Can my spouse travel to US to visit while i-130 visa is processing?

[newacct]

If you enter the U.S., you can be processed entirely in the U.S., by submitting the I-485 package after your I-130 is approed.

or while it is pending

[rayb]

Newacct,

There seems to be a needed clarification about the I-130 when doing a visa conversion. The I-130 can accompany the I-485 submittal, or the Approval Notice for the I-130 can accompany the I-485 submittal.

But if the I-130 is not approved, but has been submitted, the I-485 instructions lead one to believe that the I-485 cannot be processed for lack of I-130 approval proof.

One would like to assume that a copy of the I-130 Receipt Notice of Action can accompany the I-485, and I-485 processing can be initiated during I-130 processing, but I don't believe this to be clearly indicated by the I-485 instructions, and I wouldn't like to be the one to test it.

--Ray B

or while it is pending

[newacct]

Newacct,

There seems to be a needed clarification about the I-130 when doing a visa conversion. The I-130 can accompany the I-485 submittal, or the Approval Notice for the I-130 can accompany the I-485 submittal.

But if the I-130 is not approved, but has been submitted, the I-485 instructions lead one to believe that the I-485 cannot be processed for lack of I-130 approval proof.

One would like to assume that a copy of the I-130 Receipt Notice of Action can accompany the I-485, and I-485 processing can be initiated during I-130 processing, but I don't believe this to be clearly indicated by the I-485 instructions, and I wouldn't like to be the one to test it.

--Ray B

There are lots of places that say I-485 can be filed while I-130 is pending, with the I-130 receipt. For example, here

Two Step Process
You still have the option to file your I-485 application any time after your petitioner files a Form I-130, for you, as long as it has not been denied. Generally, you will need to submit a copy of Form I-797, Notice of Action, with your Form I-485, that shows the Form I-130 petition is either pending or approved.

and here, p.7

If your U.S. citizen relative has filed a Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130) and it is still pending with USCIS, you may file an Application to Adjust Status (Form I-485). When you submit your completed I-485 and the fee, include a copy of the Notice of Action (Form I-797) showing the I-130 has been received at the Service Center.

[rayb]

Newacct Guy,

Your citations sound okay, but they aren't from the I-485 instructions.

--Ray B

There are lots of places that say I-485 can be filed while I-130 is pending, with the I-130 receipt. For example, here

and here, p.7

[bleau615]

Travel to the US

Hi,
Currently living in New Zealand. My wife is Kiwi and I'm a US citizen. Been together 18 years and have 3 kids. Kids were born in the US and have dual citizenship. Have gone through most of the process for my wife's green card and are just waiting an interview here in NZ.

Spoke to the US Consulate here and they haven't received any of our paperwork from the NVC yet.

We were thinking of going back to see my parents in July and was wondering if she could travel to the US while in the process? Visitor visa?

My mom is dyeing to see the grand kids but she's just to old to travel this far. (24+ hours of travel)

Would we be able to travel back for a few weeks?

Any help would be great.

Thanks.

[scientist2016]

You can always try to enter on a visitor visa, but there is a chance that she would be denied entry citing immigration intent, since her I130, etc., is filed. This is assuming she already has a visitor visa. If not, then she may even be denied visitor visa for the reason above. Since she is kiwi she could try entering on visa waiver, but you once again run the aforementioned risk.

[sonali_i130]

i130 Applied

Hi there,

I want to see my husband.

We got married in Sep '16 and had applied for the i130 in October '16 (rcvd in Nov '16 by USCIS) and were patiently waiting for the 5 months period to end which ended on 14th of April (when the USCIS website is updated every 3 months/Nebraska Center), however after all this wait we've come to know that we are nowhere close in fact in the last 3 months they've only moved 20 days or so from their last update in Jan.

Now I want to find out if it'll be possible for me to apply for any other kind of visa (perhaps, a tourist visa) to visit my husband in US while we wait for the I130 to process.

Or if there's anyway to expedite the process which I'm pretty sure there isn't any.

Thanks and Regards,
S

[mesireyerlisi]

Hello'
I finally got my cr1 visa approved last month. my marriage was registered in my home country after the approval of my visa. So my visa was issued on my maiden name in my old passport, but on my new passport i have my husband's surname. how will i carry my visa from my old passport to the new one? also in this case, my green card is gonna be on my maiden name. how can i fix this? and thank you very much to everyone' especially to rayb for the help and answering all of my questions.

[newacct]

Hello'
I finally got my cr1 visa approved last month. my marriage was registered in my home country after the approval of my visa. So my visa was issued on my maiden name in my old passport, but on my new passport i have my husband's surname. how will i carry my visa from my old passport to the new one? also in this case, my green card is gonna be on my maiden name. how can i fix this? and thank you very much to everyone' especially to rayb for the help and answering all of my questions.

I don't get it. How can you get the immigrant visa based on marriage before you married?

[mesireyerlisi]

I don't get it. How can you get the immigrant visa based on marriage before you married?

iam from turkey. i got married in usa with my us citizen husband and we applied for cr1 visa. our process started. then we sent our marriage certificate to turkey to register. when i had my immigrant visa interview and got my immigrant visa approved, they (turkish officials) had not signed my marriage to their system. so my visa was issued on my maiden name. after turkey registired my marriage i had to change my surname to my husband's surname. so i have the (cancelled) old passport with the immigrant visa on it with my maiden name, and the brand new passport with my married name. the both passports belong to the same person - to me- the only difference is my changed surname due to marriage. how can i carry my immigrant visa to my new passport?
Thank you

[rayb]

It seems that you have gotten this mixed up. Your visa should be in your passport name. If your Consulate issued the visa in your maiden name, it was because your immigration paperwork was submitted in your maiden name. Did your consulate put your visa in your "maiden name" passport?" If so, just carry your marriage certificate with both passports, but you may have some difficulty explaining how that happened when you board the plane or try to enter the U.S., especially if your "maiden name" passport has expired or is cancelled.

If you do overcome this barrier and enter the U.S., when you pay the $220 fee to have your Green Card sent to you, it will be in your maiden name. To have the name changed on your Green Card, it will cost you $450 and take a couple of months during processing of the required I-90 form.

There were two mistakes that contributed to your current problems:

1. Your immigration paperwork should have been prepared using your married name.
2. Once your visa was issued, your renewal or marriage name change on your passport should have been held off until you entered the U.S.

If you can get your visa reissued in your married name, this will be fixed, but accomplishing that in your home country will be as difficult as fitting a "camel in the eye of a needle."

-Ray B

Hello'
I finally got my cr1 visa approved last month. my marriage was registered in my home country after the approval of my visa. So my visa was issued on my maiden name in my old passport, but on my new passport i have my husband's surname. how will i carry my visa from my old passport to the new one? also in this case, my green card is gonna be on my maiden name. how can i fix this? and thank you very much to everyone' especially to rayb for the help and answering all of my questions.

[Sukhi1998]

visa to travel to USA when i-130 is in progress

Hi
I am an international student in canada. I was travelling to US and I was asked to withdraw my application as my boyfriend lived in US. My multi entry visa for US was cancelled. We got married in april and my husband has applied for i-130 petition. He was in comma for 4 weeks in 2014. He is still under medication and needs someone to take care of him. Is there any possible way, i can apply for a temporary visa for US to take care of my husband. He has to travel to Canada to stay with me. He is a university professor, and he has to travel every week. We are paying for 2 places to stay.
Thank you.

[Didbin]

cr 1 visa

Hi there,

I want to see my husband.

We got married in Sep '16 and had applied for the i130 in October '16 (rcvd in Nov '16 by USCIS) and were patiently waiting for the 5 months period to end which ended on 14th of April (when the USCIS website is updated every 3 months/Nebraska Center), however after all this wait we've come to know that we are nowhere close in fact in the last 3 months they've only moved 20 days or so from their last update in Jan.

Now I want to find out if it'll be possible for me to apply for any other kind of visa (perhaps, a tourist visa) to visit my husband in US while we wait for the I130 to process.

Or if there's anyway to expedite the process which I'm pretty sure there isn't any.

Thanks and Regards,
S

Hi @sonali_i130 ,
Did you get any info from USCIS? I hope your case has been approved already.
We got married in Turkey and my case was submitted in Dec 2017 by my husband via our lawyer in the USA. We are still waiting It has been 5 months

[Mustang688]

Re-enter US while waiting for consular processing

Hi,
Maybe it has been mentioned before but i am still confused about one thing.
I am turkish and my fiance is US citizen. We are together for more than 2 years, living in Turkey.
Nexth month we gonna go to US and marry there since her family is all there. Then we gonna come to Turkey and start the consular processing. My question, is it possible to re enter US with my visitor visa while waiting for the green card.

Thanks
Mustang,

[rayb]

When entering the U.S. with a visitor visa, and you tell the immigration officer that you are entering t marry, you might be refused entry for "intent to immigrate."

--Ray B

Hi,
Maybe it has been mentioned before but i am still confused about one thing.
I am turkish and my fiance is US citizen. We are together for more than 2 years, living in Turkey.
Nexth month we gonna go to US and marry there since her family is all there. Then we gonna come to Turkey and start the consular processing. My question, is it possible to re enter US with my visitor visa while waiting for the green card.

Thanks
Mustang,