to go back to fiance status? Is there anyway to switch to a CR1 application with our current timeline of waiting (feb, 2018 for NOA2)? 

 

My stomach just hit the floor, as have my hopes. In a year of constant bad news regarding US-Russia visa/embassy relations, I'm in a state of shock that we might have made our situation even worse than what it has been by marrying each other. Please give us some good news. 

 

I appreciate your time and help.

 

Ryan 

You didn't realize that even though the K-1 is technically a non-immigrant visa that the interviews are performed by the immigrant visa unit of the embassy.

 

By getting married you stepped out of line and now you must go back to the end of a different line

[Crazy Cat 39,938]

I'm sorry you will have more waiting, but the CR1 is superior to the K1 in almost every way, other than the separation time. Good luck to you and your bride.

[ryno 0]

Well, not the news I was hoping for, but I appreciate all of your responses and kind wishes. 

 

Now that we have to do a CR1, why is it superior to the K1? (as mentioned by missileman). 

 

 

[geowrian 22,336]

15 minutes ago, ryno said:

Well, not the news I was hoping for, but I appreciate all of your responses and kind wishes. 

 

Now that we have to do a CR1, why is it superior to the K1? (as mentioned by missileman).

It grants LPR status at POE (and a physical green card in the mail afterwards). No AOS is needed, so it's considerably cheaper, faster to get the actual green card, and you can work & travel right away (no wait for an EAD or AP).

[ryno 0]

Ok, so it's not the worst thing in the world that we got married and unknowingly screwed up our K1 visa process.  

 

Again, I sincerely appreciate all of your thoughtful answers and taking the time to help us out. This truly is a valuable and caring community. I wish you all a happy New Year. 

[ryno 0]

An additional question, 

 

Now we are starting over with the CR1 application process. 

 

As mentioned in my original post in this thread, we currently have a K1 application submitted to USCIS and are (were) awaiting NOA2 for that application that is no longer valid considering we've gotten married. 

 

Do I need to formally cancel our K1 application currently in processing? Is there a way to inform the USCIS or whatever agency that we no longer are in pursuit of the K1 visa and will be starting over again with a new CR1 visa?

 

If we do need to formally cancel/inform the authorities about our now defunct K1 application, does anyone know how and where I go about doing this? 

 

Thanks again

[geowrian 22,336]

If you are filing the I-130 right away, then include a letter requesting withdrawal of the I-129F (including names, receipt number, and DOBs) with your packet. Also contact the embassy and let them know that you have married and are withdrawing the I-129F and filing an I-130.

 

I don't believe this is strictly necessary, but tying up loose knots makes things simpler all around.

[Crazy Cat 39,938]

As @geowrian said, the CR-1 is faster for the Green Card.  My wife entered the US on June 22 of this year.  The officer stamped her passport giving her a "temporary Green card" status for 2 years.  She received her Social Security card by mail on July 3rd.  Her actual Green Card arrived on July 15th.

Anyway, good luck....