I'm a temporary resident of Mexico living in Mexico City and have been since August 2018. My residence is currently being renewed for a period of 3 years. Starting from February 2019, I sponsored my wife (Indonesian citizen) for residency here in Mexico, but due to the long processing times as of late, it's just now reaching the end stages. She should finally have her residency card in the next two weeks I believe.
My wife is also a B1/B2 visa holder since February of 2018. We have made several short (1 month or less) trips to the US during that time, all for tourism. No overstays, clean record.
Since this time, and during the long wait of her Mexican residency being processed, we've decided that moving permanently to the US is what we want. I've looked into and found that in general, DCF at the USCIS office in Mexico City should be fairly quick (5 months total). I've also heard reports that as of late, the whole process (including interview in Juarez) is taking more like 8-9 months.
Our plan is to move to the US in Summer of 2020. My original plan was to apply in January of 2020 to meet that timeline.
My main reason for wanting to wait is that we have two planned entries into the US between now and the end of the year. First is a one week stay around Thanksgiving before catching our flight to my wife's country of origin. The next is on the way back, landing in the same airport and staying a week around New Years, while on the way back to Mexico, our current country of residency.
My concern, and reason for wanting to wait until January to do it, was that I fear the interrogation we may receive while trying to make 2 entries into the US on her B1/B2 with a pending Green card application in process. I would be traveling with her both times and feel we can reasonably make our case for her entering as a tourist, as we are just doing long transits in the US during the holidays on the way to her country of origin on the way out and our current country of residency on the way back.
I also thought it may look bad if we apply right after she received her Mexican residency, even though we began the (supposed to 5-6 week) process back in February 2019, but may be overthinking things.
With the recent news of longer wait times, and closures in Juarez and Monterrey supposedly directing I-130 applications to Mexico City, I'm wondering if I'm making a mountain out of a molehill out of the two entries on her B1/B2 and Mexican residency status, and if we should just go ahead and file once she receives her Mexican residency card so we can make our target move date of Summer 2020.
I know that no one can predict the waiting times, but if the two things I've mentioned above aren't as big of a deal as I'm thinking, it would likely be better to just file soon. If it still only took 5 months, we would have her immigrant visa earlier than expected and a bit more breathing room to sort out our affairs in Mexico before making our move in the Summer of 2020
DCF in Mexico City - File now or in January in our situation?
in Direct Consular Filing (DCF) General Discussion
Posted
I'm a temporary resident of Mexico living in Mexico City and have been since August 2018. My residence is currently being renewed for a period of 3 years. Starting from February 2019, I sponsored my wife (Indonesian citizen) for residency here in Mexico, but due to the long processing times as of late, it's just now reaching the end stages. She should finally have her residency card in the next two weeks I believe.
My wife is also a B1/B2 visa holder since February of 2018. We have made several short (1 month or less) trips to the US during that time, all for tourism. No overstays, clean record.
Since this time, and during the long wait of her Mexican residency being processed, we've decided that moving permanently to the US is what we want. I've looked into and found that in general, DCF at the USCIS office in Mexico City should be fairly quick (5 months total). I've also heard reports that as of late, the whole process (including interview in Juarez) is taking more like 8-9 months.
Our plan is to move to the US in Summer of 2020. My original plan was to apply in January of 2020 to meet that timeline.
My main reason for wanting to wait is that we have two planned entries into the US between now and the end of the year. First is a one week stay around Thanksgiving before catching our flight to my wife's country of origin. The next is on the way back, landing in the same airport and staying a week around New Years, while on the way back to Mexico, our current country of residency.
My concern, and reason for wanting to wait until January to do it, was that I fear the interrogation we may receive while trying to make 2 entries into the US on her B1/B2 with a pending Green card application in process. I would be traveling with her both times and feel we can reasonably make our case for her entering as a tourist, as we are just doing long transits in the US during the holidays on the way to her country of origin on the way out and our current country of residency on the way back.
I also thought it may look bad if we apply right after she received her Mexican residency, even though we began the (supposed to 5-6 week) process back in February 2019, but may be overthinking things.
With the recent news of longer wait times, and closures in Juarez and Monterrey supposedly directing I-130 applications to Mexico City, I'm wondering if I'm making a mountain out of a molehill out of the two entries on her B1/B2 and Mexican residency status, and if we should just go ahead and file once she receives her Mexican residency card so we can make our target move date of Summer 2020.
I know that no one can predict the waiting times, but if the two things I've mentioned above aren't as big of a deal as I'm thinking, it would likely be better to just file soon. If it still only took 5 months, we would have her immigrant visa earlier than expected and a bit more breathing room to sort out our affairs in Mexico before making our move in the Summer of 2020