My Journey to a Happy Marriage: Any advice would be helpful

[nathalieg 1]

Hello to everyone on this forum, I was fortunate enough to find this thread while researching the process of beginning the K1 Visa

and I am relieved to read some of the posts other people have discussed providing some insight into this stressful journey. I

met my fiance from Greece through a social networking site last summer right about the time when he was coming back from his service in the Hellenic Special

Forces. We began to speak on a daily basis mostly through the website of facebook, we talked about our interests, family, goals, and this quickly

developed into an emotional connection. It was very unexpected and happened through a stroke of luck, as we were both fans of the actor Vin Diesel on facebook and connected almost immediately. We had talked for a little over a year through various mediums. We have had hundreds of conversations through video chat, messenger, various messages, emails, and later we began to write/send gifts to each other through the post as well as have telephone conversations one in which he expressed to me his intentions of engagement. The more that we talked about this decision the more I began to strive to begin my life with him, at the time I had not been able to visit him because I was enrolled full time at a University here in California. I found it very difficult to travel because of this and also due to the lack of support I had received from my family in notifying them of our desire to marry. Upon this realization to our dismay, his application for a tourist visa to the U.S. was denied at the US-Embassy in Athens and he was unable to travel to meet me. He was told that his application had been denied due to the fact that he had no assets and evidence of work keeping him in Greece. As we all have heard, Greece is experiencing an economic crisis and he was unable to prove his employment status and was later unemployed as a result of the crisis, fortunately he is currently now employed. I had spoken to my attorney regarding the decision that was made denying him a tourist visa, and my attorney had told me that he was not surprised that he had been denied since the US Embassy rarely issues visa's to young tourists except in the case of study abroad. It wasn't until a few months ago that Greece joined the Visa Waiver Program in which he did not need to go through the embassy to travel to California. I had asked my attorney if this would cause a disadvantage in our case (the fact that his application/interview for a tourist visa had been denied) and he said it would not serve as a detriment in our situation. He advised to meet as soon as possible and share our time together as a young couple. Last month, he landed at the Los Angeles International airport where I greeted him and met him for the first time. It was then that we expressed our deep affection for one another and became engaged, we will begin the process for the K1 Visa very soon. I wanted to ask if anyone would like to give me advice regarding how long on average the process has taken and perhaps provide some insight into your own experiences, which would all be greatly appreciated. I am a college student in Los Angeles and I am going through this decision with his support and hardly receiving any support from my family in becoming married. I have truly fallen in love with his culture and his family is very supportive of our decision. This brings me to the subject of the affidavit of support which I have become very troubled by. I have never filed a tax return, I am a student and don't have a means of employment, nor do I receive support from my family. I wanted to know if anyone reading this would like to give me some advice/guidelines on what I should do in my situation in terms of finding a cosigner for the affidavit of support, and what the requirements are of a cosigner if anyone went through the K1 Visa with a joint sponsor. At what point is the cosigner no longer necessary? Until an official work permit is issued or at the time that the interview has been approved? I would assume that it is to ensure that while he is unemployed in the country his expenses are covered by the primary or co-sponsor and not the government. Any advice/comments/suggestions/insight would be very much appreciated.

Thanks to everyone reading, please no judgments or rude comments

-On behalf of Nathalie & Nikolaos -

[Sweet Dove 0]

Good Day.

I read all.

Who is your petitioner? you and your bf/husband?

K1 process/ runs for 6 to 9 months..

sometime takes to 4 to 5 motnhs depend on the state govt. center you applied.

You can ask co- sponsor in his side / her side of the petitioner for you afidavit support.

If you can't afford it. Ask atty or angency to guide or assist you well for the papers that you need for K1.

Hope this helps.

[nathalieg 1]

Good Day.

I read all.

Who is your petitioner? you and your bf/husband?

K1 process/ runs for 6 to 9 months..

sometime takes to 4 to 5 motnhs depend on the state govt. center you applied.

You can ask co- sponsor in his side / her side of the petitioner for you afidavit support.

If you can't afford it. Ask atty or angency to guide or assist you well for the papers that you need for K1.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for your response,

Yes I am the petitioner (primary sponsor) for him, my attorney is assisting me with the paperwork, now I am just

preoccupied with having a suitable co-sponsor since I have really no proof of employment or income taxes (I am only a student now). Do you know if the co-sponsor needs to be a family member?

[nathalieg 1]

Thank you for your response,

Yes I am the petitioner (primary sponsor) for him, my attorney is assisting me with the paperwork, now I am just

preoccupied with having a suitable co-sponsor since I have really no proof of employment or income taxes (I am only a student now). Do you know if the co-sponsor needs to be a family member?

I understand that I must fulfill the 125% minimum income requirement which I can meet as an annual guideline for a household size of 2,

though my income does not necessarily come from employment, instead it is in the form of assets which I understand to be savings, stocks,

bonds or property. Altogether with my savings added along with property I fulfill the income requirement for the affidavit of support but

I have not filed any tax returns so I am not sure how I could gather evidence. I could provide proof of full time student enrollment, financial

aid grants, private scholarships, the value of my apartment lease, value of my car and that would altogether meet the requirement. In my savings

account I also have set aside an income balance surpassing the requirement, though some of it comes from private student loans so I am not sure if this would

count as an asset or if this is not enough proof of financial burden requiring a cosponsor

[Christi85 86]

Hello,

First off, best of luck on your visa journey!

I'm a fellow Greek recently married to my American husband (originally from LA too ), so I can totally sympathize with your case. The difference in our case is that we met in London, UK, and that's where we still live today, until our CR-1 petition hopefully gets approved and we can move to the States (hopefully in 2011). So at least we never had the burden of distance, which I know can be very painful!

Re your question about the co-sponsor: the co-sponsor needs to be living in the US (either as a citizen or a lawful permanent resident), so bear that in mind. So it will be difficult to have someone on his side act as a co-sponsor, unless he has any relatives who live permanently in the States. Now, the co-sponsor doesn't have to be a family member, doesn't have to live in the same household as you, and doesn't even have to be living at the same State.

You, as the primary sponsor and any co-sponsor will be responsible for him for 10 years, or until he gets US citizenship (he can apply after 3 years of having lived in the US on a marriage-based green card, as long as he hasn't been out of the country for more than 6 months on any of the 3 years prior to his citizenship application). That is, if, as a lawful permanent resident he makes use of public funds, benefits etc., you as the primary sponsor will be asked to refund this to the US government. The co-sponsor may then be tracked down if you, as the primary sponsor, is unable to pay.

Now, you probably know that the I-134 form which you submit with the K petition isn't exactly legally binding - it's more of an intent/promise document to the government. For that reason, please check with the Athens Embassy whether they accept a co-sponsor for a fiance visa (some Embassies don't, but I think most do). As soon as you get married and you file for the green card, you will complete the I-864 affidavit, which is the document that is legally binding.

I hope this helps and best of luck!