Ariecat

I am a native born american citizen, trying to get my Japanese husband
into the US through the LIFE act. I have recently come back to the
states, while he is waiting in Tokyo for me to file his petition for a
visa. We are doing it this way because he doesn't want to come in on a
tourist visa, since he would like to be able to work.

I filed the I-130 petition for him last week... now I am waiting for
some response so that I can file the I-129F to bring him here as a
non-immigrant K3 under the LIFE act. Does anyone know how long this
will take?? I have read that the I-130 takes YEARS to process... but am
I waiting for them to fully process it, or just for notification that
they have recieved it? Does anyone have any experience with this? Does
anyone have any advice? Can anyone tell me about how long this will
take?

Also, is there another faster way to bring him here, and that will
allow him to work? We are a very close family, and it's tough being
apart... I'd like to bring him over as soon as I can. Any stories or
advice would be greatly appreciated.

Arie
[email protected]

Noorah101

Hi Ariecat,

You are going about it the right way. I don't know about Japan, but in general the I-130's are being processed much faster than they used to be. You can go ahead and try for the K-3 as well, and go with whichever one gets processed faster.

You should get a notice of receipt for the I-130, then you can file the I-129F. You will get notifications along the way on what to do next.

You can go to www.uscis.gov and read about "How to bring my spouse to the USA"...that might give you a general picture of what the process is.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Noorah101

You also might want to check out whether Japan lets you do DCF (direct consular filing)...but it sounds like you already submitted the I-130 here in the USA, so I think it's too late to do DCF now.

Otherwise, there's no quicker way.

Rene

Ariecat

Thanks Rene... I've been over the uscis.gov pages so many times, but
they're just so vague sometimes, it's hard to figure things out.

You sound like you've been through this before... do you happen to know
how long it takes to get that I-130 notice of reciept, and how long it
takes to get the I-129F approved? Or does it depend on the situation?

Thanks for the help
ariecat

ps- yeah, I already submitted the I-130... so I suppose it's too late
to go about that any other way

meauxna

Yes, Arie would be happier if she had come here before she left Japan

Japan is one of the few places left where the USC does NOT need residency to file I-130 for their spouse (although it sounds as if she may have been resident anyway). There is a possiblity of her being allowed to file there still, but it does require her presense in Tokyo.
DCF Japan take 1-4 months total, currently.

Arie,
right now there is no general rule for 'how long will it take'. Depending on yoru Service Center, it's pretty safe to say 6-9 months on the I-130-->IV. The K-3 *may* come through faster, but petitions seems to be in a transition stage, and there's no way to predict what a petition filed today will do in the coming months.
If you can return to Japan, read up on DCF first: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=248960

That's a copy of the DCF Guide that will explain the basics. If you can't manage to go back over, don't torture yourself

Ariecat

Dear Rene,

thanks for the information... you sound like you've been through this
process before.

do you think DCF may still be possible for the I-129F? who would I
contact about that sort of thing? I have tried contacting the US
Embassy in Tokyo, but they don't answer any questions for free these
days... you have to pay them for advice. Is DCF much faster?

Arie

Noorah101

Hi Arie,

Actually, I haven't been down the I-130 or K-3 route for a spouse visa. I only know about that from reading this forum. My fiance and I did the K-1 fiance visa, and then got married once he was here in the USA...so it's a different route than you are taking.

I hope it all works out for you quickly, though. meauxna has great insight into the DCF process.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Jonathan McNeil Wong

meauxna wrote:
    >>You also might want to check out whether Japan lets you do DCF (direct
    >>consular filing)...but it sounds like you already submitted the I-130
    >>here in the USA, so I think it's too late to do DCF now.
    >>Otherwise, there's no quicker way.
    >>Rene
    >
    >
    > Yes, Arie would be happier if she had come here before she left Japan :(
    >
    > Japan is one of the few places left where the USC does NOT need
    > residency to file I-130 for their spouse (although it sounds as if she
    > may have been resident anyway). There is a possiblity of her being
    > allowed to file there still, but it does require her presense in Tokyo.
    > DCF Japan take 1-4 months total, currently.
    >
    > Arie,
    > right now there is no general rule for 'how long will it take'.
    > Depending on yoru Service Center, it's pretty safe to say 6-9 months on
    > the I-130-->IV. The K-3 *may* come through faster, but petitions seems
    > to be in a transition stage, and there's no way to predict what a
    > petition filed today will do in the coming months.
    > If you can return to Japan, read up on DCF first:
    > http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=248960
    >
    > That's a copy of the DCF Guide that will explain the basics. If you
    > can't manage to go back over, don't torture yourself :)
    >

To clarify for the OP:

To file the K-3 petition, you need only the receipt notice for the I-130
(sometimes in this forum called Notice of Action #1 or NOA 1). You
don't need the approval, so discussions about how long the I-130
processing time is are not directly relevant. You should receive the
receipt notice within about ten days of filing. "Filing" means receipt
at the Service Center where you filed.

--
Above intended as general commentary, not specific legal
advice. Your mileage may vary.

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