Why is K1 faster? PLEASE ANSWER.

[sara..... 371]

Think of all those guys who go for their 'mail order brides' (very big business) and just pick a snap shot off the internet site of 'Ladies looking for American Husbands' .... have a bit of email banter for a couple of weeks or so (while she's probably also emailing about 5 other sad old guys too, just in case .... but email contact is good proof for USCIS) .... send her a bit of money (financial commitment in the eyes of USCIS) ..... visit her for a couple of days in Timbuktu (you know the countries I'm really referring to ..... but this visit is enough to count as the one meeting required by USCIS) .... and think to themselves 'I'm really ugly and she's good looking .... having her around will not only make me look better .... but also make my mates jealous' ..... they apply for the K1 and low and behold after a couple of months, Little Miss Mail Order Bride is on her plane out of poverty ..... married within 90 days .... and living with some old man for a few years (pretending to be the cute little foreign wife) until she's been with him long enough to divorce his behind .... take his money .... and make a life of her own.

In the meantime, those who have actually spent time getting to know the person before they marry them .... have children .... are financing a home inside AND outside of the U.S. .... are stuck in a black hole of time where they have no idea as to when the next time they'll be able to see each other is.

So, really ..... looking at the processing facts ..... you want to know why a K1 is faster ?? ..... well, it's obvious .... being married makes us lesser human beings than someone who has only met their 'potential' spouse once (including mail order brides) .... regardless of the fact that the K1 and K3 are both non-immigrant visas and it's the same I-129F form to be filled out ..... it's so insane, it's laughable.

not everyone is like that perviz and i have known each other for three years and have gotten to know each other very well and we are still having problems for k1 visa............

[Army_Wife 2]

Think of all those guys who go for their 'mail order brides' (very big business) and just pick a snap shot off the internet site of 'Ladies looking for American Husbands' .... have a bit of email banter for a couple of weeks or so (while she's probably also emailing about 5 other sad old guys too, just in case .... but email contact is good proof for USCIS) .... send her a bit of money (financial commitment in the eyes of USCIS) ..... visit her for a couple of days in Timbuktu (you know the countries I'm really referring to ..... but this visit is enough to count as the one meeting required by USCIS) .... and think to themselves 'I'm really ugly and she's good looking .... having her around will not only make me look better .... but also make my mates jealous' ..... they apply for the K1 and low and behold after a couple of months, Little Miss Mail Order Bride is on her plane out of poverty ..... married within 90 days .... and living with some old man for a few years (pretending to be the cute little foreign wife) until she's been with him long enough to divorce his behind .... take his money .... and make a life of her own.

In the meantime, those who have actually spent time getting to know the person before they marry them .... have children .... are financing a home inside AND outside of the U.S. .... are stuck in a black hole of time where they have no idea as to when the next time they'll be able to see each other is.

So, really ..... looking at the processing facts ..... you want to know why a K1 is faster ?? ..... well, it's obvious .... being married makes us lesser human beings than someone who has only met their 'potential' spouse once (including mail order brides) .... regardless of the fact that the K1 and K3 are both non-immigrant visas and it's the same I-129F form to be filled out ..... it's so insane, it's laughable.

not everyone is like that perviz and i have known each other for three years and have gotten to know each other very well and we are still having problems for k1 visa............

Estadia, we all know that not everyone has a scenario like that ... I was just trying to make the point that there 'are' situations like that, and yet they're still able to be together quicker than the married folk.

However, it is quite funny, if you read it again.

I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with your K1, it must also frustrate you when you see K1's being approved in 2-4 weeks, as it does us.

I pray you hear something soon, as you're now crazily in the time frame of a married visa.

[sara..... 371]

Think of all those guys who go for their 'mail order brides' (very big business) and just pick a snap shot off the internet site of 'Ladies looking for American Husbands' .... have a bit of email banter for a couple of weeks or so (while she's probably also emailing about 5 other sad old guys too, just in case .... but email contact is good proof for USCIS) .... send her a bit of money (financial commitment in the eyes of USCIS) ..... visit her for a couple of days in Timbuktu (you know the countries I'm really referring to ..... but this visit is enough to count as the one meeting required by USCIS) .... and think to themselves 'I'm really ugly and she's good looking .... having her around will not only make me look better .... but also make my mates jealous' ..... they apply for the K1 and low and behold after a couple of months, Little Miss Mail Order Bride is on her plane out of poverty ..... married within 90 days .... and living with some old man for a few years (pretending to be the cute little foreign wife) until she's been with him long enough to divorce his behind .... take his money .... and make a life of her own.

In the meantime, those who have actually spent time getting to know the person before they marry them .... have children .... are financing a home inside AND outside of the U.S. .... are stuck in a black hole of time where they have no idea as to when the next time they'll be able to see each other is.

So, really ..... looking at the processing facts ..... you want to know why a K1 is faster ?? ..... well, it's obvious .... being married makes us lesser human beings than someone who has only met their 'potential' spouse once (including mail order brides) .... regardless of the fact that the K1 and K3 are both non-immigrant visas and it's the same I-129F form to be filled out ..... it's so insane, it's laughable.

not everyone is like that perviz and i have known each other for three years and have gotten to know each other very well and we are still having problems for k1 visa............

Estadia, we all know that not everyone has a scenario like that ... I was just trying to make the point that there 'are' situations like that, and yet they're still able to be together quicker than the married folk.

However, it is quite funny, if you read it again.

I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with your K1, it must also frustrate you when you see K1's being approved in 2-4 weeks, as it does us.

I pray you hear something soon, as you're now crazily in the time frame of a married visa.

thanks you but i have been thinking of moving lately to where the other service office is so that i can refile and get it done in two weeks time lol just joken.....but yes i know what ur talking about it is frustrating for the married couples and for those of us that have been waiting for k1... the system is crazy there is not rhyme or reason for all the inconsistency's its a broken system that badly needs to be updated and under new management.........

[HannahP 119]

I actually posed this question to my senator's aide when I got him on the phone. My senator is on the senate sub-committee for immigration and has served on that committee for several years.

I posed the argument that it would faster for me to divorce my husband (it only takes ~90 days in AZ) and sponsor him as a fiance then it would for the comparable K-3 (divorce time included). He agreed and said he had heard that argument before and it was completely justified. He sated that the K-3 has not been processed or handled as Congress intended since he inception of the K-3 7 years ago. He said now, there have been several bills trying to reform immigration but they are all tabled and they kept getting bogged down with amendments to address the illegal immigration issues. Either way, I am an IR-1 filer and this doesn't help me at all. I filed in October and still am sitting on my thumbs waiting for a NOA-2, but it is a frustrating experience, to say the least.

I don't expect anything to change anytime soon as immigration is such a controversial topic right now. I did write a bit about it on my blog though and posed some ideas of my own on how to improve the system (link in my signature).

Oh, give me a break. What keeps your "hypothetical" mail-order couple from getting married in Russia and applying for a K3? Except that it doesn't fit your pre-conceived prejudices. Why elevate the K3 when divorce rates in the US are 50%, anyway? What about all the people who meet their SO in person for the first time, ever, and are married a few days later?

I've known my husband for seven years. We lived together for two years prior to filing the visa. We spent weeks together at a time prior to living together. And, hey, despite having all the same emotional and even financial entanglements that resulted (marriage-like, OMG!), we still filed for a K1.

[panamania79 2]

Think of all those guys who go for their 'mail order brides' (very big business) and just pick a snap shot off the internet site of 'Ladies looking for American Husbands' .... have a bit of email banter for a couple of weeks or so (while she's probably also emailing about 5 other sad old guys too, just in case .... but email contact is good proof for USCIS) .... send her a bit of money (financial commitment in the eyes of USCIS) ..... visit her for a couple of days in Timbuktu (you know the countries I'm really referring to ..... but this visit is enough to count as the one meeting required by USCIS) .... and think to themselves 'I'm really ugly and she's good looking .... having her around will not only make me look better .... but also make my mates jealous' ..... they apply for the K1 and low and behold after a couple of months, Little Miss Mail Order Bride is on her plane out of poverty ..... married within 90 days .... and living with some old man for a few years (pretending to be the cute little foreign wife) until she's been with him long enough to divorce his behind .... take his money .... and make a life of her own.

In the meantime, those who have actually spent time getting to know the person before they marry them .... have children .... are financing a home inside AND outside of the U.S. .... are stuck in a black hole of time where they have no idea as to when the next time they'll be able to see each other is.

So, really ..... looking at the processing facts ..... you want to know why a K1 is faster ?? ..... well, it's obvious .... being married makes us lesser human beings than someone who has only met their 'potential' spouse once (including mail order brides) .... regardless of the fact that the K1 and K3 are both non-immigrant visas and it's the same I-129F form to be filled out ..... it's so insane, it's laughable.

not everyone is like that perviz and i have known each other for three years and have gotten to know each other very well and we are still having problems for k1 visa............

I know.I've known my fiance since I was 11.My attorney suggested I go the K-1 route.

[GabiandVi 34]

I am getting frustrated at seeing this topic come up every couple of days/weeks.

I do realize that it is unfair that the processing times are not the same, however, we all make the decision as to what visa we chose to apply for and take actions to follow through with that. It is no big secret that at this time, K-3's are taking longer. When people get married before applying, they are well aware of this and chose this path. The same for those who go the K-1 route.

I am also incredibly tired of being told that my relationship with my fiancee is not as worthy as those who are married. I am so offended by this comment and don't understand how people can say those things. No one can judge any other persons relationship, specially when they know nothing about it.

As for the "A fiance visa is not a guarantee and the person could possibly decide not to marry the person anyway once they get here. With us married folk, we are stuck " - are you unaware of the divorce rates or of how many posts are posted on this website alone a day with the heading "i'm getting a divorce, but I still want my greencard". Nothing is a guarantee these days.

My visa took 11 months from date of filing to having my visa in hand. I chose the K-1 route because i knew doing the K-3 would require me to be apart from my HUSBAND, not my fiancee. I didn't want to spend any time apart after marriage. I would in no way call tihs a 'quick' process.

We all have to wait, and we need to learn to do this patiently and not take it out on other visa types. Everyone agrees that this process sucks, but thats a decision we need to accept when we decide to marry someone in a different country.

I've thought about this question several times, but I've decided there are logical reasons for why. However, I do want to address what you've said about "We all make our decisions . . ." Some of us married while we were abroad and were not planning to immigrate right away, so we did the right thing and did not file for immigration status.

As for people thinking that a married relationship is more worthy than a relationship still in engagement stage, they are silly. Even if you could measure the worthiness of a relationship in that way . . . I don't even know what to say about that. However, I do think that a marriage is a stronger committment than an engagement, and that is one of the things you need to prove to be approved. And usually, a marriage has existed longer than an engagement.

I think the question stems from the impression that USCIS seems to count engagements as "more worthy" if you want to use that phrase, because they have an expidited process for it. Logically, we know that is not what it is, but as we are waiting, we begin to lose logic at times.

Now I'm going to say something that is going to get a really angry response. But I don't have as much sympathy for people waiting to get married as I do for people waiting for the father of their child, or people waiting for their child and wife to join them. It's not that I think you don't deserve sympathy, but I just don't have as much for you as I do for others.

[funkyab 0]

OMG. How long can we all beat a dead horse!!! Whatever.

[forchika 4]

I have not an explanation as to why. I just know that in our own personal situation, we discovered the differences in the processing times. We wanted to get married first but, talked about it and decided to go the K-1 route. Decided that the time apart was going to be the most difficult to deal with. Hence why we took the K-1 route, which turned out to be a good decision as husband got visa 7mos from the time of filing. I know that each case is different and I wish everyone luck and a speedy process to those who are still waiting.

[pushbrk 12,898]

This is a comical discussion. I explained the reason why early in the thread but there's not been a single comment acknowledging that. What I really think is funny is all the discussion about K3. The question was why K1 was faster than IR1 or CR1. K1 isn't enough faster from filing to visa than the K3 to complain about with the exception of recent hiccups since August.

K1 is a non-immigrant visa that has a three-step process to permanent resident.

1. Petition to 90 day visa.

2. Adjust to Conditional permanent resident

3. Remove Conditions.

IR1 does all this in one step and CR1 does it in two.

K1 is like buying a car. You can walk into the dealership and drive out with your new car the same day.

IR1 and CR1 are more like buying a house. You make an offer and you close later.

Or, if you will, K1 is like a lease option on a house. You can move in pretty fast but you do the closing process later.

Filing to green card is not faster with a K1 than CR1 or IR1. The I in USCIS stands for "immigration", not "togetherness". The processes used for fiance and spouse visas result in immigration. When you compare timelines for anything but filing to unconditional green card, you're making an invalid comparison.

Whine all you want but those are the facts. My K3 process for my wife from China was within days of matching the timeline of the fastest K1 from China reported on any board that year (under 200 days) but from I-129F filing to unconditional green card was two years and two weeks. People who filed I-129F's for K1 visas the same day may have their conditional green cards somewhat faster but are looking at three years of process before they can kiss petitions, applications, fees and waiting for USCIS goodbye.

S**tstorms put the stink on everybody.

Edited March 29, 2008 by pushbrk

[Credzba 0]

answer, not rant

Many people take this as an emotional discussion, but in fact K1 is not "faster" it is just another route.

The time from petition through uscis processing is identical for k1, k3, cr/1.

The time through NVC is identical for K1 and K3.

CR/1 takes longer in NVC because the p3 processing goes on here.

After arrival at foreign country k1 and k3 have to do p3 processing, CR/1 do not, already done at NVC.

Interview time (p4) is identical for all the visas.

The only difference in the visa time periods is mail time, and document gathering time. The actual processing time difference is minimal.

I went CR/1 and would have been finished in about 10 months at a normal consulate.

(note: The China consulate is the slowest in the world, so from the time our papers leave NVC until they open the box in Guangzhou is 4-5 MONTHS, then the continue the processing. Same delay for all 3 visas though)

I mailed in my I-130 on May 25 2007, and my wifes visa was approved at NVC and mailed to China consulate on Jan 25 2008.

At any other consulate she would have interviewed in February, and we would have had greencard and living in america by march.

In my opinion, any difference in time I could have gained with k1 would have been minimal, and then I would have had the whole AOS process, more money, and MORE government meddling in my life!

So, K1 is not "faster" by much if any at all, the difference comes from how prepared you are for each set of paper work. I had every form filled out, and every required document ready to mail months before they were requested.

That addresses speed issue.

As for K3/CR-1 being a more committed relationship than fiance, I apologize to you k1 folks, but it is "legally" true. The simple fact is a married couple has a legally binding marriage that the are bound by, the fiance do not.

I do not mean to imply that a fiance relationship is LESS in any way, only that it does not have a legal contract associated with it while a marriage does.

Last, I offer advice.

NEVER make a relationship decision based on visa process. At the LONGEST you can expect 1-2 years for the worst case. Your marriage is for a life time.

There are valid reasons for K1, and CR/1 (I think K3 is government theft, and useless).

Decide on when you want to get married based on your relationship and family needs.

Then choose the visa that fits your life, not the life that fits the visa.

[pushbrk 12,898]

As for K3/CR-1 being a more committed relationship than fiance, I apologize to you k1 folks, but it is "legally" true. The simple fact is a married couple has a legally binding marriage that the are bound by, the fiance do not.

I do not mean to imply that a fiance relationship is LESS in any way, only that it does not have a legal contract associated with it while a marriage does.

Last, I offer advice.

NEVER make a relationship decision based on visa process. At the LONGEST you can expect 1-2 years for the worst case. Your marriage is for a life time.

There are valid reasons for K1, and CR/1 (I think K3 is government theft, and useless).

Decide on when you want to get married based on your relationship and family needs.

Then choose the visa that fits your life, not the life that fits the visa.

The level of commitment to the beneficiary has nothing to do with the speed of the visa process.

I would say decide when and where you want to get married based on your relationship and family needs because both the when and where tend to be critical, sometimes conflicting priorities. For instance the close family relationship is in the US, so marriage later in the US is pulling the couple one way while their desire to marry sooner is pulling them another.

I agree, far too many people choose the visa and conform their life to their visa decision. On this site and particularly this forum however, there are quite a few people who filed I-130s after extended relationships, so that marriage decisions far precede visa decisions.

Humans tend to look for any reason why they should be treated better than they are any time they don't like the treatment they are getting. Pleading for special treatment because their relationship is more committed is one of those straws grasped at. It just has no bearing on the visa process.

By the way, my wife and I married within about 60 hours of our first in person meeting after a relatively short internet courtship. If I see anybody calling her a "mail order bride" again, I'm going to send her to have a little chat with them.