Continue K1 or just get married? Egyptians especially, what are your opinions?

[Heather&Ramy 22]

Hey everyone,

my fiancé and I just got word from the NVC that our K1 file was recently sent to Cairo, should arrive soon. Then I guess we will be waiting for Packet 3 to be sent and hopefully scheduling our interview! However, my fiancé and I have been considering giving up on the visa and marrying in Egypt, and then filing for spouse visa... I'd really appreciate your thoughts on our situation.

The thing is, a looong time ago when I began the visa app in November, we decided to do the K1 for 2 main reasons:

1) I was finishing my last year of university and so we couldn't marry at that point anyway.

2) It really important that he come to America to meet my friends and family and go to my church and experience my life here. There was no way I could fathom marrying a guy whom none of my family or friends had yet met apart from Skype.

But over the months, my fiancé has really gotten to know my parents and siblings quite well over Skype and the phone, he regularly calls them and has established a good relationship with some of my friends as well. It's unconventional, but it's something. My parents recently made an offhand comment about why I didn't just marry him in Egypt if it would be easier for us. That really surprised me, because I didn't think they would be comfortable with that. They also decided a few months ago that they would buy tickets to come to the wedding in Egypt (as we were planning on having 2, America first, Egypt shortly after).

Since then, I have become more open to the idea of marrying him even if he doesn't come to America first. We have agreed that we'll live in America as soon as we can, at least for a few years, so we will have plenty of time later to live in my world and have him fully accepted and integrated into my community, etc, which is so important to me. In addition, I'm finished with school and in this awkward position of not being able to look for a more "grown-up" job related to my degree, or move out of my parents home, or anything, because I just don't want to make any moves until we figure out where we'll be after marriage. So I'm kind of financially struggling while I'm waiting and I feel like my life is on hold indefintely.

We planned on getting married in America in October, but it seems about 95% sure at this point that that won't happen. It's so hard to judge by what you can read online, but I've heard that the spouse visa when filed from an overseas address can be about 6-7 months long if you get through the NVC really fast. With either visa there is the wait for an interview date and the likelihood for long AP.

The other positives for doing the spouse visa is it seems we wouldn't lose any money at this point; it's another $1,000+ for AOS with the K1 and the fees he will pay in Cairo, while isn't the spouse visa less than $1,000 total and you get the green card immediately? It would be easier (aka cheaper) for us to live in Egypt for a few months waiting for a green card than to live in the US with Ramy being unable to work... And of course, it would be nice to be TOGETHER.

I saw somebody write on another thread here recently that its about a 6 month wait now for K1 visas for an interview date..

I don't know, what would you guys do in my situation? For those who have recently gotten interviews, how long was the wait for it? I'd love to hear from the Cr-1 people if anyone filed from an abroad address and how fast (relatively) that was... or if anybody is living in Egypt waiting for the visa and you are loving it or hating it. Did anybody else switch visas halfway? I'm annoyed at the thought of throwing away the visa I have worked so hard for when we're in the home stretch, but if the home stretch turns out to be more than half the race then maybe I should just ignore my pride and switch.

If you read all that and really want to offer your thoughts, you are awesome!

Edited July 22, 2013 by Heather&Ramy

[The Mean Lady 604]

Spousal visa will cost you more than 1000.

You're just restarting your process to delay entry but ultimate decision is yours.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Why start over when you are so close to being done? I'd look for a job and start living.

[together4evr 360]

At this point a spouse visa with not speed things up. Cairo is on hold for all visas

Hang in there

spouse visas usually have a longer AP then fiances also

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Going back to the beginning won't save money or time. However, if I had to do it all over again I would have stayed in Egypt with my husband after getting married. Nothing could have prepared me for the years we had to wait during the visa process.

Now given the situation in Egypt and the fact they still haven't lifted the travel warnings for Americans I wouldn't say it's even safe for you to stay there. Many of my expat friends have left other than the essential ones that have to be there for work.

I do feel for you guys going through the process now but I'm with the others on sticking it out and waiting until he can come here. There's no guarantee either process will be faster than the other with the state of things.

[mitcha32 4]

I say you wait. It won't speed up your process. Best of luck!

[Heather&Ramy 22]

Thanks for your thoughts... I'll be sharing this with my fiancé to see what he thinks. I don't want to wait but I think you guys are right that it would be wiser at this point. Hoping for a miraculously short AP, then!

[Heather&Ramy 22]

Quick follow up on the cost of K1/Cr-1...

I wrote the above after having looked at this http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare marriage based visa comparison chart, which shows K1 as being $1650 in total and Cr1 as being $903 in total... This chart may be outdated because it has the K3 listed still, I don't know. That's why I thought that switching to the CR1 right now would make us end up with about the same amount as if we stuck with the K1.

I found on the USCIS website that the filing fee for the I-130 is $400 some dollars... where can I find how much the journey in total costs if the chart for visa journey is inaccurate?

[relshamy 11]

I think I may have a different opinion than everyone. If you will be living with your husband in Egypt after you get married and waiting together till his visa is over, and you haven't had your interview yet and the possibility of an AP, if I were you I would go for the spousal visa. I am actually regretting the fact that I didn't get married to my fiance and just apply for the spousal visa!!! But we have gone so far now, it's so hard to quit and start all over (even though it still crosses my mind more often than I would like). But I don't want to do it now after this long journey. We're a bit different than you since we're ahead of you. My fiance already had his interview back in May and we'v passed over two months of AP now. I know it could just be a couple of months or so till it's over, but I do regret the year and two months we've wasted just waiting for this visa to be over But for you since you will still wait for the interview and AP, quitting now and starting over won't be as bad as it would be for us.

I've been living in Egypt for the past year and waiting for my fiance's visa to be over so we can go back to USA together. But for me it's a bit a different than you since I am originally Egyptian and I speak the language and such. It wasn't too hard for me to make the transition, even though lately we've been on lock down because of the current situation in Egypt.

I advice to consider it closely. If you can afford a transition to Egypt and your fiance is fit for marriage here in Egypt (a house and job and such), then why not? At least you'll be together and married and feeling more stable. I wish you all the best!!!

[The Mean Lady 604]

Quick follow up on the cost of K1/Cr-1...

I wrote the above after having looked at this http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare marriage based visa comparison chart, which shows K1 as being $1650 in total and Cr1 as being $903 in total... This chart may be outdated because it has the K3 listed still, I don't know. That's why I thought that switching to the CR1 right now would make us end up with about the same amount as if we stuck with the K1.

I found on the USCIS website that the filing fee for the I-130 is $400 some dollars... where can I find how much the journey in total costs if the chart for visa journey is inaccurate?

CR1:

420+88+230+165 (903 total)

Those are only the filing costs though.

You will need to add a lot more to both of those costs for things like Medical, travel, passport pics, document ordering, etc.

[Mithra 1,185]

She's so far into it that going back now in order to live together is a waste. The goal is to be together permanently, not necessarily immediately. There's nothing stopping her from going to live there with him now with a K1 in the works. Starting over would be a ridiculous waste of time and money.

I think I may have a different opinion than everyone. If you will be living with your husband in Egypt after you get married and waiting together till his visa is over, and you haven't had your interview yet and the possibility of an AP, if I were you I would go for the spousal visa. I am actually regretting the fact that I didn't get married to my fiance and just apply for the spousal visa!!! But we have gone so far now, it's so hard to quit and start all over (even though it still crosses my mind more often than I would like). But I don't want to do it now after this long journey. We're a bit different than you since we're ahead of you. My fiance already had his interview back in May and we'v passed over two months of AP now. I know it could just be a couple of months or so till it's over, but I do regret the year and two months we've wasted just waiting for this visa to be over But for you since you will still wait for the interview and AP, quitting now and starting over won't be as bad as it would be for us.

I've been living in Egypt for the past year and waiting for my fiance's visa to be over so we can go back to USA together. But for me it's a bit a different than you since I am originally Egyptian and I speak the language and such. It wasn't too hard for me to make the transition, even though lately we've been on lock down because of the current situation in Egypt.

I advice to consider it closely. If you can afford a transition to Egypt and your fiance is fit for marriage here in Egypt (a house and job and such), then why not? At least you'll be together and married and feeling more stable. I wish you all the best!!!

[relshamy 11]

She's so far into it that going back now in order to live together is a waste. The goal is to be together permanently, not necessarily immediately. There's nothing stopping her from going to live there with him now with a K1 in the works. Starting over would be a ridiculous waste of time and money.

I understand your point. It's definitely a hard choice. But if she moves to Egypt with a K1 visa then they definitely won't be able to get married, and thus won't be able to live together (if her fiance is Muslim this is unacceptable w/o marriage).

[Heather&Ramy 22]

CR1:

420+88+230+165 (903 total)

Those are only the filing costs though.

You will need to add a lot more to both of those costs for things like Medical, travel, passport pics, document ordering, etc.

Thanks for the breakdown! That's really helpful! My fiancé hasn't really spent anything extra like that on the visa yet and all of those things are costs involved in the K1 too. So it still seems like it would end up costing about the same, (or actually, less) doesn't it? I understand it could set us back in time but it still doesn't seem like it will cost us more... unless I'm still missing something.

I think I may have a different opinion than everyone. If you will be living with your husband in Egypt after you get married and waiting together till his visa is over, and you haven't had your interview yet and the possibility of an AP, if I were you I would go for the spousal visa. I am actually regretting the fact that I didn't get married to my fiance and just apply for the spousal visa!!! But we have gone so far now, it's so hard to quit and start all over (even though it still crosses my mind more often than I would like). But I don't want to do it now after this long journey. We're a bit different than you since we're ahead of you. My fiance already had his interview back in May and we'v passed over two months of AP now. I know it could just be a couple of months or so till it's over, but I do regret the year and two months we've wasted just waiting for this visa to be over But for you since you will still wait for the interview and AP, quitting now and starting over won't be as bad as it would be for us.

I've been living in Egypt for the past year and waiting for my fiance's visa to be over so we can go back to USA together. But for me it's a bit a different than you since I am originally Egyptian and I speak the language and such. It wasn't too hard for me to make the transition, even though lately we've been on lock down because of the current situation in Egypt.

I advice to consider it closely. If you can afford a transition to Egypt and your fiance is fit for marriage here in Egypt (a house and job and such), then why not? At least you'll be together and married and feeling more stable. I wish you all the best!!!

Thanks for your perspective! Yes, I'm actually kicking myself that I didn't just marry him in May after I graduated and we might have been approaching the interview for Cr-1 by now! Since you are farther than us, may I ask how far ahead your interview was scheduled? My fiancé just received his packet from the embassy and was soooo excited. But I am worried about how many months we will have to wait for the interview. We're leaning towards just waiting it all out, but if the interview probably won't be for another few months and then AP as well, he might feel differently.

Good luck to you as well.

There's nothing stopping her from going to live there with him now with a K1 in the works. Starting over would be a ridiculous waste of time and money.

We've talked about me moving there, but unfortunately we are observant Christians and living together before marriage is not an option. We thought about maybe doing a religious ceremony and not making it legal by registering with a civil court so that we could by conscience live together, but after reading everyone's thoughts on VJ about that we decided it's too risky as far as how the embassy would view that. We have no intention to commit fraud.

Thanks everybody for giving us your thoughts, my fiancé really appreciates it too.

[Darnell 8,478]

I say put 60,000 usd in yer pocket and meet your loved one in Albania.

Get married there, start a business there, live there for the next 10 years, not worry about USA immigration.

[Just_Me00 15]

When my fiance and I were at the stage that you are in now (after Packet 3), we also had the same thoughts that maybe we should quit, get married, and re-apply for the spouse visa. We were torn because we were too far along the process to justify quitting but at the same time felt that the wait was becoming harder and harder with each day that passed. In the end, we decided to keep going because it made more sense logically then giving up especially since I would have to quit my job here to go live with him there. Our interview was exactly 3 months after the embassy received Packet 3. Fast forward to now, 7 months of AP and sometimes I do wish we had given up but it still makes logical sense to keep going because even if we were to take the spouse visa route that doesn't guarantee that it would be any faster.

In my honest opinion, it appears that the majority of Muslim males from Egypt go through AP but the majority of Christian males do not. I think that the chances that your fiance gets AP is low and that it would be best to keep going since you are really close to the finish line.

Good luck!