Filed in January- Planning to get married in July??

[Ashley Laila 0]

Hello! My financé and I were planing on getting married in July this year. He is Swedish and we are both living in Sweden. I received the NOA email today (2/9) with my case number and, according to my status, they received my application January 24th rerouted it to CSC and we are under 'Intitial Review'. Do you think that there is a chance that we could have this done by July 30th when we plan to get married in the US? If not, I guess we will have to start this whole process over again with a new application for a different type of visa, right?

[canadian_wife 1,829]

Probably not, USCIS is averaging 5 months for NOA-2, then a few more months until you get your interview.

If you are SET on marrying in July, then you may end up with a broken heart and no visa

I suggest you push back the wedding date and wait for the visa before you make ANY wedding plans

Good luck

[Mrs O. 29]

Hello! My financé and I were planing on getting married in July this year. He is Swedish and we are both living in Sweden. I received the NOA email today (2/9) with my case number and, according to my status, they received my application January 24th rerouted it to CSC and we are under 'Intitial Review'. Do you think that there is a chance that we could have this done by July 30th when we plan to get married in the US? If not, I guess we will have to start this whole process over again with a new application for a different type of visa, right?

The seemingly harsh but realistic answer is 'No chance'.

That date is too close, make it later or just hold off on wedding plans until you get closer to the end of the process, you can never tell what hiccup may come along. Good luck!

[Ashley Laila 0]

Ah, then it is as I expected. I would push back the date, but it was my family that surprised us with this, so they have already made bookings and down payments At the time they did not know about this complicated visa mess. So, if anything, there will be a party on that day

As I have no immediate plans to move to the US (we were thinking of applying for jobs after visa was processed), is it possible to get married there and then leave back to Sweden and apply for a new visa while we are waiting?

[iampatricias 17]

My fiance and I also hoped for a 7 month maximum wait-time and we've been disappointed again and again (all pre-VJ). We're in our seventh month right now and we haven't quite heard from our consulate yet. Unfortunately, we're looking at a minimum of 2 more months and if our consulate doesn't pick up the pace, probably closer to 3 more months.

I kind of wish we'd just gotten married last summer and filed for the IR/CR1. At this point, it doesn't seem like it really would've changed things all that much.

[iampatricias 17]

As I have no immediate plans to move to the US (we were thinking of applying for jobs after visa was processed), is it possible to get married there and then leave back to Sweden and apply for a new visa while we are waiting?

That is a good idea if you're not planning on living in the States right away though filing for the spouse visa when you're both abroad may be slightly complicated because I believe the USC needs to prove residence in the States? Actually, I'm not sure about this...

Were you thinking of applying for the K1, adjusting your status to permanent resident, and then looking for work again in Sweden for both of you?

[Mrs O. 29]

As I have no immediate plans to move to the US (we were thinking of applying for jobs after visa was processed), is it possible to get married there and then leave back to Sweden and apply for a new visa while we are waiting?

If you get married before the end of the process that means you are no longer a 'fiancee' but a spouse, so your are effectively going to abandon your K1 application and start a fresh CR1 i.e. Come back to Sweden and go through the direct consular filing since you are both resident in Sweden.

Edited February 9, 2011 by Mrs O.

[Ashley Laila 0]

That is a good idea if you're not planning on living in the States right away though filing for the spouse visa when you're both abroad may be slightly complicated because I believe the USC needs to prove residence in the States? Actually, I'm not sure about this...

Were you thinking of applying for the K1, adjusting your status to permanent resident, and then looking for work again in Sweden for both of you?

Well I wanted to do everything the 'right' way. We both live and work here in Sweden but thought that it would be nice to get married in the US with my family and I had heard about the K-1 visa and thought that we needed it. After further investigation it seems like we could get married in the US without a K-1 visa if we are just going back. I'm not 100% on this though.

We both would like to live in the US in the near future; we thought that if he had a visa it would be easier applying for jobs.

I hope this makes sense

[Ashley Laila 0]

If you get married before the end of the process that means you are no longer a 'fiancee' but a spouse, so your are effectively going to abandon your K1 application and start a fresh CR1 i.e. Come back to Sweden and go through the direct consular filing since you are both resident in Sweden.

Well nn any event, there is nothing I can do now except wait and see how it goes. Thanks a lot for your replies!

[iampatricias 17]

Aah, so you're saying you'd like to have the visa before you move so that you can both work in the US right away? Because in that case, you probably are better off with the spouse visa.

There is no obstacle to the two of you flying to the States to marry there (granted that you are issued a tourist visa) as long as you leave before the tourist visa expires. One of the great pros of the IR/CR1 visa is that the beneficiary can seek work the day they enter the States with it. For a K1 visa, you enter the States, get married, and THEN have to apply for a SSN and an EAD (employment authorization) which usually takes about 3 months.

When you do go to the States to marry, make sure you bring as much proof as you can gather to demonstrate your intended return to Sweden - there is always a possibility the folks at the border will be suspicious that you guys plan to overstay and claim a visa by bypassing the K1/ IR/CR1 process. If you're living together in Sweden anyway, good proof is your rental or mortgage agreement, joint bank accounts, utility bills, or car payments, work contracts or school enrollment.

Also, take some time to read through the guides at the top of the page, especially related to the spouse visa process and filing when both of you are living abroad. Like Mrs. O said, you should also look into direct consular filing (DCF) since this process is much, much faster because you essentially skip the USCIS, but it's not available to everyone and you would need to research that pretty thoroughly too!

[James And Oksana 19]

Hello! My financé and I were planing on getting married in July this year. He is Swedish and we are both living in Sweden. I received the NOA email today (2/9) with my case number and, according to my status, they received my application January 24th rerouted it to CSC and we are under 'Intitial Review'. Do you think that there is a chance that we could have this done by July 30th when we plan to get married in the US? If not, I guess we will have to start this whole process over again with a new application for a different type of visa, right?

I would do everything you can to hold off the wedding until the interview is approved, and your significant other can come to the US. Otherwise, you abandon the time on this petition and start the process over again for either a K3/CR1. Realistically, I filed in mid January and I am not even thinking we will have an interview until late July, maybe even August. I would set your sights on August or September interview and tentatively plan something for this fall. I say tentatively as you should never make hard dates for a wedding when applying for a K1.

[Channah&Aaron 51]

; I think and I'm almost sure that July is out of the question.

As it is right now, it seems like it takes over 5 months still to receive any notice of NOA2. Though, it might changes within couple of months, but not sure.. again.

This I-129F process is very insecure. You never know what or when to expect. Some are lucky and get approved pretty "quick", and the rest among us have to wait it out.

Since you filed in late January, I think you can expect your NOA2 in either June or beginning of July. And it can take a couple of months to have your interview.

So my advice, like others have mentioned, post point your wedding date and wait for your NOA2. And then go from there... Risk is too high at this point.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Well I wanted to do everything the 'right' way. We both live and work here in Sweden but thought that it would be nice to get married in the US with my family and I had heard about the K-1 visa and thought that we needed it. After further investigation it seems like we could get married in the US without a K-1 visa if we are just going back. I'm not 100% on this though.

We both would like to live in the US in the near future; we thought that if he had a visa it would be easier applying for jobs.

I hope this makes sense

Yes, you can marry here and then go back to Sweden. Once you want to move back to the US (if you do) then look into filing a spousal petition directly through the consulate in Sweden (called Direct Consular Filing or DCF). That process is much faster than normal spousal petitions filed in the US. Good luck and happy wedding!

[Penny Lane 8,159]

I filed in August and I'm hoping for a July wedding.

[Justine+David 218]

Definitely okay to abandon the K1 petition, have him come over on the Visa Waiver Program (showing strong proof of ties to Sweden, i.e. job, rent, bank account, etc etc), get married, and then go back to Sweden. When you're ready to move back to the U.S. you can just apply directly at the embassy called "DCF" which you can learn about here in the forums and guides. Much easier and takes much less time.

If you can swing it, try to avoid moving to the US before your 2 year anniversary because then your future husband will have a 10 year green card instead of a 2 year green card and you will save about $600 and stress

The only down part of this plan is that you'll be out of the $$ you put in for the K1 best of luck whatever you two lovebirds decide!