nonahal

Hi,

I am filling I-130 for my wife and need some guidance in answering question 21.

My Situation / History:

I am US Citizen, living in Houston TX. Got married in Pakistan in April 2011. Two weeks after the wedding I came back to US. One month after that my wife joined me in Houston on a visitor's visa which she had prior to our wedding. She will be travelling back to Pakistan in Nov of 2011.

My Question

I am filing I-130 for my wife. I will not be filing for an adjustment of status. My wife's application will processed at the American consulate in Islamabad, Pakistan. Now in question 21 of I-130 it's asking for the last address where we lived together and a from/to date. Should I put the address here in Houston where she will be living with me till November or should I put her address in Pakistan? I am afraid that if I put the address in Houston it might create some confusion. I will really appreciate your help/guidance in this matter.

Regards,

Thanks for the information and well wishes. Also, sorry for the confusion. Yes, I meant the K3 visa. So is it true that the processing time for I-130 have improved considerably then?

Are you talking about the K3 visa (which would require filling both forms)? If so, I would say don't bother.

This is the typical sequence of events if you were to do that:

You file the I-130 and receive your NOA1

You file the I-129F

USCIS ties the I-129F together with the I-130 by pulling your I-130 from its place in the queue and places it with the I-129F you just submitted.

USCIS approves both petitions at the same time and forwards them to the NVC

NVC receives both petitions at the same time and administratively closes the I-129F for K3 leaving only the I-130 for CR-1 active

Now, there have been some recent posts from 2 different users who had their I-129F arrive at the NVC a day ahead of the I-130 and the I-129F for K3 subsequently went forward. Now it's too early to tell is this is a trend or an anomaly.

IMO, the best course of action for you is to file the I-130 and let it run its course alone without filing the I-129F.

Congratulations on your marriage and best wishes going forward!

Dear Members,

I am a US citizen and am married to a Pakistani citizen. I am about to file for her immigration and wan't to know which route is the quickest. I was told that traditionally people would file for an I 129 (fiance visa) and once the spouse reached US they would file for I 130. This was done mainly because the processing times for I 130 were really long. Now I've heard that it does not matter anymore because the processing time for both I 129 and I 130 are the same (roughly 6 months). In fact I was told that in some cases filing for an I 129 delayed the whole process.

So I will really appreciate it if you can give me some advice on which form to file for my wife. I 129 or I 130?

Looking forward to some help from you all. Thanks!

Hi

I am a US citizen and recently got married to a Pakistani citizen in Pakistan. My wife has a valid US Visit Visa and has been visiting the US frequently prior to our marriage. Since I am not aware of all the laws, I need your help in finding out my best options for my wife to come to US. We are hoping she can visit me next month on her visit visa. Once she is here, I plan on applying for her i-130. But does she have to go back while the case is processing? Someone told me that since we got married in Pakistan, she will have to leave. Someone else suggested that if we register or civil marriage in the US, she can continue to stay here as long as the case is being processed. Another person said to apply for i-129f instead of i-130. I am confused as to what are my best options and any help you can provide will be much appreciated.

Thanks

Nonahal