J-1 Vias Marriage rules

[faithinGod 8]

i assume she was here with the work and travel program?

Than the 2 yrs rule does not apply and next year she`ll most likely get the visa again since she didn`t overstay this year and her school situation remains the same.make sure she won`t overstay next year either if you wanna get married and apply for CR1 after she leaves.

[Little_My 464]

Sorry, I am not familiar with possible special circumstances for members of military and their spouses, as that wasn't relevant to my situation. There are plenty of members of the military and their spouses on these forums though, I'm sure someone will know more about this - or you can just do a search here on VJ and see what comes up.

[Barbara J 115]

thank you! i appreciate the input. Hopefully her next J-1 is the same. I imagine it would be because its the same process she went through last time. But who knows everything changes right? this has been very helpful already.

Do you know what kind of benefits come from being in the military on this process?

None unless you are enlisted and on deployment then your CR1 can be expedited but as you have not entered the forces yet it does not apply to you and there is no special treatment for military unless in active deployment.

[mrs. carey 4]

I also had a J1 (with exemption from the 2 year home stay rule) and was doing my internship in the US when I met my husband. I still had a semester left in my university back in the Philippines. We also didn't know what to do back then since both of us weren't familiar with any of these. He started researching and thought that doing a K1 would be our best option. So he filed before I went back home; we got approved and I got my K1 visa after graduation. Looking back though, we think that it would have been best for us to have done CR1 instead. It's cheaper and you get your green card and employment authorization when you get to the US. It would save her from being stuck at home for months after AOS(Adjustment of Status)--bored and unproductive.

[ONA 133]

If she was in the States for the summer and is going to be back next summer, then, I believe, it was Summer Work and Travel program - and in this case 2 year rule does not apply.

As for the situation... you can go with CR-1 route or choose a long way (like we did). Me and my husband met when I was in the States on a J-1 visa and I had 3 more years in the university. So I spent 2 more summers in the USA, he came over to visit me in Russia 3 times during the winter and when I was in my last year of university we applied for a K-1 visa. We were thinking about getting married last summer and applying for a CR-1 visa, but since we wanted to invite my parents for the wedding, we decided to wait for 1 more year before we get married. So, it pretty much depends on what you want. If she wants to complete her university degree, you'll have to spend a lot of time apart in the next 2 years anyway, so it's up to you when to get married and which visa to apply.

Edited September 29, 2011 by ONA

[Baile 0]

Well, the way we see it. I am planing to go there for a month over christmas (if i get my toursit visa to go to Russia) there we will decide what date we want to get married should she get her visa again to come to the states. (if she gets it she comes over Then we get married), we spend the 4 or 5 months the visa gives her, together. then she goes back to Russia, i come visit for that christmas, and then she should be close to finished with university by then. End result being she finishes her education in Russia, and once completed moves here. Thats our plan, obviously it will be subject to change having to await approval of visa's and such. is that a good plan do you think? or are we completely naive in our assumption of this plan?

[milimelo 4,481]

If you're getting married, make sure your chain of command knows about it and approves it. May affect any security clearances you hold. For TS, they could even do a full background check on her in Russia.

Nothing really about military helps in your case unless you're deploying - then you can expedite. Given that you'll be waiting for her to finish her university degree, just follow regular process for spousal visa.

Good luck!

[Baile 0]

thanks for the great help folks! I really appreciate the information if you have anymore tips or advice I would love to hear it!