Odd situation

[dstarsboy]

Hey guys,

 

I have a strange situation. My SO and I have been talking about a K-3 and we'd like to try and work out a marriage sometime in the fall, however, this is the stickler. I'm a Canadian citizen living in the US as a permanent resident. I did file for naturalization around 6 months ago and my latest status report indicates that it is close to being completed, however, no interview date is set yet (the final step).

 

My question is, if, by the time I go to see my SO, I did not get naturalized yet (aka, still Canadian citizen) and I marry her in China, how many wrenches will this throw in the tire when I go to apply for a k-3 once my naturalization is complete?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Guest pushbrk]

Hey guys,

 

I have a strange situation. My SO and I have been talking about a K-3 and we'd like to try and work out a marriage sometime in the fall, however, this is the stickler. I'm a Canadian citizen living in the US as a permanent resident. I did file for naturalization around 6 months ago and my latest status report indicates that it is close to being completed, however, no interview date is set yet (the final step).

 

My question is, if, by the time I go to see my SO, I did not get naturalized yet (aka, still Canadian citizen) and I marry her in China, how many wrenches will this throw in the tire when I go to apply for a k-3 once my naturalization is complete?

 

Thanks in advance.

239337[/snapback]

You'll have to wait until you can prove you are a citizen before filing the I-130.

[Randy W]

A citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States may file this form to establish the relationship to certain alien relatives who wish to immigrate to the United States. A separate form must be filed for each eligible relative

 

It is also very easy for someone on a student visa to bring their spouse here.

Edited August 22, 2006 by Randy W (see edit history)

[dstarsboy]

A citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States may file this form to establish the relationship to certain alien relatives who wish to immigrate to the United States. A separate form must be filed for each eligible relative

 

It is also very easy for someone on a student visa to bring their spouse here.

239339[/snapback]

Wow, I didn't know permanent residents can file for a k-3. That's great news.

[warpedbored]

You can file the I-130 for an immediate relative, ie unmarried son or daughter and your wife. As a permanent resident though it is a second priority visa with a quota system. It would likely be years before she was issued a visa. I have heard the theory though that if you were to file now before you become a citizen the visa would be that much further along when you are naturalized and notify the USCIS that you are now a citizen and the priority changes,

[Guest pushbrk]

You can file the I-130 for an immediate relative, ie unmarried son or daughter and your wife.  As a permanent resident though it is a second priority visa with a quota system.  It would likely be years before she was issued a visa.  I have heard the theory though that if you were to file now before you become a citizen the visa would be that much further along when you are naturalized and notify the USCIS that you are now a citizen and the priority changes,

239351[/snapback]

Yes, you can file the form as a permanent resident and notify of citizenship later but I have no idea whether any actual processing occurs before the priority date.

 

As a citizen, the priority date is the receipt date.

[warpedbored]

Yes, you can file the form as a permanent resident and notify of citizenship later but I have no idea whether any actual processing occurs before the priority date.

 

As a citizen, the priority date is the receipt date.

239361[/snapback]

You'll have to wait until you can prove you are a citizen before filing the I-130.

 

Gee Mike which is it? Are you running for office?

This is frome the USCIS website

If you are a lawful permanent resident, and your petition for your spouse is approved, your spouse will be notified by the Department of State when a visa number is available. If your spouse is outside of the U.S. at the time of notification, he or she must go to the local U.S. consulate to complete visa processing with the Department of State issued visa number. If in the U.S., your spouse may file the Form I-485 using the Department of State issued visa number. For information on how to file this application, your spouse should refer to How Do I Become a Lawful Permanent Resident While In the United States?

Edited August 22, 2006 by warpedbored (see edit history)

[Guest pushbrk]

Yes, you can file the form as a permanent resident and notify of citizenship later but I have no idea whether any actual processing occurs before the priority date.

 

As a citizen, the priority date is the receipt date.

239361[/snapback]

You'll have to wait until you can prove you are a citizen before filing the I-130.

 

Gee Mike which is it? Are you running for office?

This is frome the USCIS website

If you are a lawful permanent resident, and your petition for your spouse is approved, your spouse will be notified by the Department of State when a visa number is available. If your spouse is outside of the U.S. at the time of notification, he or she must go to the local U.S. consulate to complete visa processing with the Department of State issued visa number. If in the U.S., your spouse may file the Form I-485 using the Department of State issued visa number. For information on how to file this application, your spouse should refer to How Do I Become a Lawful Permanent Resident While In the United States?

239368[/snapback]

You tell me. In the meantime, GFY.

[Yuanyang]

Hey guys,

 

I have a strange situation. My SO and I have been talking about a K-3 and we'd like to try and work out a marriage sometime in the fall, however, this is the stickler. I'm a Canadian citizen living in the US as a permanent resident. I did file for naturalization around 6 months ago and my latest status report indicates that it is close to being completed, however, no interview date is set yet (the final step).

 

My question is, if, by the time I go to see my SO, I did not get naturalized yet (aka, still Canadian citizen) and I marry her in China, how many wrenches will this throw in the tire when I go to apply for a k-3 once my naturalization is complete?

 

Thanks in advance.

239337[/snapback]

Consult with an Immigration Attorney. Check your area listings and perhaps you can find some that have no charge (Catholic Charities for example) or little charge.

[SmilingAsia]

Wow, I didn't know permanent residents can file for a k-3. That's great news.

239344[/snapback]

V1 or F2A visa, for the spouse of a permanent resident, I saw two applicants have waited for 5 to 6 years!

 

I know some people filed petition first. When they got naturalized, they "switched it to K3" - I don't the exact procedures.

[frank1538]

Wow, I didn't know permanent residents can file for a k-3. That's great news.

239344[/snapback]

I believe a K-3 is available only if you're a US citizen. The gameplan that some legal permanent residents follow is to get married and then file the I-130 as a legal permanent resident, which is allowed but painfully slow. After naturalization, you can inform USCIS of your change in status from LPR to US citizen and then file for the K-3. As with many things dealing with the government, the hurdle seems to be in making sure its records/files properly reflect your change in status to a US citizen. Otherwise, I can't think of any real differences.

[LeeFisher3]

Yes, you can file the form as a permanent resident and notify of citizenship later but I have no idea whether any actual processing occurs before the priority date.

 

As a citizen, the priority date is the receipt date.

239361[/snapback]

You'll have to wait until you can prove you are a citizen before filing the I-130.

 

Gee Mike which is it? Are you running for office?

This is frome the USCIS website

If you are a lawful permanent resident, and your petition for your spouse is approved, your spouse will be notified by the Department of State when a visa number is available. If your spouse is outside of the U.S. at the time of notification, he or she must go to the local U.S. consulate to complete visa processing with the Department of State issued visa number. If in the U.S., your spouse may file the Form I-485 using the Department of State issued visa number. For information on how to file this application, your spouse should refer to How Do I Become a Lawful Permanent Resident While In the United States?

239368[/snapback]

You tell me. In the meantime, GFY.

239376[/snapback]

Valid question, poor response.

[david_dawei]

Wow, I didn't know permanent residents can file for a k-3. That's great news.

239344[/snapback]

I believe a K-3 is available only if you're a US citizen. The gameplan that some legal permanent residents follow is to get married and then file the I-130 as a legal permanent resident, which is allowed but painfully slow. After naturalization, you can inform USCIS of your change in status from LPR to US citizen and then file for the K-3. As with many things dealing with the government, the hurdle seems to be in making sure its records/files properly reflect your change in status to a US citizen. Otherwise, I can't think of any real differences.

239398[/snapback]

I've seen this advice over the years on other boards; even suggested by some immigration attorneys as the way to speed up filing. The I-130 should go through the service center normally and when it gets to NVC will go into a pile until it gets closer to the priority date. What this saves you is the time at the service center.

 

As soon as you get naturalized, notify NVC of your status change and processing picks up from there on the I-130. You can at that time also file for K-3 if you want to.

239425[/snapback]

Once one becomes a citizen, under this 'early filing' approach.... what date becomes the priority date? Is it retroactive to the original filing or date of citizenship?

 

I can guess it really doesn't matter since the visa number becomes immediate available.... so maybe someone can just answer the question

[xtal]

I went through a very similar situation. My SO and I got married before I became a US citizen, but we didn't file the paperwork (I-130) until after I became a citizen. We probably could have saved some time by filing the I-130 right after we got married, and later just notifying USCIS of the fact I became a citizen. The benefit that would have is that you would have the NOA-1 for the I-130 in-hand, which you will need to file for the K-3. So then once you become a citizen, you can file the K-3 paperwork (I-129F) right away, instead of having to wait for the NOA-1 from the I-130.

 

I don't know if there are any gotchas in the process of notifying USCIS that you became a citizen though (and at the time, I preferred to keep things as simple as possible in our case).

 

It's interesting to note that depending on where you live, the processing time of the actual I-130 may not be THAT bad for an LPR - for Vermont it's like 9 - 10 months or so, which is not so bad compared to the long wait you would encounter once the petition goes to NVC - because there you'd have to wait for a visa number to become available to you (which for an LPR petitioning for his/her spouse may take years). If a person was going through naturalization proceedings, and assuming that that process is lenghty (like 18 - 24 months or so) then the I-130 could actually be finished before the naturalization process is done. Then that person could notify the NVC that he/she became a citizen and then the petition would go to GUZ, and hopefully eventually yielding a full CR-1/IR-1 visa. Maybe not common but I thought it was interesting.

 

I'm rambling on but I'd say get married, and file for the I-130 right away, and then once your naturalization process is done, notify USCIS that you became a citizen so they can expedite the process. Then either wait for the I-130 to run its course if you want to shoot for a full-blown CR-1/IR-1 or file for the K-3 paperwork - and for the latter option maybe you'll have the I-130 NOA-1 already in-hand by that time. The other option is to wait with getting married and then filing for K-1 once you become a citizen. In my case, we didn't want to wait and we wanted to get married, so that pretty much dictated which immigration path we had to take.

 

Good luck!

[dstarsboy]

Thanks for the very helpful responses!