I-130 petition for a Tourist VISA holder fiancee

[ReggieSF 0]

Hi,

I'm a U.S. Citizen and my fiancee is Filipino Citizen working in Dublin right now. We've met already here in the U.S. 2 weeks ago using her Tourist VISA. We want to get married. I did some research and actually spoke to two lawyers and also read the help page from Visa journey (very helpful by the way, but im still confused).

Lawyer #1 told me that we should "NOT" plan to get married prior to her arrival here and we should "decide" on getting married after staying here for 60 days. His recommendation was to use the 1-130 but my fiancee should go back to the philippines while paperwork is being processed. He said not to use the Adjustment of status route.

Lawyer #2 said that we should apply for a fiancee visa and have her go back to manila and wait for another 6-9 mos till she gets the visa.

Visa journey: It said that we can get married anytime but if my spouse has an intention of getting married and immigrating here which really is our intention then she might get deported or denied. And that she should go back to manila after getting married and then wait for the paperwork.

I'm confused. From the USCIS it said that as long as she entered legally here in the US we can apply for the 1-130 and at the same time apply for an AOS.

Confused Reggie

[Ryan H 3,818]

I'm confused. From the USCIS it said that as long as she entered legally here in the US we can apply for the 1-130 and at the same time apply for an AOS.

Entering on a non-immigrant visa that is not duel intent with the intent to stay and adjust status is fraud.

Your fiancee may be allowed to interview in Dublin if she is a long term resident of Ireland.

Edited July 25, 2011 by Ryan H

[Penguin_ie 5,995]

She can get married in the USA (on day 1 or day 60), but she is not allowed to use her tourist visa with the intention of immigrating.

If you decide to go the K1 route, you can file today. If you decide to go the CR-1 (spousal visa, ie I-130) route, you'd need to get married first- be that in the USA, Dublin or the Philipines- and can apply as soon as you have the marriage cert. If she wants to continue working in Dublin that is fine, she can interview at the US embassy there.

[ReggieSF 0]

She can get married in the USA (on day 1 or day 60), but she is not allowed to use her tourist visa with the intention of immigrating.

If you decide to go the K1 route, you can file today. If you decide to go the CR-1 (spousal visa, ie I-130) route, you'd need to get married first- be that in the USA, Dublin or the Philipines- and can apply as soon as you have the marriage cert. If she wants to continue working in Dublin that is fine, she can interview at the US embassy there.

Thank you Ryan and Penguin for the prompt response. She will not use her Tourist visa to immigrate here. My question now is which route is better? The K1 or the CR-1? My plan was to get married the next day she gets here, then apply for the 1-130. Since she entered the U.S. legally using her Tourist Visa then she can stay as long as her visa lets her while waiting for her paper work is being processed right?

Also regarding waht lawyer #1 said about not getting married on day and waiti till day 60 have you guys heard anything about this? he said it's the law.

[Penguin_ie 5,995]

The lawyer is wrong.

Yes, she can stay as long as her tourist visa allows, and can also come to visit again later, during visa processing, if it takes a long time.

K1 or CR-1 depends on your circumstances. K1- you could file now, so save time, but it is more expensive and it'll be several months after the wedding until she can work, as you need to file AOS first. CR-1- cheaper, gets greencard upon entry, this can work right away, but you will be separated for some time while married, and takes longer as you need to get married and wait for the marriage cert first.

One thing to discuss is how important it is for her to have her family at the wedding; they are unlikely to get tourist visas, so getting married in the Philipines may be something that is important to her.

[Psalm139 5]

Hi,

I'm a U.S. Citizen and my fiancee is Filipino Citizen working in Dublin right now. We've met already here in the U.S. 2 weeks ago using her Tourist VISA. We want to get married. I did some research and actually spoke to two lawyers and also read the help page from Visa journey (very helpful by the way, but im still confused).

Lawyer #1 told me that we should "NOT" plan to get married prior to her arrival here and we should "decide" on getting married after staying here for 60 days. His recommendation was to use the 1-130 but my fiancee should go back to the philippines while paperwork is being processed. He said not to use the Adjustment of status route.

Lawyer #2 said that we should apply for a fiancee visa and have her go back to manila and wait for another 6-9 mos till she gets the visa.

Visa journey: It said that we can get married anytime but if my spouse has an intention of getting married and immigrating here which really is our intention then she might get deported or denied. And that she should go back to manila after getting married and then wait for the paperwork.

I'm confused. From the USCIS it said that as long as she entered legally here in the US we can apply for the 1-130 and at the same time apply for an AOS.

Confused Reggie

Hello Reggie, I would highly recommend not to hire any lawyer for you and your fiance can do it together since you both have met in person..Steps are so easy if you will follow it carefully... You actually have 2 choices either K1 or K3, i you want little less time use K1 and marry her in the US within 90 days then adjust her status right after your marriage... Also she can choose to be interview in Dublin or here in the Philippines but she must know exactly where she would wanted to be interviewed so NVC will not send the documents/file to the right Consulate. Below is the link where you can find step by step procedure on how to apply for k1...

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2994.html

Check my timeline how fast we did ours without a lawyer...

[Psalm139 5]

Hello Reggie, I would highly recommend not to hire any lawyer for you and your fiance can do it together since you both have met in person..Steps are so easy if you will follow it carefully... You actually have 2 choices either K1 or K3, i you want little less time use K1 and marry her in the US within 90 days then adjust her status right after your marriage... Also she can choose to be interview in Dublin or here in the Philippines but she must know exactly where she would wanted to be interviewed so NVC will not send the documents/file to the right Consulate. Below is the link where you can find step by step procedure on how to apply for k1...

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2994.html

Check my timeline how fast we did ours without a lawyer...

Also less expenses if you will do it by yourself...

[Penguin_ie 5,995]

You actually have 2 choices either K1 or K3,

Forget the K3, it is being administratively closed at NVC stage in almost all cases and is more expensive than the CR-1, plus means she cannot immediately work once in the USA. If you decide to get married first, apply for the CR-1 visa.

[ReggieSF 0]

I think we'll go the CR-1 route since we want to get married once she gets here. I read all your responses and you guys have been ver helpful. Thank you so much. I'll do some more research using this website. we'll skip the lawyer. : ) Since she has a tourist visa we don't need to wait for the visa to be approved. After we get married i'll file the CR-1 together with the AOS. Am i right?

Edited July 25, 2011 by ReggieSF

[Penguin_ie 5,995]

No, you do not file AOS. The CR-1 visa does not require adjustment of status, but she will need to go to her home country to do a medical and interview (and probably wait a bit there, as with the tourist visa, she can only stay with you 6 months, and the process won't be done by then).

[ReggieSF 0]

A recap of our situation. I'm a US citizen and my fiancee who is a Filipino citizen working in Dublin using an Irish workers visa. She has U.S. Visa and is able to come to the U.S. anytime. We want to get married here once she arrives.

I read up more on the Cr-1 section of the USCIS website and came up with the following:

Eligibility: i'm a U.S. Citizen

How to Bring your Spouse to the United States:

You are a U.S. Citizen and You're spuse is: Inside the United States (through lawful admission or parole) In my fiancee's case she is here legally because of her tourist visa.

How to apply:

File Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status, at the same time.

Now it said in the website that she can live and work here while waiing for the petition if I file for a I129-F along with the 1-130.

Weill she be able to stay here while she waits for the I-129F. She will still be able use her Tourist visa till it expires? Will there be enough time before the 129F gets approved? Based on the turn around times on the website the 1-130 takes approx 5 mos.

Regarding the medical exams i think it can be done here already.

Also what are your thoughts on this link?

http://www.ehow.com/how_4609801_become-permanent-resident-through-marriage.html

Reggie

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You are very confused. You have 3 different paths going on here all at the same time and are mixing them up in many different ways. One part from this, another from that... You are getting married in the states. Fine. Your fiance cannot use her tourist visa to immigrate to the US. That is visa fraud, which you seem to already understand. That is illegal. The I-485 is for someone who is staying in the US. Your fiance cannot do that. Forget the I-485. You will get married, and then file the I-130 and follow the path for a CR-1 visa. Forget the I-129F, that path to spousal visa (K-3) is basically closed, and it only allows the foreigner to live and work in the US after approval and interview, which takes nearly a year. That path was for when I-130 approval took YEARS, so the spouse could live in the US for the YEARS it took to approve I-130. Now it only takes around 5 months for the first step, so that path has been mostly closed.

Follow this guide. http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

She can visit independently of this process.

[Ryan H 3,818]

You are a U.S. Citizen and You're spuse is: Inside the United States (through lawful admission or parole) In my fiancee's case she is here legally because of her tourist visa.

Reggie, your fiancee can use the tourist visa to enter and you two can marry while she is here, that's fine. However, entering on a tourist visa with the intent to stay and adjust status is FRAUD. She will have to leave when her authorized stay expires.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Coming to the US on tourist visa - ok to do

Getting married in the US - ok to do

Coming on tourist visa with intent to stay - possible lifetime ban for fraud

[ReggieSF 0]

Is it OK for her to stay here using her Tourist Visa as long as it does not expire while waiting for the Fiancee Visa process? I know that she can't stay here after her 6 mo. Visa expires. That I understand.

Ftom what I heard it takes 3 mos at least for the whole fiancee proces and based on the processing times on the UCIS it takes 5 mos for the i-130. We're thinking of her going here first and then when she arrives we file the Fiancee visa. And wait. The interview and medical exams can it be done here? From the form it asked if my fiancee is here and if so asked for her 1-94/95 number and the expiry. does that mean we can file it when she's here? It's just that we want to be together as soon as possible and having her wait outside of the U.S. is too much. : (

Thank you uys for your answers. i really appreciate it. Trying to figure out which path to go be it fiancee or i-130 is driving me crazy.