How to Apply for a CR1 Spouse Visa

I’m Fred Wahl, the VisaCoach.

In this video, I’m going to walk you through the step-by-step process of applying for a CR1 spouse visa to bring your husband or wife to the USA.

If you’re in love, separated by miles, and ready to start your life together in the United States, you’re in the right place.

Let’s get started.

Who Am I?

I’m Fred Wahl, the VisaCoach. My team and I personally prepare your immigration petitions, fill out the forms for you, and guide you every step of the way.

Unlike other services, we don’t abandon you once the paperwork is submitted.

We stay with you until your spouse is safely by your side in the USA, and even beyond, also helping with permanent residency and citizenship.

Your Situation

You fell in love. You have married.

But your partner lives in another country. You’re tired of Messenger calls and long-distance love.

You want to bring them home now, permanently.

Let me show you how.

Overview of the CR1 Spouse Visa Journey

USCIS Review

We prepare your spouse visa application, and it is submitted inside the USA to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS.

NVC Processing

Once USCIS has completed its review, the case is transferred to the U.S. State Department’s National Visa Center, or NVC, in New Hampshire.

Consulate Processing

Once NVC has completed its work, the case is sent to the U.S. embassy or consulate for your spouse’s in-person interview and issuance of the visa.

Entry to the USA

With visa and passport in hand, your partner travels to the USA, presents the approved visa at the border crossing, and begins the new stage of your lives united together in America.

Step 1: Prepare and Submit the Petition to USCIS

Your petition is based on the USCIS I-130 and I-130A forms. These are completed and submitted to a USCIS lockbox in Chicago or Phoenix, or online.

Currently, the online path severely limits what can be included. USCIS online limits you to only the minimum that USCIS is interested in. Online, you are not allowed to include the type of evidence and proof that the State Department relies on to make its final approval or denial decision.

For the strongest presentation possible and the highest chance of success, VisaCoach prepares a physical application package for you.

We specialize in building what we call a “front-loaded” petition.

That means we are not interested in only meeting minimum requirements. We go above and beyond.

Why?

Because your visa approval is determined by the overall quality of the application that ends up on the consular officer’s desk for review and judgment on the day of your spouse’s interview.

We include:

• Forms, affidavits, and required documents
• Carefully selected and curated supporting evidence
• Country-specific preparation based on our past experience with the consulate assigned to handle your case

You, the American, can’t attend the interview, but at VisaCoach we believe it is critical for you to be there at least “in spirit.”

As an integral part of your VisaCoach-prepared application, we always include your personal love story.

We know what the consular officer is interested in learning about you, so we prompt you with the questions the consular officer would ask you if you were there, sitting beside your spouse.

Using your words and your voice, we explain in detail what your romantic journey has been and what your plans for a future together are.

In essence, we anticipate and help you speak directly to the consular officer in a written statement.

This heartfelt, detailed personal statement, along with the consistent curated evidence included with your petition, helps the officer get to know you. Once they know you, they should also trust you, all without you being there in person.

Step 2: Background Checks and Approval

USCIS reviews your application for completeness and whether the basic eligibility requirements have been met. USCIS has the FBI conduct a criminal background check on the U.S. citizen and, if your spouse has ever lived previously in the USA, on your partner as well.

Recently, the USCIS review has been the longest and slowest stage of the entire spouse visa application process.

Once satisfied, USCIS approves the petition and forwards it to the National Visa Center.

Step 3: NVC Fee Payment and Document Submission

At NVC, you:

• Pay additional fees
• Submit your Affidavit of Support along with financial evidence, including tax returns, pay stubs, and employment verification
• Upload civil documents, such as birth, marriage, and divorce certificates and police clearances

Once complete, NVC reviews your file.

When everything checks out, your case is deemed documentarily qualified, or DQ.

Step 4: Embassy Interview Preparation

After your case is DQ’d, NVC contacts the U.S. consulate overseas to schedule the interview.

Once a date is confirmed, your petition is sent to the consulate.

In the run-up to the interview, your spouse:

• Receives from VisaCoach a detailed, personalized checklist listing all evidence to be hand-carried to the interview
• Completes a medical exam at a consulate-approved clinic
• Gathers all documents requested by the embassy

We remain by your side during this stage to ensure you’re fully prepared.

Step 5: The Consulate Interview

Your spouse appears at the U.S. consulate for the interview. This is the final hurdle.

The consular officer must be convinced that your relationship is real.

Sadly, because of a history of fraudulent applications involving sham marriages entered into only to apply for U.S. immigration benefits, the consular officer may begin from a skeptical position.

This puts your spouse in the spotlight. They must prove your case is honest.

This is the point when the VisaCoach front-loaded petition that we worked so hard on at the beginning really pays off.

The front-loaded petition package is now on the consular officer’s desk.

They review it carefully, page by page. They find your personal letter addressed to the officer, sharing in detail what your romantic journey has been and what your future plans are. They get to understand you. They get to think of you and your partner as real people: a couple with a genuine, bona fide relationship.

The officer goes over the supporting evidence you provided, item by item, finding that you have not only told your story but backed it up with specific, consistent evidence.

This all happens while your spouse is in the consular waiting area.

If our front-loaded presentation has done its job, when finally called for the interview, your spouse’s interview should be relatively short and pleasant, with “Welcome to the USA” heard at the end of it.

Your spouse’s passport with the spouse visa is generally issued after the interview.

Step 6: Arrival in the USA and Green Card Activation

Once your spouse arrives:

• Permanent residence starts on the day of arrival
• Your spouse can take up residence and, subject to the applicable admission documentation, work and travel
• The physical green card is mailed to your U.S. address

If the marriage was less than two years old on the date of admission, the green card is conditional and valid for two years.

Step 7: Removal of Conditions

Before the conditional green card expires, you generally must jointly file to remove conditions and convert it into a 10-year permanent resident card.

VisaCoach is available to help with that, and we help you compile:

• Proof of your shared life, such as bank accounts, leases, bills, and insurance records
• Letters from friends and family

Once approved, your spouse remains a permanent resident without conditional status.

Step 8: U.S. Citizenship

Some spouses of U.S. citizens may become eligible to apply for naturalization after meeting the applicable residence, marital-union, physical-presence, and other requirements.

We’ll be here to guide you through that too.

The CR1 spouse visa journey is long and complicated, but you don’t have to do it alone.

We at VisaCoach are with you every step of the way, from filling in the first government forms to the U.S. citizenship oath ceremony.

For more information on spouse or fiancé visas, click on one of these playlists.

For immigration updates, please subscribe to our channel.

Until next time, this is Fred Wahl, the VisaCoach, your personal guide to love and immigration.