Who should pay the fees?

[bahisgirl 11]

For my husband and myself, I paid the initial fee for the K1 as his petitioner, but he paid everything else...visa fees, medical, flight to US and AOS fee....

However, if you are worried about money struggles now, it only gets worse once they are here. Remember, you will be supporting him until he gets his EAD and even beyond that...the job market is terrible. It has been one of our greatest struggles as a couple. Luckily, I make a good salary so we have been just fine, but it has not always been very easy.

Good luck to you, you will need to find what balance of funds works best for you as a couple...but remember it does not get any cheaper once that approval comes your way....

Jackie

[sabi 148]

I hate that part, I am used to having my own money, job and independence. Being sent back to high school stage will take its toll on me.

I know exactly what you mean.. I've been able to support myself since I finished my high school up till now (9 years later) . It will be really hard to find myself in that new situation ...

[MyJourney1 15]

Question: Who do you think should be responsible for paying all the fees for the immigration process? We all know that they can be expensive and add up. But I know that many of our spouses/fiances come from poor countries. Is it fair for the spouse that comes from a more well to do area pay or how would you do it?

This decision is personal (between You & your Fiance). Money matters should be discussed between you two and agreed upon before marriage, because it will always be an issue otherwise. Also, True Love doesn't come with a "price tag". If you truly "Love" and "Trust" your Spouse/Fiance, money should not be a big issue (just need communication). This is something both (you & your Fiance) must come down with some type of an agreement on. None of us here can tell you how to run your household and/or relationship. But I will PM you my personal opinion shortly.

Edited April 11, 2012 by MyJourney1

[lucybelle 453]

Well we have yet to go through it, but I imagine we will split the costs. We're living together so we split the cost of everything else. This is just another thing we need to get out of the way

[fullmoon 1]

I will speak from my opinion on a K1 petition perspective. If you the petitioner cannot pay for the immigration fees, then you shouldn't petition anyone. You are supposed to be able to support your fiancee once they arrive to the U.S. and marry you and become your wife. I would never ask my fiancee to burden herself with any immigration expenses. Some of you may beg to differ from my opinion, but it is my opinion. Your beneficiary is giving up so much, why burden them with expenses. Some beneficiaries come from 3rd world countries where they are lucky to make even $8.00 USD a day. Lets be real, if you want them to be your wife, then take responmsibility for the financial aspects of the immigrations process. If your beneficiary is from another country that they can make as much as you, then maybe it is up to both of you to come to an agreement on the division of expenses. My fiancee didn't pursue me, I pursued her.

Totally agreed!!!!!

I am gonna tell my personal experience, I went to USA k1 visa in 2008, i wanted to be nice with my fiance and I helped him with my visa fees, medical examination, fly tickets to move to USA. He only paid the initial form (in that time was cheaper than now). I paid the rest.

When I got to USA, he wanted to make an prenuptial agreement and he wanted me to pay for that and the lawyer to do that too!!! I was agree to do the Preg agree as long as he paid at least that. But he wanted to take me for stupid since he was realized l could pay the initial fees. Also he complain all, when we went to supermarket to get groceries, the mortage, etc,etc and blaim me becuase i was there, the water bills, according to him the bills went up after my moing there. Of course i didnt marry him at all.

I think if the petitioner has not enought to support the foreign wife, he should look for a local one. I feel scared for that king of guys that ask money. Like we say in my country if you dont have gas to fill the car dont buy the car. This is a situation to be scared about.. What will he do when you guys to adjust status???

[MyJourney1 15]

Question: Who do you think should be responsible for paying all the fees for the immigration process? We all know that they can be expensive and add up. But I know that many of our spouses/fiances come from poor countries. Is it fair for the spouse that comes from a more well to do area pay or how would you do it?

You both will be married to each other; So you and he will have to come down with some type of an agreement as to who pays for what. Money matters is something that need to be worked out "before" marriage, because it will always come up and can be an issue in a marriage. Communicate honestly with your fiance; You're the one who will be married to him and live with him (both of you need to know and understand each other's circumstances). We can give you our personal opinions but you really need to communicate with him regarding this. - Hey, I sent you a PM; Please check it out. Thanks!

Edited April 11, 2012 by MyJourney1

[MangoAve 25]

Some of the small items like the beneficiary's birth certificate and police clearance and cenomar the beneficiary can handle. I'm also sure like the trip to the embassy can be managed by the beneficiary as well. At this point there is no marriage and stuff is being handled in a different county. The medical exam and actual embassy interview are higher ticket items. Only if the beneficiary can afford them, then they can pay. Plane ticket and 129F here and AOS are really expensive, so obviously the petitioner should be responsible.

[afoyoswa 178]

Most of it depends on the discrepancy between the petitioner's and beneficiary's countries in terms of overall development, as well as on where you are in the process. K-1s still have separate finances, and CR-1/IR-1s should have mingled finances, so that changes the picture. And it really doesn't make any more sense for petitioners with beneficiaries in western Europe to come into the thread and say, "My beneficiary paid for *everything* and so should yours!" than it does for those with beneficiaries in subsaharan Africa to say, "My beneficiary has nothing and I paid for everything, and so should you!" Comments about gender roles are even less helpful: shockingly, many of the petitioners are female, saying that the man should provide for the woman ignores the economic realities of a great many of the visa processes represented here.

In the end, it really just comes down to: we all want to be together, and no one should be in this process who is not prepared to give 100% to it and to the relationship on which it is based. That means doing as much as you can and not coasting or expecting the other person to pick up the slack, whether you are apart or together.

My fiance works much harder than I do for far less money, and paying for the $240 visa fee or a ticket to travel here would be completely inconceivable when his money is just enough for routine expenses like <$1 bus rides or $2 phone credit refills so he can call and text me sometimes, but not much more. I'm hoping that he'll be able to get himself to Nairobi (~$30) and pay for the police report (~$50) but even those will be a stretch. He is doing okay where he is, but the costs of this whole process are excessive on an American scale, let alone an African one, so it's okay that I'm shouldering most of it. This doesn't have any bearing on how hard each of us works or our commitment to each other or the visa process at all. It is just as crucial that he participates fully and does what he needs to do on his end carefully and promptly as it is that someone has money to fund the whole thing. Once he gets here and is working, it will sort itself out.

[SAT 9,609]

The uscis should have a payment plan, a dollar a month for 1300 months....

[Smiley-one 13]

It was the opposite for me. I was the beneficiary and I have paid all the fees for me to move to the US. I just paid the 1070 for the AOS.

[Matt & Bing 56]

It was the opposite for me. I was the beneficiary and I have paid all the fees for me to move to the US. I just paid the 1070 for the AOS.

So you are married but you still have "his" money & "her" money? Does one of you charge the other one rent?

[Emmysaur 29]

I think it all depends on your financial situations. If both of you are making money then each of you should contribute. It is an expensive process and it won't end even after you get the visa.

In my case, my now husband only paid for the filing fee and I took care of the rest including my plane ticket. I also brought a decent amount of money which really helped us a lot for our food and my AOS. Truth is, if I relied on Wade to take care of everything, we would probably have to wait a little longer before we could start the K-1 journey.

[soteropolitana 4]

I think sometimes this is a touchy subject when the US petitioner is female. A lot of people are more "traditional" so they expect the man to at least "carry his weight." As a woman, at first I looked at the fees and thought 'geeze I shouldn't have to pay all of this...you wanted to marry ME, lol.' It took some deep conversations for me and my husband to reach an agreement. When we decided to get married the decision was made without really calculating the cost of immigration because we didn't know where we wanted to start our family yet.

I had to realize that cost of living and exchange rates make a huge impact on someone's income. My husband is a hard worker, has his own business, but even if he made 'twice as much as I do' once you factor in the cost of living and the exchange rate the immigartion fees, in US dollars, would be more than a months salary for him. For me, I just have to shuffle a few things around a bit. Plane tickets can be painful too - they can be more than both immigration fees so it makes sense for me to pay the visa fees and he pays for his flight.

If it's any help we decided that I would pay for expenses charged in US dollars (USCIS and NVC fees) and he would pay for expenses in his currency (medical, police reports, travel, etc).

...On the other hand...if you suspect infidelity or feel like you're being taken advantage of and spouse/fiance is out partying while you're struggling to pay for them - THAT would create some serious resentment...maybe there's more to the question??

[nurse1967 287]

This makes me laugh, the people who say, "well you wanted to marry a foreigner or you wanted them to come here". So are we saying that the beneficiary didn't want to come here and that we coerced them to move to the USA? Truth be told, more often than not, they have much more to benefit from in the whole thing than the US citizen. For me, I couldn't have married someone who didn't have a pot to p*ss in or a back door to throw it out of. I don't care what culture they are from. My husband is from a 3rd world country and no, he couldn't live here on his Egyptian school teacher salary. However, he does have SOMETHING to contribute and he contributed as much as possible given the circumstances. He wouldn't have had it any other way. For goodness sakes, I wasn't buying a car or a mail-order husband! And for those of you who said you shouldn't petition for someone if you can't afford to support them I say, I agree 100%. I am personally against co-sponsership. If you can't support your family then you have no business bringing someone else into the picture no matter how "in love" you are. That being said, just because I can afford to foot all the bills doesn't mean he should expect me to.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Betsy El Sum

[sweetlymystic 19]

As a couple it's your decision of course. As for us, we always put our funds together to cover expenses for everything we had to pay. It's just money, having your love with you is so worth the money you spend

I so Agree with You!!! The money Isn't the issue of who pays...it has to be done to be with the One you love..This isn't like going Dutch on a first date...hehehehe...This is your Happy Ever-After..:-)