Visiting US as a tourist while waiting for K-1?

[SolitaryThrush 0]

Hello,

I was recently passed along the link to this forum and am impressed by all the information here. I'm also overwhelmed, and am getting knots in my stomach. I plan to marry my Japanese fiance next summer . . . well, at least I hope I CAN, looking at all this paperwork, I'm getting really worried.

Anyway, we plan to acquire a fiance visa. We have debated getting married first in Japan and then coming to the US as a husband-wife, but because we both currently live in South Korea, it's tough to both establish income and to establish a bona fide marriage is taking place.

The plan was to have her come to the US in April because my brother is getting married in May. However, if we file the paperwork in September, it MIGHT get finished processing by then, but it likely won't. Would she be able to come to the country visa-free for the wedding? Ordinarily Japanese can enter the US without a visa and stay for 90 days. Will the application interfere with that?

Thank you for your responses, and for collecting so much useful information in one spot!

[Justine+David 218]

You might get a better response in the Asian forum here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=90

Best of luck to getting an answer and starting your journey!

[Otto 83]

Here is a link to a lot of information & answers about this very often asked question.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=k1visit

Edited August 23, 2009 by Otto und Karin

[SolitaryThrush 0]

Wow, thanks a lot for those links. I had no idea this question is asked all the time.

[redglasses 1]

Just wondering...

If you have lived in Korea more than 6 months and get married now, it is definitely faster to go for DCF at the US embassy Korea.

I am not exactly sure how long it takes in Korea, but the chances are high that you get your fiancee's immigrant visa in 3 months.

[Anh map 2,098]

Just wondering...

If you have lived in Korea more than 6 months and get married now, it is definitely faster to go for DCF at the US embassy Korea.

I am not exactly sure how long it takes in Korea, but the chances are high that you get your fiancee's immigrant visa in 3 months.

DCF is definitely worth looking into.

[philabride 0]

I am Japanese and I visited US while I was waiting for my k-1. At POE in New York, the immigration officer only asked me what the purpose of my trip was and he just told me to have a great stay. Usually Japanese passport holders have easy entry. I didnt say anything about visa (they dont know whether or not visa is pending).

[Nik+Heather 121]

Actually, I think one of the shades of the question has been overlooked. I'll restate it:

If they file now (as is prudent if she is coming next summer) but they have a processing time only slightly shorter than average, and have the K1 in hand, can she enter in April on VWP, and then leave and then come back at a later date on the K1, or does the entry in April use up her K1?

Does she have an option to enter on VWP if the K1 is already in her passport?

My advice to the OP:

1. Investigate DCF as suggested. There must be some provision for income requirements as you're obviously moving too. Just check it out.

2. If you go K1, then why don't you plan on arriving in time for your brother's wedding, but also plan your wedding within 90 days, so that you can enter on the K1 as well? I think it gets needlessly messy to try to play the process just to VWP in April.

3. If you have the K1 already in April, then have a court house wedding and do the ceremony later in the summer as planned.

4. If you are unlucky enough not to have the K1 by April, and it won't mess up the visa application activities, then it is entirely permissible to visit on VWP with the K1 in process. In fact, we found that showing the documentation from that process makes it easier to enter. Bring a return ticket (itinerary), Any NOAs that you have received, and the wedding invitation.

[SolitaryThrush 0]

Thanks for all your responses.

Our situation is a little . . . weird, which is forcing me to do a lot of homework here. We both met in Korea while teaching, and I've been there for four years. It would have been possible to get married on paper in Korea, BUT, my teaching visa expired in August, and when I return to Korea it will be as a student. No problem, but since the classes I'm taking are rather short, and since the university took its time getting the paperwork to me, I couldn't get a student visa, but will instead be there visa-free for 90 days. Thus, unless by some miracle, it doesn't look like I could get married in Korea.

We do live together, but there's an obstacle to proving bona fide marriage . . . teachers in Korea usually pay rent, it's provided by schools. If we had been married before she started her teaching contract, perhaps the school could have put our names on the lease---if her name is even on the lease to begin with---but since her school only employs her, it's unlikely.

I'm glad you brought that up, Nik+Heather. The timing issue I was most concerned with was her coming here for my brother's wedding, then having to go back to Japan to get/wait for the visa, then coming back here. Not only lengthy but costly as well. However, if we end up having a small ceremony in Japan as well, the back-and-forth won't be an issue.

We'll be applying in late September (I'm shooting for the 18th for sending the petition). I'm glad I know about all this paperwork now, but I'm kicking myself for not thinking to look into it sooner.

Thank you very much for your responses, everyone. I'll be checking back here for any developments, and my homework this vacation---back in the US for a couple weeks---will be to study this and put together most of the petition.