The process for a US citizen married to an immigrant varies by location. If a citizen is married to an immigrant and both live outside the United States, they must do the following:
This process requires the spouse of the U.S. citizen to file a Form I-130. If approved, the immigrant can submit their visa application online. Once this is done, the immigrant can send all their documents to the National Visa Center (NVC). NVC reviews all paperwork and applications, and if satisfied, the file and all documents are sent to the U.S. Consulate in the immigrant’s home country for consular processing.
The consulate will let you know when the immigrant can join the conversation. If the interview goes well, the immigration office will approve the immigrant visa. When an immigrant arrives in the United States, he or she is issued a Permanent Resident Card.
The estimated processing time for Form I-130 approval can take 10-16 months. Therefore, the whole process takes 16 to 27 months. Unfortunately, the K3 visa option, which was intended to speed up the process so that spouses could be reunited more quickly, is no longer an option. While it can proceed in theory, the practical methodology used by USCIS has invalidated the process, making it likely not worth continuing.