How to Apply for a CR1 Spouse Visa (Step-by-Step Guide)

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.

First an Overview of The CR1 Spouse Visa Journey

USCIS Review

We prepare your Spouse Visa application, it is submitted inside the USA to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

NVC Processing

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

Consulate Processing

Once NVC has completed their work, the case is shipped via diplomatic bag to the US Embassy or Consulate for your spouse’s in-person interview and issuance of the visa.

Entry to 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.

Now the details

Step 1: Prepare and Submit Petition to USCIS

Your petition is based on the USCIS I-130 and I-130A forms. These are completed and submitted to the USCIS Lockboxes 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 their final approve or deny decision.

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

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 your application that ends up on the consular officer’s desk for their 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 that the consular officer would ask you if you were there, sitting beside your spouse.

Using your words, 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, but in a written statement.

This heartfelt, detailed, personal statement, along with the consistent curated evidence that is included with your petition, helps the officer get to know you, and 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 basic eligibility requirements have been met. USCIS has the FBI conduct a criminal background check on the U.S. citizen and, if your spouse had 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 (NVC).

Step 3: NVC: Fee Payment and Document Submission

At NVC, you:

Pay additional fees

Submit your Affidavit of Support along with financial evidence: tax returns, pay stubs, 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 (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 shipped 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 from sham marriages only entered into to apply for immigration benefits to the USA, the consular officer starts with the attitude, “All cases are fraudulent, unless proven otherwise.”

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 now as real people—a couple who has a genuine, bona fide relationship.

The officer goes over the supporting evidence you had 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 spouse visa is issued in about two weeks.

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 immediately take up residence, work, and travel in and out of the USA

The Green Card arrives in the mail in about a month to your U.S. address

This green card is temporary, only valid for two years. It is the so-called “Conditional Green Card.”

Step 7: Removal of Conditions (2-Year Mark)

Before the conditional green card expires, you must jointly file for Removal of Conditions to convert it into a 10-year Permanent Green Card.

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

Proof of shared life, such as bank accounts, leases, bills, and insurance

Letters from friends and family

Once approved, your spouse is a full permanent resident. No longer is it conditional.

Step 8: U.S. Citizenship

After a total of two years and nine months of permanent residence, your spouse may apply for U.S. Citizenship.

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.

And for updates on immigration, please subscribe to our channel.

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