dakroww

Greetings all,

    I will soon be restarting the IR1 process for my wife. We have been married since 2012, as we married while I was living in Bogota, Colombia for four years. Due to some traumatic life circumstances we decided to put a pause on our relationship and I returned to the United States in 2016. That  changed two years later after she ended up getting her tourist VISA in 2018 and has visted me three times and will return again this summer. 

   So the question being, should I wait to start the VISA process again until she visits on her tourist VISA this summer or should I just go ahead and start the porcess again now. Once again, we are legally married in Colombia and we got all the way up to the "waiting for the interview to happen" when we cancelled the process before, which of course I now regret, because I have to start all over again. The only reason I would delay starting the process until she visited is because I dont want any conflict with her existing toursit VISA and the IR-1 process. Thanks for any advice and help.

Don

1 hour ago, Letspaintcookies said:

So back then you received the approval for the I-130 petition but just never finished the NVC stage? 

Her tourist visa won't get revoked by starting the immigration visa process. 

Where you got married has nothing to do with where you file the petition. The I-130 can be done online or if you file paper it will get send to an address inside mainland US. But you shouldn't have to start completely from scratch. I-130 don't expire and you should be able to have USCIS retrieve your file from storage and pick up where you left.

I received an email from the NVC stating  that our documents had been destroyed, because of non-correspondance, so I do believe they were destroyed. So, I do believe we will have to resubmit nw documents unfortunately. 

I have been married to a Colombia woman for over ten years. We lived together in Colombia for four years and I am legally married to her in Colombia. We started the CR1 visa process many years ago, but due to some traumatic life events in life we allowed it to lapse. She is also now has a United States tourist VISA. She is going to come stay with me for awhile in March and I want to know what steps I should take in regards to beginning the VISA process again in this scenario. If I start the CR1 process now, will they revoke her tourist VISA? I am not exactly sure how that works. I know since we are legally married in Colombia, the VISA application has to be submitted there, but will that have any effect on her tourist VISA? I know there is more than one way to go through process.

Hey again,

I just paid my AOS Fee, but I will not be sending my AOS paperwork out for about two months, will this cause any problems? The reason I am waiting is because I am currently in Colombia like I said and I will be moving back to the United States to start working in October and I want to wait until then to send out the AOS papers for obvious reasons (domicile and employment) which I want to have regardless of my joint sponsor so I run into no problems. Will this cause any problems? How much time after you pay the AOS fee do you have to send the I-864?

Don

Hell All,

I just paid my AOS Fee, but I will not be sending my AOS paperwork out for about two months, will this cause any problems? The reason I am waiting is because I am currently in Colombia and I will be moving back to the United States to start working in October and I want to wait until then to send out the AOS papers for obvious reasons. Will this cause any problems? How much time after you pay the AOS fee do you have to send the I-864?

Don

Hell All,

I just paid my AOS Fee, but I will not be sending my AOS paperwork out for about two months, will this cause any problems? The reason I am waiting is because I am currently in Colombia and I will be moving back to the United States to start working in October and I want to wait until then to send out the AOS papers for obvious reasons. Will this cause any problems? How much time after you pay the AOS fee do you have to send the I-864?

Don

Hello All,

I have it seems a common question regarding the Affidavit of Support. I am the petitioner for my wife filling out an AOS form and I am currently living with my wife in Colombia and have not lived in the United States in 2 years. A good friend in the United States will be my joint sponsor, because I am not currently employed in the United States. I just began filling out the AOS form and I came to Part 3. I am sponsoring the principal immigrant named in part 2. Yes or No? What do I answer? Thanks in advance for your help!

Don

Also,

I have not received any of the paperwork, but I want to begin filling out all the paperwork now. My payment just processed today and is now paid. What paperwork will I need for the AOS process. I know we both must fill out I-864 and send all our financial information, but is there another form we must fill out? Do we need to fill out the I-864A? What other paperwork should I prepare now? Thanks in advance for all your help!

Don

Hello all,

I am currently living in Bogota, Colombia with my wife. I do not have an income in the United States for the previous two years, but I plan on moving back in two months to begin working in the United States. I just paid the AOS Fee and I am planning on using a joint sponsor for this process. The person who is going to be a joint sponsor lives on the other side of the United States. Does the joint sponsor need to share a residence or just prove their ability to care for beneficiary financially? I am confident about working when I return, but at the moment I need the joint sponsor to continue the process. Any help with this would be much appreciated.

Don

Hello,

Yes, time is not a problem. I have been married and living with wife abroad for two years. We were married in August of 2012 and we sent the I-130 last month and the process is moving along well. Make sure you stuff the packet full of a lot of evidence. It was a bit easier because I have been living with my wife for two years, but as long as you have sufficient evidence you should be fine. My process so far is as follows...

May 19th our packet was received by USCIS

May 21st our packet was sent to the California Service Center

June 11th our packet was approved and sent to the NVC (Awaiting New Packet in mail)

(USCIS) states that our I-130 is approved and is in the (Post Decision Activity) step.

Here is the step by step... http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

Uploaded an example of my cover page here http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/450786/MainCoverPageSample.docx in docx format...and attached a PDF version to this post.

Good Luck!!!!

Don

MainCoverPageSample.pdf

Hey,

At the moment yes, but I will be moving to United States (Austin, TX) to start working after spending over two years in Bogota, Colombia to help the process along. We will still be using a Joint sponsor for the financial affidavit even if I make enough money at first, because I have not had work history in the United States for two years, prior to returning (we want to be safe). Once they set an interview date, I will fly back to Bogota for a week, before returning and awaiting for everything to finalize. We are praying before Christmas, but we are tepidly optimistic.

Don

Hello everyone waiting on there I-130 approval.

May 19th our packet was received by USCIS

May 21st our packet was sent to the California Service Center

June 11th our packet was approved and sent to the NVC (Awaiting New Packet in mail)

(USCIS) states that our I-130 is approved and is in the (Post Decision Activity) step.

Does this seem to be the average process time for these steps? I have seen some people wait many months before their packet was sent to the NVC.

Regards,

Don

Thanks Abby & DearJohn,

Your posts were both very helpful. Abby, you seem to be in a very similar situation as I am. I will be mailing my I-130 package out next week and I will be moving back to Austin alone (unfortunately) in June to reestablish myself. I do have some good news, I found a good friend who will joint sponsor with me if my lack of US income over the last two years hurts me as far as the affidavit of support goes. Also, I do have a time advantage, because I have been legally married in Bogota since August of 2012 I will automatically receive the IR1 VISA. By the way, where in Bogota do you live? I am currently residing in Alamos Norte.

Don

Hello all,

I have a question about the packet presentation. We bought a binder with many plastic sleeve-lets for each document, which looks really nice, but I am beginning to think it is unnecessary and too much. Should I send it like that or just stack the documents in order in a single business envelope? I am sending via FedEx from Colombia. Advice on presentation would be much appreciated.

Don

Hello,

I am an American living in Colombia for nearly two years with my wife (legally married in Colombia). We have nearly finished preparing our gigantic packet of proof etc. I just got a reply that it is not necessary to apostille your documents in your I-130 application package, only that they are translated by a certified English Translator, but I was considering adding a sworn affidavit or two, from a few friends we have in Colombia who can read and write in English just fine. Do these documents have to be notarized and appostilled, because I know something notarized overseas is meaningless without an appostille. This is an example of our cover page now without the sworn affidavits, do I need anything else. Or is this overkill enough? Please some help and or suggestions

MainCoverPageSample.pdf

Hello all,

I am an American living in Colombia for nearly two years with my wife (legally married in Colombia). We have nearly finished preparing our gigantic packet of proof etc. Is it necessary to get both the original and translation documents apostilled? We have heard two different opinions. We are thinking it is better to be safe than sorry. Please any help with experience with this particular situation would be much appreciated.

Don

To anyone who can help answer my questions.

I am a United States Citizen who has been living in Bogota, Colombia for nearly two years with my wife of 1 year and 8 months (We are legally married here in Colombia). I would like to bring her to United States with me, but because I have been living in Colombia for two years I do not have a domicile in the United States, I am although a student in a University in the United States via virtual learning. My wife and I plan on moving to the United States as soon as possible and I am already looking for work in United States and a new apartment. I do have (a good work history) in the United States before traveling to Colombia.

I guess what I need to know is whether or not I need to travel to United States first and begin working and move into my apartment, before I can begin the “immigrant VISA” process to bring my (legal wife) to the United States with me. All the documentation I have looked at online seems to be slightly unclear about my specific situation. Again, I am a legal United States resident, born and raised and I have been living with my wife, who was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, for nearly two years. We are planning on moving to Austin, Texas where I can begin my professional life again in the United States. PLEASE! I need some information or assistance on the best course of action to take. I do not want to pay for the whole VISA application process now, if I am just going to have to do it again after traveling to the United States.

I feel my biggest obstacle is the fact I currently do not reside or have a domicile within the United States, but I think this is understandable due to the fact I have resided in Colombia for two years.Thanks in advance for any help or assistance you can give to me.