Better/Faster to go for K1 or CR1?

[astone 0]

Hi all,

This is my first, of I assume to be many, post on this forum. I have scoured other threads, but maybe you guys could help with a few unique questions.

I am a US citizen and want to marry my Canadian (from Ontario) girlfriend. We are both living in Ontario presently. I have seen the direct filing method, but I am not a permanent resident of Canada and do not think that I qualify. I came to Canada on a Tempoary Resident Visa 6/29/11 and am OK here until 12/29/11. I have researched both the K1 and CR1 options, but cannot choose which is the better option. We plan to move to Washington, DC where I have a job lined up and she will be going back to school.

So here are our options, as I know them:

1) We apply for K1 ASAP and I go to DC to start job, save money, etc. From peoples' experiences in other threads, it seems the Montreal office is slow, particuarly in scheduling interviews. It seems the overall process is taking 9-10 months for visas to be received. Once she enters, she can then apply for AOS and get her green card to get domestic school tuitions.

2) We go down to DC to check the area out to make sure we want to live there. She would enter on a visitor's visa. We get married in the US, then she goes back to Canada. I know how illegal and unwise it is to enter with intention to marry AND stay. We then file for her CR-1 visa through the I-130 form. From the forum information, I see that it takes about 9 months currently as well, but when she enters she is already a permament resident and will receive her green card almost immediately.

Either way, we know that we will be confined to visitng each other for a while, but in light of my situation and the experiences you and others on this board might have had, do you all have any recommendations for us to get her to the US as efficiently as possible?

Are there any other options we might have? Any extra delays in either option I have presented?

If I have left any information out, let me know and I will fill it in.

Thanks in advance,

Andy

[astone 0]

Oh yes, 1 last option...since she wants to go to school, might it be faster to apply for a student visa and come in on that visa, then get married down here and turn her student visa into a permanent residency? I know in Canada, you can apply for a student visa with a dual intent to stay permanently, but I do not know if that is the case in the US.

If it is, I think she would have to pay more in tuition for her first year of study, but either way we'd like to see if that is a viable option.

thanks again

[Colleens 40]

The CR-1 takes a little bit longer to process up front, it was around a month or 2 more when I was going through my K1. However, if you went the CR1 route, she would receive a stamp in her passport that would allow her to work immediately. With the K1 you have to adjust status and although it usually takes ~3 months it can take much longer (it took me 6 months to get my EAD, and another 2 months to get my greencard).

I am not sure about going the route of the student visa, but I am sure someone will chime in. You may want to contact the school that your girlfriend plans on attending and find out about residency requirements. If she goes the student visa route she will definietly pay international student rates, but if you can return to the US and re-establish your residency, some schools will allow her to claim the full time that you have been living there once you are married. So for instance if you have lived in the area for 8 months, once she is here and you are married they will consider her being a resident for 8 months as well. Not all schools do this, but some do.

[astone 0]

thanks for the reply.

Interesting about the in-state rates applying to her through my residence, I will check into that. One thing I would be worried about would be getting married while she is here on a student visa. Because we had the intention to marry when she applied for the student visa, I hope they wouldn't consider that a form of visa fraud. Any ideas?

[canadian_wife 1,822]

As I stated in your other thread, student visas are not dual intent. She'll have to show that she intends on returning to Canada to be granted a student visa.

If you intend to use a non-immigrant visa for immigration purposes (as you simply just stated) then that is visa fraud

Good lcuk

[SapphireDreams 71]

If you're okay with getting married and then being apart for a bit afterwards, I would go with the CR-1. You'll skip the AOS portion, save money and it'll be a lot less hassle. It might take a couple months longer, but it'll work out in the end.

The student visa probably won't be the right thing to do since she'll have to pay international tuition and then as mentioned prove that she intends to return to Canada. Since she really doesn't have that intent, it wouldn't be truthful.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Congratulations on doing some thorough research before asking questions! I did K1 myself and in hindsight I do wonder about whether we should have done CR1 instead.

Either way you live apart and she can work back in Canada until the VISA is approved. I think the downside if the K1 is that she will have a few months off when she first arrives where she isn'tauthorized to work, travel and is not a perm resident until the GC arrives. With the CR1 she can immeidtaely work as you've found out.

Colleen's note about the residency issue for tuition is a good one to consider.

I'm going to assume you're both relatively young if you're still considering school so CR1 might be easier on the wallet?

Good luck and welcome to the Cdn forum

[astone 0]

thanks all to the responses

I was pretty sure that the student visa option would not be the best way to go, I was just throwing out the possibilities. Anything fradulent is not something we want to consider.

It looks like the best way to go would be to get married first and then go through the CR-1 process. It would be beneficial to get married in the US, first because it takes less time to get the actual marriage certificate that you need for the application. In the states it only takes 2 weeks or so, while in Ontario I believe that it takes ~10 weeks. Secondly, she obviously wants to visit the DC area to make sure it is a nice place for her to be and maybe check out some schools in person.

Now, she has extensive visiting history in the US. She was here from January 2011 to June 2011 already. We were planning on driving from Ontario to DC, then she would fly back DC-Toronto. We have crossed the border enough as a couple to know they are very thorough in checking intentions. I plan on bringing the following as evidence:

letter from my uncle, who I will be initially living with

letter from employer stating I am starting a job

my bank statement showing we have some money

her one way ticket from DC-Toronto (she will only be in the States for 2 weeks)

I figured it is best to be honest with the border official and tell them that we are planning to go check out the DC area, get married, and then have her fly back to Canada to start the Visa proceedings. From my research here, there is nothing wrong with going to the US to get married and NOT staying, so it would obviously be best to disclose everything to the border agent. It is a bit of a risk to buy the return ticket without a guarantee she will be able to drive across the border, but I figure that would be extra proof to the border agent that she is not planning to stay and we are trying to go about this the right way. Any thoughts?

[astone 0]

and about the residency requirements, I called the Northern Virginia Community College, and as long as I have been living in Virginia for 1 year and have tax records, DL, lease etc to prove that, AND she is my dependent (whicih means that she has no job, has not paid taxes, etc) then she can get the in-state tuition for her first year. After that first year, she will have residecny requirements by herself. Additionally, she can ge t ajob after they decide she is a dependent, there is no 'check up' or anything like that.

All promising news.

[Flames9_RN 358]

thanks all to the responses

I was pretty sure that the student visa option would not be the best way to go, I was just throwing out the possibilities. Anything fradulent is not something we want to consider.

It looks like the best way to go would be to get married first and then go through the CR-1 process. It would be beneficial to get married in the US, first because it takes less time to get the actual marriage certificate that you need for the application. In the states it only takes 2 weeks or so, while in Ontario I believe that it takes ~10 weeks. Secondly, she obviously wants to visit the DC area to make sure it is a nice place for her to be and maybe check out some schools in person.

Now, she has extensive visiting history in the US. She was here from January 2011 to June 2011 already. We were planning on driving from Ontario to DC, then she would fly back DC-Toronto. We have crossed the border enough as a couple to know they are very thorough in checking intentions. I plan on bringing the following as evidence:

letter from my uncle, who I will be initially living with

letter from employer stating I am starting a job

my bank statement showing we have some money

her one way ticket from DC-Toronto (she will only be in the States for 2 weeks)

I figured it is best to be honest with the border official and tell them that we are planning to go check out the DC area, get married, and then have her fly back to Canada to start the Visa proceedings. From my research here, there is nothing wrong with going to the US to get married and NOT staying, so it would obviously be best to disclose everything to the border agent. It is a bit of a risk to buy the return ticket without a guarantee she will be able to drive across the border, but I figure that would be extra proof to the border agent that she is not planning to stay and we are trying to go about this the right way. Any thoughts?

WRONG!!! lol Only tell POE gaurds what they ask you!! Dont blab away!! Never lie! See my advice in my signature!!

Thats what we did, on a trip (to DC where my wife lived)got married by A JP and then soon filed the CR-1 paperwork. Visited pretty much monthly, never had a problem! But yes some people get hassled more or denied. All boils down to the POE officer!! But dont blab away!! keep your answers short/sweet, be polite, look them in their eye!! Just never lie!! Best of luck

[astone 0]

hm....So you're suggesting just saying that we are going there for a visit and that be the end of it? I don't want them to pry and then we tell them we are going to get married and haveher come back because then it would look like we were hiding that initially? sorry to sound neurotic about that, but the customs agents have a way of turning words around to make it seem like you were hiding it

[SapphireDreams 71]

Be forthcoming with information when you cross the border, but only if they ask. Don't volunteer any information they don't ask for.

I would start by simply stating you are visiting DC together and see where that leads.

And good idea re: marriage certificate! We got ours on the same day in NYC!

Your ties looks good. The return ticket will be great evidence, but if your gf has any other ties to Canada, like a lease or a letter from someone that she will be living with, that would help too.

[Flames9_RN 358]

They have no need to know that ur going to get married!! Is it illegal to get married on a visit? NO. But some POE officers may get their feathers up. As I said never Lie. They ask you for your intentions? Say Visiting DC and your flying back on whatevr day! They ask business or pleasure, you say Pleasure! keep it simple!! Now if ur luggage is full of wedding #######, for sure u have to play it differently! lol

[CBM 14]

After going the K-1 route, I think you've made a good decision to go the CR-1 route. Our reason was we didn't want to separated after getting married, but in hindsight, it was very hard to be separated anyway.

I just think the CR-1 has advantages that the K-1 doesn't. Your wife won't have to wait months for her permission to work and can get started on job applications right away. A lot of states (mine does) require you to prove residency before getting a license, so your wife won't have to wait around for that, either. That has been one of the biggest annoyances for me - not being able to drive.

I think you've made a great choice

[Flames9_RN 358]

PLUS if she has enough qulaifying hours at work in Canada, on a CR-1, she can get Cdn EI right away,lol But if she is going to school, I think that cuts into the amount 1 can get