Guidance please...

[jumanji 0]

This forum is a wonderful place for information, but I'm not sure of my next step.

Have been in a wonderful relationship with an American woman for 2.5 years and we have a daughter together. She is just over one year old. I am British, but currently living/working abroad. Can I apply for a Visa whilst not being in the UK?

We are not yet married.

We desperately want to be together in the US, but we're not sure which Visa to apply for. Any guidance would be fab!

Just a couple of bits of information that I hope won't change the outcome. I am currently studying for a degree in Law with a University in the UK through Distance Learning, but don't actually have a college education, just high school. Will that affect the Visa process? Secondly, when I was younger I completed 14 months service with the Royal Navy and was discharged as unfit for further training (I was young and lacked direction), would that affect proceedings?

If you need me to provide any further information, please ask away.

Steve.

Edited July 26, 2011 by jumanji

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

You can interview for your visa anywhere you are legally resident, so if you are on a work visa in whichever country you are in, you are fine.

Yo0ur choices are K1 fiance visa or CR-1 spousal visa. The K1 has the advantage that your partner could file now, but it is more expensive and you couldn't work once in the USA for several months, nor travel; you'd need to get married within 90 days of arriving on the visa. The CR-1 means you'd need to get married first (wherever you want- for example you could go visit her on the visa waiver program and get married in the USA), then file, so it takes longer. But it is cheaper plus you get a greencard upon entry, so can work immediately.

Your education won;t matter for a family visa. The Navy discharge won't affect you, unless you've been arrested or charged with something, and even then it would depend on what.