I-601 & I-485 concurrent filing

[ashleyrenee7 1]

Hi there, I am a U.S. citizen living abroad in the U.K. with my British husband.

 

We have filed his I-485 today. However, we already know that he will need to file an I-601, as he is opposed to all vaccines due to his religious beliefs. 

 

Should we file his I-601 right now as well? Is there any benefit to this, since we already know he would be refusing vaccinations at the medical appointment for his green card?

 

Also, is it seriously a 28 month wait time for I-601 approval? I'm having a really hard time wrapping my head around that.

 

Anyway, thanks in advance for any advice. We are going the DIY route on this one.

[Lil bear 4,660]

1 hour ago, ashleyrenee7 said:

Hi there, I am a U.S. citizen living abroad in the U.K. with my British husband.

 

We have filed his I-485 today. However, we already know that he will need to file an I-601, as he is opposed to all vaccines due to his religious beliefs. 

 

Should we file his I-601 right now as well? Is there any benefit to this, since we already know he would be refusing vaccinations at the medical appointment for his green card?

 

Also, is it seriously a 28 month wait time for I-601 approval? I'm having a really hard time wrapping my head around that.

 

Anyway, thanks in advance for any advice. We are going the DIY route on this one.

Can you please fill out your details on your timeline ?  I am confused by your filing of the I485 (adjustment of status) and the fact that you are living outside the US ( which requires an immigrant visa not AOS).  i 485 is not applicable for a spouse visa. 
Thx for clarifying. 

[ashleyrenee7 1]

33 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

Can you please fill out your details on your timeline ?  I am confused by your filing of the I485 (adjustment of status) and the fact that you are living outside the US ( which requires an immigrant visa not AOS).  i 485 is not applicable for a spouse visa. 
Thx for clarifying. 

Hi, so sorry, I completely got the form wrong. It's his DS-260 that we just filed. 

[PeterSiM 7]

If the beneficiary (your husband) is abroad, you would not file the I-485 as that is for people inside the United States to adjust their status. Are you referring to the I-130 document? That's the form you need to file. You'd file the I-601 once the consular official refused the visa and then the wait time begins. Either way I'd strongly suggest using a lawyer, an I-601 waiver for vaccinations is not a DIY situation.

[ashleyrenee7 1]

7 hours ago, PeterSiM said:

If the beneficiary (your husband) is abroad, you would not file the I-485 as that is for people inside the United States to adjust their status. Are you referring to the I-130 document? That's the form you need to file. You'd file the I-601 once the consular official refused the visa and then the wait time begins. Either way I'd strongly suggest using a lawyer, an I-601 waiver for vaccinations is not a DIY situation.

Yes, I've corrected that in a comment replying to someone else. I meant to say the DS-260, not the I-485. We have already done the I-130 and completed his DS-260 as well. I have read a lot of conflicting information online saying that you can file the two concurrently, rather than waiting until you've been refused the visa by the consular officer. But I have also read that your green card application cannot be processed until the I-601 is approved. And I've read about various wait times- from people that have had their I-601s approved in 2 months, all the way up to 2 years. It's so difficult to get a clear answer. People have done I-601s themselves without a lawyer though, I know it's possible. Our case is fairly straightforward in that it's just a religious vaccine exemption we're going for, nothing overly complicated. 

[appleblossom 5,295]

**Thread moved to Waivers & Admin Processing forum as question relates to that**

 

46 minutes ago, ashleyrenee7 said:

Yes, I've corrected that in a comment replying to someone else. I meant to say the DS-260, not the I-485. We have already done the I-130 and completed his DS-260 as well. I have read a lot of conflicting information online saying that you can file the two concurrently, rather than waiting until you've been refused the visa by the consular officer. But I have also read that your green card application cannot be processed until the I-601 is approved. And I've read about various wait times- from people that have had their I-601s approved in 2 months, all the way up to 2 years. It's so difficult to get a clear answer. People have done I-601s themselves without a lawyer though, I know it's possible. Our case is fairly straightforward in that it's just a religious vaccine exemption we're going for, nothing overly complicated. 

 

As long as you can prove that he's not had other vaccines and show evidence of his religion, then you might be ok without a lawyer. Is he a Jehovah's Witness?

 

He needs to be deemed inadmissible first for the waiver, so you'll have to wait until after his interview. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/charts/i-601chart.pdf Luckily London's pretty quick so if you're DQ'ed soon he should have his interview in early 2026 (some other consulates have a 2+ year wait just for an interview, so you'd be looking at potentially another 4 years if he was at a backlogged consulate!). 

Edited 12 hours ago by appleblossom

[Boiler 48,181]

Are you ok with both paying the fee and the processing time for the I 601?

[ashleyrenee7 1]

2 hours ago, appleblossom said:

**Thread moved to Waivers & Admin Processing forum as question relates to that**

 

 

As long as you can prove that he's not had other vaccines and show evidence of his religion, then you might be ok without a lawyer. Is he a Jehovah's Witness?

 

He needs to be deemed inadmissible first for the waiver, so you'll have to wait until after his interview. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/charts/i-601chart.pdf Luckily London's pretty quick so if you're DQ'ed soon he should have his interview in early 2026 (some other consulates have a 2+ year wait just for an interview, so you'd be looking at potentially another 4 years if he was at a backlogged consulate!). 

I'm not sure how we can prove that he hasn't had other vaccines since he was a child, are there medical records that would show that? 

He is a Christian. I also am not sure how you could show evidence that you're a Christian other than stating it in the letter that you have to write, which is what he did. He has also had family members write sworn testimonies on his behalf. I don't really know what other evidence we could provide.

 

So we shouldn't submit his I-601 before he's had his consular interview then? Is there a reason we couldn't do it early, just to get ahead of things? I know the processing time on the I-601 can be really long, so we wanted to get it done as soon as possible. 

[ashleyrenee7 1]

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

Are you ok with both paying the fee and the processing time for the I 601?

The fee is not a problem for us, thankfully. The issue is that we have no idea how long the processing time actually will be. Some people online have said they got theirs approved within weeks, some have said months, legal websites are saying 12-18 months on average, and the USCIS website says within 23 months. It is all so confusing. 😔

[appleblossom 5,295]

1 minute ago, ashleyrenee7 said:

I'm not sure how we can prove that he hasn't had other vaccines since he was a child, are there medical records that would show that? 

He is a Christian. I also am not sure how you could show evidence that you're a Christian other than stating it in the letter that you have to write, which is what he did. He has also had family members write sworn testimonies on his behalf. I don't really know what other evidence we could provide.

 

So we shouldn't submit his I-601 before he's had his consular interview then? Is there a reason we couldn't do it early, just to get ahead of things? I know the processing time on the I-601 can be really long, so we wanted to get it done as soon as possible. 

 

You can't submit it early, it's a waiver of inadmissibility, so first he has to be found inadmissible. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-601instr.pdf

 

Yes, he'll need to provide his medical records anyway for the medical, so that will show that he's not been vaccinated. I'm not sure how him being a Christian means there is an issue with vaccines? But he'd need to get evidence of it not aligning with his beliefs (whatever text from the Bible etc), plus instead of sworn testimonies from his family members, I'd suggest one from his vicar outlining why he can't get vaccinated due to his religious beliefs. 

 

Good luck. 

 

 

[Boiler 48,181]

He would have been christened, I have the bits and bobs from then.

 

Were you not married in Church? Bans read?

[Boiler 48,181]

Ohh I 601 takes it seems 2 ish years, well of course we can not look into the future but that is the trend.

[appleblossom 5,295]

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

He would have been christened, I have the bits and bobs from then.

 

Were you not married in Church? Bans read?

 

He'd also have been confirmed, so his certificate from that would be good evidence.  

[Boiler 48,181]

I don’t have that…

 

Lost in the mist of time