Allen

Hello everyone,
Just when I was getting a handle on what a K3 visa was about,and ready
to initiate paperwork for one, now I hear of an IR-1 visa. Can anyone
please provide ANY information or direct me where I might find some on
the subject?
What is it?
How does it differ from a K3?
What are the requirements(procedure(s), forms, fees, processing time
from beginning to end, etc)?

PLEASE HELP!

Many, many thanks in advance!

Al

SundarV

Al...IR-1 is an immigrant visa. In some countries, they allow the visiting US citizen to apply I-130 at the local consulate. For example, New Delhi in India was allowing visiting US citizen to apply I-130. They approve I-130 within a week or so as compared to 8-12 months when you apply at a service center. Following the approval the spouse is interviewed and granted IR-1 visa ( I am not sure if it CR or IR) one is conditional and another is unconditional. This depends on how long you have been married. This is bascially getting a Green Card.

Technically, you have to apply I-130 at the service center assigned to the place you live. The consulate route is applicable only for US citizen living in that country. But consulates make exception in many countries. Using this route (also called DCF in this group) your spouse will come to the US within 3-4 months with a Green Card. I would advise you to find if the country where your spouse lives allows DCF for visiting US citizen. It may be faster.

Sundar

jeffreyhy

Allen,

AN IR-1 is for an Immediate Relative (spouse, un-married child under 21, or parent) of a US citizen who is 21 years of age or older. This is the traditional visa for a foreign spouse.

To apply for a K-3, you first file an I-130 petition with the BCIS. When you receive your NOA #1 you then file an I-127f petition which leads to a K-3. If you do not file an I-129f, but instead wait for the I-130 to be approved, that will lead to an IR-1 visa.

When a foreign spouse enters the US on an IR-1 visa they become a Permanent Resident on entry - no AOS to go through. If the marriage is less than 2 years old at the time of entry the foreign spouse will be a Permanent Resident with conditions. If the marriage is more than 2 years old at the time of entry the foreign spouse will be a Permanent Resident.

It generally takes much longer to process the I-130 petition for a spouse than to process the I-129f petition for a fiancee. Because this was felt to unfaily discriminate against married couples, the K-3 visa classification was created a year and a half or so ago so that foreign spouses could have a means to entry that is comparable to a foreign fiancee.

Regards, JEff

Michael Voight

jeffreyhy wrote:
    >
    > Allen,
    >
    > AN IR-1 is for an Immediate Relative (spouse, un-married child under 21,
    > or parent) of a US citizen who is 21 years of age or older. This is the
    > traditional visa for a foreign spouse.

There is an exception. If you have been married less than 2 years at the
time of the visa, it would normally be a CR-1. If you get a CR-1, you
have to file I-751 between 0 and 90 days of the expiration of your CR-1
status (2 years after hitting the POE)

L D Jones

jeffreyhy wrote:
    >
    > Allen,
    >
    > AN IR-1 is for an Immediate Relative (spouse, un-married child under 21,
    > or parent) of a US citizen who is 21 years of age or older. This is the
    > traditional visa for a foreign spouse.

Couldn't a 20 year old married to a US citizen for more than 2 years
obtain an IR-1?

CR-1 is spouse married less than 2 years, IR-1 married more than 2 years
regardless of (legal) age, AFAIK

Mrtravel

L D Jones wrote:
    >
    > jeffreyhy wrote:
    > >
    > > Allen,
    > >
    > > AN IR-1 is for an Immediate Relative (spouse, un-married child under 21,
    > > or parent) of a US citizen who is 21 years of age or older. This is the
    > > traditional visa for a foreign spouse.
    >
    > Couldn't a 20 year old married to a US citizen for more than 2 years
    > obtain an IR-1?

I am guessing they meant an unmarried child entering with a parental
sponser.
If there spouse is the sponser, then the spouse part applies.

FWIW, the above would be incorrect... A child of a US citizen would be
either IR-2/CR-2, not IR-1/CR-1. A parent of a USC would be IR-5.

lairdside

There is an exception. If you have been married less than 2 years at the
time of the visa, it would normally be a CR-1. If you get a CR-1, you
have to file I-751 between 0 and 90 days of the expiration of your CR-1
status (2 years after hitting the POE)

My GC says CR-6...... anyone knows what this means and if there is any real difference ? I know the CR means Conditional Resident.. I was just wondering what the significance of the '6' was.

It's ok I found out.. CR1 is for those who enter the US on a spousal visa, CR6 is for those who adjust status in the US. I figure the dependent categories CR2 & CR7 follow the same corresponding pattern.

gonecountry

we've just completed the process to get IR1/2 visas... I130 took 10 weeks to be approved not 1!
Infact timelines seem to be very similar to those of you seeking K visas- the advantage however being that we don't have to worry about AOS , advance parole etc... once we are there we should be permanet residents from day 1
Ginny

meauxna

Al, it's not clear from your history if you are married or not. If you do not want to be separated, I suggest carefully reading this page (if your SO is indeed Colombian): http://usembassy.state.gov/colombia/wwwsmare.shtml
which discusses your options. Please note, the USC is not required to remain abroad once the I-130 is filed (the spouse can complete the interview alone) but a marriage visa is required before marrying in Colombia.

Rete

IR-1 is not a visa but a status obtained through successful adjudication of an I-130 (with or w/o an accompanying I-485 depending on filing situation).

Rete

lairdside

My understanding is that IR-1/IR-6, CR-1/CR-6 are for the spouse of a USC. IR-2/CR-2, IR-7/CR-7 and for minor children under 21.
IR-0 /IR-5 are for the parents of a USC. The former categories apply to those who enter on an immigrant visa, the latter for those who adjust status in the US.

Allen

Hi meauxna,
Thank you for your response!
I am not yet married but we are planning a January wedding.
I had previously read the page you sent me, and except for the
marriage certificate (minor detail huh :-) We have all the required
documents.

"If you do not want to be separated, I suggest carefully reading this
page"
I'm a little confused (easily done) by this comment - you make it
sound as if there is a way NOT to be separated at all. If so, how?

Again, many thanks!


meauxna wrote in message news:...
    > Originally posted by Allen
    > > Hello everyone,
    > > Just when I was getting a handle on what a K3 visa was about,and ready
    > > to initiate paperwork for one, now I hear of an IR-1 visa.
    > >
    > > Al
    >
    > Al, it's not clear from your history if you are married or not. If you
    > do not want to be separated, I suggest carefully reading this page (if
    > your SO is indeed Colombian):
    > http://usembassy.state.gov/colombia/wwwsmare.shtml
    > which discusses your options. Please note, the USC is not required
    > to remain abroad once the I-130 is filed (the spouse can complete
    > the interview alone) but a marriage visa is required before marrying
    > in Colombia.

Allen

Thank you all for your very informative and helpful responses!
Most of you categorize an IR-1 as a visa type but Rete states that...

"IR-1 is not a visa but a status obtained through successful adjudication
of an I-130 (with or w/o an accompanying I-485 depending on filing
situation)".

Can anyone clear this up?

meauxna

Allen, to answer this and your other follow-up question about visa/visa status, I suggest you read the FAQ for the group and/or the DocSteen site (k1.exit.com). This will help you understand the distinctions between some of these visas. The CR-1 is what your new wife will qualify for. This is her 'status' once in the US. There's basically 2 ways to get this status; before she gets to the US or after she's here. If she aquires that status IN the US, we call it AOS for Adjustment of Status.

If she gets it before (I'm simplifying this a LOT) we call it DCF around here for Direct Consular Filing. Your intended's country *seems* to offer this option for USC spouses who don't live in Colombia normally. DCF is the fastest way to get a marriage-based Green Card, generally speaking.

You must first confirm that the Consulate will do this procedure for a non-resident USC. This option is subject to change at any time. After your wedding, you would go to the Embassy/Consulate and file petition I-130 which allows your wife to apply for a visa. If you file the I-130 in the US, there is an aprox one year wait for your petition to be approved. The Consulate can approve it in 1-30 days, depending on the country. You can already see the benefit of DCF, I'm sure.

After the I-130 is approved, your wife can apply for an Immigrant Visa. Once approved, she uses the IV to enter the US and is a Permanant Resident from Day One. 1 year 9 months after her entry, you file to remove the conditions and THEN she's an IR-1. There are no limitations on her during her CR status, except that the status must be reviewed to make sure you're still married after 2 years.

By using DCF, you don't have to be separated, especially if you have some time (2 months) to spend in Colombia. However IF you have to return to the US (job, kids, whatever), you may, after filing the I-130. Your wife would then apply for her visa and interview on her own and join you within (according to the Consul's page, IIRC) 2 months.

Shorter answer/longer time frame: apply now for a fiance (K1) visa, bring her here and marry in January (it will probably take that long for the visa to catch up). Drawback: you must marry in the US. It will then take up to 3 years for her to get her Green Card and there will be limits on her travel out of the US during that time.

Even worse case: go in January, marry, you return to the US and file I-130 and K3 and be apart for the first year (or more) of married life.

I imiagine you'll have more questions After reading the suggested links, let us know. There's several ppl here who did DCF, whether the USC was resident in the foreign country or not. Good Luck!

PS: I'd sure look into that visa that *you* need to marry in Colombia!

L D Jones

Allen wrote:
    >
    > Thank you all for your very informative and helpful responses!
    > Most of you categorize an IR-1 as a visa type but Rete states that...
    >
    > "IR-1 is not a visa but a status obtained through successful adjudication
    > of an I-130 (with or w/o an accompanying I-485 depending on filing
    > situation)".
    >
    > Can anyone clear this up?

The visa is the actual piece of paper or passport sticker you receive.
IR-1, etc are designations of status. Once you arrive in the US it is
your status that is important, the visa itself is irrelevant

So, technically, I think the phrase "IR-1 visa" doesn't make sense but
"spouse visa" (the passport sticker) is correct