Can a permanent resident file for a k-3

[Minnesota guy]

Hi everyone,
   My neighbor who immigrated here with his Mother from Leyte, Philippines got married while back there on vacation this winter. He is 23 and has had his green card for 3+ years.
   One site we looked at said that permanent residents were not eligible for this program??? Anyone had experiance with this? Would appreciate any advice.  Bill
P.S. I rarely post anymore but still follow the board on a semi-regular basis. Carmen and I are very happy and thus far the age and cultural differences seem to be fairly minor.

[Jeff S]

... in response to Can a permanent resident file for a k-3, posted by Minnesota guy on Apr 6, 2004

Glad to hear you guys are doing well. Thanks for checking in. Best wishes to the two of you.

- Jeff

[Ray]

... in response to Can a permanent resident file for a k-3, posted by Minnesota guy on Apr 6, 2004

Only a U.S. citizen can file a K-3 petition.

He can petition his wife with a Form I-130 but she will have to wait for a visa number to become available. For the Philippines, the wait for a visa number for the spouse of a permanent resident is currently running a little less than 5 years. Then she will be processed for an immigrant visa.

He has the option to apply for citizenship after 5 years of residence, so he may be able to speed the process up a little bit if he files for naturalization and later changes his petition to spouse of a citizen. But even then he is facing at least another 3 years wait.

I’m glad to hear that you and Carmen are adjusting well to your new life together.

Ray

[Minnesota guy]

... in response to Negative, posted by Ray on Apr 7, 2004

Ouch! Oh well, at least my neighbor (wife's cousin) has lived in the Philippines recently enough to be patient. I really did not want to give him the bad news but he took it well. Said that when they decided to marry he really did not know how long immigration would take. Fortunately this July will mark his 4th year here so he can go for his citizenship then. My wife will start the process in about 1 year so we'll know the ropes by then.
   Ray, thanks so much for the information. This board has been tremendously helpful to me over the past 3 years. I'm not a real wordy guy and I just mostly read what others have to say. I'm sure there are a lot of others out there like me who appreciate having this resource.  Bill