stoke_bloke

Hello All,

I am currently in the midst of going through the CR1 visa process as I'm a UKC and my wife (of 22 months) is a USC and we plan to move to the US in the next couple of years. However, we have a small problem…

We got a letter through the door to say my interview is in a month's time. Based on this, I assume that we would then need to be in the US within 6 months in order to file my paperwork on entry and be given my temporary green card. The problem we have is that we don't plan (or at least weren't planning!) on moving to the US for at least another 18 months. The original plan was after the London Olympics… So - I have few questions:

- Can appointments be re-scheduled to ~12 months later - or do you simply get what you're given?
- Can changing an appointment over that period of time (if possible) cause any issues with granting the CR-1 visa?
- Would changing an appointment over that period of time (again, if possible) invalidate any existing medical or paperwork? i.e. would we even have to start the whole process again?

We started the CR1 journey about a year or so ago and we had no idea how long it would take - adopting the "sooner rather than later" policy. I guess beggars can't be choosers but obviously, we'd like to have some control over our life plans too - we have a home, friends and family in both the US and UK!

Any thoughts from the people of this greatly informative forum?

Thanks

Noorah101

You are correct in that the Immigrant Visa is good for 6 months. There is no more paperwork to file on entry, and there's no "temporary" green card.

In that case, you filed way too soon.

You could have dragged the process out more during the course of the whole thing, but now that you are scheduled for an interview, I don't think they will postpone that for 18 months. Besides which, all your information will be outdated and you'd need a new medical, police report, and I-864, at least.

If you are not ready to make the USA your permanent home until 18 months from now, you'll probably want to just give up on this one, consider it a financial loss, and start over again when you ARE ready to immigrate....this time knowing that the process takes about 8 - 10 months to complete.

Rene

Noorah101

Just curious, why can't you move to the USA within the next 6 months, and then go back to the UK for a visit during Olympic time?

Rene

jeffreyhy

You can ask for a postponement of your interview, and may or may not receive it depending on your reasons. As Rene says, some of your documentation will be out of date and will need to be resubmitted.

If you do end up cancelling your current visa application, starting over would be with a new visa application. The I-130 petition approval should still be good.

Just out of curiosity, what do you mean by "given my temporary green card"? (All green cards are temporary - they all expire.)

ian-mstm

If you attend this interview, and delay a trip to the US for another month or two (until you have been married longer than 24 months), you will receive a 10-year green card and will save yourself some headaches![/quote]


If you (sort of ) want your cake, etc... you two can come to the US once you have the visa, get it activated and then file an I-131 re-entry permit. You'll need to remain in the US until you've had biometrics (usually just a few weeks), but then you can return to the UK for up to 2 years. The round trip might be a bit expensive... but it'll serve your purpose.

Ian

Noorah101

But they still have to maintain the USA as their permanent residence, and have to take the steps necessary in order not to abandon their US PR status. Simply having a re-entry permit in hand is not enough.

Rene

S Folinsky

Interesting question. Let us know what happens.

Apfelkuchen

Question: If they actually end up postponing the interview for more than two months will they have to drop the CR-1 visa application and apply for an IR-1, or will the Embassy just process them as if the original application had been an IR-1?

S Folinsky

Good question -- IR-1 and CR-1 are the same classification -- immediate relative spouse of a United States citizen. The imposition of the condition is supposed to be ministerial controlled by the date of admission to the US.

If one is issued a "CR-1" visa say, 23 months after the date of marriage and admission is 26 months after the date of the marriage, no condition is to be imposed.

That said, sometimes errors are made at the Port of Entry -- this is considered Service Error and can be corrected. It may be a royal PIA though to do that.

jeffreyhy

The immigrant visa application does not specify the immigrant classification, the classification that will be assigned depends on the relationship of each particular applicant to their petitioner.

In other words, there is not CR-1 visa application, there is not IR-1 visa application, there is no F41 visa application, there is no ... - there is only an immigrant visa application.

Regards, JEff

Apfelkuchen

Thanks Mr Folinsky and JEff - got it.

S Folinsky

Jeff:

Beg to disagree. But nothing to argue about.

jeffreyhy

Noted. And please do offer an arguement. It will be a short fight, you get the knockout blow with the first punch!

Regards, JEff

stoke_bloke

Thanks all for your comments - it is most appreciated. It will not be impossible for us to move within the six months - it's just that it was not a part of the original plan.

Just for my clarification - given our two year anniversary is October this year, if we move to the US after this date I'll get the IR1 Green Card instead of the CR1?

Thanks

jeffreyhy

You will have IR1 immigration status, yes.

If your green card does not correctly indicate that status you can submit form I-90, for no fee, to get a corrected replacement card.

Regards, JEff