Advice regarding my situation and visa options

[Session 0]

Hi I'm hoping to get some ideas and advice from people here regarding my situation.

I am a US citizen and my fiance is a Taiwanese national. We have been together for over 4 years and recently got engaged. We have a set wedding date in Taiwan on October of this year. Our goal is that she will come here to the US to live with me. And right now we seem to have 3 options that I could use some advice as to which is better to approach.

1.) She has a valid tourist visa expiring 2014. Using the tourist visa, we get married here in the US before our October wedding, I apply for a K-3 visa in the mean time. She will be returning to Taiwan so this would technically be legal but would it cause issues later with USCIS since I hear using a tourist visa to marry is risky?

2.) Apply for the K-1 visa now and hope the process completes before October so she can arrive using the K-1 visa and we get married in the US prior to the Taiwan wedding date (so we don't go the tourist visa route and possibly cause issues with that). The risk here is the process doesn't complete in time and I have to start over with a K-3 visa. If it does complete in time, that means she would be able to legally live here with me sooner.

3.) Wait until after our Taiwan wedding and I apply for a K-3 visa.

We are pretty much ok with any of these options. If I go with option 3, would she not be allowed to visit me in the US until the K-3 completes? We would like to be together here in the US as much as it is possible. Also would she be denied entry at the POE if we are in the process of a K-1/K-3 visa and she tries to visits me in the U.S using her tourist visa?

I could use some help. Thanks in advance for any insight.

-JC

[Inky 1,111]

Have you looked at the CR-1 ? This option is by far better than the K-3.

Please check out the information on the costs/times/pros and cons here http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

[Session 0]

Have you looked at the CR-1 ? This option is by far better than the K-3.

Please check out the information on the costs/times/pros and cons here http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

Thanks for the reply Inky. I have actually read about the CR-1 but might not be understanding it fully. Wouldn't the CR-1 be more critical? By that I mean she would not be allowed to set foot in the U.S until it completes and wouldn't the process be harder to approve since it's directly to permanent residency? As I understand it the K-3 could be approved sooner, therefore she can remain with me in the U.S. earlier and at that time we can wait out the CR-1 process together? Or is the wait time now negligible between the two?

-JC

[Harsh_77 718]

If you are getting married in Taiwan and want to bring your spouse over CR1 would be the option.

If you are getting married in US then K1 would be the option.

Which option to go for would be the based on where you choose to marry.

[Session 0]

If you are getting married in Taiwan and want to bring your spouse over CR1 would be the option.

If you are getting married in US then K1 would be the option.

Which option to go for would be the based on where you choose to marry.

I guess I should have been a little more specific. The reason I have these options is that I would like to start the process of getting my fiance/spouse here with me in the US as soon as possible. The third option of getting the CR-1 would require waiting until after the wedding before beginning the process. We are holding an October wedding in Taiwan specifically for family so that date won't change. Which means if I go with the third option I can't begin submitting requests and forms until after October for the CR-1. That means she can't be here with me until almost 2 years from this date. If option 1 and 2 is viable, would that allow me to begin the process faster? Would it be advisable to do it with the first two options?

Thanks,

-JC

[Inky 1,111]

If you want to marry in Taiwan the K-1 is not an option. A K-1 visa holder is required to marry in the USA to comply with the visa requirements.

Getting married and then filing a CR-1 - she CAN visit during the process - not sure why you think she cant. Specially since she already has a visitor visa that she can use to come and visit with.

CR-1 is not harder to get - it takes less time to get than a K-3, it costs less than a K-3, she has her green card on entry and can begin looking for work right away and travel right away.

[Harsh_77 718]

I guess I should have been a little more specific. The reason I have these options is that I would like to start the process of getting my fiance/spouse here with me in the US as soon as possible. The third option of getting the CR-1 would require waiting until after the wedding before beginning the process. We are holding an October wedding in Taiwan specifically for family so that date won't change. Which means if I go with the third option I can't begin submitting requests and forms until after October for the CR-1. That means she can't be here with me until almost 2 years from this date. If option 1 and 2 is viable, would that allow me to begin the process faster? Would it be advisable to do it with the first two options?

Thanks,

-JC

So if you go with K1 options and bring her to US - that is not going to happen immediately either it will take 8-9 months anyways.

Its not like you will apply for K1 and she would be approved in 4-6 weeks and she can come here.

Once she is here you will have to marry her within 90 days from her arrival and start the AOS, which means she cannot go back to Taiwan for the wedding until her AOS is completed.

I hope this is making sense....faster is not always the best option

In straight forward case CR1 takes 7-8 months to be completes, but then you have no AOS or nothing everything is done.

[Session 0]

If you want to marry in Taiwan the K-1 is not an option. A K-1 visa holder is required to marry in the USA to comply with the visa requirements.

Getting married and then filing a CR-1 - she CAN visit during the process - not sure why you think she cant. Specially since she already has a visitor visa that she can use to come and visit with.

CR-1 is not harder to get - it takes less time to get than a K-3, it costs less than a K-3, she has her green card on entry and can begin looking for work right away and travel right away.

Thank you that was very informative and yes I know the K-1 is specifically for non-married status which is why we would get married first in the US prior to Taiwan to qualify for it, the only concern is whether we could get the K-1 process done before the Taiwan wedding date. And the guides for CR-1 cons state " Separation from family may be longer than if filing for a K-3 Visa (or K-1 visa for a non-married fiance). The applicant will most likely not be able to enter the US while their IR1-CR-1 Visa is being processed." This is why I assumed it means while that is being processed my fiance/spouse would not be allowed to step foot in the US whether she has another visa or not.

I'm new to all this which is why some of it is a bit confusing for me, thanks for bearing with me.

-JC

[Inky 1,111]

Thank you that was very informative and yes I know the K-1 is specifically for non-married status which is why we would get married first in the US prior to Taiwan to qualify for it, the only concern is whether we could get the K-1 process done before the Taiwan wedding date. And the guides for CR-1 cons state " Separation from family may be longer than if filing for a K-3 Visa (or K-1 visa for a non-married fiance). The applicant will most likely not be able to enter the US while their IR1-CR-1 Visa is being processed." This is why I assumed it means while that is being processed my fiance/spouse would not be allowed to step foot in the US whether she has another visa or not.

I'm new to all this which is why some of it is a bit confusing for me, thanks for bearing with me.

-JC

The K-3 used to be to replace the CR-1 when the CR-1 was taking to long. Now the K-3 is taking much longer than a CR-1 and the K-3 is really no longer a better option than the CR-1.

She most definitely can visit during the process. People do it all the time. She just needs to bring proof of ties to her country in case they ask for proof that she will return home.

Ties to country would be a letter from her job expecting her back - school papers showing her start dates - house/apt payments things shes responsible for etc. things like that.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

K-3 is basically a dead visa. Any references to it are old and outdated. For over a year now in most instances the NVC is canceling the K-3 part and making it a CR-1. So forget K-3.

You won't have the K-1 in time for the October wedding. (Specifically, you might have the visa, but you'd have to come to the US, marry, and wait around 3 months for travel permission before you could go and have your wedding).

The best thing to do, if you absolutely must have the wedding in Taiwan in October, is to legally marry (anywhere) now and start the paperwork for a spousal (CR-1) visa. She CAN visit in the meantime. THen you can have a wedding ceremony in October in Taiwan and hopefully the CR-1 visa will be approved sometime near there or shortly thereafter.

[Harsh_77 718]

Some period of staying apart is part and parcel of this process does not matter which way you got K1 or CR1 and to me for both more or less its same time.

[Harsh_77 718]

The K-3 used to be to replace the CR-1 when the CR-1 was taking to long. Now the K-3 is taking much longer than a CR-1 and the K-3 is really no longer a better option than the CR-1.

She most definitely can visit during the process. People do it all the time. She just needs to bring proof of ties to her country in case they ask for proof that she will return home.

Ties to country would be a letter from her job expecting her back - school papers showing her start dates - house/apt payments things shes responsible for etc. things like that.

Inky is an old memeber and knows what she talks, but I would not disagree with her a little on this.

I would not bank on the option of your wife getting to visit while immigrant visa is in process.

Very small percentage of spouse do get this option, most are denied entry at POE.

[Session 0]

So if you go with K1 options and bring her to US - that is not going to happen immediately either it will take 8-9 months anyways.

Its not like you will apply for K1 and she would be approved in 4-6 weeks and she can come here.

Once she is here you will have to marry her within 90 days from her arrival and start the AOS, which means she cannot go back to Taiwan for the wedding until her AOS is completed.

I hope this is making sense....faster is not always the best option

In straight forward case CR1 takes 7-8 months to be completes, but then you have no AOS or nothing everything is done.

Yes it's making sense thanks Harsh. I know going the K-1 route requires too many things to go right for me to complete before October, I was hoping that wasn't the case. So if I had gone the K-1 route and we married in the US, would applying for AOS be required right away? I did not know that.

So it seems the best choice is for me to just get married in October, file for CR-1. And in the mean time she can still visit/stay with me with her tourist visa. Would POE frown on/deny a spouse entering the US even with a CR-1 in process?

You guys have been very helpful thanks again,

-JC

[Session 0]

K-3 is basically a dead visa. Any references to it are old and outdated. For over a year now in most instances the NVC is canceling the K-3 part and making it a CR-1. So forget K-3.

You won't have the K-1 in time for the October wedding. (Specifically, you might have the visa, but you'd have to come to the US, marry, and wait around 3 months for travel permission before you could go and have your wedding).

The best thing to do, if you absolutely must have the wedding in Taiwan in October, is to legally marry (anywhere) now and start the paperwork for a spousal (CR-1) visa. She CAN visit in the meantime. THen you can have a wedding ceremony in October in Taiwan and hopefully the CR-1 visa will be approved sometime near there or shortly thereafter.

Hmm I see...so if we married in the US while she's here on her tourist visa and I begin the process for CR-1 this is perfectly ok? My worry here is about her entering with a tourist visa and we get married would somehow cause issues with the paperwork.

-JC

[Harsh_77 718]

Hmm I see...so if we married in the US while she's here on her tourist visa and I begin the process for CR-1 this is perfectly ok? My worry here is about her entering with a tourist visa and we get married would somehow cause issues with the paperwork.

-JC

Entering after you file for CR1 on tourist visa could be tricky and CBP officer can deny entry.

Same time She can enter on tourist visa next week, you can marry within the time she has in US and file for CR1 from US... that is completely legal.

For you she could enter in May (assuming she would be granted 6 months on tourist visa) start your CR1 process, go back to Taiwan get married in October and she can finish off the remaining CR1 process in Taiwan, do her interview and medical in Taiwan and come back by end of December.

So this way ideally you guys would be away from each other only for 3-4 months.... not bad.