K1 or K3? Which to use?

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

I am a US citizen and my fiance is from Venezuela. She has a visitors visa good until 2014 with stays up to 6months at a time. My question is what paper work do we need in order to get married in the States by the Justice of the peace? Also, after the marriage, we would be applying for the spouse visa (K3) correct? We both know she will have to return to Venezuela until the visa is approved and is no problem. She plans on staying there until December of this year. I am wanting to know if it is necessary to have the Fiance visa first in order to perform the marriage here. Thanks in advance!

[jeffmich2007 0]

I am a US citizen and my fiance is from Venezuela. She has a visitors visa good until 2014 with stays up to 6months at a time. My question is what paper work do we need in order to get married in the States by the Justice of the peace? Also, after the marriage, we would be applying for the spouse visa (K3) correct? We both know she will have to return to Venezuela until the visa is approved and is no problem. She plans on staying there until December of this year. I am wanting to know if it is necessary to have the Fiance visa first in order to perform the marriage here. Thanks in advance!

Hi and how nice you have your fiance with you As far as i know you don't need the Fiance visa if you plan to get married in USA however if you do get married in US your fiance will definitely have to return to her country and then you file the I-130 form and then the long wait is gonna start for u both. either way you go fiance visa or spousal visa u will both have to spent time apart in your own countries till you have all paperwork completed and approved. I do beleive you can visit your wife ( if you get married) as u will be the petitioner and have more freedom to come and go.

No law says you can't get married to a non US citizen/ permenant resident but it is illegal for your fiance to stay over her return date.

I am sure if i got it wrong then nice ppl on here with more knowledge will correct my comment. I am scottish and got married to american August 2007. we got married in Naples, Florida but i returned to UK so here i am waiting, going throught this process. It's been 3 months since we filed the I-130 and still no word but there is a backlog. I will be going out on K3 visa so im waiting paitently ...I hope to be in USA by July 2008

Good luck in whatever you choose to do Lots ppl on here are very helpful and going through the same

Michelle

[YuAndDan 153]

File for the K-1 it is for fiancee's and is for entry to the USA with the intent to marry and adjust status.

[pushbrk 12,569]

File for the K-1 it is for fiancee's and is for entry to the USA with the intent to marry and adjust status.

That is one possibiltity but this couple has the option to marry while on the visitor visa and then have the foreign spouse return to their country before their granted stay is up and complete the spouse visa process. A fiance visa isn't needed to enter and marry under the circumstances described.

I would suggest taking a hard look at the CR1 visa instead of the K3 route however.

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

Thanks for the feedback. According to the guides here on the visas the K3 pretty much is the C1 and is said to move quicker. You confirmed my thought on the Spouse visa. We know we will be separated for awhile. So does her visitors visa become invalid as soon as we file for the Spouse visa or is it after the Spouse visa is approved?

[payxibka 10,045]

Thanks for the feedback. According to the guides here on the visas the K3 pretty much is the C1 and is said to move quicker. You confirmed my thought on the Spouse visa. We know we will be separated for awhile. So does her visitors visa become invalid as soon as we file for the Spouse visa or is it after the Spouse visa is approved?

IR/CR1 not C1... two very different visas!!!

the K-3 may have been quicker at one time but current information might indicate not necessarily anymore... thus the suggestion to look more closely....

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

That's a typo. I didn't get the R into CR1. All the data I have seen here shows the K1 taking roughly 6 months and the k3 taking around 7-8 months to complete. I'm sure those times are not concrete. If you read the description of each, filling out the K3 is also doing the CR1. So why not do the K3 to begin with? From what I have seen there is no reason why she can not use her visitors visa until the K3 visa is approved. Anyone else have any incite to this? Thanks.

[pushbrk 12,569]

That's a typo. I didn't get the R into CR1. All the data I have seen here shows the K1 taking roughly 6 months and the k3 taking around 7-8 months to complete. I'm sure those times are not concrete. If you read the description of each, filling out the K3 is also doing the CR1. So why not do the K3 to begin with? From what I have seen there is no reason why she can not use her visitors visa until the K3 visa is approved. Anyone else have any incite to this? Thanks.

Forget K1. It's not for married people.

The K3 requires two petitions. You can't just skip the I-130. The reason we're recommending the CR1 is that the K1 is about a thousand bucks more expensive, saves little time and the immigrant can't work in the US for at least three months after entry.

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

Right. That is why I am looking at the K3. It has a note stating if the I-130 is returned early she can goto the foriegn consulate and apply for the CR1. If the CR1 is the first half of the K3 then why not do it in the first place? Sorry to ask so many questions, but this is very confusing for someone that has never had to deal with it. So let me see if I unerstand you. You say do the CR1 since she has the tourist visa (so she can still travel back and forth while we wait for the visa) and when approved she is a permanent resident and can work without having to do the extra steps of the K3. correct? Again I apologize for being so ignorant on this issue.

[pushbrk 12,569]

Right. That is why I am looking at the K3. It has a note stating if the I-130 is returned early she can goto the foriegn consulate and apply for the CR1. If the CR1 is the first half of the K3 then why not do it in the first place? Sorry to ask so many questions, but this is very confusing for someone that has never had to deal with it. So let me see if I unerstand you. You say do the CR1 since she has the tourist visa (so she can still travel back and forth while we wait for the visa) and when approved she is a permanent resident and can work without having to do the extra steps of the K3. correct? Again I apologize for being so ignorant on this issue.

USCIS policy on K3 has changed. It used to be that you had two horses in the race and you could ride the winner for a visa. Not now. Once you add that I-129F petition, you are virtually locked into the K3.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/PN_i-129f.pdf

Her tourist visa didn't enter into my recommendation at all. She may or may not be able to re-enter the US with that visa after you file an immigrant visa petition. You can read all about visiting during the process in a new thread every day. It's the most common question asked here.

Where the visitor visa comes into the picture is before you file a petition. If she comes here, she can stay for six months. If some of that six months is spent together during the petition process, great. If she can get back in again, even better but it has nothing to do with the choice between K3 and CR1.

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

Thanks for the help. We talked about it and the CR1 is the better choice considering when approved she is a permanent resident and able to work. Thanks for all the help!

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

Can anyone tell me what the NVC stands for and when they become involved? The flowcharts for the K! and K# are very good guides, but the CR1 is lacking one. Does this come automatically after sending in the I-130 and the other form that is listed there?

[payxibka 10,045]

Can anyone tell me what the NVC stands for and when they become involved? The flowcharts for the K! and K# are very good guides, but the CR1 is lacking one. Does this come automatically after sending in the I-130 and the other form that is listed there?

National Visa Center and it gets involved after the USCIS has approved a petition

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

Is there a better or less confusing flow chart to follow then the one on this site for the NVC? The K1 and K3 flowcharts are pretty much step by step with details on what to do next, but the NVC doesn't have as much detail to it. I'm sure the timeline will be different for each case. I just like to try to be a step ahead if possible.

[C and J 1]

The very rough guide of the process:-

First step: USCIS service centre - takes roughly 6 months from receipt to approval, some are taking longer due to the current backlog. Once approved it then seems to take anything from 2 weeks to 6 weeks for the approved forms to be sent to (and received at) the NVC.

Second step: National Visa Centre - K3 will be at the NVC for less than a week, IR1/CR1 takes several months. Add to that a couple of weeks for the embassy to receive the hard copy petition.

Third step: Local embassy/consulate - The time to the interview date varies greatly depending on how busy the consolute is (London took over 2 months from receipt to interview date, some are faster but many embassy's can take longer)

What is mentioned above is a pretty cut and dry case, there are additional delays which could crop up at any time (name check delays, extra reviews). The time-savers for K3 vs CR1 vary by the embassy, most of the time-saving comes at the NVC stage where the K3 goes through much more quickly but, there are also certain embassy's which process K3s far quicker and time can be saved there too (one very good example of this, is in Canada where a K3 can potentially save you 6 months on the interview waiting time).

For my journey for a K3 visa through London it will take 10 months from start to (hopefully all being well on the 1st Feb) finish.

As for the flow chart of the CR1/IR1 though the NVC, they require much more at that stage, so I don't think there is an easier version available. However, you may want to search the site for "James Shortcuts" as this may be helpful to you.

Edited January 9, 2008 by C and J