blanket waiver to expedite spouse visa?

[Forrester89]

Long time reader, first time poster. Foremost, yes I know the search function exists. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find relevant information that would be benefitial to my situation via that route.

I am putting together the finishing touches of my packet for Supply Corps before I submit for the DEC 13 board deadline. I currently live in Augsburg, Germany with my wife (German national) and 1yr old son (he has dual citizenship). I've heard anecdotally that active military members can get a 'blank waiver to do green card paper work really fast' but so far I haven't been able to find out how true this is.

I asked my recruiter if he has any information, or if he could connect me with someone who may know and all he told me was 'I don't know. Once you're in there are lawyers who can counsel you on this matter." I would prefer to know BEFORE I sign that contract. Some people say the visa can be expedited and done in 3 months, some say that they knew people who were separated for almost 2 years. Even when we had the CRBA appointment for my son, the case workers there had no idea.

So far, this is the only concrete information that I have (from the U.S Embassy in Germany): The petition for family members is Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative . Consular officers at the U.S. Consulate Frankfurt may accept filing of the I-130 filed by qualified U.S. military service members for any immediate relative case, when active duty military service member is stationed permanently at a military base in Germany. This exception does not apply to service members assigned to non-military bases, such as embassies or civilian institutions, retired service members, or to service members on temporary duty orders.

Does it make sense to file the I-130 petition now, or would it be better to wait until I (hopefully) get selected? Or even after graduating OCS? We are not financially able to the hire an immigration attorney at this time. Ideally, I would like for my family to live with me while I'm at Supply School, or as soon as I get sent to my first duty station. I would appreciate any kind of help or resources. If you've been in a similar situation please post a comment.

 

[Flash]

I am putting together the finishing touches of my packet for Supply Corps before I submit for the DEC 13 board deadline. I currently live in Augsburg, Germany with my wife (German national) and 1yr old son (he has dual citizenship). I've heard anecdotally that active military members can get a 'blank waiver to do green card paper work really fast' but so far I haven't been able to find out how true this is.

Something I've had experience with! My wife is a Canadian citizen and I brought her into this country on a fiancée visa, I was on active duty and did everything myself. At the time fiancée visas were easier to get and it all worked out, but it was a lot of paperwork and a chunk of money to get everything done (USCIS immigration processing is almost all 'self funded' meaning immigrants or their sponsors themselves pay for the privilege, it cost me about $5000 total for everything from the visa to the green card almost 20 years ago). IIRC it took me about 3-4 months from the time I submitted the application to the time I got the visa, but the fiancée visa was apparently a lot faster than a spousal one at the time. I didn't request expedited processing since I didn't know about it and didn't need it anyways. From what I found the military provided very little support for spousal immigration matters at least for folks in CONUS, that may have changed but I would not be surprised if it did not.

You can request expedited processing but there is no guarantee it'll happen. Here is some info from a private immigration assistance firm with the military parts bolded:

Expediting Your Application

The government processing times for both marriage green cards and K-1 visas have increased significantly over the last few years due to COVID-related delays and a growing visa backlog. If you are an active-duty service member, it may be possible to request an expedition of your marriage green card or K-1 visa application. All expedition requests are evaluated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on a case-by-case basis and military members should contact the Military Help Line at 877-CIS-4MIL (877-247-4645) or militaryinfo@uscis.dhs.gov to learn more. USCIS also provides detailed guidance on how to file an expedite request for various applications here.

Here is the official USCIS website with info on Expedite Requests: https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-guidance/expedite-requests

I asked my recruiter if he has any information, or if he could connect me with someone who may know and all he told me was 'I don't know. Once you're in there are lawyers who can counsel you on this matter." I would prefer to know BEFORE I sign that contract. Some people say the visa can be expedited and done in 3 months, some say that they knew people who were separated for almost 2 years. Even when we had the CRBA appointment for my son, the case workers there had no idea.

To be honest I am not sure you will be able to get a firm answer before you go to OCS, and frankly you may not get one after you get there either. But I would contact USCIS, they will give you the best idea about timelines. An important thing to note, you won't be in the military until you are sworn into OCS so expedited military processing won't apply until then and you will be busy enough for much of OCS you won't be able to do much there.

Ideally, I would like for my family to live with me while I'm at Supply School, or as soon as I get sent to my first duty station. I would appreciate any kind of help or resources. If you've been in a similar situation please post a comment.

One thing you may want to take a look at is talking to an immigration lawyer/firm. When I did my wife's immigration paperwork it was a lot for me to do, and my wife was a bit concerned at the time it was taking me to do it all...until I showed her how much it was. What a lot of folks do is hire an lawyer or firm that specializes in it to do all the paperwork and submitting for you, you still have to provide all the necessary stuff but they do the bulk of the 'scut work'. It does come at a price though, the rough rule of thumb when I talked to folks is about double what you would pay to do it yourself. So my ~$5000 I paid USCIS for my wife's stuff would have been ~$10,000 or more. Unfortunately I have no idea how to find a reputable lawyer or firm specializing in immigration stuff other than Googling for them.

Not sure how much that all helps but the bottom line is you should talk directly to the USCIS and if you still want to go forward with it, I would seriously consider engaging a reputable immigration lawyer/firm to help you.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

We are not financially able to the hire an immigration attorney at this time

Many offer free to low cost consultations to at least have all the information on hand.

A normal recruiter isn't going to know the process for all of that.

 

[Jacksa71]

I did the I-129F( May 2019-Oct 2019: approved) and still in the process of getting my wife her official green card (4 year wait time) all without a lawyer. I used this website for the fiancé visa but printed out the change of status request and green card request from USCIS. Just read the instructions and provide what’s needed. It’s easier than a Navy instruction

U.S. Immigration Software | Immigration Direct

Simplifying immigration applications with easy-to-use, step-by-step software tool.

www.immigrationdirect.com

As for the expedited application request, I know it’s for those that enlisted into the military and need status for certain material. while living in Japan, many people got married to a Japanese national and moved to the states the following year. It could be a fast turnaround etc. Also the USCIS military helpline is trash now too, I haven’t called in a long time but try saying “INFO pass” to get directed to an actual person. If it doesn’t work get on Reddit and find what works.