K-1

[malishka36 0]

We applied for our K-1 (through a lawyer in the US) 8/3 but there was an issue with a couple of things so the rest of the paperwork they received around 9/18. My fiance is from Nepal and of course I'm from the US.

I will be taking a trip to see him in Nepal in mid December. Since I will be in Nepal we thought about getting married then but we dont want to start the process all over.

From what I have read on the internet K-3 takes at least a year to get approved. If we have to start all over again with the K-3 then of course we will wait.

We dont have any idea how long this K-1 process will take. I have read a lot of horror stories and a lot of great stories.

We paid the lawyer 1K to make sure the paper work is compete and error free. They have had the paper work 3 weeks and nothing has been done yet (there is a webiste http://www1.inszoom.com/ I can log on to and see where our paperwork is in the process). Am I just being impatient or what. We already send a lot of emails to the lawyer asking all kinds of questions.

There are a lot of people on here who have so much experience with this. If anyone has anything they can tell me to put my mind (and my fiance) at ease that would be greatly appreciated.

[YuAndDan 153]

IF YOU MARRY YOU WILL NO LONGER BE FIANCEES K-1 is for Fiancee only, you will be starting over and be filing for a spousal visa.

What you can do when visiting is have a nice engagement party.

[Old Dominion 26]

We applied for our K-1 (through a lawyer in the US) 8/3 but there was an issue with a couple of things so the rest of the paperwork they received around 9/18. My fiance is from Nepal and of course I'm from the US.

I will be taking a trip to see him in Nepal in mid December. Since I will be in Nepal we thought about getting married then but we dont want to start the process all over.

From what I have read on the internet K-3 takes at least a year to get approved. If we have to start all over again with the K-3 then of course we will wait.

We dont have any idea how long this K-1 process will take. I have read a lot of horror stories and a lot of great stories.

We paid the lawyer 1K to make sure the paper work is compete and error free. They have had the paper work 3 weeks and nothing has been done yet (there is a webiste http://www1.inszoom.com/ I can log on to and see where our paperwork is in the process). Am I just being impatient or what. We already send a lot of emails to the lawyer asking all kinds of questions.

There are a lot of people on here who have so much experience with this. If anyone has anything they can tell me to put my mind (and my fiance) at ease that would be greatly appreciated.

Your lawyer of course should know how much time the USCIS generally takes. For starters, always allow at least one month before you receive a notice that your petition has arrived and is being processed. No doubt that notice will go to your lawyer, not to you, if your lawyer did the filing. When things are slow around USCIS, allow another 90 days to get action on the petition; and then another 90 days or so for the visa interview to take place. Marrying will just mean starting all over, legal fees and all. Enjoy Nepal!!!

[brnidokiegurl 0]

marriage for sure will stop the k1 since u are already into it i would stay k1, it will happen soon dont hold alot of truth when lawyers are talking timelines, they have no control on this and have been known lately to mess up more than they fix

[SusieK 3]

Yes on the marriage part - your K1 will become invalid and you will have to restart this process all over again.

Have ur lawyer send your receipt of delivery for your application - then shoot them

God Speed and Good Luck

[maya62 7]

Namaste Malishka36,

As others have said, getting married will kill the K-1. Unless you fancy stretching out your separation, don't do it. In hindsight, I would avoid anything that even looks like a marriage (we did a "celebration" and I worried about it for 6 months and they asked my (now) husband about it at his Consular interview).

We did K-1 without a lawyer and had exceptional luck... see our timeline. In fact, it would've been even faster if we hadn't had a hang-up getting a police certificate from India that I'm still not sure we even needed, and trying to make our actual visa applications look nice using the forms provided by the Consulate. If you don't have any huge red flags and you do reasonably well with forms and paperwork (ie, thorough and organized), you absolutely can do it yourself. And this site is a great help with all the little (and big) questions that come up along the way...

Best wishes...

Maya

PS feel free to PM me if I can help

[GordonFreeman 0]

I can understand why malishka36 probably asked this.

I've been contacted by my attorney to tell me about canceling the K1 process by just trying to get married and then filing for an I-130 directly. The process ends up (theoretically) being a lot faster, with less hassles (and you'll get a green card directly, without having to wait months for approval at the embassy, temporary visa, work permits, interviews, visa, and then temporary green card).

Unfortunately, probably very few of us in this forum knew about that, but now it's too late to start all over!

I learned recently that the K1 Fiancee visa process is a long road that has many alternative legal shortcuts. But we all got caught in it, because the system is broken and nobody really cares about us.

[KimandRuss 0]

Hmmm the spousal visa is not faster than the K1 so i'm not sure where you got that.

Lawyers and others who are 'suppose to know' often mis-inform individuals as to the process of bringing their loved ones here. This is why we hear so many horror stories. Often they will tell a couple to simply come on vacation and marry here in the U.S. then apply for adjustment of status. What they fail to tell you is that this is illegal to do so. You can not enter the U.S. with the intent of marrying and then staying in the Country. If you misrepresent yourself at the border and intent to immigrate is proven at AOS, you will face a ban from the U.S.

The only thing faster than the K1 fiance visa right now is DCF and, as of last year and the enactment of the Adam Walsh Act, even that now has major stipulations before you are able to apply for that abroad, including living in said Country for at least 6 months.

I think that you will find the majority of folks here at VJ quite savvy and well versed when it comes to immigration laws and the process to get our loved ones here with us. It's the mis-information given by other authorities that gets people into trouble and slows them down.

[maya62 7]

I can understand why malishka36 probably asked this.

I've been contacted by my attorney to tell me about canceling the K1 process by just trying to get married and then filing for an I-130 directly. The process ends up (theoretically) being a lot faster, with less hassles (and you'll get a green card directly, without having to wait months for approval at the embassy, temporary visa, work permits, interviews, visa, and then temporary green card).

Unfortunately, probably very few of us in this forum knew about that, but now it's too late to start all over!

I learned recently that the K1 Fiancee visa process is a long road that has many alternative legal shortcuts. But we all got caught in it, because the system is broken and nobody really cares about us.

Hmmm the spousal visa is not faster than the K1 so i'm not sure where you got that.

Lawyers and others who are 'suppose to know' often mis-inform individuals as to the process of bringing their loved ones here. This is why we hear so many horror stories. Often they will tell a couple to simply come on vacation and marry here in the U.S. then apply for adjustment of status. What they fail to tell you is that this is illegal to do so. You can not enter the U.S. with the intent of marrying and then staying in the Country. If you misrepresent yourself at the border and intent to immigrate is proven at AOS, you will face a ban from the U.S.

The only thing faster than the K1 fiance visa right now is DCF and, as of last year and the enactment of the Adam Walsh Act, even that now has major stipulations before you are able to apply for that abroad, including living in said Country for at least 6 months.

I think that you will find the majority of folks here at VJ quite savvy and well versed when it comes to immigration laws and the process to get our loved ones here with us. It's the mis-information given by other authorities that gets people into trouble and slows them down.

I think the confusion here has to do with "length of process" vs "length of separation". The primary reason that the K-1 looked so attractive to us, for example, is because we could be together for most of it. It may very well be that you get a greencard faster with a spouse visa, but you will probably have to endure a longer separation to do it. I think most of us just want to be reunited with our loved ones ASAP, and don't care if that means going through the EAD, AP, 2 year conditional greencard stuff, as long as we can be together.

We tried to DCF, couldn't, so chose the K1 and were reunited within 4 months of filing the I-129F. I don't know ANYONE who has been reunited that fast using a spouse visa, although I'd love to hear about it if it has happened...

Best wishes to all...

Maya