Help! I dont know the first thing about getting a visa

[Bingo Bango 0]

Ok, hello forum, I have a feeling I will be here quite a lot over the next year or two! Anyway, I am Irish (born in England) and I married my wife who is from America, mostly Californian. We are married 6 months now and living in Ireland

So, eventually we would like to move to USA because it would be selfish to only live in my country all our lives!! and I would like this to be as painless as possible, I always envisioned a quick trip to the embassy, show them our marriage certificate and they would give me a stamp on my passport and a new social security card (I have one from working there on a J1 visa when I met my wife). And after this we could move over and start working as soon as I found a good job (I have a degree in Elec Engineering if that helps things and my great grandfather was a US citizen but I have a feeling that wont help)

Anyway, a quick glance at this forum and it looks like it isn't going to be as easy to get working in the US as it was for my wife to get working over here

so if someone could tell me the following things I would be eternally grateful!!

How much will this whole thing cost?

If we wanted to move to the USA in 1 year when should we start filling out forms?

Can I get everything sorted out now so I can move over there at the drop of a hat if I get a good job offer?

is there any circumstances (tech degree, having had a J1 visa, NYC cop as an ancestor ect.) that might help things along?

Are there any things that will hurt our application? (i'm only 25, ive been unemployed for a few months before, my wife outstayed her irish visa here twice before we married)

thanks people!!!!

[pushbrk 13,119]

Scroll up and start by clicking on the word "GUIDES". We'll be happy to answer specific questions after you get started.

[Bingo Bango 0]

Thought I might get a similar response to that, OK so I do know a bit more than nothing and I have seen guides, not that straight forward though as for the questions:

If we wanted to move to the USA in 1 year when should we start filling out forms?

I suppose I can do a bit more looking and working out

Can I get everything sorted out now so I can move over there at the drop of a hat if I get a good job offer?

this is not clear anywhere I looked

is there any circumstances (tech degree, having had a J1 visa, NYC cop as an ancestor ect.) that might help things along?

this is certainly somthing only someones opinion would help with

Are there any things that will hurt our application? (i'm only 25, ive been unemployed for a few months before, my wife outstayed her irish visa here twice before we married)

same again, opinion and experience would be much better for this!

[Minya's wife 25]

Thought I might get a similar response to that, OK so I do know a bit more than nothing and I have seen guides, not that straight forward though as for the questions:

If we wanted to move to the USA in 1 year when should we start filling out forms?

If you wish to come here and emigrate as the spouse of a US citizen, you will be applying for either the immigrant IR/CR-1 visa or the non-immigrant K-3 spousal visa. For both, you should be filling out forms NOW in order to have the visa in hand in one year....and even then it may be a strech to have visa in hand 1 year from filing....nowadays. (The waits are somewhat longer now....than say a year ago when I filed for my fiancee).

I suppose I can do a bit more looking and working out

Can I get everything sorted out now so I can move over there at the drop of a hat if I get a good job offer?

You can only move over at the drop of a hat if you have your visa....and then it depends on the type of visa as w/ some visas you are not eligible to work right away until you file for Employement Authorization....this is covered, I think in the guides. But then if you get a good job offer which comes with a work visa(H-1, L-1) attached to it, then its a different story alltogether...as you will not be emigrating upon your entry here....you will be here on a work visa.

this is not clear anywhere I looked

is there any circumstances (tech degree, having had a J1 visa, NYC cop as an ancestor ect.) that might help things along?

None of those things matter for the immigrant spousal visa....only that your spouse is a USC. Nothing will speed things along, unless maybe your spouse is an active duty millitary member, and has immediate orders to ship out....and even then a millitary expedite needs to be requested, and may not be granted.

this is certainly somthing only someones opinion would help with

Are there any things that will hurt our application? (i'm only 25, ive been unemployed for a few months before, my wife outstayed her irish visa here twice before we married)

Of what you say....nothing will hurt your application. In order to emigrate to the US, the citizen who petitions you(your wife) will have to establish a permanent residential address in the US, and establish that either she or a co-sponsor has enough funds to satisfy the minimum financial responsibilities to sponsor an immigrant. Again...this is covered in the guides. Age, unemployment of foreign beneficiary and visa overstays in other countries of the USC are not a factor.

same again, opinion and experience would be much better for this!

Good luck,

-P

[Bingo Bango 0]

Ugh, my wife turned up one day with our marriage certificate in ireland and they sent out all the things needed to start work in the post after a couple of weeks!!!

but thanks for the info, very helpful!

as an aside though were planning a visit to my mother in-law this summer, if i have an a ctive visa application will it cause me problems trying to get across on a visa waiver?

also, her mother is who we would be staying with for the first little bit in california but she wouldnt be able to sponsor us money-wise but we should be in a position to prove we have enough money (i'm assuming a few thousand should be fime) why would we need a sponsor though, my wife is a USC?

[pushbrk 13,119]

Ugh, my wife turned up one day with our marriage certificate in ireland and they sent out all the things needed to start work in the post after a couple of weeks!!!

but thanks for the info, very helpful!

as an aside though were planning a visit to my mother in-law this summer, if i have an a ctive visa application will it cause me problems trying to get across on a visa waiver?

also, her mother is who we would be staying with for the first little bit in california but she wouldnt be able to sponsor us money-wise but we should be in a position to prove we have enough money (i'm assuming a few thousand should be fime) why would we need a sponsor though, my wife is a USC?

A few thousand will not be fine. Information on requirements for the affidavit of support are in the guides. I don't wish to be a pain but there's also no need to reinvent the wheel and type the full guide everytime a new person joins the group. Not only no need but so much would be left out, you wouldn't be well served.

Your best bet is to use the guide most appropriate to your situation. That would be DCF, IMO, not K3. Study the guide, then download the forms it tells you you'll need. Then study the forms and the instructions that go with them. The danger in asking questions peacemeal without the background information is you won't know what you don't know.