K3 Visa: The Ambiguous Story

[lznk41 0]

Greetings everyone. This is my first post, but I have been a lurker on the forums for a couple of months now. I decided today to finally register to reach out to a community that shares the same blessings/hardships of the Immigration Procedure.

A Little background of me before I get into the root of my concerns:

I am a 3rd year college student who will be graduating in December 2010. I will be 24 years old this month on the 29th. At the moment, I am with the girl I am eventually going to ask to marry me, but she is in China whereas I am in California. We met for the first time in February when i was studying and working abroad in Japan in 2007-08. We are very serious about our relationship and cannot stand being so far away from each other. I go visit her every chance i have, usually winter/summer intersessions. My goal is to bring her to California by the time I graduate and start working on my career.

Right now, I just landed a job teaching SAT to high school students for Kaplan, and I will begin training and working February 2010. I also plan on being a US census taker for the coming summer. I also have a high chance of landing a summer internship at one of the "Big 4" accounting firms (my school has very good connections with them).

Now, with all the logistics aside, I have a few specific questions about our chances, choices, and time frame of our situation.

Before I start, I have checked through many of the forums and threads about the various questions I have had. Most of them were answered easily in previous threads and guidelines, but I am at the point of refining my knowledge and information regarding my situation. With that in mind, please guide me with experiences or a threads I have yet to have find to answer some of my questions.

First and foremost, is the money invested in a fiance immigration attorney well worth it? I have heard/read many differing opinions about utilizing an attorney to handle all paperwork. At the moment, I am leaning towards hiring an attorney to mediate the immigration process. If I decide to hire an attorney, does anyone have any recommendations for an attorney in the Los Angeles/Orange County area?

Second, will prior visa rejections of my girlfriend (US student visa was rejected one year ago) affect our chances of approval? She was accepted to an English Language School and legitimately had the money to attend, but the student visa was still denied.

Third, will having a sponsor (parents) lessen chances of a visa denial? I only ask because if i file for a k3/CR1 visa, my income tax paperwork for 2010 will be referred to, but I am not 100% sure that i will meet the minimum requirement (>$18,213) with the jobs, internships, government work for 2010. I will also be a full time student until I graduate (6 classes). I am planning way ahead, but this is just habit.

Fourth, Is the K1 visa a much preferred choice over K3/CR1 based on my situation? I have weighed both sides, but I am still divided.

Thank you everyone for taking a look at my situation. This is a life-changing point in my life and I want to make sure that I have all bases covered before I decide to make the right decision. Cheers and Merry Christmas!

-L J

[Kenza 1]

DO the process yourself. With this website it is very easy!

Prior rejections will have no effect on the outcome of this visa

You just need cosponsors if your income is not enough. I had zero dollars and was still in high school when I applied, but with cosponsors (in my case my parents) you will be fine.

I did the CR1

[lucyrich 20]

Prior rejections will have no effect on the outcome of this visa

That depends entirely on the reason for the rejection. If the reason was failure to prove sufficient ties to the home country (failure to prove non-immigrant intent), then you're right, a prior rejection will have no bearing on a fiancee or marriage-based visa, because fiancees and spouses don't have to prove non-immigrant intent. And that's a common reason for visa rejection. But if the prior rejection was due to misrepresentation, a crime, or some other grounds of ineligibility, then it may be a show-stopper. Some grounds of inadmissibility have waivers available, others don't.

So find out the exact reason for the rejection if you don't already know. If it was anything other than failure to prove non-immigrant intent, seek competent help (either here or from an attorney). If it was failure to prove non-immigrant intent, don't worry.