Affidavit of support for k-1 visa. Contradictory information found on the web

[Ivy. 113]

To the OP - I would go for the marriage visa, there are more advantages than the K1.

Your friend would only have to fill in a set of papers, your fiance would be able to work very soon after entering the US (otherwise, new paperwork for AOS, and a long wait - we have people on here that have applied in August 2012 for a green card through K1/marriage and havent been approved yet), and it is cheaper financially.

This is what I was thinking. With a child in the picture and one spouse in school, it seems very important that the immigrant be able to work asap to help out. This was one of the reasons we chose to do IR-1/CR-1 over K-1.

Good luck, whichever path you choose!

[lost_at_sea 995]

Yes I usually refer to him as fiance, however we literally got engaged Monday so it is stil lnew to me! Thanks

Don't worry too much about that. I never called my husband fiance and I still slip and call him boyfriend. It only really matters on the paper work/interview. Silly terms!

Congrats on your engagement!

Also, +1 to marriage visa. It's cheaper and more efficient end to end. You can married in Brazil then too if you prefer (on anywhere). You'd be filing the i-130 then applying for cr-1 visa. It's still done with him abroad. The i-130 may take longer yo be approved than i-129f, but the gap has closed a lot lately.

Edited June 23, 2013 by lost_at_sea

[RHamilton 0]

What is rhe difference in a marriage visa and the k1 visa?What would I need to do for tbe marriage visa?

And yes him working soon would be extremely beneficial

[lost_at_sea 995]

What is rhe difference in a marriage visa and the k1 visa?What would I need to do for tbe marriage visa?

And yes him working soon would be extremely beneficial

Here's the guide for the marriage option:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

And here's a comparison guide, so you can see pros/cons:

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

We've got everything, here

[RHamilton 0]

What are the benefits of the marriage visa versus k1?

[lost_at_sea 995]

What are the benefits of the marriage visa versus k1?

See my last post to you with comparison chart.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

To make this simple, I am very confused about the process of obtaining a visa for my boyfriend. Mostly, the affadim of support.

I am American, he is Brazilian.

I am finding loads of information on the web about what is required to file for his residence, and all of it is contradictory.

I found this:

Affidavit of Support For Fiancé(e), Spouse, or Child as a “K” Nonimmigrant

If your relative is either a “K-1” fiancé(e), a “K-3” spouse, or a “K-2” or “K-4” child of fiancé(e) or spouse, you do not need to submit an affidavit of support at the time you file your Form I-129F petition. Instead, you should submit an affidavit of support at the time that your fiancé(e), spouse, or child adjusts status to permanent resident after coming to the United States.

On this website:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=720b0a5659083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=720b0a5659083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

Which is official.

Now, reading this it looks like I wouldnt need to file the support affidavit until after he is ready to apply for permanent residence,

which I've been told could be years down the line (which is what we need).

I am currently finishing my degree, and it will be close to 2-3 years before I am totally finished, working a stable job, and bringing in enough income alone to meet their support requirement.

Neither of us want to have to wait this long to be together is we do not have to. I was told that I do not need to file the support proof until after he will already be here for a years. This would buy us enough time for me to finish my degree, and be ready to financially sign off as his sponsor.

I have however read other websites that seem to require the affidavit long before he can even come into the states, long before we can even get married.

Exactly how does this work?

also, I read if he does need ot now before we can get married you can have a joint sponsor.

My mother and immediate family are either unwilling to help or do not meet income requirements- but he has a friend is Missouri who we believe would sign off on it if he is able to. I am in Kentucky. Would he be able to joint sponsor him despite being in another state?

What are our options?

Besides all that is being posted, just thinking that perhaps a CR-1 might be more convenient in your case. A CR-1 is filed after marriage, marriage can be in the US, Brazil or anywhere, must be registered. Reason it might be more convenient is that 1. it takes about 1 year end to end, but 2. upon entry to the US, GC is automatic which allows working immediately as a job is obtained, and 3. is can be a lower total cost (if the wedding itself is not expensive).

Time with K-1 processing end to end is about 6-8 months, could be 5 could be 10-12, depending on the load of USCIS, very recently there was a really long wait for K-1 applications, which seems to be cyclical, so if you hit the bad end of the cycle it could be as long or longer than CR1

On a K-1, AOS is another 1k cost, plus you first must marry, then after marriage, file AOS and then 2-3 months for a work permit and traveling documentation. The longer the time between entry to the US and marriage the longer it would take to get work and traveling documents.

We did a K-1, because it was the most convenient in our case, we needed time to get ready (moving prep, jobs, etc) and to test the relationship. In the meantime, my now wife came to stay with me twice as a trial. However, not everybody has the possibility of visiting in the US while processing, sometimes is that entry is risky (they might assume you want to skip the line and process), sometimes is financial (people don't just have sevreal hundreds or thousands to take trips bakc and forth to the US).

Requirements for each K-1, CR-1 are similar with some variations that are not that big.

One of the main reasons some people do a CR-1 is because of the difficulties on the specific country to get a K-1 approved (higher level of fraud, Brazil is not of those). A second important reason seems to be obtaining the GC (and thus work enabled) upon entry to the US. As I said before, marriage could be in the US, as long as your spouse then returns to his country awaiting processing. SOme people here had posted that if they would be able to do it all over, they would've gone for a CR-1.

[RHamilton 0]

Thanks so much all. The comparison chart is very helpful. We will go over it thoroughly and see what suits us best.

With the marriage route will he still need a medical exam and to go to an interview in rio at the consulate?

[lost_at_sea 995]

Thanks so much all. The comparison chart is very helpful. We will go over it thoroughly and see what suits us best.

With the marriage route will he still need a medical exam and to go to an interview in rio at the consulate?

Yes.

[RHamilton 0]

The trouble with the marriage visa is that I would have to make another trip there befoee we could file. I just came from there tuesday so it would be a big financial burden suddenly so it would be about 8 months before I could go there again.

I wonder if cost wise it levels out to about the same as another trip there and back versus what we would pay for the k1

[lost_at_sea 995]

The trouble with the marriage visa is that I would have to make another trip there befoee we could file. I just came from there tuesday so it would be a big financial burden suddenly so it would be about 8 months before I could go there again.

I wonder if cost wise it levels out to about the same as another trip there and back versus what we would pay for the k1

Well, quickest way to answer that is - does another flight/trip cost you less than the AOS cost (which is $1070)? That's the big ticket money differentiator of the K1 vs CR-1.

[RHamilton 0]

About the same. My last trip ticket was approx 1173. How long until he can work after filing with the k1?

[RHamilton 0]

Nevermind just found it. So about a year before he xan work with the k1

[lost_at_sea 995]

About the same. My last trip ticket was approx 1173. How long until he can work after filing with the k1?

It'll be about 3 months after you marry assuming you file the AOS and EAD documents immediately after the marriage.

[RHamilton 0]

I bwlieve the k1 would be better for us then as it would be a minimum of 8 months before I could afford another trip there. With the k1 he will be able to come and stay after the initial trip here. It wll be hard since he wont ve able to work immediately but the marriage visa would out us about 2 years being together with wait times etc