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19 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

It doesn't matter.  They will assign to the Consulate based on the Physical Address you gave on the I-130.

Shoot, I didn't realize that. Thanks for the heads up! In section 62.a (see attached) when asked which U.S. Embassy/Consulate she will apply for the immigrant visa, I listed Bogota because I was pretty sure she'd be back living in Bogota by the time the interview came around. But indeed, her physical address right now is listed where she lived until last month (Shanghai, China). So since section 62.A already has Bogota listed, I guess I will only need to request the change of physical address to Bogota at the NVC stage and that should automatically tip them off that it should take place there. Is that correct? Or is there an additional step?

I guess the "note" at the bottom (under section 62.c) of the attachment relates to what you are talking about- since her physical address is currently list as in China, Bogota (as is) would likely reject it and it would need to be transferred to China. 

Thanks for the feedback. We won't need a change of consulate as we requested Bogota right when I filed the I-130 paperwork. So we're good there.

Hi All,

I ran a search for change of address for a spouse beneficiary after filing I-130 paperwork (I filed recently on 9/28/23) but most of it pertains to the petitioner change of address. My wife (beneficiary) lived and worked in China before recently moving back to her native Colombia. My address as her U.S. citizen petitioner remains the same (no need to change). Do I need to update her I-130 paperwork online to reflect her new address in Colombia? Or can it wait until the NCV stage? TIA!

8 hours ago, Timona said:

File I-130 online

My apologies in advance if these follow-up questions are daft. Should I risk filing the I-130 online right now even with the wife planning to visit the U.S. with me on her B-2 visa in a 2-3 months? As I mentioned, she will not overstay, however, I'm wondering if this will have an adverse impact on her I-130 getting approved and/or her using her B-2 visa in the future?

Hi Everyone,

I haven't been able to uncover any threads that covers our exact situation so I am hoping for some guidance for others through this new thread.

I am a native-born American who has lived outside the U.S. for the last 23 years in several countries because of my job. I met my wife,  who is Colombian, in Colombia 11 years ago and we have been married for 4 years. We also have a 1 year old son who already has an American passport. My wife does have an American tourist visa (B-2), which she has used a few times (and never overstayed) and she has around 6 years left on it. We have lived and worked in several countries around the world (and my wife has worked in 2 of those countries). However, we will be returning to the USA to live in 2-3 months and thus, I would like to start the process of getting her Permanent Residency and perhaps citizenship in the USA. I've been reading online that the first step should be to file the paperwork for the IR1 Spousal Visa. My first question is will her B-2 tourist visa be automatically rescinded when we start filing the paperwork for the IR1 visa (due to flagging her for intending to immigrate)? Again, she has never overstayed on her B-2 visa and doesn't intend to- she'll simple leave the country every few months. 

My second question- my sister-in-law (who is now a U.S. citizen but immigrated from Venezuela 15 years ago) mentioned that nowadays there might be a streamlined way to permanent residency for those who can already enter the U.S. legally, made possible by some recent immigration reform for Venezuelan/Colombian citizens? Does anyone know anything about this? That's my main line of inquiry I'd like to explore; the most efficient and less time-consuming pathway for my wife to start pursuing a green card, given her situation.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to any feedback from those in the know.

39 minutes ago, Bill Hamze said:

 

In your case, you've been married for several years before you had your wife apply. 

Hi Bill,

To clarify, we were only married 8 months before she applied for and was granted the B2 visa in Dubai, although we dated for several year before that. 

Hi all,

So my Colombian wife recently was granted a U.S. Tourist visa after a long journey to ensure we were in the best position to succeed. While our situation is unique, I'll mention it here in case others have similarities. I met my wife 6 years ago while I was living in Bogota (I am American) and we started dating. She is quite a bit younger than I and at the time had just started a university program and she was relatively poor and without assets. Her family was from the coast in the same economic situation so I didn't want to even bother applying at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota to save her the humiliation and money lost when rejected. In fact, I didn't want to apply at the Embassy in Bogota at all since the rejection rate is so high. We decided we would wait for her to get her Bachelor's degree, we'd move to another country where we'd both work, and then have her apply through the U.S. Embassy/Consulate in the 3rd country. During that time, I taught her English as well. 

So we waited. She eventually earned her bachelors in her chosen profession in Bogota. We traveled internationally to as many other countries as we could to show evidence that she was a responsible traveler. We then got married in Mexico. I accepted another international job in Dubai with my employer taking care of her visa. After moving to Dubai, she was then able to get a job, a bank account, and save a bit of money. She subsequently applied to the U.S. Consulate in Dubai carrying all of her financial information, resume, work letter/contract, marriage certificate, my financial info. etc. They only asked to see her Colombian passport, work contract and my passport. They asked her 5-6 standard questions and most of the questions were clarifications about my work/visa status in the country. She was then granted the visa. She said the guy in here in Dubai was very nice and professional and made her feel at-ease. 

I just wanted to contribute this in case there are others like me who work internationally but would like their foreign spouses to be able to visit home with them. I move countries every 3-5 years anyway, so this strategy worked for me. I firmly believe that my wife not applying in Colombia really helped her chances. Indeed, even with a job in Colombia, it would have been more difficult for her in my opinion. 

Thank you, Illiria. I have a lot to think about now given my limited options. On top of it all, I've been learning that it's actually quite difficult for any Colombian to get a tourist visa to the US if they don't have enough so-called "ties to Colombia" like property ownership, great job, lots of money in the bank, solid connections, etc. etc. So that basically eliminates 80-90% of Colombians right off that bat. I guess I'll have to wait until she graduates from college, gets a job with me outside in Colombia, work for a few years to save a decent amount of money and build up credibility (longetivity) in her job, and then maybe Uncle Sam will deem her worthy of a trip to visit her in-laws and my extended family. 

I thought it would be an advantage that we don't want to stay in the US, but just to marry there in front of my family and to occasionally visit, however, it appears like they don't want to bother with us if we're not going to stay in the US after marriage. 

Thanks for both your responses. Sounds like getting married in the US doesn't really make any sense for us then, given our goals (to live outside the US). I am definitely not prepared to return to the States for years to live just so that she can eventually visit with me more easily. Thus, I guess the best thing to do would be to marry her in Colombia, have her move to Russia (my employer would take care of her Russian spousal visa), and then have her apply for tourist visas to the US once a year. Is that about right?

Yes, while I am a US citizen, I am a Russian resident now (legal with work visa). I do own property in the USA and have a US address for correspondence. 

Hi Everyone,

I've been reading through the archives but I can't find a thread that describes my unique situation and I'm hoping that someone can guide me in the right direction. I'm an American male currently living and working in Russia. Prior to Russia, I lived and worked in Bogota for 5 years, where I met my fiance (a Colombian citizen). We've been a couple for over 5 years know and even lived together for my last 1 1/2 years in Bogota. Because my fiance is finishing up her Bachelor's degree in Bogota (she graduates in Dec. of 2018), it was decided that we would marry in the USA sometime in early 2019, after completing her degree. After, she would join me in Russia.  So we've been doing the long distance thing since July, 2017 when I left Bogota. 

My plan was to file for a K-1 visa because I'd like to marry her in the USA with my family around and I figured it would be less complicated since she doesn't want a wedding in Colombia.  I understand that she would have to stay in the States for a while after getting married for the advanced parole. But after, our intention is to live together in Russia for at least the next few years. I should mention that I work in different countries around the world for my job and tend to move countries every 2-5 years. I don't plan on moving back to the USA until I retire, some 20 years away, but I'd like to be able to visit the US with her once a year (without her having to apply for a tourist visa every time).

I read somewhere, though, that the K-1 visa is appropriate only if both the Petitioner and the Beneficiary plan to live in the USA. So now I'm not sure if the K-1 visa the way to go given my unusual circumstances.  I'd really appreciate some feedback from those in the know.  Thank you!