New INS Policy For Spouse Visas

[Ron Boutwell]

A friend of mine who is also attempting to get his wife to the US were websurfing the INS website a few minutes ago when we found this page.  Please go check it out.  Basically it says that in August the INS instituted a new policy for guys like me who are seperated from their spouses and stepchildren for long periods of time while waiting for Immigrant Visas.  It allows for us to file a Form I-129F on behalf of the spouse and unmarried children under 21. According to the website, this is basically a temporary fiancee' visa being given to a spouse so they can come to America while awaiting a perminant visa.  And as I recall, one form I-129F covers the spouse as well as dependant children. Has anyone here used this to their advantage?  Please email me.  Here is the link:

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/newsrels/life081401.htm

Sincerely,
Ron Boutwell

[Ray]

... in response to New INS Policy For Spouse Visas, posted by Ron Boutwell on Feb 10, 2002

Hi Ron!

We have several couples here who have used the new K-3/K-4 visa category. How long have you been waiting for an I-130 visa? If the INS hasn't approved it yet, then you can still file a K-3 petition. Should take around 3-6 months. Whether or not it will be an advantage for you now depends a lot on how far along you are in the process.

Ray

[Ron Boutwell]

... in response to Re: New INS Policy For Spouse Visas, posted by Ray on Feb 10, 2002

You just answered a big question for me.  I was wondering how long the new K3/K4 visas should take.  Since it is a new way to go I assumed there were few people who could answer the question.  3-6 months could actually help a lot of people.  The INS (especially the California Processing Center) has used the "911" tragedy to justify taking over 2 years to simply adjudicate a lot of cases lately.  I think it is shameful to use that as an excuse since many of the cases they have slowed down were submitted many months prior to September 11th.  I noticed that APEX ( the visa service that runs ads on this board) is really pushing the K3/K4 visa and recommends filing both forms simultaneously.  It sounds like a really good idea to me.  As far as I can tell, the K3 visa uses the same form as the fiance' visa but the packet is a bit larger than normal and it only makes one stop in Chicago for processing prior to being sent to the overseas consulate.  As long as Chicago is processing the forms in a timely fashion, the process should be quick.  

I have rarely praised the INS for anything, but I will give them a lot of credit for this one.  I'm sure this is in response to a lot of letters being sent to congressmen from men who are already married and waiting a year and a half or longer to get their wives to the states when a man who is not married can fly his fiancee' to the US in 3 - 6 months.  It was never fair.  It's still not fair, but it is livable now and a significant improvement.  Germans and Brits can bring their foreign wives home in a little over a month.  And the Brits are fairly picky about immigration.  They realize that a man has a right to be with his family.  This concept was forgotten here.

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Re: New INS Policy For Spouse Visas, posted by Ron Boutwell on Feb 11, 2002

Ron, you said:

“I have rarely praised the INS for anything, but I will give them a lot of credit for this one.”

Well, don’t start praising them now because they don’t deserve it. The K-3/K-4 visa category was established by congress as part of the Life Act because of the slow and inept processing of spousal visas by the incompetent INS. Then the INS took 8 months to establish a simple procedure for K-3/K-4 processing after the new law went into effect, when they could have done it in a month or less. They were so busy processing green card applications for illegal aliens that they just plum forgot about the citizens waiting for their spouses.

The congress deserves some credit though for listening to the voices of the people who had to suffer through the long waits in the past.

Ray