A bit complicated - How complicated will this CR-1 process be?

[pushbrk 13,555]

18 minutes ago, CanYouHelp_11 said:

 

Got it, I am not familiar with the process so its takes approximately 17 months just to approve or deny your I-130 , then afterwards you go through consular processing in whatever country you are in- now what you are saying here maybe ( it doesn't matter if she is a refugee/Asylee seeker or whatever) once I apply for her and approved that has no affect on her status  wherever she is? assuming she is there legally of course 

She must legally be present in a country, in order to do Consular processing there.  If awaiting a decision or asylum, that would work.

[Boiler 47,203]

How many times have you been to the UAE

[S2N 196]

30 minutes ago, CanYouHelp_11 said:

 

Got it, I am not familiar with the process so its takes approximately 17 months just to approve or deny your I-130 , then afterwards you go through consular processing in whatever country you are in- now what you are saying here maybe ( it doesn't matter if she is a refugee/Asylee seeker or whatever) once I apply for her and approved that has no affect on her status  wherever she is? assuming she is there legally of course 

There are three parts:

—I-130: you, the USC spouse, establish with the government that you are a USC and that you are legally married in a bona fide relationship. Some background checks are run here, but the things above are the two main things. USCIS usually doesn’t dig deep on fraud/will usually accept most evidences of bona fides so long as all the documentation is there. This stage more or less just establishes that you have the right to sign the I-864 (Affidavit of Support) and that your spouse is eligible to submit a DS-260 (Immigrant Visa Application). The current average is 14.5 months (so 14-15), but that average has been as high as 17. And again, that’s for the straightforward cases. About 40% take longer than the average if you look at the data, and ~20% linger longer than two years. African cases tend to be less straightforward and you’ll somewhat frequently see people with African nationality here and elsewhere on the immigration internet asking why it’s taking so long.

 

—National Visa Center: your spouse fills out the DS-260 and you fill out the I-864 and you both upload any relevant supporting documentation listed. This process can take 1-2 months if you do it quickly and correctly.

 

—Consulate interview: your interview is scheduled, you do the medical exam, and you have an interview where the consular official is charged with determining if the application is fraudulent. It takes on average 1-6 months to schedule the interview, which occurs usually 1-6 months after scheduling. Some embassies and consulates taking much longer. Lagos is more than a year. Abu Dhabi is currently scheduling cases that NVC approved in November 2022, and then you have to wait for the interview date. Cairo is scheduling January 2024. As a Sudanese national I believe she could be processed by Cairo if living in the UAE.
 

If she stays in the UAE for asylum you are looking at 40-50 months from the date you file an I-130 to the date she would get a visa. If she moved to Sudan it’d be in this time frame as well.

 

London would be something like 16-20 months if she can in fact move there legally. This is best case and it could take longer as a third-country national even in London.

Edited Tuesday at 01:12 AM by S2N

[S2N 196]

7 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

They cannot immediately file an I-130 after a Utah Zoom marriage.  They must have evidence they have been together in person, between the date of the ceremony and the date of filing the petition.

Correct, that’s what I meant when I said meet in person if online. Sorry if it wasn’t clear.

[CanYouHelp_11 1]

2 hours ago, S2N said:

There are three parts:

—I-130: you, the USC spouse, establish with the government that you are a USC and that you are legally married in a bona fide relationship. Some background checks are run here, but the things above are the two main things. USCIS usually doesn’t dig deep on fraud/will usually accept most evidences of bona fides so long as all the documentation is there. This stage more or less just establishes that you have the right to sign the I-864 (Affidavit of Support) and that your spouse is eligible to submit a DS-260 (Immigrant Visa Application). The current average is 14.5 months (so 14-15), but that average has been as high as 17. And again, that’s for the straightforward cases. About 40% take longer than the average if you look at the data, and ~20% linger longer than two years. African cases tend to be less straightforward and you’ll somewhat frequently see people with African nationality here and elsewhere on the immigration internet asking why it’s taking so long.

 

—National Visa Center: your spouse fills out the DS-260 and you fill out the I-864 and you both upload any relevant supporting documentation listed. This process can take 1-2 months if you do it quickly and correctly.

 

—Consulate interview: your interview is scheduled, you do the medical exam, and you have an interview where the consular official is charged with determining if the application is fraudulent. It takes on average 1-6 months to schedule the interview, which occurs usually 1-6 months after scheduling. Some embassies and consulates taking much longer. Lagos is more than a year. Abu Dhabi is currently scheduling cases that NVC approved in November 2022, and then you have to wait for the interview date. Cairo is scheduling January 2024. As a Sudanese national I believe she could be processed by Cairo if living in the UAE.
 

If she stays in the UAE for asylum you are looking at 40-50 months from the date you file an I-130 to the date she would get a visa. If she moved to Sudan it’d be in this time frame as well.

 

London would be something like 16-20 months if she can in fact move there legally. This is best case and it could take longer as a third-country national even in London.

 

Super helpful information, so after the I-130 process, does one get to choose where to do consulate interview ? if so one can arrange of travel to said country if one can see who is the quickest ..

[Boiler 47,203]

No

[S2N 196]

27 minutes ago, CanYouHelp_11 said:

 

Super helpful information, so after the I-130 process, does one get to choose where to do consulate interview ? if so one can arrange of travel to said country if one can see who is the quickest ..

It has to be the consulate where you are a legal resident or citizen ( @pushbrk answered a question on this earlier today if you want to search the forum.)

 

Currently Cairo handles IV’s for Sudanese nationals. As a UAE resident her options would be Abu Dhabi or Cairo. If she moves elsewhere legally her options would be the consular post handling immigrant visas for that country or Cairo.

 

Between Abu Dhabi and Cairo, State shows Cairo as about a year faster, but it’s an 18 month wait to get scheduled after approval at NVC vs. 30 months. Plus I’m going to go ahead and bet there will be delays in the process after the interview for background checks in Sudan. You’re looking at about 4 years minimum after the I-130 is filed before she can move to the U.S. in the current situation. Probably closer to 5 years.

 

If she is legally able to move to a European country the time to schedule will be faster, but there could still be pending background check or other delays after the interview.

 

This is why I initially said to get married and file ASAP if you’re sure you will get married. This is going to be a longer process for you all than for many of us.

Edited Tuesday at 03:37 AM by S2N

[JeanneAdil 7,014]

and don't forget if she does move out of UAE and has been there 12 months,  she'll need the criminal report from UAE/  hard to get after leaving the country

 

 

Just wondering 

if she's with father in UAE and he's working and she is safe,  why leave?

who will support her in UK or any other place as you say mom will follow later?

[appleblossom 4,125]

1 hour ago, JeanneAdil said:

if she's with father in UAE and he's working and she is safe,  why leave?

 

It sounds like they won't be able to stay in the UAE as his job is ending. As @Boiler said, I don't think they'll qualify for asylum in the UK though, but that's probably a question for another forum!

[S2N 196]

22 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

It sounds like they won't be able to stay in the UAE as his job is ending. As @Boiler said, I don't think they'll qualify for asylum in the UK though, but that's probably a question for another forum!

It sounds like they have a solicitor in the UK based on the first post. They can advise on the UK bit.

Bottom line is that OP can get married and file an I-130 and it doesn’t matter where his future wife is residing. She will be able to interview at Cairo (or whatever post handles Sudan in 3-5 years) or the post that handles he country of legal residence.

 

All he can really do from a U.S. immigration standpoint right now is get married and file an I-130 assuming that his wife’s residence status will be clearer once it hits NVC. He can list Cairo for now on the I-130 and then update at NVC as needed.

[Cathi 5,837]

13 hours ago, CanYouHelp_11 said:

 

 

and 14-17 months is insane if its just for the I-130, I've been told aim for 12 months 

 

You can aim all you want, it's not reality. 

[Cathi 5,837]

2 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

 

 

 

Just wondering 

if she's with father in UAE and he's working and she is safe,  why leave?

who will support her in UK or any other place as you say mom will follow later?

His work contract ends in August and they must leave when it's over.

[Cathi 5,837]

10 hours ago, CanYouHelp_11 said:

 

Super helpful information, so after the I-130 process, does one get to choose where to do consulate interview ? if so one can arrange of travel to said country if one can see who is the quickest ..

Nope.

[Boiler 47,203]

Hopefully the OP will clarify what is going on

[Theersink 39]

All of this is moot if the OP has not or cannot physically visit after the marriage. The 130 can't even be filed without solid evidence of relationship and there is the requirement of consummation. At a minimum OP would need at least one visit after the marriage. Being as the OP's wife is from a banned country I seriously doubt they would get an approval without proof of substantial time spent together. The visits could possibly come during the waiting period for processing but most here would not recommend that as it risks denial of the 130 or an RFE that would slow everything down.

 

OP this is not a process you can "shoot from the hip" on, it requires a lot of planning and patience. You do not want to rush anything or it will be a painful process for both of you. My recommendation would be to wait and see if the UK Asylum claim works out and then file. You could get married via online and then use the time for the asylum claim to visit and build evidence of the relationship. Her living in the UK would likely make it easier for that as well. After you have a minimum of 2 visits of at least 2 weeks and solid evidence file the 130. 

 

Good luck to you sir.