How long does it take to get a green card in this case?

[Zsuzsanna]

Hi All,

I was just wondering if someone could provide some info on the following. I have a fellow military spouse friend who is a foreign national and she is married to a USC. They have been married for over 2 years but they had lived in my friend's country before and therefore, they just petitioned for her green card. When they decided to move to the US, the husband came back (since the wages are low in my friend's country, her husband had to come back to the US to find a good and stable job in order to fulfill the requirements of the affidavit of support). For this reason, he came back on his own a few months ago and decided to join the military. He was sent to boot camp and is about to get transferred to his next school. My friend hasn't seen her husband for months. She'd like to know how long it would take her to get her green card. She got assigned to the California Service Center and according to the USCIS website, the processing time for her green card would be 5 months but the US consulate in her country has told her multiple times that she can expect it to take a year and there is no way they would be done with this in 5 months. They also filed for a K-visa at the same time (in the already married category) which is supposed to be processed in 5 months as well, according to uscis.gov but the consulate told her she would only get her K-visa when her green card is processed so all this would be at the same time, in no less than a year. I don't know how the consulate got this one-year estimate though. I assume their info is out-of-date because it did take a lot longer a few years ago to obtain a green card but I am not sure how things work these days. I told my friend that consular processing would have been a lot faster but the problem was that her husband didn't reach the minimum financial requirements there so now they only have a chance to go through this in the US.

My friend is worried that she won't be able to see her husband for a long time once he becomes deployable. She cannot see her husband because he is going to schools and can't take any leave to go see her. She is afraid that she would be denied entry on the Visa Waiver if she wanted to visit him because her green card application is pending. I've contacted CBP and it does look like it is not worth taking a chance and coming to the US on the VWP in her situation (she is young and owns no property in her country). Do you guys have any suggestions? Is the consulate right or wrong?

 

[ananga73]

The consulate is the "closest extension" there is to USCIS in a foreign country. They have information we are not privy to. In light of that, I'd probably go with what they say than what someone on here conjectures.

 

[Jackolantern]

She got assigned to the California Service Center and according to the USCIS website, the processing time for her green card would be 5 months but the US consulate in her country has told her multiple times that she can expect it to take a year and there is no way they would be done with this in 5 months.

The 5 months that you see published is only for the I-130. The I-130 is just one piece of the process; the rest of the paperwork and procedures after the I-130 often will stretch the overall time to a year.

When did her husband file the I-130?

 

[Zsuzsanna]

The 5 months that you see published is only for the I-130. The I-130 is just one piece of the process; the rest of the paperwork and procedures after the I-130 often will stretch the overall time to a year.

When did her husband file the I-130?

Her husband filed the I-130 in March, 2011. He was not eligible for months to sponsor her because he didn't have a good job (he is from a very poor area). They have been living apart for 8-9 months now. It is very hard on her. She would be willing to come to the US to see him but she is afraid she would be denied at the POE.

What do you mean by the "rest of the paperwork"? I thought the timeline on the USCIS website is supposed to be for the whole so-called "immigrant visa" (and then she can eventually enter on the visa in her passport and she will receive the green card in the mail in a few weeks). I went through the process years ago and I don't remember any other paperwork, I mean the I-130 is the only major thing you need to be done with and then it took a week or two to get the visa in my passport (all this was through consular processing though).

What is the purpose of her K-visa if she can only get it when her I-130 is completed? The consulate said these two (the I-130 and the K-visa) are processed in the same time-frame, in one year...it sounds unrealistic to me.

 

[Jackolantern]

After the I-130 approval, the NVC must transfer it to the consulate, the petitioner must provide the affidavit of support, the consulate must contact the immigrant spouse, the immigrant spouse must submit DS-230 and related paperwork and fingerprinting, and an appointment for the consular interview needs to be made. These days those post-i130 steps combined can add up to 6 months or more (although it's usually 3-6 months).

You said you went through the process yourself ... take a look at the I-130 approval notice date, and your immigrant visa date. How much time was it between those dates? I bet it's longer than you think.

What is the purpose of her K-visa if she can only get it when her I-130 is completed? The consulate said these two (the I-130 and the K-visa) are processed in the same time-frame, in one year...it sounds unrealistic to me.

Given the timeframes, the K visa for married people has become useless. Some consulates will even tell K-3 applicants that they're just going to bypass the K-3 and process them directly for the immigrant visa.

However, the K-1 (fiancee visa) still is useful, as it usually takes 3-6 months.

She would be willing to come to the US to see him but she is afraid she would be denied at the POE.

If she is refused entry, it's not the end of the world. Given how badly she is hurting from the separation, she should take the chance. If she is sent back, she'll still be able to pursue the green card through the consulate. But she should schedule a flight that arrives in the US in the morning, so she can most likely be sent back the same day instead of being detained overnight.

She might get lucky and the POE officer doesn't realize that an I-130 was filed. If they notice it and ask questions about it, she can defend herself by saying that she already understands that she is not supposed to use the visa waiver to immigrate, and she knows that the courts have made things difficult for visa waiver users, and her plan all along is to immigrate through the consulate in her country. And that she only wants to see her husband one last time before he is (or might be) deployed, after which she will leave on the date on her ticket. She should bring some evidence of his enlistment to show if necessary.