Starting the K-3 process

[Tom R]

Hello again, CFL,

I have some questions for all of you here on this great site. Hopefully you can lead us down the right path.

 

My wife(Chinese citizen) and I(American Citizen) were successfully married in China on May 20. I'm currently still in Shanghai, where she works and resides, on my multi-entry L visa visiting her and will be here for another couple of months.

 

We were thinking of starting the visa process and then we decided to wait since she plans on staying here in China and working for another couple years.

Now we've changed our minds again and she wants to get going on all of it since she'll need to enter the states next year to get sworn in for the NY Barr. We've heard that it'd be tough for her to get a tourist visa being married to me so we're going to apply for the K-3.

 

I guess the thing that concerns me the most is the fact that she doesn't plan on moving to the U.S. immediately after hopefully getting approved so I'm a little confused as to the best course of action here and what to apply for.

 

So my questions are:

 

1) Should we apply for the K-3 non-immigrant visa since she won't be moving to the U.S. just yet?

 

2) If so, I understand that involves filing the I-130 and the I-129F. Should I apply for those ASAP? Also, how long after I apply for the I-130 should I wait to apply for the I-129F?

 

3) Does the K-3 visa approval require her to enter the U.S. within a certain time frame?

 

4) Does the front-loading start here with these two forms or does that start later on in our process? If so, will I need multiple copies of everything? As in copies for each form and then copies for her and I to keep for interviews?

 

5) I guess we'll wait to file for her permanent resident status since she won't be moving to and staying in the States the majority of her time just yet. Is this ok? I'm not really grasping how everything works yet or the order of things. She thinks we can look into most of this later but I'd like to get a grasp on what we're going to need to do in the coming steps.

Any help on these issues will be greatly appreciated. My wife wants to just get going on everything right now and I'm a little leery from some of the horror stories I've read on this forum. I want to make sure we're doing this the correct way for our situation and at the correct time.

 

Any extra advice or issues that you foresee here is welcomed.

 

Thanks,

Tom

[dnoblett]

Firstly welcome to CFL.

 

Forget the K-3, it is a dead visa type developed at a time when the I-130 was taking a very long time to process, the K-3 allowed the prospective immigrant to come to the USA and be with spouse while they wait for the I-130 to process and be approved. USCIS and NVC have streamlined their processing since that time years ago where by USCIS ties the I-130 and I-129F together and approves them at the same time and the sends them together to NVC. NVC gets them and drops the I-129F (K-3) in favor of the I-130 (CR-1) and proceeds with the CR-1 or IR-1 spouse visa case.

1) Best to plan on 6 - 9 months processing time for a spouse visa and file the I-130 accordingly, or you can file now and simply delay response to NVC when they request documentation, NVC will hold the case for up to a year for you to respond.

 

2) K-3 involves filing I-130 first, and then filing the I-129F to the service center handling the I-130 indicated by the I-130 notice of action. filing the I-129F can delay things a little while USCIS locates the I-130 and attaches the I-129F to it.

 

3) The visa is valid for 24 months after the interview, however it is doubtful it will even make it to an interview, NVC in the majority of cases administratively closes the I-129F when they receive the I-130 and I-129F together from USCIS.

 

4) Front-load the I-130, the I-129F is not really a petition in itself, it is simply an optional add-on to the pending I-130 case.

 

5) Yes, a K-3 is a 2 year muti-entry visa, however this depends on a pending adjustment of status or pending I-130 petition.

 

More: http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/40925-change-in-how-nvc-handles-k-3-petitions/

[dnoblett]

K-3 must be used within 6 months, and THEN is valid for 2 years afterward, No ??

According to DOS, the K-3 has a validity of 24 months, the K-1 is valid for 6 months.

 

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Immigration%20Stuff/K-Recip_zps15e01829.jpg

 

http://travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_5455.html?cid=9015

[Tom R]

Thanks for the quick responses, guys.

 

So, would it be best to only file the I-130 and not even worry about the I-129F?

 

What about the fact that she doesn't plan on moving to the U.S. for another couple years? Only plans to visit. Will she be ok with the I-130 (CR-1)?

[dnoblett]

Thanks for the quick responses, guys.

 

So, would it be best to only file the I-130 and not even worry about the I-129F?

 

What about the fact that she doesn't plan on moving to the U.S. for another couple years? Only plans to visit. Will she be ok with the I-130 (CR-1)?

CR-1 visa results in a 2 year conditional green-card upon arrival, the card is meant to allow permanent residence in the USA, not to visit every so often and residing overseas most of the time, DHS can detect this and revoke the green-card and ultimately deny entry to the USA.

 

If no plan on living in the USA for a couple years, I would try for a B-2 visa, fully explaining that has no intent to immigrate at this time, showing ties and job in China. It is not as hard as it seems, later when truly plan on living in the states, 2 years of marriage will have passed, and the resulting visa would be IR-1 and resulting green-card will be 10 year permanent with not conditions to remove.

 

This one got a B-2 while married and asked about adjustment from the B-2 which is a no-no..

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/45943-wife-has-received-tourist-b1b2-visa-documents-needed-to-apply-for-green-card/

 

This one had problems getting a B-2 so resorted to a CR-1 and did the visit on green-card thing for a year and a half, and then ran into the issue of removal of contitions while not living in the states, ultimately gave up the green-card and applied for a B-2.

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/45297-conditional-green-card-holder-not-living-in-the-usa-i-751/

 

If you do decide to file for a petition for a spouse visa, yes simply file the I-130 and forget the I-129F.

[tsap seui]

Think about timing your application so your wife gets an IR-1 visa instead of CR-1. She's gonna be in China a couple of more years anyway and you need 2 years of marriage to change from CR-1 to IR-1. It's the same I-130 filing

 

Welcome, and good luck.

 

tsap seui

[Tom R]

Think about timing your application so your wife gets an IR-1 visa instead of CR-1. She's gonna be in China a couple of more years anyway and you need 2 years of marriage to change from CR-1 to IR-1. It's the same I-130 filing

 

Welcome, and good luck.

 

tsap seui

Thank you,

and yes, that's the plan as long as she's able to get a B-2 visa to allow her entry next year. It's really a must for her. Keeping our fingers crossed.

[Tom R]

Thank you all again for the responses. Especially dnoblett. They've been very helpful.

Unfortunately I have a few more details and questions : ) I hope it's ok including these in this thread. I tried to update the tags at the top of the page to include the B-2, not sure that I can.?.

Anyway, here they are:

1) She still has a valid visa that was issued to her before we were married, the one she got last year in order to go to the USA to take the Barr exam. She is planning a trip to the U.S. at the end of October to take an Ethics exam for passing the Barr and plans on entering on her existing visa. I looked at her passport and under visa type it says: R B1/B2 Not sure what that means. Is it a B1 or a B2? She thinks it's a B-2. Don't know if it matters.

2) Do you see any problems with her passing through immigration on her existing visa in October? I've heard that she might be denied at the POE b/c she's married to a USC? Is this a possibility?

4) If there is a problem there, what can she do to prepare for any questioning or hang ups at the POE? Any material/documents that she should carry with her?

5) Also, is it possible that she just renew her existing visa by visiting the CITIC bank and filling out a DS-160? Then she'll be good for next year too?

6) or because of the change in her marital status is she SOL in renewing her existing visa?

Thanks again,

Tom

[dnoblett]

1) Having a B-2 visa already is a good thing, the renewal process is a simple procedure of setting it up on the CGI Stanley site and then dropping passport off at a CITIC bank. It could be either way, B-1 tends to be business, taking exams could be a business reason, B-2 is for visitors like tourists, or visiting family or friends. It can be either type.

 

2) I tend to doubt will have any problems traveling on existing visa, there is no indication in passport or to POE marital status change, traditionally Chinese women continue using their name and do not take the name of their husband.

 

4) Letter or documentation showing visiting to take an ethics exam.

 

5) Yes.

 

6) No, I have seen others renew visa after marriage.

[Tom R]

1) Ok, what about a possible denial at the POE next year when she's entering, if she get's her renewal?

 

2) She will have renewed her visa by then and will have a married status at that point. We've read that her being married to a USC might be cause for a denial at the POE and the immigration officers there don't spend any time asking questions. She feels that if given the chance she could convince them that she's not a risk to stay in the country for longer than she's supposed to but she says that she's not sure that she'll get that chance. She's a little worried about this. Should she be?

 

3) Are there any precautions to take?

 

4) Any documents that she should have with her that would help her case if needed?

 

 

Thanks,

Tom

[dnoblett]

1) There is always the possibility of a denial, however it is rare. They tend to go with the consulate decision, if the consulate is satisfied that no immigration intent is indicated and they issued a visa, they allow entry. I have seen posts about POE denial, however in those cases traveler made the mistake of showing possible immigration intent by carrying documents like marriage cert, birth cert, divorce cert, etc... or they were traveling from a visa waiver country and making a quick return after having been in the states a long time on prior visit.

 

2) Again POE tends to follow what the consulate decides when approving the visa.

 

3) Be calm, and don't have indications of immigration intent at the POE, lots of baggage etc, have honest answers for their questions.

 

4) Nothing other than passport with visa, perhaps a travel itinerary.

[david_dawei]

1) There is always the possibility of a denial, however it is rare. They tend to go with the consulate decision, if the consulate is satisfied that no immigration intent is indicated and they issued a visa, they allow entry. I have seen posts about POE denial, however in those cases traveler made the mistake of showing possible immigration intent by carrying documents like marriage cert, birth cert, divorce cert, etc... or they were traveling from a visa waiver country and making a quick return after having been in the states a long time on prior visit.

 

2) Again POE tends to follow what the consulate decides when approving the visa.

 

3) Be calm, and don't have indications of immigration intent at the POE, lots of baggage etc, have honest answers for their questions.

 

4) Nothing other than passport with visa, perhaps a travel itinerary.

 

But the original issue of the visa was per he single status; if the consulate knew that changed they might be inclined to change their presumption on 'intent'... so the issue one is faced with is how far do you go to conceal the change in her status from the consulate, POE, customs, etc ? (Rhetorical, and no real answer being sought-just provoking some thought here).

 

As well, if they go through customs, I would assume they go to the window together for checking their documents. If they are asked the simple question of how do you know each other, etc... we're back to how far does someone go to concealing their status...

 

So, she could be coached to simply go through customs alone in the visitor side and not in the citizen side (with USC).

[Tom R]

 

1) There is always the possibility of a denial, however it is rare. They tend to go with the consulate decision, if the consulate is satisfied that no immigration intent is indicated and they issued a visa, they allow entry. I have seen posts about POE denial, however in those cases traveler made the mistake of showing possible immigration intent by carrying documents like marriage cert, birth cert, divorce cert, etc... or they were traveling from a visa waiver country and making a quick return after having been in the states a long time on prior visit.

 

2) Again POE tends to follow what the consulate decides when approving the visa.

 

3) Be calm, and don't have indications of immigration intent at the POE, lots of baggage etc, have honest answers for their questions.

 

4) Nothing other than passport with visa, perhaps a travel itinerary.

 

But the original issue of the visa was per he single status; if the consulate knew that changed they might be inclined to change their presumption on 'intent'... so the issue one is faced with is how far do you go to conceal the change in her status from the consulate, POE, customs, etc ? (Rhetorical, and no real answer being sought-just provoking some thought here).

 

As well, if they go through customs, I would assume they go to the window together for checking their documents. If they are asked the simple question of how do you know each other, etc... we're back to how far does someone go to concealing their status...

 

So, she could be coached to simply go through customs alone in the visitor side and not in the citizen side (with USC).

 

Well, she's not going to try to conceal the fact that she's married from the consulate. She will be stating that she's married when she fills out her form for renewal...hopefully that doesn't affect her chances of approval too much. ?

 

She will be going to the states this year on her existing visa, so there won't be the status change this time on her visa, but next year she'll be going through on her hopefully renewed visa with the status change.

 

Also, we won't be going through customs together as we will not be travelling together.

 

Any more suggestions on plan of attack here or any issues anyone foresees are much welcomed.

 

Thanks, Tom

[david_dawei]

 

Well, she's not going to try to conceal the fact that she's married from the consulate. She will be stating that she's married when she fills out her form for renewal...hopefully that doesn't affect her chances of approval too much. ?

 

She will be going to the states this year on her existing visa, so there won't be the status change this time on her visa, but next year she'll be going through on her hopefully renewed visa with the status change.

 

Also, we won't be going through customs together as we will not be travelling together.

 

Any more suggestions on plan of attack here or any issues anyone foresees are much welcomed.

 

Thanks, Tom

 

 

Yes, I wasn't talking so much about the renewal but the trip on the existing visa; her status on the visa does not match her actual status. While there is no requirement (that I am aware of) to update the visa [it remains valid through it's expiration date], she would not want to avoid simply answering the truth.

 

That is she will enter alone seems to play in her favor on some level but even a simple question like "who are you visiting?" should not be answered in a way which appears to avoid the truth. I am not suggesting she offer up info not asked about, but only to answer directly to any, even, simple questions.

 

good luck and keep us informed.