Standalone I130 or wait?

N

neo_ny

Registered Users (C)
Hello Everyone,

I am almost done putting together all the documentation to apply for AOS through my wife. I believe I'll have everything ready to be mailed out by first week of May. I was looking through some of the timelines and it seems like things are moving much faster in the last couple of months and I am in a dilemma whether to apply now or hold off till we get back from our home country in August. We have our "religious wedding ceremony" scheduled in August and I cannot ( and do not want to) reschedule it in case we get our interview gets scheduled for the time when we will not be in the country.

So I was thinking can I just file I130 to start the process and file I485 after we get back from our trip? or should I just wait till we get back and then apply to avoid the *taboo* of trying to reschedule the AOS interview? Is an interview required before I130 is approved? Does having an approved I130 speed up my I485 when I am ready to apply (if not defeats the purpose all together of filing I130 earlier)?

Any thoughts will be appreciated

Thanks,
Neo
 
If you applied for your I-130 in your home country you would have to go for an interview.
NEVER reschedule an AOS interview.
Having an approved I-130 does not speed up the process.

I would suggest waiting until you get back.

What visa would you be entering the country on?
How long have you been married?

I'm not an expert on this though. Let's see what the others say :)
 
Unless you have a dual intent visa like H1 or L1 entering the US on another visa after marriage then filing AOS can be construed as fraud at POE. Apply now and request AP to travel to home country for religious ceremony with AP, this is safest way to go.
 
Hey guys thanks for your responses! I am on H1B and I don't have an issue traveling in/out of the country without the marriage based AOS. I'll be away for 3 weeks in August and looking at the most recent timelines if I apply in May (as I had planned originally) there is a good possibility that my interview might get scheduled during that time. So, I was just thinking out loud to see if there was a way I can jump start the process but not end up in a situation to have to try and reschedule the interview.

I would love to get EAD so that I can disentangle from my employer and have more options when looking for jobs but I understand I can't get it unless I file I485.

Leaning towards waiting to apply till we get back, would appreciate any more insights. Thanks!
 
I'm sure most of us completely understand your predicament.

If I were in your shoes I would wait so as not to take a chance on getting the interview in August. I've also been watching timelines and I think there would be a good chance that you may get it during that time.

Just my opinion :)
 
If you have "dual intent" visa, there's nothing wrong with filing I-130, and then apply for AOS. I followed that path, and the total process (minus FBI name check) was the usual reported by people. As a bonus on the interview day, the officer asked us no questions and just limited to say "ohhh, your petition is already approved, very well, we just need to wait for name check" (that's another story).
 
JMG1010: Thanks for sharing your experience. Is there a reason why you did not apply concurrently? I take it from your experience that they don't need an interview to approve I130 correct? The interview happens only after you file I485? Looks like there is no noticeable difference between the total time the process takes if you apply I130/I485 in sequence or concurrently
 
No particular reason, just wanted to preserve OPT status, but it turns out, it doesn't make a difference if I had applied concurrently. There was no interview to approve I-130 petition. Had just the one interview for AOS. I agree, there is no noticeable difference in processing time; although Vermont seeed to be processing I-130 more quickly than I485 when I filed.
 
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