Timeline for Permanent Resident Applying for I-130 for F2A (Spouse)

[yongcat]

Hello,

I have just received my permanent residency status in the US, and I am currently courting someone who is currently in the US with a temporary visa status and therefore returning in the following months. If I marry her, I will petition for her to receive permanent residency in the US. I understand that inviting a spouse as a permanent resident means that it will take time (and being that I just became a permanent resident myself, waiting to become a US citizen will not be that better of an option), and I wanted to confirm the estimated time it would take to start and complete this.

This is what I have understood so far:
- I will have to submit an I-130 form, which, once submitted, will give me a Priority Date
- Regardless of the time it takes for the I-130 to be approved (about 8 months average?), I will have to wait until the Priority Date is current for the F2A family category (which, as of the November 2017 bulletin, is the Non-Final Action date of November 01 2016 regardless of country)
- Once the Priority Date is current, if my spouse is outside of the US, they will be notified to be invited into the US (is this right away?)

With this understanding, does this mean that if I submit the I-130 for my spouse today (11/13/2017) and the filing date stays non-Final Action and only increases proportionally (I know this will not be the case, but just for an example), she will be able to come back into the US in a little more than a year of waiting?

Thank you!

[newacct]

She will not be able to actually get an immigrant visa (if doing Consular Processing) or get Adjustment of Status approved (if doing Adjustment of Status) until the Final Action Date is available for her priority date, and for F2A this is around 2 years.

If doing Adjustment of Status, during some months (usually October until some time early in the following year, e.g. March or April), she can file the I-485 (if she is otherwise eligible, e.g. she is in the US and in status) under the Date for Filing chart; and in other months she can only file under the Final Action Date chart. USCIS chooses the one chart that applies for a given month and posts it here. But again it cannot actually be approved until the Final Action Date is available.

If doing Consular Processing abroad, they may start contacting you and her regarding the things they need around the Date for Filing, but for Consular Processing, the contact is initiated by them; you don't file anything; so there is nothing you can do but wait anyway. And again, she cannot actually get the immigrant visa until the Final Action Date is available.

[yongcat]

Thanks for the response!

When you say that she cannot actually get the immigrant visa until the Final Action date, is it so even when a particular month's visa bulletin shifts to the Filing Date? Do you mean that for consular processing, they will normally just follow the Final Action timeline regardless of the bulletin?

Thanks!

[newacct]

Thanks for the response!

When you say that she cannot actually get the immigrant visa until the Final Action date, is it so even when a particular month's visa bulletin shifts to the Filing Date? Do you mean that for consular processing, they will normally just follow the Final Action timeline regardless of the bulletin?

Thanks!

They might start the process around the Date for Filing, but she can't get the immigrant visa until the Final Action Date.