Marriage VISA vs Fiance VISA

[Heather Kamal 0]

Hi everyone. Please excuse my ignorance but I am confused on which is the better choice. I will be making my third trip to Egypt to see my love in February. We met each other online in 2007 and we were friends until December 2010 when he asked me to marry him. I went to see him in person the first time in February 2011. I went again in February 2012 and am leaving to go again in February 2013. He asked me to wait for him 2 years until he finished his obligation to college before starting our process. Two years is finally here and we will be filing in March 2013. I have heard many people say fiance' VISA is the best way to go and I have heard many say marriage VISA is better...and many say it doesn't matter. I want to do the right thing and I don't want to choose the one that keeps us apart longer...Any info. would be appreciated so much. Thanks.

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

** Moving from CR-1 to General Immigration as OP doesn't know which visa to go for yet ****

K1 is a little faster (you could file now, making it even faster), but more expensive and he cannot work or travel for several months after coming to the USA. But the most important thing- what is important in your life? For example if you cannot bear to be apart after you are finally married, you need the K1 visa. Where do you want to get married? If you want to get married in his country, you need the CR-1 visa after marriage (also a consideration as many of his family may not be able to afford to travel to the USA, or not get visas to do so).

[dave97232 12]

Review this:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

It is a good summary of the options. Thanks to the great people on this site who put all this info together.

[tru_loves_journey 117]

We filed the K1. When arriving you have no green card to work and it puts a financial bind on you, and coming up with $1070.00 to adjust status is more of a problem. CR1 might be alittle slower but it has your husband more prepared to begin life in the US. Having that green card sooner makes a world of difference. Good Luck on your choice

[together4evr 360]

Most Egyptian men go through Administrative Processing after the interview. So, educate yourself on the entire process. Fiance visas usually have a shorter AP time but they will get the more intensive background check after applying to adjust status in the USA in order to work.

Either way expect 1 year

Fiance visas are waiting 4-6 months right now for an interview in Egypt after NOA2

Spouse visa are waiting 1-2 months for an interview after NVC case completes.

The NVC step for a spouse takes anywhere from 1-6 months depending on how prepared you are.

[together4evr 360]

Also, be very prepared to adress any red flags in your relationship.

Are you older then him? How much older?

Has he been married before

Has he been petitioned before

Have you petitioned anyone before

Do you have kids

Are you the same religion

Did you convert to his religion after knowing him

Does his family approve?

Can you sponsor him? Do you have a co-sponsor or joint sponsor ready

How much time have you actually spent together in 3 years... 4-6 weeks is very short and suspicious for Egypt embassy

Do you have many pictures of his family and you

do you have pics of your family on webcam with him

Many other red flags--do your research

Good Luck

[Xanax 349]

I would review your options in the guides section above. Sometimes different things are important to different people, ie/ if you enter on a K-1 you have to adjust your status to an LPR and cannot work straight away; if you file for the CR-1 visa you will be apart from your spouse after marriage (during your honeymoon).

They both have pros and cons and you have to weight the options for your fiancee and yourself