Bit of confusion with the new K3 rules and all....

[zachel1987]

My husband and I got married October 30th 2009 in the UK. We are comfortably living in the UK for now but he wants to finish school in the USA very soon. He's the US citizen and we had a little bit of help from a lawyer after we were married concerning this stuff. BUT looking now, ITS CHANGED and I'm very, very confused.

1) I see the K3 applicants are being diverted to apply for the straight off immigrant VISA now? Is that better?

2) How much is that going to cost....I got a bit overwhelmed with everything when I was searching and that scared me.

3) Would it still be the same condition green card because we would have only been married 8 months by the time we file?

.. So I still file the I-130 and I-129 as normal, but just redirect myself onto the immigration pathway?

Any help would be MUCH appreciated.

[nichole]

The changes are because the immigrant visa (CR1 or IR1) used to take a very, very long time to process, so the K3 visa would get the spouse to the US faster and you could be together waiting while you filed for Adjustment of Status from visa holder to permanent resident. Now the I-130s are getting approved as fast (sometimes faster) than the I-129F. Getting the CR1 visa is really a better deal and saves the huge hassle of paperwork and over $1000 AOS filing fee. So the new rules say, if the I-130 wins or ties the race toward approval, they will administratively cancel the I-129F. Result is no K3 visa allowed because the CR1 will be issued in about the same amount of time. You will get a "conditional" green card unless you have been married for 2 years.

BUT for you, an even faster route is Direct Consular Filing. You skip applying to USCIS in the states, and apply straight to the embassy in London. Your application is not in line with the whole of the US at either the Vermont or California Service Centers.

In order to file your I-130 petition with London he must be a resident of the UK. Generally this means that he has been in the UK on some kind of resident visa for at least 6 months. ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain), LLR (Limited Leave to Remain) and EU Family Permits have all been accepted in the recent past. The important distinction is that the USC must be genuinely resident, and can prove it, rather than here temporarily.

So if you think you qualify, you might want to look into DCF as it's called.