Getting ready to start the process - overwhelmed and lost

[Matt.english00 0]

I'm a U.S. citizen living in Texas and my girlfriend is Irish, living in Cork. We've started talking about getting married and I'm just now starting to look into the process to do so. I'm completely overwhelmed and I'm looking for any tips and advice. One of my primary concerns is if my income is a factor and how much so. I'm currently a full time student and a freelance artist. On top of that I work a part time job as a server at a restaurant so I don't make a lot of money. Will that be a problem? Any help and information would be greatly appreciated.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You can use a co-sponsor for the financial part.

Where do you want to get married? When? Make life plans, then immigration plans, I say. Good luck.

[FLAussie 5]

We were in the same position six months ago, though luckily my US citizen partner has been able to stay with me in Australia; we haven't had to be separated for ages like many people here. (We were apart for 3 1/2 months while we got his Aussie visa, faster my US visa ran out and I had to come back for a while; even that was really hard.)

The step-by-step guide to filing the I129-F on here was an absolute godsend; we followed it to the letter, included lots of evidence that we'd been together a long time, and we have our interview on Tuesday. Hopefully, with a little luck, we might have the visa in hand within 3 months of our lodgement date. We did get extremely lucky to be processed in California though, instead of Texas, which seems to be a big part of why ours was processed so fast.

We knew we wanted to get married in the US; his mother would've flown to Australia just to strangle me if we'd gotten married over here! Seriously though, his family is huge and mine is tiny, so far fewer people have to travel a long way if we get married there.

K1 does get your fiancée to the US fastest, but it's overall the longest and most expensive process, because she'll have to adjust status after she gets there, and won't be able to work til she gets her green card.

[NM2428 12]

It is very overwhelming. I was glad to have come across this and to save you from trying to find it yourself, here's the link:

http://www.path2usa.com/applying-for-k-1-fiance-visa#2

We are over 5 months in and still waiting for a response... Good luck!

[steve n songsang 45]

futuresoutherngal....K-1 expensive and fast....yes. Cant work until green card....No....you can work after receiving EAD card about 3 months after submitting I-485 AOS package after entry and marriage in U.S.

[NM2428 12]

First, of course you fill out and mail in the 129F forms http://www.uscis.gov/i-129f Be sure to follow the instructions thoroughly. Submitting too much is better than not enough.

Also, a popular question. Yes, your fiance can visit during this process. She would need to bring evidence that she still has ties to her home country ie: rent/mortgage and utility bills, paystubs etc. Be open and honest about your fiance status and that's it's only a visit, stating the visit duration etc. I'd even suggest bringing a copy of the application to show that your are indeed completing the process via proper channels. Ultimately it's up to the border security whether they approve he tourist visa at that time.

The following are two more links that I found helpful:

http://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens/fiancee-visa/fiancee-visas

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1flow

http://www.***removed***/forum/forumdisplay.php/48-Fiance(e)-Visa-(K1-K2-K3-K4)

Edited July 13, 2014 by NM2428

[Sweetmelissa 82]

You can get a co-sponsor to satisfy the income requirements of the K1 visa, but keep in mind there are a lot of additional costs involved with the process and your fiancee will not be able to work for a few months after entering the US.

[JIJourney 96]

Just relax. If you have any questions just ask