My Situation- K-1 , K-3 of justice of the peace

[Island Boi 0]

This is my situation. Came to the us as a F1 student about 7 yrs ago. While in school i never fell out of status. I recently finished school and started working through OPT, work authorization. About a month ago i got engaged to my girlfriend of 4 yrs and we plan to get married this summer and travel abroad for our honeymoon. Problem is my OPT ends in feb and since the wedding is 6 months away and i do live in the US should we do the K-1 route or get married , apply for the K-3 and immidately adjust my status. We do want to travel right after the wedding and our fear is that i get stuck when its time to come back home. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated

[Boiler 45,402]

Get married now

[Malrothien 6]

Honestly, I would do a simple court ceremony and adjust your status from F1 to green card instead of going about getting a visa.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Well your situation depends on what you want. Also DON'T do the K3, do the CR1 if you choose the married route.

Here's the comparisons: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=compare

Personally, knowing your situation, I would get married as planned and honeymoon. You can get all the paperwork ready to go, but don't send it until you're back home (because of interview etc). Go home to your family and pack and everything and get your life in order so that it's easier to move "for good" to the US.

The good thing about the CR-1 is you can go home and work, and then work as soon as you arrive in the US, whereas people like K1 and K3 are unable to work until they've adjusted status. CR-1 is also the cheaper route rather than the k3... by a lot too.

Also, make sure you know the rules of your current visa to the US so you know whether you can re-enter the US, or if you have to go home after your trip overseas. Another idea is have her get a visa for your home country (if she needs one) and have her come and meet the family, have another wedding reception in your home town, then she flies home to start the paperwork.

Good luck and congratulations

Also, as stated above, as it is clear from your post that you didn't not get the F1 visa for the intent of immigrating, you stand a good chance of getting married and adjusting status from F1 to spouse/green card. Normally we don't give this advice as you can run into trouble if you can't prove that you didn't get that visa with the INTENT of getting married, but it looks like from how long you've been studying (from my point of view) that you didn't plan this. Investigate this option though.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[Rito 28]

This is my situation. Came to the us as a F1 student about 7 yrs ago. While in school i never fell out of status. I recently finished school and started working through OPT, work authorization. About a month ago i got engaged to my girlfriend of 4 yrs and we plan to get married this summer and travel abroad for our honeymoon. Problem is my OPT ends in feb and since the wedding is 6 months away and i do live in the US should we do the K-1 route or get married , apply for the K-3 and immidately adjust my status. We do want to travel right after the wedding and our fear is that i get stuck when its time to come back home. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated

Get married quickly at a courthouse and don't tell anyone. At the wedding in six months, pretend it's official Problem solved.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

This is my situation. Came to the us as a F1 student about 7 yrs ago. While in school i never fell out of status. I recently finished school and started working through OPT, work authorization. About a month ago i got engaged to my girlfriend of 4 yrs and we plan to get married this summer and travel abroad for our honeymoon. Problem is my OPT ends in feb and since the wedding is 6 months away and i do live in the US should we do the K-1 route or get married , apply for the K-3 and immidately adjust my status. We do want to travel right after the wedding and our fear is that i get stuck when its time to come back home. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated

If your plan is to remain in the US and become an LPR then you don't need a visa. You'd only need a visa if you weren't already in the US. You can get married and petition for a green card without needing to apply for another visa.

I don't see any way that your honeymoon plans are going to work. If you petition for a green card, then you can't leave the US until you get the green card. If you do, you won't be able to get back into the US, and your petition will be considered abandoned. You can apply for advance parole, which will allow you to leave while the petition is pending, but that takes 3 months. You'd have to get married, submit the petition and application for advance parole, and then take your honeymoon AFTER the advance parole is approved.

You have the same problem if you choose the K1. You'd have to return to your home country before your F1 visa expired, and wait for the K1 interview - about 6 to 9 months. Once you get the visa, you can come back to the US and get married, but you still have to apply for the green card and advance parole. Again, no quick honeymoon outside the US.

K3's are effectively obsolete. You could get married and then apply for a CR1 visa. Again, you'd have to return to your home country and wait for the interview. The upside is you'll get the green card shortly after arriving in the US. The downside is that's going to be a year (give or take) after the wedding.

Here's a possible option - Get married, petition for a CR1 visa, and then take your honeymoon together. After the honeymoon, go back to your home country to finalize your affairs. When the time comes, go the interview, get the visa, and return to the US as an LPR to live with your wife.

[pushbrk 12,824]

This is my situation. Came to the us as a F1 student about 7 yrs ago. While in school i never fell out of status. I recently finished school and started working through OPT, work authorization. About a month ago i got engaged to my girlfriend of 4 yrs and we plan to get married this summer and travel abroad for our honeymoon. Problem is my OPT ends in feb and since the wedding is 6 months away and i do live in the US should we do the K-1 route or get married , apply for the K-3 and immidately adjust my status. We do want to travel right after the wedding and our fear is that i get stuck when its time to come back home. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated

Unfortunately, there's no way to really have it all. If you leave the USA after marriage without first filing to adjust status AND receiving advance parole, you will not be able to return and stay. You can uncomplicate your situation by marrying now followed by adjusting status. Visas are used to enter countries. You're already here, so at the moment, you don't need a visa. Leave the USA and the circumstances change drastically.

[Island Boi 0]

I thank you all for all your help . A friend gave ma a rundown of the necessary forms but i'm not sure how correct he is . Another question is how long would it take for the initial petition to be approved and what can be done with it?

Form I-130: Petition for Allen Relative

-Two (2) identical color Passport-Style Photos 2"x2" white background

(one set for Petitioner and one set for Beneficiary)

-Copy of Marriage Certificate

-Proof of Petitioners US Citizenship (e.g. copy of US Birth certificate,

US passport, Naturalization certificate)

-Divorce Judgment(s)

-One or more pieces of evidence documenting that marriage is 'Bona

Fide'.

-Money order for current fee payable to "U.S. Department of Homeland

Security"

Form 1-485: Application to register Permanent Resident or Adjust Status

-Two (2) identical color Passport-Style Photos of Beneficiary 2"x2"

white background

-Copy of Beneficiary's 1-94 (front and back) - Non Immigrant Arrival

Departure Record

-Copy of Beneficiary's Visa

-Copy of Beneficiary's Birth Certificate

-Copy of Beneficiary's 1-20 (if Foreign Student)

-Money order for current fee(including the biometric fee) payable to

"U.S. Department of Homeland Security"

Form G-325A: Biographic Information (3 copies)

-One set for the Petitioner and one set for the Beneficiary

Form I-693: Medical Examination of Alien Seeking Adjustment of Status

-Beneficiary's must select Medical Examiners from the approved list at:

www.uscis.gov or at (800)375-5283

-Medical examination must be submitted in a sealed envelope.

Form I-864: Affidavit of support

-Petitioner's U.S. Tax Transcripts from the INS for the last three years

(call IRS (800)329-1040)

-Petitioner's U.S. Tax return with attached schedule© for last 3 yrs.

-Petitioner's W-2 forms or 1099 forms for the last 3 yrs.

-Petitioner's Letter of Employment dated and signed by the current

employer, stating when the employment began, whether the employee is

full-time or part-time, and the wage per wk/mth.

Form I-765: Application for Employment Authorization (Optional)

-Two (2) identical color Passport-Style Photos of Beneficiary 2"x2"

white background.

-Copy of Beneficiary's Passport (Identification Page)

-Copy of Beneficiary's previous Employment Authorization Document (if

applicable)

Form I-131: Application for Travel Document (Optional)

-Two (2) identical color Passport-Style Photos of Beneficiary 2"x2"

white background.

[pushbrk 12,824]

I thank you all for all your help . A friend gave ma a rundown of the necessary forms but i'm not sure how correct he is . Another question is how long would it take for the initial petition to be approved and what can be done with it?

Click on the word Guides at the top of any page here and study the one for adjusting status. Then return with remaining questions.