Help! I just want to be with my hubby!

[Scorpiankh]

I met my hubby online 3 years ago, he is american, I am a kiwi. we've spent 2 years going back and forth between here (New Zealand) and the US visiting each other. In my last visit to the US we got married, the plan was that he would then come back to NZ with me and we would live here for a couple of years and then move to the US. Unfortunatly his mothers health has suddenly started to deteriorate and he's had to rush back to the US to look after her as she has no one else. Since then we've changed the plan and decided that me and my daughter will be moving over there to live. It all seemed simple enough at first but the more I look into it the harder it gets.
As far as I can tell, he needs to file an I-130 for me and daughter, and once he's done that I can file an I-129F so that me and daughter can go over sooner and i can work while waiting for our permant residency to be approved. The problem is, the i-129F has to be filed in the country where we got married - which is the US ... so I would have to be there to do that, and to get there I need a visa!
It's all startng to get a bit ridiculous! i'LL NEED A VISA, TO GET A VISA, TO GET A VISA!!!!!
And when I apply for a visa to go over there so I can fill out the i-129F I'll go on a waiting list (which as far as I can tell I won't for the I-130) so by the time I get to the top of the waiting list my residency could well have been approved already.
On the other hand I could just sit here and wait for the i-130 to be processed and our residency granted, but i don't even know how long that takes, and I can't find anywhere on the net that says how long that takes.
Does anyone know how long it takes to get permanent residency through a spouse, and does anyone know of any way me and my daughter could get to the US sooner?
I just want to be with my husband, to be a family, that shouldn't be such a hard thing.

[Scorpiankh]

I met my hubby online 3 years ago, he is american, I am a kiwi. we've spent 2 years going back and forth between here (New Zealand) and the US visiting each other. In my last visit to the US we got married, the plan was that he would then come back to NZ with me and we would live here for a couple of years and then move to the US. Unfortunatly his mothers health has suddenly started to deteriorate and he's had to rush back to the US to look after her as she has no one else. Since then we've changed the plan and decided that me and my daughter will be moving over there to live. It all seemed simple enough at first but the more I look into it the harder it gets.
As far as I can tell, he needs to file an I-130 for me and daughter, and once he's done that I can file an I-129F so that me and daughter can go over sooner and i can work while waiting for our permant residency to be approved. The problem is, the i-129F has to be filed in the country where we got married - which is the US ... so I would have to be there to do that, and to get there I need a visa!
It's all startng to get a bit ridiculous! i'LL NEED A VISA, TO GET A VISA, TO GET A VISA!!!!!
And when I apply for a visa to go over there so I can fill out the i-129F I'll go on a waiting list (which as far as I can tell I won't for the I-130) so by the time I get to the top of the waiting list my residency could well have been approved already.
On the other hand I could just sit here and wait for the i-130 to be processed and our residency granted, but i don't even know how long that takes, and I can't find anywhere on the net that says how long that takes.
Does anyone know how long it takes to get permanent residency through a spouse, and does anyone know of any way me and my daughter could get to the US sooner?
I just want to be with my husband, to be a family, that shouldn't be such a hard thing.

[Forvisas]

Do not worry, you have to file I-130 and I-129 at the same time, you don't have to be in US on time your husband file the paper, you just need to fill in the info on form I-129 and sign it, send it in original along with some supporting documents to your husband.
Processing time could be between 6 to 12 mo. but indeed it's a posibility that you get the I-130 approval and come in US on immigrant visa before the I-129 can be approved to allow you to enter on a K3 visa (non-immigrant status)

Anyway I recommend you to get an immigration specialist help, maybe Mrs. Christina Milaciu at cristina@usimmigrationforall.com or vizeusa@yahoo.com

I wish you all the best, dont worry too much all will be fine in just couple of months.

forvisas@yahoo.com

[Theone]

Ignore te previous post, touting for business.

Best bet is to go and look on www.visajourney.com, read the guides.

You can visit the USA on the VWP but you need to be preared to show ties to NZ proving your need to return.

K3/CR1, seem to be taking the same time - 9 months to a year.o

[aneri]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Forvisas:
Do not worry, you have to file I-130 and I-129 at the same time, you don't have to be in US on time your husband file the paper, you just need to fill in the info on form I-129 and sign it, send it in original along with some supporting documents to your husband. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

1. I-130 and I-129 can't be filed at the same time. To file I-129 one needs the USCIS receipt of I-130.
2. (USC) HUSBAND has to fill out I-129F and sign.

Scorpiankh, approved I-129 ( filed after I-130) results in K3 visa. K3 visa is to be issued in the country where the marriage took place or country of residency if the wedding was in the USA.
1. Husband files I-130
2. gets confirmation that USCIS received I-130
3. husband files I-129

from that point you have 2 processes going:
1. approval of I-130 will result in CR/IR-1 (CR/IR-2 for daughter)immigrant visa after the interview at the cunsulate. You receive green card /residency upon arrival.
2. approval od I-129 will result in K3 (K4 for daughter) non-immigrant visa (and you file to adjust status to permanent resident once you are in the USA)

lately, both processes take about the same time...
http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/in...tom&page=times

[Scorpiankh]

thanks heaps for the info.
I had thought about going over on the VWP in the meantime, but it's not a good idea with a 6 year old with a big mouth in tow, I can just imagine now getting to customs and just as their about to stamp my passport thinking we're going back to NZ in 3 months daughter will pipe up and say "We're moving to America! =oD ", and then have customs put us straight back on a plane to NZ! That would be just my luck.
I really want to do this all the right way, I don't want to get in trouble for over staying or get deported or anything.

Just a couple more questions,
first of all I keep getting told by people that I can go over to the US before the k3(k4) visa has been approved ... is that right?
second, if it takes about the same amount of time for the k3(k4) and cr1(cr2) visasto be processed, is it even worth applying for the k3? What would happen if the cr1 got approved before they'd finished processing the k3?

[aneri]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Scorpiankh:
first of all I keep getting told by people that I can go over to the US before the k3(k4) visa has been approved ... is that right?? </div></BLOCKQUOTE> yes, for a short visit...
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Scorpiankh:
second, if it takes about the same amount of time for the k3(k4) and cr1(cr2) visasto be processed, is it even worth applying for the k3? What would happen if the cr1 got approved before they'd finished processing the k3? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That's at the moment, one can never be sure which way the processing times will go...

If I-130 is approved and processed (NVC stage) before I-129, you receive CR-1/2 immigrant visa.