Green card holder or Citizenship; Wife or Fiance

[sakib786]

Hello there, I'm new to this forum and this environment.

 

I'm currently a Green card holder and the maturity date for the card is August 2011. This means I'm eligible to apply for my citizenship on May 2011 (90 days before). I am not really sure which route to take with my fiance. We have been carrying the long distance relationship for the past year and a half. We got engaged this past February the 14th. We are planning to get married in May of 2011. We have plenty of pictures; emails; text messages; plane tickets; Western Union receipts to prove that this relationship is real. I have visited her 3 times already and I will be going again in December.

 

I would like to get married to her while I have my green card however, I'm worried that if I get married first and then get my citizenship to sponsor her, it might do her more harm then good. My lovely fiance has already given me a year and half of her life and I would hate to make her wait unnecessarily more.

 

I'm trying to figure out the quickest/efficient possible way to bring her to the United States. Here are few scenarios:

 

a) Some people suggested that I get my Citizenship first and then get married however I've also heard that if I get my citizenship, get married and then the sponsorship --> getting the spouse to US takes 10 - 13 months.

 

b ) I've heard that if I get my citizenship and then sponsor her not as a wife but a fiance, the fiance visa is faster (sponsorship --> getting the fiance takes 6 months) however "there is a high risk of denial".

 

c) My best friend got married while he had a green card 5 years ago and applied for his wife through his green card. He received his citizenship just last September, the immigration officer interviewing him for his citizenship stated (upon him passing the Citizenship test/interview) that he saw on file that he had applied for his wife, he also stated that he would put in a note to upgrade that status. He sent letter and a copy of his naturalization certificate to INS. After the application was upgraded, his wife was in the US within 6 months.

 

I'm under a lot of stress these days because my fiance has already waited over a year and I would hate to make her wait 1.5 years extra after I get my citizenship. I would sincerely appreciate any help regarding this matter.

Edited September 23, 2010 by dnoblett
Removed the b) sunglasses smiley (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

a ) Yes if you wait until after getting citizenship, you will be adding the time waiting for citizenship.

 

b ) Nowadays K-1 is not much faster than a CR-1 Spousal visa, it will not save you much time over the above scenerio and will cost you, and a K-1 cannot be filed for until AFTER you are a citizen, because citizenship is a requirement of filing an I-129F for a fiancee. (No different odds than any other citizen filing for a fiancee)

 

c ) Is a very viable option, you could visit now marry while in China, and then return to the USA and file the I-130 as a green-card holder, once you become a citizen, inform USCIS or NVC whereever the petition is holding of this status change, and they will re-prioritize the petition as spouse of US citizen which get an immediate visa number.

 

In case "C" you could make a couple visits to China while petition is pending your citizenship which goes to establishing a solid relationship.

[Ryan H]

I'm currently a Green card holder and the maturity date for the card is August 2011. This means I'm eligible to apply for my citizenship on May 2011 (90 days before). I am not really sure which route to take with my fiance. We have been carrying the long distance relationship for the past year and a half. We got engaged this past February the 14th. We are planning to get married in May of 2011. We have plenty of pictures; emails; text messages; plane tickets; Western Union receipts to prove that this relationship is real. I have visited her 3 times already and I will be going again in December.

 

I would like to get married to her while I have my green card however, I'm worried that if I get married first and then get my citizenship to sponsor her, it might do her more harm then good. My lovely fiance has already given me a year and half of her life and I would hate to make her wait unnecessarily more.

 

It seems you already aware of this, but I'll reiterate; if you want to go the fiancee route, you will have to wait until you become a citizen (only citizens can petition for their fiancee). Since May 2011 is the soonest you can apply for citizenship and I do not know what the current time lines are for application to naturalization are; however, I figure the citizenship process takes months. Since you are looking for the most efficient way to bring your SO to the USA, the fiancee process isn't it. You also may want to consider getting married and having your wife come here and then start the citizenship process.

 

Applications for IR-1/CR-1 visa did used to take a long time, which is why the K3 visa exists. However, processing times have improved and many K3's are administratively closed by the NVC now. Some of the time lines I've seen for recent CR-1 filers have been 7 months from application to interview. Besides the obvious differences between fiancee and spousal visas, spousal visa applications are processed by the NVC after they are process by USCIS. Fiancee visa applications go to the appropriate embassy or consulate via the NVC from USCIS; NVC does very little with them (other members, please correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Good luck and best wishes.

Edited September 23, 2010 by Ryan H (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

It seems you already aware of this, but I'll reiterate; if you want to go the fiancee route, you will have to wait until you become a citizen (only citizens can petition for their fiancee). Since May 2011 is the soonest you can apply for citizenship and I do not know what the current time lines are for application to naturalization are; however, I figure the citizenship process takes months. Since you are looking for the most efficient way to bring your SO to the USA, the fiancee process isn't it. You also may want to consider getting married and having your wife come here and then start the citizenship process.

 

Applications for IR-1/CR-1 visa did used to take a long time, which is why the K3 visa exists. However, processing times have improved and many K3's are administratively closed by the NVC now. Some of the time lines I've seen for recent CR-1 filers have been 7 months from application to interview. Besides the obvious differences between fiancee and spousal visas, spousal visa applications are processed by the NVC after they are process by USCIS. Fiancee visa applications go to the appropriate embassy or consulate via the NVC from USCIS; NVC does very little with them (other members, please correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Good luck and best wishes.

I will note,again a K-Visa (K1 or K-3) requires US Citizenship to file the required I-129F. In the case of K-3 this is essentially a dead visa, USCIS has started to tie both I-130 and I-129F together while processing a K-3 case then they approve and send both petitions (I-130 AND I-129F) to NVC when NVC will kill the I-129F (K-3) petition, because the reason for K-3 does not exist. K-3 was developed to allow a spouse to enter the USA and WAIT for I-130 approval.

 

MORE: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=41574

[warpedbored]

Filing an I-130 for the spouse of a permanent resident is a 2nd priority visa. Processing times for the California Service Center is neck and neck with US citizens, about 5 months. https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processingTimesDisplay.do

After that the petition goes to NVC and the consulate. Expect a year and hope for 10 months.

[Randy W]

Filing an I-130 for the spouse of a permanent resident is a 2nd priority visa. Processing times for the California Service Center is neck and neck with US citizens, about 5 months. https://egov.uscis.g...TimesDisplay.do

After that the petition goes to NVC and the consulate. Expect a year and hope for 10 months.

 

 

This means they are numerically limited. The current wait for a visa number for a Chinese spouse of an LPR is 1 1/2 years ( this is NOT added to the processing time, however).

[Ryan H]

You also may want to consider getting married and having your wife come here and then start the citizenship process.

 

Based on the posts of warpedbored and Randy, I retract the statement I am quoting above.

 

In a nutshell:

 

Marry now, file I-130; you wait a long time.

Marry now, obtain your citizenship, file I-130; you wait a long time, longer than previous scenario.

Have an engagement party, obtain your citizenship, file I-129F; you wait a longer time.

Obtain your citizenship, marry afterword, file I-130; longest wait.

 

I wish the scenarios were more favorable for you, but you will probably just have to tell your fiancee the reality that it will be a long time from initial filing of the forms to a visa being issued and decide on the best course of action for you both.

[dnoblett]

I would be doing C above marry file I-130 as LPR obtain citizenship then get petition upgraded to spouse of US citizen.

[sakib786]

I just want to take the time out to thank everyone for your input. This website/forum has been very kind and helpful. I'll keep every one updated as time progresses. Hopefully I will be able to help someone else as well once things get done from my side.

 

Best Regards,

[warpedbored]

Your fastest possible scenario is to marry now, file the I-130, apply for and become a US citizen and notify the USCIS of your change in status so that the petition changes to a 1st priority visa.