MelissaS

Ok, so here is what I was wondering...If me and my husband apply for AP with his AOS and we are in New York City...It seems like the waiting period for your AP is 5 months....He has to go back to Ireland in the end of August....(not five months away)...If we apply for the AP and hope that the gods of the immigration speed-up process look down kindly on us and somehow we get the AP in time and then we don't get it in time...Is it possible for him to leave the country (I know that would be dropping his AOS application) and then for us to apply for a K3 visa? Or would there be problems since he already had an AOS in the process at one point? Thnaks. -Melissa

tcylinder

How do you know the waiting period is 5 months?

MelissaS

I called them and asked and they said it is currently at 5 months.

tcylinder

One of the golden rules I learned on this ng is to never trust the advice of the people you speak with on the phone. I'd bet if you called a few more times and got different people on the phone, you'de get different answers.

Also, what number are you calling in NY. I didn't think you could get through to live people here. I'm in NY too if you haven't guessed by now.

desusa

I'm sure you can. To reapply for a new visa would be your only available route if your husband does leave without the AP issued in time. Therefore I would think it must be pretty straightforward.

I did a similar thing recently. I abandoned my AOS in NYC and went an alternate route in Australia. We used the direct consular filing method (applying for a spouse visa directly through the US consulate in the foreign country so all the processing is done outside the US). It gave me my conditional permanent residency much faster than it would have if we had waited for the AOS interview. I was told by the US consulate in Sydney that once you apply for the new visa, you have considered to have abandoned your previous status and consequently negated any other application in process.

You can read my experience at:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ghlight=desusa

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ghlight=desusa

However, in your case if you file for a K3 visa you will be processed through a US service center and I don't know how differently they handle this if you already have an AOS application in place.

I would think that if your husband left and you notified the BCIS office of the withdrawal of your AOS application, then started afresh with the K3, it should be pretty straightforward. I'm sure it has been done by others.

Hopefully he'll get the AP and not have to resort to this.

Can anyone else help with this?

lairdside

Only complication I can think of is that perhaps if you have previously filed an application/petition for the same alien that they would want to see the previous file and there could be a hold up whilst they were waiting for it to arrive ?

desusa

Just to add.
The BCIS consider leaving the country without advance parole to be abandoning your application.
I assume once they get a petition stating his current address is in Ireland they will consider he has abandoned the previous application anyway.
As lairdside suggested, it makes sense that they may want to look at his previous file. I wondered that about mine, however I don't think the consulate did any research on my previous situation.