CR-1??? OR K3???

[vickydeutsch 0]

Hello everybody!!!! my boyfriend and I are planning getting married here in my country. But we are not sure about starting the filing with the K3 or the CR-1?? I read the guidelines but I need to know exactly how it works (the CR-1). How long should I wait in order to het my visa when married??

Thanks in advance

Victoria

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Quick answer: CR1.

why? it's cheaper, you don't have to adjust status, and it is an immigrant visa.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

sorry - double answer

Edited February 27, 2008 by Len_and_Bren

[vbtbmrt 2]

there both about the same amount of wait the cr-1 is a better visa you will get your green card right away so you can work and travel it is cheaper in the long run.with k-3 dont expect to work for min of 90 days is what i heard.

but you have to be married to file . or there is the k-1 fiancee visa where you get married here

[Dakine 26]

CR

[GabiandVi 34]

Hello everybody!!!! my boyfriend and I are planning getting married here in my country. But we are not sure about starting the filing with the K3 or the CR-1?? I read the guidelines but I need to know exactly how it works (the CR-1). How long should I wait in order to het my visa when married??

Thanks in advance

Victoria

Thanks for asking this question and thanks to everyone who answered. It is exactly what I wanted to know. Now I have my answer. I'm not going to bother with the K-3.

[vickydeutsch 0]

Thank you very much!!!!! I will do the CR-1 then. If I start in March, when would I get the visa?? next year??.....now my boyfriend is telling me about starting the k1 filing....I dont know what to do!!!!!! we want to be together and the fastest way i think is the K1 visa (6 months appox)

[alth 0]

That's right, I agree with vbtbmrt .

.............................

10/07/2005 - met on line

01/21/2007 - first trip to Thailand

06/30/2007 - second trip to Thailand

07/02/2007 - got married in Bangkok

07/28/2007 - sent I-130

09/11/2007 - I-130 reached USCIS

09/18/2007 - NOA1 received by mail

[crazysamurai 0]

Thank you very much!!!!! I will do the CR-1 then. If I start in March, when would I get the visa?? next year??.....now my boyfriend is telling me about starting the k1 filing....I dont know what to do!!!!!! we want to be together and the fastest way i think is the K1 visa (6 months appox)

CR-1 and K-3 now take almost the same amount of time. with CR you don't have adjust status, free work as soon as you come in US, etc. and CR costs less than K3. If you are filling K-1, please make sure you show enough evidence of ongoing relationship. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, DO NOT GET MARRIED WHILE K-1 (FIANCE VISA) IS STILL IN PROGRESS. If you DO K-1, then you both can get married in US within 90 days of when your fiance entered US.

Hope it helps

[vickydeutsch 0]

Thank you so much!!!! there are so amny questions and doubts about all these processes I dont know what to do!!!....I just read a visa was denied in Lima and that embassy has that reputation: they are "#$%&&!!!!!!!!.....now my boyfriend is telling me he will file for me through the K1...... I guess i have to keep my fingers crossed

Victoria

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

I had the same question before beginning my process for my wife and I (before we were married). We decided to go with the CR1 visa for the sole purpose of her being able to work and being a permanent resident upon entry. We just got married on Feb. 15th. We worked on her package and got the I-130 package in the mail last Monday. It has been received by the USCIS 2 days later. So now we wait for the next step.

If you want to be together then get a tourist visa if you do not have one already. You can stay together as long as you obey your stay limit and leave the country before it expires. If you get multiple entries then you can go visit home for a weekend and come back and stay with him again.

Just my two cents. I agree it is a tough decision to make, but in my opinion the CR-1 is the way to go.

[Chris Parker 11]

Hello everybody!!!! my boyfriend and I are planning getting married here in my country. But we are not sure about starting the filing with the K3 or the CR-1?? I read the guidelines but I need to know exactly how it works (the CR-1). How long should I wait in order to het my visa when married??

I always thought K-3 was a silly visa category when Congress created it about 7 years ago. It is a multi-entry nonimmigrant visa for spouses of U.S. citizens to use to come to the U.S.A. and apply for temporary work permission. While here, the non-citizen spouse may, but does not have to, adjust status to permanent resident within a 2-year initial period of admission, or continue to pursue consular processing for an immigrant visa from a U.S. embassy abroad (they will have to leave the U.S. to go to the embassy for the visa interview in that case), or they may simply depart the U.S. at the end of the 2-year admission period and return to a residence abroad. The 2-year period of admission can also be extended, in limited circumstances, if the non-citizen spouse can show that they have begun the process of obtaining permanent resident status and are still actively pursuing it.

In contrast, the so-called CR-1/IR-1 visa is an immigrant visa where the holder is lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States upon arrival. Permanent residents have the right to live and work in the U.S. permanently and may apply for naturalization when they have lived here a certain amount of time. However, permanent residents are also required to maintain an actual and true permanent residence in the United States at all times following their U.S. admission, and can only go abroad for temporary visits. If a permanent resident spends too much time outside the U.S. and does not have credible evidence that they intended, at the time of U.S. departure and at all times while abroad, to maintain and return to their U.S. permanent residence, they can be found to have abandoned their permanent resident status when attempting to return to the U.S. without a new visa.

The K-3 visa was created with the intention to allow spouses of U.S. citizens to get a visa to come to the U.S. faster than waiting for an immigrant visa to become available. However, for spouses of U.S. citizens, there is no annual limit to the number of immigrant visas that can be issued each year, so an immigrant visa is said to always be immediately available. Therefore, the only difference in time between getting the two visas is just processing time. And with USCIS needing to apply the exact same adjudication standards to both the I-130 immigrant visa petition for spouses of USC's and the I-129F nonimmigrant K-3 visa petition for spouses of USC's, the difference in time turns out to just be the extra NVC processing time for immigrant visas (2-3 months typically if you are diligently responding to requests and paying bills as they are received).

Given these alternatives, while the K-3 visa may still be somewhat of an expedited visa, however its advantages have always been very minimal and now come at an extremely high cost and more processing delays later in the adjustment process to obtain the same ultimate status of permanent resident. Therefore, in my unqualified opinion, this K-3 visa is really only useful to those few couples who either are extremely wealthy and want to get to the U.S. as soon as possible no matter what the cost, or (for the rest of us) those who want to move to U.S.A. but aren't sure if they will want to stay here permanently. The K-3 status does not pressure you to remain in the U.S. or risk losing your status, rather it gives you 2 years to decide if you really want to live here permanently or not. If you decide, as most usually do, to remain permanently, then only after your adjustment of status application is approved or you re-enter with an immigrant visa, will your permanent residency actually begin to count toward the next milestone in the immigration process---naturalization.

Given these pros & cons, you need to be the judge of which visa is right for your particular situation.

[vickydeutsch 0]

Wow thank you very much for the explanation. I have it clear now.....the CR1 is the perfect way to be together with my boyfriend (soon husband) again.

Victoria

[Chris Parker 11]

Wow thank you very much for the explanation. I have it clear now.....the CR1 is the perfect way to be together with my boyfriend (soon husband) again.

If you're not married yet, K-1 is another way to come to U.S.A. just before you get married and then adjust status to remain permanently.

Edited February 29, 2008 by Chris Parker

[Enlighten one :) 5]

Vicky,

Neither, have a beautiful celebration of your love and verse your vows to each other for you family and friend to hear and relish. Then file for a K1 "fiancé" visa. The K1 is so much quicker and less complicated.

Hello everybody!!!! my boyfriend and I are planning getting married here in my country. But we are not sure about starting the filing with the K3 or the CR-1?? I read the guidelines but I need to know exactly how it works (the CR-1). How long should I wait in order to het my visa when married??

Thanks in advance

Victoria