K-1 or CR-1??

[jessicaruizw 9]

Hello all, I have a seemingly easy question to which I would love some help!

My fiancee and I are currently deciding between the k-1 and the CR-1/IR-1 visas...Yes, we know k-1 is for unwed, and CR-1 is for married couples, but my question goes a little deeper than that. Basically I want to know about speed and ease, and I feel the more I read, the more confused i get!!

Here is our background - Going on my 3rd year living and working in Chile, I met my fiancee at a bday party. We have currently been dating for a year and are engaged and living together. I wanted to return to the U.S. last year, but have decided to stay until he can get a visa so as to not be apart. He applied for a student visa (f-1) and was denied this January. Also - neither of us has previous marriages, children, or legal/judicial problems. Also, I would be doing the process from abroad, but obviously filing in either dallas or chicago since chile does not do DCF.

So, we have 2 options -

1) apply for the k-1 and get married stateside but spend almost twice as much $ with only an approx 1.5 month advantage (according to VJ´s comparison charts)

2)get married now (which we would like) and apply for the CR-1. However, we wonder if that fact that we are recently married will make the process take longer than it does for most couples?? Is there a great difference in paperwork required by the cr-1 vs the k-1??

Basically I feel like the k-1 seems like the "quickfix" to go home, but then we will spend several months afterwards getting his permission to work, travel, and AOS so that he can actually be a resident. Does anyone have any advice for our situation?? And what is the advantage if any for the k-3??

Other Misc Questions -

Financial documentation - I have only ever filed taxes once because before in college and all but 1 year here in chile I have not earned enough to require filing. Should I retroactively file to have sthg to turn in?? (obviously I will have a co sponsor for this part).

Passport - Is it true that one must have a passport valid for 5 years?? I have 4 1/2 left on mine and I dont wanna pay to renew it if I don´t have to. Also, is the 5 yr valid passport necessary for the filing of the I29f, or at a later step??

any help would be great, sorry if this is in the wrong place!!

best of wishes to my fellow VJers!

[SmilesAbroad 27]

I read on an embassy website that it is actually a myth that the K-1 visa is faster. I'm not sure if they are just saying that or if its really true. Also the K3 seems to be mostly inefficient and take more time. If you want to get married now then you should do that and process the CR1. Considerations for the K1 visa: it seems if you have been calling each other husband and wife, even jokingly or had an large party that can be confused with a wedding party, you should not do the K1 and just get married instead. They could accuse you of being married and trying to use the wrong visa. One thing about marrying now is that as you go through the process and waiting time you will get closer to the 2 year mark of your marriage, which is good. Also examine your relationship and compare its development to the typical relationship in his country. The more traditional the relationship and marriage party, the better. The officers will compare your situation to what is common and if it is uncommon they will be very suspicious of fraud.

Its not good that he applied for the student visa while he knew you and was engaged to you. They ask on the student visa if you have a relative in the US, including fiance. Checking no when the answer was yes is bad news. Applying for a fiance visa or marriage visa especially within 6 months of the student visa denial is a not a good sign for the officers. They will be especially alert for fraud.

Edited March 3, 2012 by Kyda

[Inky 1,110]

Hello all, I have a seemingly easy question to which I would love some help!

My fiancee and I are currently deciding between the k-1 and the CR-1/IR-1 visas...Yes, we know k-1 is for unwed, and CR-1 is for married couples, but my question goes a little deeper than that. Basically I want to know about speed and ease, and I feel the more I read, the more confused i get!!

Here is our background - Going on my 3rd year living and working in Chile, I met my fiancee at a bday party. We have currently been dating for a year and are engaged and living together. I wanted to return to the U.S. last year, but have decided to stay until he can get a visa so as to not be apart. He applied for a student visa (f-1) and was denied this January. Also - neither of us has previous marriages, children, or legal/judicial problems. Also, I would be doing the process from abroad, but obviously filing in either dallas or chicago since chile does not do DCF.

So, we have 2 options -

1) apply for the k-1 and get married stateside but spend almost twice as much $ with only an approx 1.5 month advantage (according to VJ´s comparison charts)

2)get married now (which we would like) and apply for the CR-1. However, we wonder if that fact that we are recently married will make the process take longer than it does for most couples?? Is there a great difference in paperwork required by the cr-1 vs the k-1??

Basically I feel like the k-1 seems like the "quickfix" to go home, but then we will spend several months afterwards getting his permission to work, travel, and AOS so that he can actually be a resident. Does anyone have any advice for our situation?? And what is the advantage if any for the k-3??

Other Misc Questions -

Financial documentation - I have only ever filed taxes once because before in college and all but 1 year here in chile I have not earned enough to require filing. Should I retroactively file to have sthg to turn in?? (obviously I will have a co sponsor for this part).

Passport - Is it true that one must have a passport valid for 5 years?? I have 4 1/2 left on mine and I dont wanna pay to renew it if I don´t have to. Also, is the 5 yr valid passport necessary for the filing of the I29f, or at a later step??

any help would be great, sorry if this is in the wrong place!!

best of wishes to my fellow VJers!

Please read this VERY carefully, its spelled out every well right here http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

Yes its true that a passport has to be valid for at least 5 years. That means you cannot use any passport that was issued that is not 5 or more years of validity. eg a passport issued for 3 years. It has nothing to do with you needing to renew your passport. You are miss understanding the whole issue.

[jessicaruizw 9]

Kyda -

At the time of the student application, we were honest even though that was basically the reason for his student visa being denied. On the form i dont remember there being a fiancee/girlfriend selection for the type of relationship, but i think we put "other". I´ll have to check it out. However, I am sure we said that he knew me, would live at my house, etc. Hell my mom even signed his affidavit of support. We knew that if we lied on that app, in the long run it would come back to bite us in the butt, so we tried to be transparent. Great tips for the CR1, thanks!

Inky-

I guess I didn´t phrase my question very well. It´s not that I am unfamiliar with the differences/pros/cons per se, but I was more wondering for anyone who may have been in my situation (choosing between the 2) what was the deciding factor for them? I´ve read the comparison chart a ton of times, and i know it is a matter of deciding which are my priorities (time, money, etc).

For example, maybe someone else in my situation realized that applying for a CR-1 after being married so little time made the process take MUCH longer than the average. Or maybe there is a k-1 couple out there who wish they would have done the CR-1 route because upon arrival to the U.S. they have to do all the other paperwork/transactions in order to work, travel, etc. and realized it isn´t much easier or faster. I know that a lot of people who are geographically seperated from their partner "must" do the k-1, but in our case we are currently together and therefore have the "luxury" of choosing. We just want to choose the smoothest choice, and were wondering if someone out there was in a similar boat.

As far as the passport, thanks for the answer. I was absolutely misunderstanding the whole issue!! And your advice was a great relief!

Thanks guys!

[Orando 57]

Being geographically separated does not necessitate having to do a K-1 visa, everybody has this choice, regardless of geographical situations. Many of us marry our long distance partners in the foreign country. My wife and I chose to get married in Colombia so her family could be there, so that she would come to the US as my wife, not fiancee and so that within a month after her arrival, she would have her 2 year GC. It turns out that the CR-1 is cheaper as well. I had to meet the requirements as a foreigner marrying in Colombia, we went to the notary and they advised us what I needed to bring to get married. I had to get a declaration of single hood and birth certificate, both had to have apostilles, I also had to provide a copy of my passport, everything had to be translated to Spanish. My wife had to provide her civil documents as well to the notary.

The CR-1 is an immigrant visa so it tends to take a little longer because there are more steps for an immigrant visa. The K-1 is a non-immigrant visa and gives the person the right to enter the US and marry a US Citizen within 90 days, less steps, so it may process faster.

I would do the CR-1 again, I would rather have my wife wait the extra time in her country, then spend the months of time waiting in the US to get the work authorization, it is not good for my wife to sit idle. With the CR-1, she can hit the ground running. With K-1, she has to apply for work authorization, apply to be able to leave the country, adjust status, and we have to pay more money. Also, her coming as my wife was the right thing for us. Sure, there is the potential to be together sooner with the K-1, you do not have to deal with marriage in a foreign jurisdiction, but the benefits of the CR-1 were more attractive for us.

Also, the time of filing the I-130 after the marriage is not significant, you could file the day after the wedding without a problem. I mailed the I-130 24 days after our marriage, I had to come back to the US, have some documents translated, it was Christmas time so that slowed the translations down. Finally had everything ready to go on 01/03/2012.

Hope this helps.

Edited March 3, 2012 by Orando

[jessicaruizw 9]

Orando - Thanks for your input!! Appreciate the perspective

[Orando 57]

Orando - Thanks for your input!! Appreciate the perspective

[jkf2112 0]

Is cr1 still preferable when stepchild is involved?

[Pitaya 2,577]

Is cr1 still preferable when stepchild is involved?

Welcome to the forum.

A lot depends on your personal situation.

[jkf2112 0]

Thank you for the welcoming words. I'd prefer them here sooner than later, but she has two children and we were going to marry in January when I'm over there.

[Pitaya 2,577]

Thank you for the welcoming words. I'd prefer them here sooner than later, but she has two children and we were going to marry in January when I'm over there.

Sounds like you are already have plans to do the spousal visa.

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

For me this is easy. If you're still in the throes of dating then Fiancee visa, if you're married then a spousal visa. Don't chose based on timing or cost or paperwork as anything could happen to service centers.

[TBoneTX 45,291]

*** (Rather old) thread moved from K-1 Process to General Immigration Discussion forum. ***