K1, DCF, or some other way to bring girlfriend to US?

[qianwen 0]

Hi,

I am a US citizen living and working in Toronto. My employer just told me I might be transferred to the US office in a few months.

I've been living with my girlfriend for 2+ years and want to bring her along, but it looks like the only options are

1) get married now and do a DCF, keeping in mind it takes 10+ weeks to get the marriage certificate in Ontario

2) file for K-1 and get married in the US, which takes longer than DCF and then she'd be stuck in AOS

Of the above which do you recommend?

Is there any other way to bring her to the US other than marriage (e.g. could my employer sponsor her somehow)? As she would be considered my common-law spouse in Canada, would that be sufficient?

My girlfriend is not a Canadian but she is from a VWP country and in Canada on long-term study permit.

As well, while we are waiting for the DCF/K-1, would she be able to visit me for consecutive 3month periods under VWP?

Thanks a lot for your advice.

[Harsh_77 718]

Either option you have to go with what you feel comfortable.

DCF is the better option if you are ready to get married.

Once you file for K1 - there is no guranteed she would be allowed to enter US until her K1 is processed and you are required to get married in 90 day period from her entering the US.

[Inky 1,111]

Your employer could give her a job and pay for her visa and move her to the US etc, but you have to think about that it costs nearly 10k for employment visas. They are also very hard to get.

There is no girlfriend visa. You would have to get married!

She could apply to university in the US and then apply for a student visa when shes accepted to the school and do that.

Fastest option would be DCF. Also would be the cheaper option.

[K and T 0]

Is there a way your girlfriend can visit US? That way you can cross border, get married and then go back to Canada and apply for DCF. I'm sure the marriage certificate will take much less than 10 weeks in US.

[i got married 12/31/2009 in Toronto.. Got my marriage certificate mid March but they misspelled my name so they had to make a new one which I finally got at end of May. Took longer for me to get marriage certificate than NOA2 after I applied ]

[SapphireDreams 71]

You could fly to NYC for the weekend and get married! You apply for a marriage license, wait 24 hours, get married at the COunty Clerk's office in NYC and then get your marriage certificate on the spot!

Then you can go the DCF route.

This is all assuming you are ready to get married.