Instructions on what to do once I arrive in country

B

bournek

New Member
We have just recently received an immigrant visa for my wife. She will be coming to the US in Dec. She may need to return to Korea for personal reasons and then go back to the states. Her initial immigrant visa is a single entry visa to the best of my knowledge. I need to know what we need to do once she gets there in terms of a re-entry stamp or what our options are. I don't want to mess up the process and have to go through the whole process again.

Also, if anyone has any information on where I can look on what we need to do, paperwork wise, once we arrive in the states concerning registering and things of that nature I would appreciate it. We were handed the visa and that is about it. No information on what needs to be done later or what we need to do once we arrive in the states. Thanks in advance for any information anyone with some experience may provide.

Sincerely,

Kevin Bourne
 
What is your status?

If you are a citizen, you can file AOS for her and she can leave on AP, but, she will have to return back to US at the time of interview or can do DCF (Direct consular filing) at the us embassy in Korea.

But, all depends on what is your status here?
 
Thanks for your reply

Thank you for your reply.

I am a U.S. citizen, born and raised. We currently live in Korea. I am entering the military and will more than likely be assigned to a spot in the US.

I am extremely new to this and have no idea what AOS or AP stands for. If you could shed some light on these, I would greatly appreciate it. My wife would be returning to the US after a couple of weeks. The only reason she would return to Korea is to pack our things and prepare to move.

I hope this helps you understand our situation better and once again, thank you for your time and input.

Sincerely,

Kevin M. Bourne
 
AOS means adjustment of status, which in this case the process of obtaining a green card. AP means advanced parole. Advanced parole is a document that the INS issues to those who are adjusting status, so that they may travel outside the U.S. If her current visa is not a green card, what visa is it?
 
Hi Kevin:

If you are a US Citizen, you will have no problems.

You have two choices:

1). You can be here and file for DCF (Direct Consular Filing) which means that your wife can be in KOREA and you do all the paperwork from here and your wife will have an interview at the US Consulate in Korea and get her visa for US before she comes. Once she arrives here, she can get a green card stamp at the airport and her card can arrive at the US address here in 1-2 weeks. This is the fastest route.

2). Your second option is that your wifa can enter here on a visitor visa and you file for her status here. This is a much longer route. For this, she needs to be here and you file for her AOS (Adjustment of status). Once you send the paperwork to your local office (the state office where you people reside), she will get a receipt in a month or so, you file for her AP (Advance Parole). This is a must and she cannot leave till her AP arrives as once she has filed her paperwork, she is in AOS (Adjustment of status, PENDING). To exit the country, she needs AP (Advance Parole), if she leaves without one her application will be abandoned.

The second option is much longer for her to get her greencard, may take 2-3 years. The DCF is a faster route.

For the second option, you will need to have an interview, ofcourse if you are deployed outside US, you still need to be present during her interview before an officer.

You can visit other sites like www.britishexpats.com and search for US immigration via marriage and that too has a board similar to this.

For more info, visit www.uscis.gov and look in FAQ's for how to bring a spouse to US. You will get all the info.

Thanks.
 
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