Is petitioning a fiancee faster than a spouse?

[nanobel 0]

My uncle's fiancee is a US citizen. He's a Cuban national living in Venezuela. He was on his way to the US with my grandmother in 1980, but everything got complicated when she died. He's been in Venezuela ever since and we just found him after 30-something years.

His fiance, Rosa, is living in California and was going over to Venezuela tomorrow to marry him this week. They've been dating for about 2 years, I think. The thing that happened is that you can't marry in Venezuela without a birth certificate and he does not have the original. He went to 3 places today and they would not take the copy. So they can't get married within the 2 weeks she will be there. My sister, who is in Cuba, was supposed to get his original birth certificate, but I haven't been able to get ahold of her.

So I was thinking of filing a I-129F for her since we don't really have another choice. Someone mentioned to me that it's faster anyways, as opposed to petitioning a spouse, but that seems a bit weird to me. Is this true? Because then we don't have to stress about his birth certificate. We're going crazy over this and the Rosa is calling me every hour on the hour to ask if I've heard anything, yet. I know I will not need his BC to file for a K1 visa because I have his passport and other identification.

Can someone give me a general idea as to how long it would take for him to be able to get into the US? Like if I send the I-129F tomorrow and everything was perfectly in place. I have everything that they'd ask for already since I was getting ready to file the I-130 for them as soon as they got married.

Another question is: If they get married while waiting for the K1 visa...what then? Would that complicate matters more?

[Ryan H 3,813]

Posted times by USCIS from NOA1 to NOA2 for fiance(e) and spousal visa petitions are the same, 5 months. An individual file may take less time than that, it may take more time. After USCIS approves a fiance(e) visa petition, they will send it to the NVC. The NVC is only a mail stop, all that takes place there is they assign the file a case number and send it to the appropriate post overseas. For a spousal visa petition, additional documentation will have to be submitted to the NVC after a case number is assigned and prior to the file being sent overseas.

Estimate 7-10 months from filing to interview (for either one).

Another question is: If they get married while waiting for the K1 visa...what then? Would that complicate matters more?

If they get married while a K1 petition was pending, they would have to go back to the start and file a spousal visa petition.

Edited November 4, 2011 by Ryan H

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

K1 tends to be a few weeks faster, not much. But there is more paperwork when the beneficiary gets to the USA, and he won't be able to work for months. The time saving tends to be because of when you can file: If the couple met in person in the last two years, they can file immediately, whereas for the spousal visa they need to get married, wait for the marriage cert, then file.

Has your uncle met Rosa in person in the last two years?

[nanobel 0]

This is all great info, thanks so much!

He has met Rosa. They met in person about 2 years ago, but didn't get romantically involved until about 6 months ago. She travels to Venezuela all the time to visit him.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My uncle's fiancee is a US citizen. He's a Cuban national living in Venezuela. He was on his way to the US with my grandmother in 1980, but everything got complicated when she died. He's been in Venezuela ever since and we just found him after 30-something years.

His fiance, Rosa, is living in California and was going over to Venezuela tomorrow to marry him this week. They've been dating for about 2 years, I think. The thing that happened is that you can't marry in Venezuela without a birth certificate and he does not have the original. He went to 3 places today and they would not take the copy. So they can't get married within the 2 weeks she will be there. My sister, who is in Cuba, was supposed to get his original birth certificate, but I haven't been able to get ahold of her.

So I was thinking of filing a I-129F for her since we don't really have another choice. Someone mentioned to me that it's faster anyways, as opposed to petitioning a spouse, but that seems a bit weird to me. Is this true? Because then we don't have to stress about his birth certificate. We're going crazy over this and the Rosa is calling me every hour on the hour to ask if I've heard anything, yet. I know I will not need his BC to file for a K1 visa because I have his passport and other identification.

Can someone give me a general idea as to how long it would take for him to be able to get into the US? Like if I send the I-129F tomorrow and everything was perfectly in place. I have everything that they'd ask for already since I was getting ready to file the I-130 for them as soon as they got married.

Another question is: If they get married while waiting for the K1 visa...what then? Would that complicate matters more?

If they get married while waiting for the K-1 the K-1 is cancelled and they have to start over, make a choice and stick with it.

A k-1 will take 6-9 months to get him in the US. A CR-1 (spouse) will take 9-12 months. BUT the CR-1 comes with a green card and the K-1 requires an adjustment of status after arrival and marriage to get a green card. K-1s cannot work or leave the country ntil they have their green card.

Short story...K-1 gets you here faster but you are not "done", it is only partially complete. If being able to work and earn money is an issue, go for the CR-1.

[missicy 87]

He will need a birth certificate for K-1 visa (at the interview and later for AOS in US).