Anyone applied for a spouse visa to the US recently?

american here; married to taiwanese. AIT has been absolutely a nightmare to find out any information from, so i thought i’d ask around here to actually get some answers.

my husband (taiwanese) and i would like to apply for the US spousal visa. we’ll be going back to the US for a year, and then returning to taiwan (we both work here, but i’m taking a sabbatical for a year).

has anyone recently gone through the spouse visa process? would appreciate any insight into your experience. also need your help in consolidating a list of the forms needed - i’ve dug around the AIT and US websites and came up with this:

american: fill out for i-130 (and necessary marriage documents, ID, etc.), g-325A biographical form, i-864…anything else?
spouse: g-325A bio form, i-693 medical form…anything else??
*when is the i-485 supposed to be filled out?

would really appreciate any help you could give. i’m going crazy trying to get answers from AIT.

That seems like a lot of paperwork for a year-long visit. Have you considered a visitor’s visa instead? It wouldn’t include work rights, though.

Here is a nice summary of what you need, and this website has loads of other info if you’re interested in it:
visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

hi scomargo,

thank you so much for that link! already more helpful than AIT!!

well, we’re not sure if it will really be a year, or slightly more than a year (if i fall pregnant). plus he would like to work while he’s there, even if it’s just for a year or so. the other thing is that my job requires us to take a sabbatical every few years (lucky us!), so just thought it’d be easier to not have to apply for a visa every few years for the husband.

do you happen to have another route/suggestion that might fit our situation?

I think the main thing is if he wants work rights, he’ll need a green card or citizenship. I’m no immigration attorney, though. Good luck.

uscis.gov/

uscis.gov/green-card/green- … en#outside

Read it from the Govt’s own website. It is pretty straightforward but the whole process is a nail biting one. Takes frickin forever and you won’t want to ever do it again !

Think YEARS, not months.

thanks for the help.

wondering, too, if AIT still does Direct Consular Filing? can’t find any info about it on the AIT website. anyone have any experience with that?

I think AIT only does the interviews now. You have to mail your paperwork to the US. See this AIT website
I recommend doing extensive research on this. This is too important of a process to trust some people on a web forum.

[quote=“lunchboxthermos”]thanks for the help.

wondering, too, if AIT still does Direct Consular Filing? can’t find any info about it on the AIT website. anyone have any experience with that?[/quote]

I have read that DCF is only available in countries where USCIS has a field office. I don’t think that USCIS has one in Taiwan.