Is there any point on waiting for a K-1 in China anymore.

[Kaleb8082 7]

I know that recently the Dept of State has said that as embassies open up around the world, they are authorized to make K-1 a priority. With one notable exception being that travel ban countries will not resume. My fiancée is from China and is currently there awaiting the time she can get her K-1. We are still waiting on our NOA2 after we received our NOA1 on April 30, 2020. It seems that the travel ban will continue for a long, long time and that K-1's won't resume until late 2021/early 2022. With that in mind, they will also have to process everyone that was in line during the travel ban, further increasing the waiting time. 

So, my question is would it be a better choice to find a third country, like Mexico, and get married? Then apply for the CR-1 since they are exempt from the travel ban and are currently interviewing in travel ban countries. It seems like the K-1 is practically dead, especially in countries with travel bans. Perhaps my logic is wrong but I was hoping to get some other perspectives on this. 

[payxibka 10,044]

7 minutes ago, Kaleb8082 said:

I know that recently the Dept of State has said that as embassies open up around the world, they are authorized to make K-1 a priority. With one notable exception being that travel ban countries will not resume. My fiancée is from China and is currently there awaiting the time she can get her K-1. We are still waiting on our NOA2 after we received our NOA1 on April 30, 2020. It seems that the travel ban will continue for a long, long time and that K-1's won't resume until late 2021/early 2022. With that in mind, they will also have to process everyone that was in line during the travel ban, further increasing the waiting time. 

So, my question is would it be a better choice to find a third country, like Mexico, and get married? Then apply for the CR-1 since they are exempt from the travel ban and are currently interviewing in travel ban countries. It seems like the K-1 is practically dead, especially in countries with travel bans. Perhaps my logic is wrong but I was hoping to get some other perspectives on this. 

An i130 petition filed today you are likely looking at a late 2021 or even possibly a 2022 interview.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Only you can decide if getting marry in a third country and filing for the CR-1 is a better choice.  The CR-1 was taking 12-18 months before COVID.  You would have to get in line behind all the cases that were on hold, so it may be longer than 12-18 months after you file.  

[payxibka 10,044]

...

 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2020 by payxibka

[Kaleb8082 7]

7 minutes ago, payxibka said:

An i130 petition filed today you are likely looking at a late 2021 or even possibly a 2022 interview.

It seems like that would be around the same timeline as the K-1 currently. And with CR-1 at least the travel ban would not be an issue along with the fact that it comes with the green card initially. No need for AOS. I guess my logic here is that with the CR-1 you get all the benefits with the same timeline. 

[Kaleb8082 7]

4 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

Only you can decide if getting marry in a third country and filing for the CR-1 is a better choice.  The CR-1 was taking 12-18 months before COVID.  You would have to get in line behind all the cases that were on hold, so it may be longer than 12-18 months after you file.  

From what my fiancée was told from the consulate in Guangzhou, they are pretty much on track with CR-1's right now and will probably be caught up by the end of the year. K-1's probably won't be caught up until late 2021. 

[SoSol 27]

5 hours ago, Kaleb8082 said:

It seems like that would be around the same timeline as the K-1 currently. And with CR-1 at least the travel ban would not be an issue along with the fact that it comes with the green card initially. No need for AOS. I guess my logic here is that with the CR-1 you get all the benefits with the same timeline. 

You are at the end of the line if you abandon and get married to apply for CR-1. The wait spousal visas were over a year and half pre-COVID. You are already half way through the K1 and should be receiving NOA2 very soon. As soon as that happens under normal circumstances its only 2 - 3 months until the visa interview and issuance. Although my circumstances is bit different as we will have the visa once they lift the travel ban and resume processing I would still suggest you wait for the K1 it is much quicker.

[remotercharm 31]

11 hours ago, Kaleb8082 said:

 It seems that the travel ban will continue for a long, long time and that K-1's won't resume until late 2021/early 2022. With that in mind, they will also have to process everyone that was in line during the travel ban, further increasing the waiting time. 

I really hope this isn't true!

[HRQX 4,145]

10 hours ago, SoSol said:

As soon as that happens under normal circumstances its only 2 - 3 months until the visa interview and issuance.

But it's no longer normal. A large backlog should be expected in Guangzhou whenever the President ends PP9984 because of all the cases that have received NOA2 since February.

[Just Paul 4,591]

16 hours ago, Kaleb8082 said:

So, my question is would it be a better choice to find a third country, like Mexico, and get married? Then apply for the CR-1 since they are exempt from the travel ban and are currently interviewing in travel ban countries.

Getting married in Mexico, or anywhere is fine.  She can not interview in Mexico unless she is a resident of Mexico.  Mexico allows for temporary and permanent residency.

 

I have Mexican Permanent Residency.   We met in the Philippines, married in Hong Kong and she moved to Mexico with me (I was based there) and she obtained permanent residency for $36 and 5 hours because I was a permanent resident.  My work plans changed a few months later and we filed our I-130.  We could have interviewed in either Manila or Mexico because have having citizenship and residency respectively.

 

As others have stated if you file the I-130 you go back to the end of the line.   The only thing that changes where the interview is held is where the beneficiary a resident of.

 

Also note the some travel bans apply to nationalities and some apply to traveling (and inferred VISA issuance).  These bans can change at anytime. 

[Kaleb8082 7]

56 minutes ago, HRQX said:

But it's no longer normal. A large backlog should be expected in Guangzhou whenever the President ends PP9984 because of all the cases that have received NOA2 since February.

This is exactly what I was thinking. The backlog on the K-1's could literally take a year to catch up while CR-1's are catching up right now. Even with applying for CR-1 and going to the back of the line, we could potentially still beat the K-1's timeline. 

[HRQX 4,145]

6 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

and some apply to traveling (and inferred VISA issuance).

Guangzhou has still been issuing IR-1/CR-1 visas because spouses of US citizens are exempt to both PP9984 and PP10014.

[payxibka 10,044]

55 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Guangzhou has still been issuing IR-1/CR-1 visas because spouses of US citizens are exempt to both PP9984 and PP10014.

But I doubt at anywhere near the precovid pace

[HRQX 4,145]

3 minutes ago, payxibka said:

But I doubt at anywhere near the precovid pace

The recent statistics show that Guangzhou has issued more than precovid. August 2020: 216 IR-1 visas and 168 CR-1 visas https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/AUGUST 2020 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf September 2020 data isn't available yet.

 

Precovid:

January 2020: 68 IR-1 visas and 66 CR-1 visas https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/JANUARY 2020 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

October 2019: 86 IR-1 visas and 73 CR-1 visas https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/OCTOBER 2019 IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

July 2019: 107 IR-1 visas and 101 CR-1 visas https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/JULY 2019 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

[Kaleb8082 7]

8 minutes ago, HRQX said:

The recent statistics show that Guangzhou has issued more than precovid. August 2020: 216 IR-1 visas and 168 CR-1 visas https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/AUGUST 2020 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf September 2020 data isn't available yet.

 

Precovid:

January 2020: 68 IR-1 visas and 66 CR-1 visas https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/JANUARY 2020 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

October 2019: 86 IR-1 visas and 73 CR-1 visas https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/OCTOBER 2019 IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

July 2019: 107 IR-1 visas and 101 CR-1 visas https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/JULY 2019 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

Wow. This is really encouraging news. I hope they keep this pace going for the foreseeable future. If Biden becomes president, chances are it might even happen faster. Thanks for the stats!