IR-1 or CR-1 Visa

this information is taken from the USCIS website

How Does My Spouse (Husband/Wife) Get an Immigrant Visa?

The first step is to file a Petition for Alien Relative,  Form I-130 for your  spouse (husband or wife) to immigrate to the United States. You file the petition with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services  (USCIS) immigration Field Office in the United States that serves the area where you live.

Sometimes a U.S. citizen living abroad can file an immigrant visa petition at an U.S. Embassy or Consulate (post). To find out whether you can file a petition at a specific post abroad, you must ask that post. For information on how to contact the post, please visit their specific U.S. Embassy or Consulate website.

What is a “Spouse”?

A spouse is a legally wedded husband or wife. Merely living together does not qualify a marriage for immigration. Common-law spouses may qualify as spouses for immigration, but only if the laws of the country where the common-law marriage occurs recognizes common-law marriages and grants them all the same rights and obligations as a traditional marriage. In cases of polygamy, only the first spouse may qualify as a spouse for immigration.

Minimum Age Requirement for the Petitioner

There is no minimum age to file a petition for a spouse for immigration. However, you must be 18 years of age and have a domicile in the U.S. before you can sign the Affidavit of Support, Form I-864, and this form is required for an immigrant visa for spouses and other relatives of U.S. sponsors.

U.S. Domicile Is Required

You must have a domicile (residence) in the United States before we can issue an immigrant visa to your spouse. This is because a U.S. domicile is required to file an Affidavit of Support, Form I-864, and this form is required for all Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR-1) immigration cases.

What Does the National Visa Center Do?

After a Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in the United States approves the petition, it sends the petition to the National Visa Center (NVC). When an applicant's priority meets the most recent Qualifying Date, the NVC will contact the applicant and petitioner with instructions for submitting the appropriate processing fees. After the appropriate processing fees are paid, the NVC will again contact the applicant and petitioner to request that the necessary immigrant visa documentation be submitted to the NVC.

The NVC will take the following steps:

 Note: It is important to follow instructions from the NVC carefully. Send the NVC documentation (or paying fees) when they were not requested by the NVC will result in a delay in processing.

How Do I Pay the Fees for the National Visa Center (NVC) Services?

The NVC sends bills for certain fees at the appropriate time in the immigrant visa process. It sends bills for these services to the following people:

• Bill for processing the I-864, Affidavit of Support to the petitioner
• Bill for immigrant visa processing to the agent

The NVC sends a correctly addressed, return envelope with the bills.

Remember these important things:

• It is important that you use the return envelope provided to you, when paying the fees
• Don't forget to put the correct postage on the envelope
• Don't pay the bill until the NVC tells you to do so
• Don't send payments to the NVC at Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Applying for a Visa

An appointment package is sent to the agent or the applicant. (See note below.) The appointment package gives the applicant an interview date and tells you the specific requirements of the visa. It includes instructions on where to go to have the required medical examination. During the interview process, an ink-free, digital fingerprint scan will be taken. Some visa applications require further administrative processing, which takes additional time after the visa applicant’s interview by a Consular Officer. In general, the following is required:

• Passport(s) valid for six months beyond the intended date of entry into the United States
• Birth certificate
• Divorce or death certificate of any previous spouse
• Marriage certificate
• Police certificate from all places lived since age 16
• Medical examination
• Evidence of financial support. A completed  Form I-864 Affidavit of Support from petitioner/ sponsor is required.
• Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, Form DS-230, both Part I and Part II
• Two immigrant visa photos
• Proof of the marriage and the husband/wife relationship
• Payment of immigrant processing fees, as explained below

An applicant may bring marriage photographs and other proof that the marriage is genuine. Documents in foreign languages should be translated. The consular officer may ask for more information. Take clear, legible photocopies of civil documents, such as birth and marriage certificates, to the immigrant visa interview. Original documents can then be returned to you.

 Note: The National Visa Center sends appointment packages to the agent for applicants in certain countries when the petitions are filed in the United States. The embassy or consulate sends appointment packages to applicants in all other countries. It also sends appointment packages to all applicants whose petitions are already at the embassy or consulate.

Fees - How Much Does It Cost?

Fees are charged for the following services:

• Filing an immigrant Petition for Alien Relative, form I-130
• Processing an immigrant visa application, for DS-230
• Reviewing an I-864, Affidavit of Support (for petitions filed in the United States)
• Medical examination (costs vary from place to place)
• Fingerprinting fees, if applicable
• Other costs may include translation and photocopying charges, fees for getting the documents you need for the immigrant visa application (such as passport, police certificates, birth certificates, etc.) and travel expenses to go to the embassy or consulate for the interview. Costs vary from country to country and case to case.

For current fees for Department of State government services select Fees.

Vaccination Requirements

United States immigration law requires immigrant visa applicants to obtain certain vaccinations prior to the issuance of an immigrant visa. Panel physicians who conduct medical examinations of immigrant visa applicants are required to verify that immigrant visa applicants have met the vaccination requirements.

Does a Child Have Derivative Status?

No. A child does not have derivative status in an immediate relative (IR) petition. This is different from the family second preference (F2) petition. A child is included in his/her parent’s F2 petition. A child is not included in his/her parent's IR petition.

If you are a U.S. citizen, you must file separate immigrant visa petitions for each of your children. If you upgrade a family second preference (F2) petition for your spouse and you did not file separate petitions for your children when you were a lawful permanent resident (LPR), you must do so now.

Remember that children born abroad after you became a U.S. citizen may qualify for U.S. citizenship. They should apply for U.S. passports. The consular officer will decide whether your child is a U.S. citizen and can have a passport. If the consular officer decides your child is not U.S. citizen, the child must apply for an immigrant visa if he/she wants to live in the U.S.

Termination of All Previous Marriages

U.S. law does not allow polygamy. If you were married before, you and your spouse must both show that you ended (terminated) all previous marriages before your current marriage. The death and divorce documents that show termination of marriages must be legal and verifiable in the country that issued them. Divorces must be final. In cases of legal marriage to two or more spouses at the same time, or marriages overlapping for a period of time, you can file only for your first spouse.

What Is Conditional Residence?

If you have been married for less than two years when your spouse enters the United States on an immigrant visa, the permanent resident status is considered “conditional.” The immigrant visa is a conditional resident (CR) visa, not an immediate relative (IR) visa.

You and your spouse must apply together to the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to remove the “condition” within the ninety days before the two year anniversary of your spouse’s entry into the United States on an immigrant visa. The two-year anniversary date of entry is the date of expiration on the alien registration card (green card).

How Long Does It Take?

The length of time varies from case to case according to its circumstances, and cannot be predicted for individual cases with any accuracy. Some cases are delayed because the applicants do not follow instructions carefully. Sometimes the petitioner cannot meet Affidavit of Support requirements. Some visa applications require further administrative processing, which takes additional time after the visa applicant’s interview by a Consular Officer.

What Can Be Done If the Petition Gets Lost?

We don’t want this to happen, but occasionally it does. Files can get misfiled; shipments of visa files have been lost. Usually a misfiled petition can be located, but in an emergency an embassy or consulate can issue a visa from the computer record and an original Notice of Action approval (Form I-797) from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Give the consular section time to locate the file, and it probably will. But all is not lost if the petition is really gone. Be sure to keep all correspondence you receive from the USCIS.

What If the Applicant Is Ineligible for a Visa?

Certain conditions and activities may make you, the applicant, ineligible for a visa. Examples of these ineligibilities are:

• Drug trafficking
• Having HIV/AIDS
• Overstaying a previous visa
• Practicing polygamy
• Advocating the overthrow of the government
• Submitting fraudulent documents

The consular officer will inform you if you are ineligible for a visa, whether there is a waiver of the ineligibility and what the waiver procedure is.

How Do I Find the Regulations about Immigrant Visas?

The relevant Department of State regulations on immigrant visas are in 9 FAM 40.1 Note 1 and 9 FAM 42.

How to Apply for a Social Security Number Card

Before your spouse arrives in the United States, you can help them learn how to apply for a social security number card. To learn more about this process, visit the website for the Social Security Administration.

General Visa Questions

• Notice: Before submitting your inquiry, we request that you carefully review this web site. Very often you will find the information you need. Often, the answers to questions are easily found on the internet, and this impacts our ability to help other persons in need of assistance. Due to the volume of inquiries, Visa Services cannot promise an immediate reply to your inquiry.
• If your inquiry concerns a visa case in progress overseas, you should first contact the U.S Embassy or Consulate handling your case for status information. Select U.S. Embassy or Consulate, and you can choose the Embassy or Consulate internet site you need to contact.

If you find that you need to submit an inquiry, to serve you better, please indicate the subject of your inquiry on the subject line (e.g., student visa, visitor visa, worker visa, spouse visa, affidavit of support, etc.) General visa questions may be directed via e-mail to the State Department by clicking here.