Upland, CA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

You can petition for your finance as a finance visa (K-1) when you are not yet married, you are a US citizen and your fiance lives in another country other than the US. You cannot get marry until she has arrived in the US with her fiance visa, at which time she will have 3 months for you both to get married. The timing for the process is usually uncertain depending on the country where your finance resides, the documentation they request, how fast you provide all the consulate requires, etc. If you get married, you cannot file for a finance visa. If you get married then you will file a family based visa petition (I-130). Once the visa is approved it will be sent to the National Visa Center where the consular processing will start. Since your wife will not be in the US, the process will take place in the country where she resides. Once she goes through an interview and she is approved, she will come to the US with a conditional residency. This process normally takes from 8 months to a year. But again, time can vary depending on the country she is from, appointment availability for interviews, etc. Usually a fiance visa process is faster, however, no time frame can be assured.

If your wife is not cooperating on the I-751 removal of conditions, and you are divorced; you can file the I-751 on your own requesting a waiver of the joint filing requirement based on a "good faith" marriage. Show that you have a child together, cohabitation and co-mingling of funds and you should be approved.