Which is easier?

[AllieG 0]

I am engaged and have been for a while. My Fiance lives in Chicago and we were wondering which visa is easier to get the Spouse visa or the Fiance visa. Can anyone help and give advice as to what to expect when we apply since neither of us have applied before.

[ginger1981 0]

Can't say as usually you choose one or the other. You can look up the processing times on the USCIS website. The timing is also contigent to which processing center your case goes through too.

USCIS Processing Times

We went with the K1 and had no hitches really. It took us about a year to get everything processed, but also we drew ours out a bit longer so we could save up some money too. I understand that part of the reason for them raising the fees recently was so cases could get processed faster, but don't quote me on that one.

[payxibka 10,045]

There both relatively easy... the bigger question might be to understand the differences and then deciding on what is most important..

1. Where the marriage takes place?

2. When the marriage takes place?

3. Ability to work? When?

4. Ability to travel? When?

5. Etc....

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

Here was my breakdown of the options that I did for Think Pink a couple of hours ago. I have not included any info about which takes more or less time, because that is such an unpredictable monster, I'm not even going to get in to it.

1. File K-1 (a US fiance visa). Apply straight away, get married once you get to the US. Then adjust status to get your green card. This means that once you have your K-1 visa, you immigrate to the US. You can't leave the US or work until you have got married and applied to adjust status. It is at this stage that you get Advanced Parole, and your EAD, which allow you to travel and work respectively, before receiving your green card. It is inadvisable to have any kind of marriage ceremony (even non-official) before getting married in the US after entering on your K-1.

2. Apply for a 'visit for marriage' visa for the UK. Your fiance comes to the UK for at least 16 days, so you can give notice of marriage, and have the official ceremony. Your then husband goes back to the States, and sends off a petition for you for a CR-1 visa. When you enter on the CR-1 visa, the visa in your passport is stamped and is then considered a green card. You can travel and work straight away.

3. You go to the states and get married. A lot of states don't need more than a days notice for this. You return to the UK, and you file for a CR-1. So the rest is the same as option 2.

There is a final bit of info. Once you have filed for a CR-1, you can think about also applying for K-3. This is a visa which allows you to enter the US slightly quicker than the CR-1 but you enter on the same conditions as the K-1, i.e. you have to adjust status to be able to work or travel.

Once you make your decision, I strongly suggest you look at the guides for the visa you choose, so you can learn more about the process.