Stuart Rathbone

Hi all

So I know you've probably been through this 100 times, and thank goodness I found this forum, but could I get this explained to me as i am now totally confused.

I married my American wife in November in Reno, Nevada, whilst visiting on the Visa Waiver program. I returned to the UK just before Christmas.

We began an application for me to join her in the US in January and seem to have been following out of date advice.

We have submitted an I 130 and just received our I 797

We were preparing to submit the I 129F and have filled in the form and assembled most of the required documents to accompany that, with the intention of submitting it next week.

However reading here today i am now very confused about what to do. The I 129F is for the K3 visa, correct? The advice here is to not do that, it is no longer the correct procedure?

So what are our next steps? We are just to wait for the I 130 to be processed? What about all the documents we assembled to accompany the I 129F, when do we now submit them?

Basically can someone lay out the order of the process from where we are now having the I 130 in and received the I 797?

Sorry I know I probably come across as a muppet but it seems we were following an old procedure and now I am totally confused as to how to proceed.

Thanks folks

ian-mstm

Correct.


Correct.


See below.


Yes.


Since you're not submitting an I-129F, you don't need them... UNLESS they also happen to be required for your CR-1 visa interview. At this point, hang on to them but don't do anything with them.


Once the I-130 is approved (in about 4-5 months), the info will be sent to the NVC and from there forwarded to the US Consulate in London. Once the info gets to London, you will be contacted to apply for the visa. You'll need to get a copy of your ACPO certificate and have a medical. You'll need the certificate prior to having the medical, and you can't book the medical until you've been contacted by the Consulate and you have your LND case number.

You seem to have things well in hand just now. Just don't bother submitting an I-129F and things will unfold as they should.

Ian

Moxie

It's written out in a Wiki article http://britishexpats.com/wiki/CR-1

Noorah101

It's not "incorrect", per say, but it's outdated. The K-3 no longer serves the purpose it was intended, so there's no need to pursue it. In the not so distant past, the I-130's were taking literally 2 - 3 years to adjudicate. The I-129F could be filed in order to obtain a K-3 visa in under a year, which would allow the spouse to wait inside the USA for the I-130 approval (a couple of years later). But nowadays, the I-130 gets approved in under a year (currently about 5 months), so the Immigrant Visa is obtained in under a year...no more waiting years for that. So, as you can see, no need for the K-3 visa.

If NVC receives an approved I-130 and approved I-129F together, which is likely, they will toss out the I-129F automatically, and just continue on with the I-130 and Immigrant Visa process anyway.

You'll want to research "Immigrant Visa" to see what happens to your case. Once the I-130 is approved, it goes to NVC. There will be some fees to be paid through NVC, the I-864 is submitted to NVC, and original civil documents are submitted to NVC (NVC will send a request for each thing). Then you get an LND case number, you get your police report, you book your medical, fill out your Immigrant Visa forms, and attend the visa interview.

Rene

jeffreyhy

It's still a correct procedure, but it's not a worthwhile procedure. It usually gets aborted because the I-130 will almost certainly be approved before or at the same time that the I-129f will be approved. Since the K3 visa was intended to allow a foreign spouse to come to the US while waiting for an I-130 to be approved, the uselessness of it should be plain to see.
Yes.
You don't. See the immigrant visa section of the Wiki on this web site. See also the NVC's Immigrant Visa Processing web pages at travel.state.gov Regards, JEff