lvjeremylv

Ok I'll try to succinctly explain my situation. I'm a US citizen, and I married my English wife in 2017. I obtained a spouse visa and moved to England in late 2017. Since then I've got my FLR(M) visa and in November I'll be applying for my ILR visa. Once that's done I'll be filing for British citizenship. After I get that, we are looking to relocate to the States. Hopefully that's enough information.

With that out of the way, what's the first step in this process? Is it filing the I-130 form on my wife's behalf? Or something different?

I will have a million other questions but I just wanted to introduce myself and hopefully this site will be helpful. I've read through some of the threads and it seems solid.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Noorah101

Yes, filing the I-130 would be the first step.

Rene

lvjeremylv

Ok, thank you. Typically how long after the I-130 is submitted can I expect to hear something?

Sorry for the newbie questions, I'm trying to sort through the process. Is there a thread that walks through or lists the steps along the way? That might save myself some embarrassment and the mods' time 😊.
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lvjeremylv

I'm reading on the USCIS website and am I correct in the understanding that it's possible to file the I-130 and I-485 concurrently while we're both inside the US? Given she enters the country legally with her ESTA?

This would be far more ideal for us in our situation since we are looking to move to the US as quickly as possible once my British citizenship process is completed.

Expatrian

I don’t know any more than what’s on the USCIS website, which includes all the steps, but you can check processing times here. It appears going the consular route would get your wife’s GC faster, but going the AOS route would allow her to be in the US sooner, but her GC will take somewhat to longer to get. For AOS you usually must enter the US and be in the US legally. FWIW, my guess is as you’ve been married since 2017, your application will come under a little less scrutiny, but she will still have Conditional Permanent Resident status for two years. Where are you planning to move to?

lvjeremylv

Las Vegas is our destination. That's where I was living when we met in 2014 and where we got married in 2017.

​​​​​​"You must be in the US legally" - so essentially you can't cross the border illegally. As long as you enter at a port of entry (ie, immigration at the airport) and are admitted into the country, you're good to go. And then from there we'd be able to file both forms at the same time? From what I understand the I-130 can be submitted either online or by mail while the I-485 is only submitted by mail.

In the meantime, is there a method by which my wife would be eligible for employment? Or would she have to wait until the process is completed?

Nutmegger

Entering the US with the intention to adjust status is not legal. You will need an attorney to guide you through the process -- and although things will probably turn out OK, there is always the possibility of problems arising. Safer to have her go through the process out of country. And no, she would not be able to work in the US until the process played out.

Expatrian

Nice, so if you were living there it probably wasn’t a shotgun wedding

Yes, AOS requires entering legally and maintaining lawful status.

According to this concurrently is OK. She may be able to work, see this.

This might also be useful from the many immigration lawyer websites (it covers ESTA near the bottom):

https://www.immigrationlawnewyork.co...130-is-pending

lvjeremylv

Ah gotcha, I should've known that would be too easy.

So first we file the I-130 online, and wait for it to be processed. At that point we would be able to move, and once we've done that and we're in Las Vegas we would file I-485. And that would be on the up and up and legal?

Any advice on a US immigration attorney anyone has used that we could contact that's located here in the UK?

Expatrian

Yes, I agree the consular route is a better way to go and less risky. FWIW, some non-immigrant visas (F, E, H, K, L, O and P) allow entry with intent to adjust status.

Rete

No, no, no! You will file the I-130 for her, the UK citizen, online with the appropriate attachments. Once that is approved, it is sent to the National Visa Center where you, the US Citizen, will have to complete the I-864 affidavit of support for her. If you are unable to be her ONLY financial supporter, you can use her assets along with yours if it is the correct amount (sorry but not sure if it is 5x or 3x the 125% of the US poverty guidelines for a family your size (if you and she only then it is 2). Or you can ask someone in the US who is a US Citizen or a legal US permanent resident to be the co-financial sponsor. Both you and the other sponsor will submit an I-864 Affidavit of Support to the NVC along with other documents requested. Once those have been approved, everything is sent to the US Embassy in London for further processing. She will need a medical, police clearance certificate, etc. She will then interview in person and if she is approved she will get a VISA in her passport which will allow her to enter the US to live and work. Her green card will be mailed to her at your US address.

This is a simplistic view of the process.

Sorry don't know of any. Do NOT use an online visa organization. They are attorneys and will be of not much help to you.

PS There is no I-485 involved in the process if you are applying for the Immediate Relative Visa while you are living outside of the US.

lvjeremylv

Maybe I wasn't clear earlier, but I am the US citizen. My wife is a UK citizen.

And yeah, when we went through the process of me moving from the US to the UK, we avoided lawyers and did it all ourselves with a lot of help from online forums. It is daunting nevertheless.

Noorah101

As Rete points out, the I-485 does not come into use with your scenario of living outside the USA. You will follow the Immigrant Visa process from start to finish, then your wife can move to the USA. You can expect the whole process to take 12 months or so.

Rent

Noorah101

Rete meant to say "don't use a visa service as they are NOT lawyers". It's perfectly fine to use a reputable immigration lawyer if you want to (although it's not necessary).

Rene

Expatrian

I’m not sure how accurate this is, but the London consular processing time for a I-130 is showing as 2.5 months:

https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-ti...rations-office