K1 or K3 (marry in US or abroad)? Which is the quickest route for fiance to obtain Green Card?

[J / A 0]

Hello All,

First timer here. Last Tuesday, I got engaged to my girlfriend of 2 1/2 years. I'm an American citizen and she's German.

A little back story on us. In April 2008, we met at random while vacationing in Costa Rica, and after traveling for three weeks together through Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaraqua, we kissed on our last night before flying off our separate ways. That summer, I flew out to Germany to visit her, and for five weeks we had the time of our lives developing a relationship together while traveling through Europe. In September, 08 I moved to London to teach on a 2 year work permit and in November that year she moved out there to live with me. We happily lived together for 21 months in England and it was in August, 2010 when my VISA expired and I had to move back home to the States. Unfortunately I had to say goodbye to my girlfriend once again and learn to brave the distance once more. Knowing that she was that special someone and that I certainly did not want to spend any more time apart from her, I went to London, flew her out to Paris and asked her to marry me. And now, the marriage planning.

We have not begun the process of obtaining a K1 fiance VISA for her to marry me here in the States yet, however this is the route we have been leaning towards. But we have a few questions before we go ahead and file for this and send out a check for $340. As google was not helping much, perhaps you all may know the process much better than I and will be able to help us out!

Simply put, I'd like to know what is the quickest and least time consuming way for us to get married and have my fiance obtain a green card and start working here in the States so we can begin our life out here. Should we get married abroad and go through with a K3 or is it best that we file for a K1 and wait it out, marry here in the US and then file for her to have the right to stay and work followed by Green Card thereafter? I've heard horror stories from a British friend of mine who married his long time US girlfriend. Apparently it took them 14 months to recieve a K1 VISA after mailing out the I-129F form and supporting documents. And from there another year and a half until he had his green card in hand making it a total of 2 1/2 years from time of getting engaged and recieving green card! Yikes! This is quite a deterrant.

If we were to change our mind and marry abroad, will my fiance have a more difficult time obtaining a green card through K3 or should we have no issues?

My head is filled with so many questions so I will just fire away below in no particular order. Please help in any way you can!

1) On average, from time of engagement to green card, how long will it be before my fiance can move out here and start working if we go the K1 route and marry in the states?

2) Same question as #1, except how long will it take for my fiance to move here and begin working if we decided to marry abroad and go the K3 route?

3) Our short-term plan is that while we wait for her VISA's to come through, I will try to obtain the same right as my fiance to live and work in Europe so that we can be together again for the time being. Will this cause problems for us?

4) Once the K1 or K3 VISA is approved, does she have to come to the states and stay? Or will she be able to go back to London to continue work while she waits for her right to stay and work in the US to be approved?

5) You have 90 days to marry once the K1 VISA has been accepted. Does the 90 days begin as soon as it has been accepted and stamped into her passport, or does it begin the moment she enters the USA? 90 days is quite a short time and doesn't leave much time for planning. I'd like to know how much of a time frame we will have to sort out wedding plans once a K1 has been approved.

6) If I were file for a K1 VISA, will it be alright for my fiance to visit the states as a tourist on holiday after I mail out the forms? She booked tickets months ago to come out here and visit me for the holidays. Should we wait to mail everything out until after she leaves, or will it be fine to do it before?

That about covers all my questions for now. Many thanks for reading through this all and hope it all made sense! Truly wish we didn't have to go through all this bureaucracy to be together, but unfortunately that's just the way the world works! Any help you can give to assist us would be greatly appreciated. We really just want to be together quicker rather than later and want to know which route is best for us.

Thanks in advance. Look forward to the responses.

JP

[Ryan H 3,812]

First of all, the K3 is nonexistent in practice even though it is still officially on the books. If you file an I-130 and follow it up with an I-129F, the USCIS will tie the two petitions together, approve them together, and send them to the NVC together. When the NVC receives both petitions, they will administratively close the I-129F leaving only the I-130 for a CR-1 visa active. So if you choose to marry abroad, only submit the I-130 for a CR-1 and let that process work on its own. Furthermore, others have mentioned that the tying of the two petitions by the USCIS adds time to your wait between NOA1 and NOA2 for the petitions.

Wait times from submission of the I-129F or I-130 to USCIS to having it approved are the same, 5 months.

Upon approval of an I-130 petition (for CR-1), it will be sent to the NVC and will undergo additional processing before it is sent to the Consulate in Frankfurt.

Upon approval of an I-129F (for K1), it will be assigned a case number and sent to the Consulate.

Here what happens after the interview and issuance of a K1:

She will have 6 months to enter the USA

You two must marry within 90 days of her arrival

She will have to go through the Adjustment of Status process (AOS) to obtain a green card

She will not be able to work right away; she will also have to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) while the AOS is pending

She can't leave the USA while AOS is pending unless she is granted Advanced Parole (AP)

EAD and AP are not issued "right away" but I think the time is not long (those familiar with EAD and AP can answer more accurately than me)

Here is what happens after the interview and issuance of a CR-1:

She will have 6 months to enter the USA

A green card will be issued when she arrives

She can work immediately

In both cases, when a green card is issued, it will be "conditional" which means it is valid for two years. Prior to the two years being up, you will file to have the conditions removed. Once conditions are removed, she will have a green card that will be valid for 10 years.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Ryan H

[Ryan H 3,812]

Wait times from submission of the I-129F or I-130 to USCIS to having it approved are the same, 5 months.

I'll rephrase to make more sense:

The wait time from when an I-129F or I-130 is submitted to USCIS to the time that USCIS approves the petition is the same, 5 months.

[Ryan H 3,812]

She will have to go through the Adjustment of Status process (AOS) to obtain a green card

This is because a K1 is a non-immigrant visa.

A CR-1 is an immigrant visa, therefore, no AOS is required when one enters the USA on an immigrant visa.

[J / A 0]

Ryan H, first of all a huge thank you for taking the time to thoroughly respond to my inquiries. What you have said is very helpful, especially the bit on how we will have an additional 6 months once the K1 VISA has been granted, which will in essence give us 9 months from the date of acceptance to plan and have a wedding (well rather, 8 months 29 days or so). This is actually quite good if we decide to have a beautiful wedding with much planning involved. However not so nice as we will have to bare more time apart.

In regards to what you said, "She will have to go through the Adjustment of Status process (AOS) to obtain a green card

She will not be able to work right away; she will also have to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) while the AOS is pending", how long does this process take?

From what I gathered, based on what you've said, the time from engagement to living in the USA with the right to work is much quicker if we decide to go the other route and marry abroad. Can other members on here tell me how long it has taken them from engagement to living in the States with right to work? I'm interested in a time frame for individuals who have married in the USA through K1 and also those who married abroad and then brought their spouse over to the States. Being able to compare time frames for both options will play a huge factor in our decision.

I'm still quite keen on getting information on questions 3 and 6, if anyone is able to help with those, that would be great! And of course, I'd love to hear others thoughts on this as well.

JP

Edited November 29, 2010 by J.P.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

** moved from "K1 process & Procedures** to "Bringing Family of US citizens" as this isn't a K1 process qn **

[Ryan H 3,812]

Ryan H, first of all a huge thank you for taking the time to thoroughly respond to my inquiries.

You're welcome and congratulations on your engagement!

In regards to what you said, "She will have to go through the Adjustment of Status process (AOS) to obtain a green card

She will not be able to work right away; she will also have to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) while the AOS is pending", how long does this process take?

Current timeline from VJ for AOS

Current timeline from VJ for EAD

Info from USCIS on AOS

Info from USCIS on EAD

[Ryan H 3,812]

6) If I were file for a K1 VISA, will it be alright for my fiance to visit the states as a tourist on holiday after I mail out the forms? She booked tickets months ago to come out here and visit me for the holidays. Should we wait to mail everything out until after she leaves, or will it be fine to do it before?

I'm still quite keen on getting information on questions 3 and 6,

She can come visit. However, there is no guarantee she will be allowed entry. You must assume CBP will have access to information that an immigration benefit has been filed on her behalf. With that being said, even though she is a German citizen and eligible for entry on the VWP, she should bring strong ties to the UK (since she is living and working in London) should she be questioned by CBP. This evidence can include the NOA1 receipt because it shows you want to go about the immigration process the right way.

Additionally, in my original post, I said that the petition would go to Frankfurt. However, if she is still living and working in London when you file your petition, she can interview at the American Embassy in London. You would put her current address on the form and both forms ask where she will apply for a visa.

[J / A 0]

She can come visit. However, there is no guarantee she will be allowed entry. You must assume CBP will have access to information that an immigration benefit has been filed on her behalf. With that being said, even though she is a German citizen and eligible for entry on the VWP, she should bring strong ties to the UK (since she is living and working in London) should she be questioned by CBP. This evidence can include the NOA1 receipt because it shows you want to go about the immigration process the right way.

So in other words, once the K1 Visa has been accepted, she can only enter the USA once and that is to get married and then she must stay in the States while we file for her AOD/EAD? This would leave her five months without work in the USA. But if we filed for the right for her to leave during this time (I forgot the official name, but it has been mentioned in this thread already), she will have to re-file for her AOD/EAD leaving her no matter what the four to five months to wait for that to come in on no income?

In regards to her entering the country after I-129F sent out, if she brought proof of work and ties to the UK (ie - letter from boss saying she is to return to work on 3rd January + recent pay slip), would this suffice as enough evidence? Or must she also give evidence of K1 VISA being processed? And throughout all this, there is no guarantee she will be granted access to the USA? Oh boy.. so in other words, we might want to wait until after she leaves to mail out I-129F form etc?

Just trying to verify all details. Thanks again for all your help in our matter.

[Ryan H 3,812]

So in other words, once the K1 Visa has been accepted, she can only enter the USA once and that is to get married and then she must stay in the States while we file for her AOD/EAD? This would leave her five months without work in the USA. But if we filed for the right for her to leave during this time (I forgot the official name, but it has been mentioned in this thread already), she will have to re-file for her AOD/EAD leaving her no matter what the four to five months to wait for that to come in on no income?

A K1 visa is single entry only. She can't leave the US without AP. You can file for AP at the same time your file for AOS and EAD. If she were to leave on AP and return while the AOS is pending, you would not need to refile so long as she returned in time for required appointments with USCIS. IMO, it's best not to leave the US while an AOS is pending unless it's for emergency reasons.

Here are some links for AP:

Timeline on AP from VJ.

Info on AP from USCIS

In regards to her entering the country after I-129F sent out, if she brought proof of work and ties to the UK (ie - letter from boss saying she is to return to work on 3rd January + recent pay slip), would this suffice as enough evidence? Or must she also give evidence of K1 VISA being processed? And throughout all this, there is no guarantee she will be granted access to the USA? Oh boy.. so in other words, we might want to wait until after she leaves to mail out I-129F form etc?

Just trying to verify all details. Thanks again for all your help in our matter.

Include the letter from the boss and the NOA1 receipt (FYI, the NOA1 is what the USCIS sends you when they receive your petition). I would also include a lease agreement that she has for a UK residence.

Whether or not you wait until after she leave to file a I-129F is strictly your call. Whatever you feel most comfortable with.