I-130 already In Process - Any way to bring wife to US faster?

J

jeremyk

New Member
Hi there,

I'm a US citizen living in Chile, married to a Chilean. We have a 6-month-old and she already has her dual citizenship. Due to various reasons (social and political instability being one of them) we've decided to move to the US.

I filed the I-130 in November and just got notice that it's being processed in Nebraska, which means at least a year-long wait until it's approved plus however long it'll take to get the interview, etc.

We're currently in the process of trying to get the I-130 expedited; in touch with our local congresswoman, trying to get it expedited on humanitarian purposes and through political channels.

Considering how things are going here in Chile I'm worried that if we wait the year and a half that it'll take to get approved we'll have some very serious difficulties (social, economic, etc) with living here. I do realize that while the I-130 is being processed my wife cannot come with me to the US on a tourist visa and then overstay her visit as this will probably make the I-130 be denied as she'll be here illegally.

So... my question:

If I wanted my wife to come to the states with me without having to wait for a year and a half can I cancel this I-130 process and have her come to the states under a different type of visa and then reapply for the I-130 but this time with the I-485? If this is possible, which type of visa would work for her? Would a student visa work?
 
Unfortunately, no. You can’t use a non-immigrant visa with express intent to immigrate. Plus, to be honest, if you cancel a i130 and then apply for a non immigrant visa it will almost certainly be refused as immigrant intent has already been established and it’s kind of transparent what the intent would be. (And then you’d have to start all over with a new i130.) Good luck with getting an expedite, that would probably be your best chance for speeding it up.
 
You could try to apply for a K3 for her (by filing I-129F; there is no fee), but it is unlikely for her to get it before the immigrant visa.
 
newacct said:
You could try to apply for a K3 for her (by filing I-129F; there is no fee), but it is unlikely for her to get it before the immigrant visa.
Click to expand...

Good point! I hadn't looked into that. Since it doesn't cost any money I might as well file it anyway. I sincerely hope that if I can't get the I-130 expedited it gets approved faster than the I-130 as I can't imagine having to wait up to 15.5 months just to get past the first step. Apparently in 2018 only 6 (six) K-3 visas were approved, not a very convincing figure, but heck, maybe my wife will be one of the 6.
 
jeremyk said:
Hi there,

I'm a US citizen living in Chile, married to a Chilean. We have a 6-month-old and she already has her dual citizenship. Due to various reasons (social and political instability being one of them) we've decided to move to the US.

I filed the I-130 in November and just got notice that it's being processed in Nebraska, which means at least a year-long wait until it's approved plus however long it'll take to get the interview, etc.

We're currently in the process of trying to get the I-130 expedited; in touch with our local congresswoman, trying to get it expedited on humanitarian purposes and through political channels.

Considering how things are going here in Chile I'm worried that if we wait the year and a half that it'll take to get approved we'll have some very serious difficulties (social, economic, etc) with living here. I do realize that while the I-130 is being processed my wife cannot come with me to the US on a tourist visa and then overstay her visit as this will probably make the I-130 be denied as she'll be here illegally.

So... my question:

If I wanted my wife to come to the states with me without having to wait for a year and a half can I cancel this I-130 process and have her come to the states under a different type of visa and then reapply for the I-130 but this time with the I-485? If this is possible, which type of visa would work for her? Would a student visa work?
Click to expand...
 
Hi, my husband is a US citizen and we are also filing the I-130. We did it few years ago, but had to withdraw. My I-130 got approves in a little over a month. Mind you, we´ve been married for 17 years and have 4 kids and I had a green card in the past. Also, after my I-130 was approved, I got a tourist visa. I had to do it that way, no visa waiver. We explaind that we were in the process of muving back and it was no problem They gave me 6 months to stay. So don´t freak out yet. Good luck.
 
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