Usa Cr-1 Visa

[safeaccessdude]

Greetings,

My girl and I were ready to move back to the USA so we decided to apply for an Immigrant Visa.

A little background. I am 35 years old and have lived in Bangkok for 2 years. I married my wife in September after we have known each other for almost 3 years now. She is a Thai citizen. Because I was living in Thailand, had a work permit, valid visa and other supporting documents, I was able to file here in Bangkok at the USCIS offices across from the Embassy in the Srindhorn Bldg. (in person)

Basically the time line explains a lot. We also did everything ourselves. No agents. No lawyers. No one.

September 20- Handed in all proper documentation in Bangkok at USCIS and filed/paid I-130 form at US Embassy.

October 17- Received Approval of Petition for my Wife. Also received instructions to file the rest of the needed documents, Police Report, Medical, etc.

November 2- Went to Royal Thai Police HQ to do Police Report on my wife. It takes 18 days to be picked up from this date. We cannot submit paperwork until it is returned.

November 20- Pick up Police Report and send all documents to US Embassy in Bangkok. This included all tax forms and all other documents required.

November 23- Receive Approval of Documents and we are given an appointment via email. Go to Bumrungrad and do medical evaluation.

November 25- Appointment at US Embassy for my wife. I went with her and received no problems from Embassy staff. I even was allowed to come to the window and say hello to the Officer. We explained we were leaving the country for vacation and could not pick up the passport the following week as instructed. We needed it to travel. She handed it back to us so we could travel. We were missing one copy of her housing registrations (Tabien Baan) so we had to bring it when we came back.

December 11- Dropped of Housing Registration Copy at US Embassy.

December 18- My wife picked up her passport with new visa to the USA! Green card will be sent i the next 2-5 weeks!!

As you can see we did this thing in about 3 months. That is fast. If someone lives in the US and they apply for a spouse abroad it can take a long time. If you fulfill the requirements apply here in Bangkok. It is so much easier and most of all faster !!!! Best of luck to all of you

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Congrats on the fast work, proper paperwork filed in the right place helps!

One Q for you, tho, regarding the Green Card. I thought for "Conditional Residents" it was sent some time AFTER arrival in the U.S.

Did a Google and came up with the following local info.

Mac

ttp://www.siam-legal.com/US_Visa/cr1-visa-thailand.php

CR-1 VISA APPLICATION

The US CR-1 Visa from Thailand

What is the CR-1 Visa?

The CR-1 (Conditional Resident) visa allows applicants to receive conditional permanent residence upon arrival in the US. Recipients of the CR-1 are able to work immediately upon arrival in the US. Conditional Residents usually receive their green card in the mail 2 - 3 months after arrival. Permanent resident status is considered conditional, because the immigrant must prove that they did not get married merely to circumvent the immigration laws of the United States.

The conditional resident and the US citizen spouse must apply together to remove the conditional status of permanent residence. It is advisable to apply 90 days before the end of the spouse’s second year as a conditional resident. If the application to remove conditional status is not filed in time, the immigrant spouse could lose her conditional resident status and be subject to removal from the country.

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[safeaccessdude]

Thank you!

Yes you are correct. We won't be leaving Thailand until June 11th. The consular officer said the Green Card/Social Security Cards should be there by February.

[DirectorIntegrityLegal]

Technically anyone who enters the US on an IR1 or CR1 visa is a "Green Card" holder upon entry. In fact, their entry stamp is the "green card," and is valid for one year. The Resident Alien Card that she receives later is simply another document stating this. The "Green Card" itself does not have any inherent rights that the applicant was not already granted upon entry. That being said, a CR1 visa only grants the bearer a two year "Green Card," at entry because the couple must still file for a lift of conditions before the alien spouse will have unconditional lawful permanent residence.

Hopefully this was helpful and congratulations to the original poster!

All the Best!

Ben Hart

US Immigration Attorney

Integrity Legal

[safeaccessdude]

Thanks a lot Ben!

[Dustoff]

~

My congrats as well to the OP!

I am embarking on the same journey but going for the IR-1&2, since we have been married a long time, as I posted in another thread.

Could you PM me the list of required documents that need to accompany the initial petition?

When you go in to submit the petition, do you meet with someone who sorts it all out with you?

Once the visa is approved, how long do you have to arrive in the States?

We are heading over with a child and would like to leave here by May to fit him into the next school year which will begin in August.

Thanks and repeated congratulations...

Dustoff

[gorshar]

Congratulations. We went through the IR-1 process this year, and except for a delay while I sorted out my tax situation so I could file the 864 doc, our process was about as fast, easy, and straightforward as yours.