In a nut shell, what are the pros & cons between K-1 & CR-1?

[D N Medellin COL 75]

Yes I have read the flow charts. It looks like the K-1 is a bit faster initially but what about after arrival into the States? What are the other factors we need to evaluate between the two?

Just for an overview, should someone be considering which route to take, what are the highlights of the advantages and the disadvantages of either the K-1 or CR-1 routes to take?

Why would one choose one over the other?

Does any one have any real life post experiences? Would you go the other route if you could do it over?

[Inky 1,111]

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

Compare page has all the extra info plus and minus etc.

We did K-1 I would not change that we did the K-1 neither would my husband.

[joevegas 67]

We did the k-1...big mistake...If you enjoy going to more interviews paying another thousand and more,not being able to leave the country for almost a year,not being able to work,then by all means apply for the K-1..otherwise the CR-1 is a good choice,just sayin:)

[canadian_wife 1,829]

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

This is the place to go!

Good luck, we went for the cr-1 for ALL the reasons joevegas listed - I wanted to work/travel right away, cost was important to us, and the few weeks additional time was worth it

[Penny Lane 8,159]

We did the k-1...big mistake...If you enjoy going to more interviews paying another thousand and more,not being able to leave the country for almost a year,not being able to work,then by all means apply for the K-1..otherwise the CR-1 is a good choice,just sayin:)

Not being able to leave the country for almost a year?

You can leave whenever you want. To get back in, you need AP, which generally takes approximately 3 months.

Same with being able to work.

And not everyone needs another interview, either.

My fiance and I chose the K1 because once I am in the US, I want to be able to stay. I want to spend our first year of marriage together, so I'm choosing to spend some of our engagement apart. I didn't want to get married and come back to Canada to be alone for the Visa process. That's what I based our decision on.

Edited August 29, 2011 by Coconuts

[joevegas 67]

Not being able to leave the country for almost a year?

You can leave whenever you want. To get back in, you need AP, which generally takes approximately 3 months.

Same with being able to work.

And not everyone needs another interview, either.

My fiance and I chose the K1 because once I am in the US, I want to be able to stay. I want to spend our first year of marriage together, so I'm choosing to spend some of our engagement apart. I didn't want to get married and come back to Canada to be alone for the Visa process. That's what I based our decision on.

I'm glad it worked for you,but I just gave my opinion,and my opinion is..i would choose the CR-1 over the k-1 anytime..

[Penny Lane 8,159]

I'm glad it worked for you,but I just gave my opinion,and my opinion is..i would choose the CR-1 over the k-1 anytime..

I understand that, and I'm not saying your opinion is wrong, everyone has to make the right choice for them.

I don't agree with giving someone wrong information about how long things take with the K1 though. You can work and travel, usually, in about 2-3 months. Not "almost a year" ..

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

Even though the CR-1 route is cheaper, we chose to go with the K-1. We have no regrets about it. As others have mentioned, we didn't want to have to be apart right after we finally got married. We had been a couple for 10 years before filing, and we wanted to be able to get married and be together from then on. Parting again right after getting married just was not an option for us personally.

Also, after you are married on a K-1 and file for adjustment of status, it takes an average of 3 months to be able to work and travel, not a year. Can get your green card in about 4-5 months as well.

Edited August 29, 2011 by Jay-Kay

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Yes I have read the flow charts. It looks like the K-1 is a bit faster initially but what about after arrival into the States? What are the other factors we need to evaluate between the two?

Just for an overview, should someone be considering which route to take, what are the highlights of the advantages and the disadvantages of either the K-1 or CR-1 routes to take?

Why would one choose one over the other?

Does any one have any real life post experiences? Would you go the other route if you could do it over?

We initially looked at doing a K-1 .. after investigating and talking it over we decided to the the CR-1. If you have every intention of getting married after she arrives and not using it as a trial period then you need to consider a few things.. The overall cost is less with the CR-1 - not just the visa process (which is cheaper) but with the wedding as well. I wanted to be married but I could do without the whole getting-married ceremony so I thought why not do it in Colombia - it was more important to her and provided the opportunity for both families to meet.. We rented a spot in the Botanical Garden in Medellin, had everyone wear white and had dinner in a very nice restaurant afterword before taking the show on the road and hitting the dance clubs. The entire cost of the wedding was $2000 (minus the rings) and I never even gave them a budget, just told them to "go wild". She got the wedding she wanted and I was able to pay for it out of pocket.. we were both estatic

While you are both waiting the 8 months and doing the web-cam conversations on the internet you can do corny things like both stick your rings up to the camera and say "tu eras mi vida .. siempre juntos"..

CR-1s almost never have problems sailing through the Bogota embassy. K-1 are pretty safe as well but the CR-1 has the advantage.

A couple of things that go unmentioned about going the CR-1 route: for the most part it instantly stops people from asking you if you are doing the right thing and gets them looking forward with you, the decision has been made so hey! get with the program. I don't think we would have had a problem either way but the fact that we are married really brought both families together and got them pulling with us. I had many family members fly in and after meeting her family and touring Colombia it really changed their perception... I also like that I am not planning a wedding now.. Instead I've put some funds away to hit Vegas on the way back for a few days and then road trip it back home and hit places like lagoon (amusement park outside of salt lake) and visit some of my relatives. We can plan our lives with no 90 day deadline coming up. I would *so* hate to be doing wedding planning at this stage in the process. I'm having a blast planning Halloween costumes.

if you are 100% certain you are going to be married then you have to ask yourself why you are waiting to come to the US... there are valid reasons to get married int he US but they were not there for me.

In a nutshell for the CR-1:

Pros: Less expensive, the wait will easier (in my opinion)

Cons: slower (but not by much)

Good luck whatever path you choose.

Edited August 29, 2011 by OnMyWayID

[bigdog 377]

My wife says either way is a challange and has it own issues. I am glad she is here and we are married (the goal is to be together ) no matter how you do it.

[Oksana & Max 94]

While CR-1 is cheaper, the main thing is that the wait is longer. And I don't want to be any longer without my honey.

I choose K-1 just for the timing reason. I would rather pay extra but be together sooner.

Also you can work and travel approximately after 3 month, so it is fine with me, by the time she will get settled, we can already go to our honey moon.

[SMR 368]

One factor that I think should be considered but is different for different couples is the amount of time it takes to fill the prerequisites for each of the visas. In particular, the CR-1 requires that you are married and the K-1 does not. Depending on the country you are in, whether or not you are currently together physically, and whether or not you want the actual wedding to be a big affair or are fine doing a small court ceremony, this can be a rather significant chunk of time that is effectively added onto the CR-1 route that isn't really captured in the timeline from filing to POE.

I've said this before, but for us the important time to consider was from engagement to POE. Had we gone with the CR-1, that would have effectively added 6 months or more to the time before POE since the wedding would have been 3-4 months out and the CR-1 is typically longer from filing to POE.

As has been said, CR-1 has advantages such as lower cost and minimal downtime when the foreign spouse can't work. For us, these were secondary concerns. The time to green card is comparable; the foreign spouse just waits in the home country instead of the US. Some people claim that there is a difference in commitment between the two visas but to me that's a simple matter between the engaged couple.

I'm not trying to say that one is always better than the other. But I do think the advantage of the K-1 visa that wedding planning and visa waiting can be done in parallel is often overlooked. Of course, the uncertainty in the visa process means you have to evaluate how much risk your plans can tolerate (in terms of how delays in the visa process will revise wedding plans).

[*Snowdrop* 604]

As the bride, I wanted to get married in my own country with all my family there - that meant a wedding in the UK which automatically meant the CR1 for us.

Although it was a longer process (very long for us because we got caught up in a USCIS backlog) I haven't regretted it for a second.

It was enough of a hassle going through the Removal of Conditions process 2 years later - I'm very glad we didn't have to bother with AOS with the K1

Overall - the wedding was the most important issue for me but the following points are all relevent:

*Decide where you want to get married.

*Does the immigrant partner need to be able to work immediately?

*Does the visa beneficiary need to travel outside the United States immediately?

*Do you meet the requirements for the visa you want to apply for.

How to choose between a marriage and fiance visa for the USA

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

We chose the K1 for three reasons:

Getting married in Vietnam would have been difficult. There are bureaucratic hurdles for a foreigner to marry a VN national that take several weeks to accomplish. If you're not willing to pay "extra" (i.e., bribes) then it can take a couple of months. There's a psych eval for the foreigner that I might fail because I take meds for anxiety. There's an interview where a VN government official can require the VN national to prove they are fluent in the foreigner's native language, even if the foreigner is fluent in Vietnamese. My wife's English skills were rough. Whether we could have gotten through it depends on how strict they wanted to be.

The K1 visa allows for derivative children to receive a visa until they're 21 years old. A CR1 doesn't allow for derivatives, but you can file separate CR2 petitions for the children provided the USC and foreign spouse were married before the children were 18. My wife has a son who was 19 and a daughter who was nearly 18 that she wanted to bring with her. This would have been impossible if we'd married first.

The K1 allows for a backup plan. The denial rate in Vietnam is fairly high. If a K1 visa is denied at the consulate then the petitioner and beneficiary can go ahead and get married and then petition for a CR1. They don't have to wait for a decision on the returned K1 petition, though they do have to deal with a NOIR if they get one. The CR1 doesn't allow for a backup plan. If the visa is denied and the petition is returned then you have to wait for a decision on the returned petition - you can't file another petition unless the first petition has been closed.

[Ashlyn&Grevin 0]

At the end of the day for my Fiance and I it came down to the fact that I wanted my family to be there with me for the wedding ceremony. I was married before and it was a shot-gun thing behind my parents back (I was 19 and I really regret it now) and I really wanted my parents to be there this time because this is true love and the last wedding I will ever have, plus my grandfather is too sick to travel and I love him to death. So my fiance made the sacrifice to allow me to have the first ceremony in the US, and we plan on having a re-commitment/2nd ceremony in Costa Rica for his family. At the end of the day you have to weigh what is important to you and your fiance. A bit cheaper somewhat easier road of the CR-1 with a longer waiting period and getting married in Colombia and spending the first months of your marriage apart, or a more expensive more paperwork wedding in the US where you have only 90 days to put something together sacrificing time away during your engagement but once you say "I Do" you are together road of the K-1... really and physically together. Good luck and as long as you love and support each other then it doesn't really matter what you choose because it will be the right choice for you.