harry517

Hello!

New here with a query. Filed I-130 at the end of November hoping to make the move before June 20th (start of a new post in the US) and I now realise that this may be unrealistic in terms of processing times.

Back story is that I'm a British physician and my wife is from Philly. We would like to make the move to PA after the last few years in London.

My other option is to apply for a J-1 visa which unfortunately has the 2 year home country requirement at the end of my post so isn't ideal.

Two part question - is there a way that I can move to the US whilst this family based visa is in process. Or more importantly - can I file two visa applications concurrently (i.e the J1 in addition to the I-130) purely because I cannot risk not having a job if the i130 thing takes too long!

Thanks for your help

ian-mstm

It may be, yes.


You probably won't know, in advance, whether or not your J-1 will have the 2-year HRR. It might... but it might not. One of your problems with the J-1 is that you must maintain a non-US residence to return to.


Not without a visa, no.


Yes, you can.

Ian

harry517

Thanks Ian.

I know that J1 for doctors have the 2 year HRR.

I will file on both fronts if thats the case.

ReanaBanana

I completely understand where you're coming from. I already went through one visa process coming to the UK to actually be with my husband, which although faster was still as irritating! We tried calling various times to find out about my UK visa without any answer. I've learned to have zero expectations when it comes to processing times and immigration. My husband on the other hand isn't as easy to convince. But I think since we are together it makes the wait a bit easier than if we were still 4799 miles apart again! I do agree that we should be more in the loop about what is going on. I'd liked to have sent a camera with my application so I can check out where it is or what it's up to while its there It is, on the other hand, comforting to know we aren't the only couple past the 5 month mark who is still waiting to hear something!

Noorah101

I don't understand. If you're wanting to live permanently with your wife in the USA, do you really WANT to be spending 2 years outside the USA at some point? If you file both the J-1 and CR-1 visa applications, and you get the J-1 first, and come to the USA and start working, what happens when your CR-1 interview comes up? Would you be able to go to that interview, get the visa, and have the J-1 visa cancelled? Would you still be subject to the 2-year HRR?

I personally wouldn't go with the J-1. Keep it simple.

Rene

jeffreyhy

Sounds like a consulation with a US immigration attorney might be useful.

Regards, JEff

harry517

Sorry I posted this in the wrong bit - my wife and I live in London together, we wouldn't mind at all moving back to London for a couple of years and in fact works out well in terms of career progression for both of us - hence the J1 visa app.

My position is simple - I start my job in the USA on the 20th of June, if I miss that I am jobless. There is a risk that may be the case if I wait for the permanent resident visa.

Noorah101

OK, so if I now understand correctly, you are thinking of filing both an I-130 towards the Immigrant Visa, and at the same time apply for the J-1. If you get the J-1, you will abandon the Immigrant Visa route, and just stick to the J-1, do your work in the USA, then return to the UK for 2 years. After THAT, then if you want to move to the USA, you'll again look into the Immigrant Visa.

That sounds like a good plan. The only thing you'll lose is the I-130 filing fee.

Rene

nica

Thought you might want to know... I called USCIS back yesterday just as a lark and was told that they're currently processing applications from June... not surprisingly, they got behind with the holiday. She said I should expect to hear back about my July application within 30 days, and if not, then they will send a request to the service center for information on my overdue application. That's much more helpful than what I was told before!

redarmy990

thanks for the update nica.
so it looks like cali service center is currently a month or so behind the 5 month estimate on the website.

jeeeesssss we have a way to go at the moment but chin up everyone one day we will all get the letter/email were waiting for

Peaksy

Delightful. Thanks for the update.

Hard to keep your chin up sometimes when you spend time and effort hoping and looking forward to being with your wife (or husband) only to find out that they just slipped by two months.

Blame it on the holidays or not.. am sure we all have deadlines to follow in our daily lives and yet we have to follow those and achieve our goals in the same time frame irrespective of holidays.

Moan over, am just disheartened now.

ReanaBanana

Thanks, Nica! that is very nice to know! It's nice to actually know they are finally at our applications and they aren't just sitting there getting lost or pushed aside Here's hoping we hear ASAP! x

nica

Quick question...

I just realized that I wasn't supposed to send my original birth certificate with my I-130 application. Oops. I guess I just assumed that a photocopy wouldn't be sufficient.

Anyway, on the I-130 instructions, they keep it ambiguous whether they will give me that original birth certificate back. I'm gonna go ahead and get a replacement birth certificate just in case, but I guess my question is... will the one I sent get forwarded to the next stage of the process, or will I need to then submit another birth certificate (or copy of it) to a different office? Does anybody have experience with this?

In other words, is getting another birth certificate urgent (for purposes of this immigration process), or non-urgent?

Thanks, all.

Noorah101

Not urgent.

Rene

nica

So in your experience, will all those documents be forwarded to NVC? Or will they return them to me?

Thanks Rene!