Arensis

My wife entered the US with a CR1 visa on February 2nd, and we paid the USCIS Immigrant Fee on March 12 (we didn't notice it was needed). She also received a letter and then went to a biometrics appointment inside the US. Since then, her status says that they are "actively reviewing" the case. Does anyone know how long this can last?

No, I didnt, that is the issue. Since I didnt know, I didnt submit taxes. Anyways, I already had the interview. The consular officer said that I need the tax transcript, I said that IRS still didnt process my return, she took a look at my 1040 and asked me if I was working abroad. I confirmed and she accepted the document without additional questions.

I am not worried about the income. I moved to the US after submitting the I-130 and I have a US job with enough income. My issue is that the tax return for the last year is a requirement for the I-864.

I am in the process of getting a visa for my wife through DCF in Madrid. Before submitting my I-864 I noticed that I had to submit my taxes as US Citizen living abroad. I paid a CPA to prepare the taxes and apply for streamlined compliance procedures submitted them, and attached Form 1040 to I-864. They gave me an appointment for my wifes interview, but they included a note saying that form 1040 is not valid, that I need the IRS tax transcript. I submitted my taxes by physical mail, but they didnt arrive to US yet. Did anybody had this experience? Is it possible to explain to the interviewer that I still dont have a tax transcript and it is not likely I am going to have them in the near future? According to I-864 instructions, I have to provide either an IRS transcript or a copy of my own records. anyways, I compiled the following documents regarding my tax submissions: 1- Letter with explanation that I submitted taxes for Streamlined compliance procedures. 2- Printout of instructions from IRS webpage stating that to apply for Streamlined Procedures you need to file by physical mail. 3- Copy of my submission (3 years of taxes and 6 years of FBAR) 4- Payslips of my foreign job for last year 5- Printouts of websites saying that streamlined filings take 8 months to be processed 6- Invoice of the CPA for preparing the taxes 7- Mail conversations with preparer 8- Receipt for delivery with tracking code 9- Packet tracking?? (This will show the document didnt arrive)

I sent all documentation requested after the first I-130 interview last thursday December 29th and today they answered by mail confirming they received all information and that they scheduled an interview for January 31st. In this mail, they told that the form 1040 that I provided along the I-864 is not valid, they require the IRS transcript. Does anybody have experience in this? I delivered my IRS returns for the last 3 years with the streamlined procedure by physical mail to the IRS, but they told me that they take months to process it, I will not have a return at the time of the interview.

I had my first appointmente in Madrid to present my I-130. I went to the first appointment. They only require the US Citizen to attend. In the security control of the embassy they keep your smartphone and they do not allow laptops at all, I don't know if there is somewhere to store them nearby since I just gave it to my wife and went in by myself. When you enter they give you a number and a few minutes later they call you to a window to show your papers. The documents they request for this first interview are the following: Form I-130 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-130) Form I-130A completed by your spouse Original passport and a copy of the biographic page. Beneficiary's original passport and a copy of the biographic page. Original marriage certificate and a copy. If any of you have been married before, original and copy of the marriage dissolution documents. Job contract with the date of being moved to the U.S. One photo of each (white background, no glasses, 5 x 5 cm.). Payment fee, $ 535. I had prepared a copy of the spanish certificate and a certified english translation, but they only needed the spanish copy, not the english translation. Regarding the payment of fees, you go to a separate window and you can pay in cash (EURO or USD) or with card, I used a credit card. When you pay, you give the receipt back in the same window you have shown your documents and then you have to wait for a short interview (do not leave the embassy). I had to wait 90 min for the interview, there, they just confirmed again that I am a US citizen with my passport and they ask you why are you applying for Direct Consular Filing instead of USCIS processing. I told them that I had a job offer that includes relocation to the US, but that it requires relocation on a short timeframe and that I will lose the oportunity with the current USCIS timeframes. I went to the interview on a Tuesday, and the following monday they e-mailed me and my spouse (using the e-mail addresses filled on form I-130) telling us that the I-130 was approved and providing our case number. They also provided detailled instructions for providing additional information by physical mail. They request that we deliver the following documents before proceeding with the visa: DS-260 - To be completed online with the case number. You need to provide the embassy with confirmation page you get once you finish it. Copy of biographic page of passport of the petitioner. Birth certificate (original and copy) of the petitioner. I will provide also a certified translation since it is not in spanish. Marriage certificate (original and copy). It is the same that they asked when preparing form I-130. Police Certificates for all countries where the petitioner lived more than 1 year, and anywhere the petitioner was ever arrested for any reason. You can get the spanish police certificate online on the spot for like a 3 euro fee. Court and prison records (does not apply to our case) Military records (does not apply to our case) One photograph of the petitioner (5x5 cm) I-864 with appropiate evidence of assets or work, including tax returns. Any documents not in English or the official language of the country of the embassy (spanish in this case) must have a certified english translation. Once they receive these documents they will schedule you an appointment. I will deliver this next week so I will update it once I have an appointment.

@BLC When your husband was asked about reason for visit, did he answer "for tourism" or did he explain a bit that it was to visit his wife?

@guiri2000 Thank you for clarifying. It is a bit sad they couldn't provide you with an interview appointment in one month, but hopefully all will be good.

In case anyone comes across this thread, I have created this thread on the DCF Forum to document our visa process.

Hi all, I am opening this thread to document Direct Consular Filing (DCF) of a CR1 visa for my spouse in Madrid embassy so it can be useful for anyone that needs to do this in the future. I am a US Citizen and my spouse is an Ukrainian citizen. We are residing in spain and I got a job offer in the US, we applied for DCF of form I-130 so she can move with me within a short timeframe. I will be updating the thread to document the whole process and to ask any questions that may arise as I prepare all documents. These are the steps I took: I sent a mail to American Citizen Services of Madrid embassy asking about how to apply for DCF of form I-130. They provided me the mail of the Inmigrant Visa Department in Madrid and asked me to write them a mail explaining my case. The Inmigrant Visa Department asked me to send them a mail with scans of the following documents so the "visa chief" can check if we meet the requirements. They asked for a scan of our biographic page of passport, our marriage certificate and the job letter stating the starting date. November 15th, 2022: I sent a mail to the Inmigrant Visa Department with the requested documentation: Scan of biographic page of passport for both of us, marriage certificate (in Spanish) and a job offer letter stating that I will start working on November 28th. November 22th, 2022: They confirmed that the DCF request was accepted and they scheduled me an appointment to present I-130 on December 13th, 2022. They requested the Petitioner (the US Citizen) to come personally for this appointment. They provided the following checklist of documents to provide. They also asked that the beneficiary (spouse of US Citizen) has to be in Spain as they cant send the passport outside Spain. Form I-130 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-130) Form I-130A completed by your spouse Original passport and a copy of the biographic page. Beneficiary's original passport and a copy of the biographic page. Original marriage certificate and a copy. If any of you have been married before, original and copy of the marriage dissolution documents. Job contract with the date of being moved to the U.S. One photo of each (white background, no glasses, 5 x 5 cm.). Payment fee, $ 535. I will be updating this post as we progress through the process. I was surprised that they talk about sending the passports to Spanish address. Do they keep our passports when we provide file I-130? Although my job offer states that I begin working on November 28th, actually, I agreed with the company to start in January, and I already asked the company to provide a letter stating this. We were planning to travel together to the US at the start of January (she would initially enter the US as a tourist), and we were planning to go back to Spain for the 2nd interview. We will adapt to whathever process they have, but I would like to know about this so we can plan accordingly.

Thanks @Dashinka. They have already answered asking me to send our passports, marriage certificate and contract of the company specifying time of start to see if I qualify for DCF. Will try to get the company to write this document and update in a few weeks once I have that. So if I understood well, the Embassy would process the I-130 and the I-864 by themselves on a shorter timeframe. Or would the I-864 go through the normal route to the NVC? What I have read about DCF indicates that they do everything, but I want to make sure. It looks too good.

I do have a limited start date (until December-January). I already sent a mail to the local embassy, lets see what they say. If I am denied the consular processing of I-130, or it is not possible for my spouse to come live with me on the short term, then I would reject this position and apply to I-130 using the normal procedure. Once I get a CR1 visa, I would go live on the US with my spouse on my terms (leaving my current company and looking for a job there).

Thanks to both of you! I did not know about this option. I will contact them to see if I would apply. I guess I already knew that what I was proposed was unreliable/illegal and that is why I made this post. Assuming we can get an expedited I130, would she be able to enter the US with only that while we are waiting for the I864 (financial support) and the rest of the documents to get the greencard? I see that even with consular filling, the other documents are not expedited. Even though she would not be able to work in the US until everything is processed, it would be enough for us if she can come and live with together.

Hello everyone; I am a US citizen and I have been living in Spain the last 20 years. I got married in Spain to a foreign woman (non-US citizen) and I have just been offered a new job in the US. I can go work there wherever I want, but my spouse can't go live there since she only has a B-2 tourism visa. The company I would work for told me that this is a somewhat frequent situation and that usually the spouse enters in a tourist visa, and then does an AOS. All advice I found on the internet (including this forum) is about getting married on the US on a B-2 visa and then AOS. We are already married so we won't get married again in the US. I have the following questions: What are the chances they will let my spouse in with her B-2 visa? When the ask about the purpose of the travel, she will answer along these lines: "I am married to a US citizen who is moving back to the US and I intend to file for AOS in the near future". Of course we will have all documentation showing we are actually married and it is a "bona fide" marriage so it can be consulted by the border guard when we enter if neccesary. The inmigration consultant for my company states that although the writen law says that B-2 is a noninmigrant visa, in practice all AOS from spouses of US citizens are accepted this way. Anyone had a similar case. If it is not possible, I guess I will pass on this oportunity and then file ourselfs for a CR1 visa and then find a new job on my own. I am just asking if anyone knows other cases like this since if I commit to go there I will lose my current position and if my spouse cannot enter the US I will leave the new position and will be jobless. I will certainly look into this with two or three inmigration lawyers, but would like to have feedback from the community. I will also update with what the lawyers tell me in case this is of use for someone in the future.