Determining CR-1 Is Best Choice

[Pejo 2]

Hello,

My Fiancee and I are just about to get married and begin the paperwork for our immigration. I have been following this forum for about 7 months now and felt I had a good idea of what needs to be done for this process. I hadn't planned on using an immigration lawyer; however, we get free consultation due to her Mother working at Microsoft. After talking to him, I ran into a conflict of information.

We were discussing the different ways of being able to immigrate into the US. The first option was for us to marry, for me to remain in Canada and to have her fill out the I-130 and file that. During this time, it would be quite difficult for me to travel to the US; however, after this is done, I'll have my full green card and will not have to worry about EAD and APA's. This is the standard CR-1 process if I am correct. The second option which her family is heavily leaning towards is for me to wait until August (Graduating University) to travel down there, we'd get married and I'd stay there while we file the I-130 and immediately file for an Adjustment of Status. In this time, I would be unable to travel back or get work until my EAD goes through. I am pretty sure this is Visa Fraud because of intent when we interview at NVC and will lead to a lot more trouble than it is worth but I need to be sure. I just don't understand why an immigration lawyer would recommend this.

Little bit of background: My fiancee is American and I am Canadian. We have been dating for 4 and a half years and I just proposed to her. I have been traveling back and forth from the US with very little trouble atleast once a month for a week or so since we started dating. I don't feel we are in a time crunch since I will be in school until the end of August and will be unable to travel to the US until it is complete (which should be fine due to the time it takes for paperwork). She will be moving out in September to begin school so she is worried that she may live alone for a while. The immigration lawyer stated this would take 1 year to complete.

Thanks for reading, and any feedback is greatly appreciated. I was all ready to start filling out the I-130 until I spoke to him.

Steve

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Hello,

My Fiancee and I are just about to get married and begin the paperwork for our immigration. I have been following this forum for about 7 months now and felt I had a good idea of what needs to be done for this process. I hadn't planned on using an immigration lawyer; however, we get free consultation due to her Mother working at Microsoft. After talking to him, I ran into a conflict of information.

We were discussing the different ways of being able to immigrate into the US. The first option was for us to marry, for me to remain in Canada and to have her fill out the I-130 and file that. During this time, it would be quite difficult for me to travel to the US; however, after this is done, I'll have my full green card and will not have to worry about EAD and APA's. This is the standard CR-1 process if I am correct. The second option which her family is heavily leaning towards is for me to wait until August (Graduating University) to travel down there, we'd get married and I'd stay there while we file the I-130 and immediately file for an Adjustment of Status. In this time, I would be unable to travel back or get work until my EAD goes through. I am pretty sure this is Visa Fraud because of intent when we interview at NVC and will lead to a lot more trouble than it is worth but I need to be sure. I just don't understand why an immigration lawyer would recommend this.

Little bit of background: My fiancee is American and I am Canadian. We have been dating for 4 and a half years and I just proposed to her. I have been traveling back and forth from the US with very little trouble atleast once a month for a week or so since we started dating. I don't feel we are in a time crunch since I will be in school until the end of August and will be unable to travel to the US until it is complete (which should be fine due to the time it takes for paperwork). She will be moving out in September to begin school so she is worried that she may live alone for a while. The immigration lawyer stated this would take 1 year to complete.

Thanks for reading, and any feedback is greatly appreciated. I was all ready to start filling out the I-130 until I spoke to him.

Steve

Play it safe, it is not worth a finding is misprepresentation and a possible lifetime ban from the US

Oh, and no one interviews at NVC

Follow the guides for a CR-1 visa if you wish to marry. Do not give into parental pressure

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

You may also file now for a Fiance visa

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

Good luck

[Pejo 2]

I really appreciate the quick response. Looking at the times of the K1, it does seem to be a month quicker on average. I don't think the extra month will be worth the additional hassle of filling out all the additional paperwork once I get there instead of just doing the CR-1. Is that time pretty accurate, 6 months? I tried to click on the link for current time trends but it is currently unavailable. From what I have read from this forum and by looking at signatures, most average 8 - 11 motnhs from beginning to end for CR1. I'll have to speak again to the lawyer and bring up the legality of his option because I do not want to mess this up.

Steve

[Done--Really 331]

A K-1 will get you together quicker than a CR-1, but there are more steps and it costs more. Don't play fast and loose with immigration by getting married here and pretending it was spontaneous.

Try this:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

[canadian_wife 1,822]

You're looking at 8 - 14 months from start to finish. Although Montreal is getting better, it currently has a backlog of petitions that require interviews for. Our process took 10 months. Go on over to the Canada forum for more regional answers

Good luck

PS- and before you ask, yes - Montreal IS where you will interview for the cr-1 visa. No other options