USCIS matters (visa/status) versus processing at a U.S. embassy abroad
I’d like to sponsor my parents, who are in Korea. But I’ve been told I also need to go through the U.S. Embassy in Korea for part of the process.
There seems to be an additional cost involved as well — I’d like to know how the U.S. embassy process abroad differs from the domestic USCIS process.
The documents and process submitted to USCIS differ from the process at a U.S. embassy abroad. At a U.S. embassy abroad, such as the U.S. Embassy in Korea, a visa is issued only after an additional consular interview, whereas most of what’s submitted to USCIS domestically relates to status matters, so a separate interview usually isn’t required for status/visa-related filings. If needed, the process instead proceeds through USCIS requesting additional documents.