k1 or k3 please help

[Guest Ray13]

Hello to all,

I have been posting the same concern for two weeks and no replies.

I would like to know which is the right choice between k1 or k3. My fiance and I both live in Colombia, since I am a US citizen working for an outsourcing company.

We both want to go to the States as soon as possible but I do not know if is best to marry here in colombia and apply for a k3 or apply for k1 and marry in the States.

Thank you for your help.

[payxibka 10,047]

not K-3... I would think CR-1 (filed directly with the consulate) since you are present in Columbia

[Mononoke28 135]

Hello to all,

I have been posting the same concern for two weeks and no replies.

I would like to know which is the right choice between k1 or k3. My fiance and I both live in Colombia, since I am a US citizen working for an outsourcing company.

We both want to go to the States as soon as possible but I do not know if is best to marry here in colombia and apply for a k3 or apply for k1 and marry in the States.

Thank you for your help.

If you have lived in Colombia for more than 6 months then the fastest way to do it is through DCF (Direct Counsular Filing). Instead of filing form I-130 with the USCIS, you will have to file it with the embassy directly. Same goes for any other documents that you would have to send the National Visa Center.

If you don't want to file through DCF, I still recommend you get married first and file for the CR1 visa. It takes almost just as long as the K3, is more affordable and more convenient.

Diana

[Julie y Pat 67]

Hi Ray, From what I understand, I would agree with the previous poster about DCF for a CR1 visa would be the way to go. That is for you to decide after you read further about it, and if you qualify and such. But I know about marriage in Colombia from personal experience. Different notarios may not require exactly the same things from couples wishing to marry. I married my wife with Notario Cuarta in Armenia and I(the USC) had to provide a birth certificate, a notarized copy of my passport bio page, and documentation that I was free to marry. The documents could be no older than 90 days, and needed an apostille seal from the state in which they were issued. These documents then had to be translated from english to spanish, and then the apostilles from the US and the documents and translations had to be "certified", and this can only be done at an office in Bogotá. I will put the address below. Rules for apostilles very from state to state, but make sure that if you have to get a new birth certificate it is one that can be apostilled. The hard part may be the document saying you are free to marry. I live in MA and went to the Registrar of vital statistics and got a document showing a negative result of a search for a marriage record on file for myself. Your fiancee would likely need to have a newly issued birth certificate as well, and this should be stamped from the issuing office as "valid for matrimony". Birth certificates in Colombia are updated with marital status, so that would also be the document that would show your fiancee was free to marry. I hope this information can be of some help to you. The address in Bogotá is Calle 17N 98-53.