Uncertain Situation

[ccarnett 0]

Hello all,

I will momentarily be joining the US Air Force ( US citizen), and my Fiance is from Japan. We have planned to get married 2 years from now when my AF training and schooling is finished. Until then we have decided to live separately with her residing in Japan. She is currently staying with me for the summer here in the US. And as we are researching all that is needed to successfully and legally get married, we are finding that this process gets harder and harder due to our circumstances and limited time together.

To cut to the chase my main question or should I say concerns are this: After I complete my training I will have no concrete idea of when and how long my vacation times will be before I am deployed or active on training missions. Therefore, it would be risky to try to coordinate a K1 Fiance Visa application (which could take a year?!), and have her return to the US, and get married while I have time off, all in a 90 day window. I have also read that should we fail to get married within that 90 day time frame, the chance of her receiving a new K1 Visa is slim to none. Also the fact that while the K1 Visa is pending, she wont be able to enter into the US even for planning and arrangements of our wedding..

I have recently learned about the "60-90 day rule". Apparently there is much controversy about it, but is it something plausible given our situation? To be honest, she has not come to the US on this trip with the intent to marry me. Only to visit and spend time with my family, as we have planned to get married in 2 years and did not know how complicated and difficult this situation would become. I have people who can vouch for this. She has been here for almost 60 days and will leave sometime next month. We have only recently learned how difficult this process will be, and will become even harder since we will be living in different countries during the interim of my military training. So my question is this: Is it possible for us to get married at a local Justice of the Peace, before she leaves back to Japan after her visit? She is not trying to stay in the US from now on, we are simply trying to be married legally and she will return home. I believe then, is when I would apply for a Spouse Visa? My main concern is that she will never be able to come back to the US. Should we get married in Japan first? The Japanese embassy itself was of no help and would not offer any answers to our questions. I am not sure who else I should contact besides a Lawyer, but they cost money by the minute.

I am not sure where else to post this question so I posted it here in the intros, and thats basically my situation in a nut shell. I appreciate any response that can shed some light on this situation. Thank you.

[milimelo 4,481]

Since you will be in training for 2 years I presume your fiancee would be residing in Japan.

What you could do is get married now, she goes back to Japan and you complete your training. Nearing the end of the training, maybe 6 months before the end, you start the CR-1 petition which by the time the petition is approved and interview granted 6-12 months later (more like 9 mo or less these days) will probably be upgraded to IR-1 petition granting your now wife 10-year card upon entry to the US.

Yes, you can get married in the US. Just make sure to get couple of copies of marriage certificate (with apostille) if your wife needs to register the marriage with Japanese authorities (may need to be translated into Japanese as well).

You can prove bona fide marriage by adding her to DEERs, updating beneficiary info for life-insurance, visiting whenever you can, cards sent to both of you...

Good luck in your training and with visa journey!

Edited June 23, 2009 by milimelo