I 130 In the US or Outside ?

I am thinking about applying for my wife's I-130 when we are both in the US in the Summer. We were thinking about doing it overseas, but I am wondering if it would be easier to do in the US. She bounces back and forth a lot and I am going back to school in the fall.

Is it going to be a problem if we move around a lot ? We were married in the US and have a US marriage license.

There's not much to go by in this case. One of you will have to be an US Citizen for the I-130 to happen. An LPR can also do this, but could take longer (something about visa numbers being available).

I don't think it matters whether you file in or outside the country. You'll need a stable address to file from (so you'll receive USCIS's receipts, requests for evidence, or paperwork of the sort).

Thanks ScottishBoltCutter. As for more information.

1 I am a US citizen
2 Wife is from a VWP country
3 We have a stable address inside and outside the US
4 Married in the US over 2.5 years ago
5 Two small children ( USC )

I think it would be strange if I started in one place and then every few months changed the address to to a different country

Thanks for the info. Petitioning for your wife should be no problem.

It really would be up to you. In my opinion, I would do this while in the country. This way you could file the I-130 and I-465 at the same time. The I-465 would mean she would get LPR quicker. This could still take some time (~ 6-9 months, I think). I know everyone's situation is a little different, so take this into consideration.

I would advise you to check out USCIS's site for more info. I'm no immigration lawyer, (although now I wish I was), so take it for what it's worth. You could double check me if you please, I have no problem.

If you would let me know how it turned out for you in the end. With that said, good luck.

Thanks. I get different answers from each lawyer. Supposedly, she can naturalize pretty quick, like 18 months in the US over three years. We want to get started because of Trump. We have to figure this out. Probably have to spend a lot, lot, lot of time on the USCIS website.

My situation is too strange for the couple of lawyers I have spoken with. I am working for a San Francisco startup remote , working on my Masters on the east coast and spending time overseas. We are just nomads. My school has an immigration clinic, but they are not interested in this type of case.

When I immigrated to my wife's country, it was really straightforward and I do not know of anyone who used a lawyer over here. I wish the US was that simple.

If she is away and has no bans, I would do consular processing. We do not know how the policy has changed in terms of coming here with immigrant intent. If you are doing it legally, just continue by the book. Before Trump and the change in command I would have just brought her here if I were you. Now things can get tricky for little reason.


Really up to you if you want to take the risk.

Trump is the reason we are looking to move up the date.

Nope, no bars , overstays or bans. I think we will do the I 301 ( Chicago lockbox ) and then get an immigrant visa. You can AOS from the VWP, but will probably go the safe route.

We do not have a USCIS office here, and the embassy was not very helpful.

Best of luck to you two

Thanks.

When I immigrated to her country, everything was straightforward and I did it myself. No drama at all.

Shows how messed up the US immigration system is.

As a follow up, we are going to do consular processing, but hold off until the year after I get my Masters. Filing an I-301 takes away her non immigration trips, so just waiting for a period where we are going to be out of the US for a six month stretch and do it then.

Have a great summer everyone !