US Military guy, Can I marry my AUS fiance without either of us having a visa in Guam?

[zapman 0]

Firstly, congrats on (almost) popping the question!

Forget about the K3 - it is basically dead. So just focus on either K1 or CR1.

Either way this process is going to take at least 6mths. CR-1 ends up being more like 8-10mths since there is more processing done prior to the spouse's arrival in the US, whereas this processing for K1 is done after the fiance enters the US and the marriage takes place. If you are looking at it strictly on a 'getting my partner into the US in the shortest possible time' then K1 is the way to go. Keep in mind though that there may be other factors that need to be taken in to account. For example...K1 have to apply to Adjust Status after the marriage takes place and they will not be able to work legally in the meantime. On the other hand, CR-1 will become a conditional resident immediately upon entry to the US, allowing them to work pretty much straight away. If your fiance's ability to work as soon as possible after entry to the US is important for you, then you need to do CR1.

About your concerns on the CR-1 - don't worry too much about not having a house in both your names etc. While showing joint financial responsiblities is good proof of your relationship, its not the only proof. When my husband and I filed for our CR-1, we had NOTHING in both our names. Even now the only thing we have is a joint account that we never use, and we added my name to his cell phone account. My name is not the mortgage, the loan for his truck, household bills etc. The address can be changed easily enough with USCIS, so you can get around the issues to do with base housing. There are plenty of military couples here on VJ that I'm sure have been in the same situtation.

Have a look at the K1 and IR-1/CR-1 guides here on VJ which may help you figure out the best way to go.

Good luck!

P.S Hope she says yes lol!

Thank you for your help! I think what I'll do is, if she says yes, which I'm sure she will lol, ask her what she would like to do. If she'd like to be able to work as soon as she got here or if she'd care to wait. Only real benefits that we'd get from doing a CR1(besides the obvious ones from going that route) would be, she'd have a house to come to straight after landing back here, and we'd have plenty of extra money to decorate said house since I'll recieve extra pay for being married lol. But I think one thing I will do when she says yes is go ahead and open a new checking account with her name on it. I need to get a new one anyway....having only a local bank back in Illinois and being stationed in Alaska kinda makes it hard to deposit money lol! Again thank you for your help!