Quickest way to get my Fiance to work

[makowb 1]

Here are the facts

I'm a US citizen

I live in Seattle

She lives in Vancouver

We haven't submitted any paperwork

We don't care about

Amount of money

Inconveniences

Not being able to get back into Canada

What we do care about

Her getting to work in the states as soon as possible.

How much of a difference in time between the two options.

I know that there are no guarantees on time, but I'd like to know the general rule of thumb. Basically I would like to know if we should get married first and do the IR-1/CR-1 or if we should do the K-1 visa. As far as I can tell, she can't work until she gets the Visa from either, but the marriage visa she can work immediately, whereas the K-1 she needs to wait another 30-90 days for the EAD to come go through.

Any insight or help on this subject?

[milimelo 4,478]

CR-1 one then since working is important.

[Kaylara 814]

As far as I can tell, the K1 seems to be moving considerably faster than the CR. Do you mind if you have to spend 1-2 years without her being able to come to the states? Because the processing times that we're hearing for the IR/CR visa right now are about that long.

[makowb 1]

As far as I can tell, the K1 seems to be moving considerably faster than the CR. Do you mind if you have to spend 1-2 years without her being able to come to the states? Because the processing times that we're hearing for the IR/CR visa right now are about that long.

Where do you see that it's taking 1-2 years? Is there an official government site I can check to see average wait times or something like that? I know the ones on here and other unofficial ones, but if it is going to take 1 year+ compared to 6-9 months, I'd much rather do the k1.

[makowb 1]

For those of you who come to this thread interested in the same question I have here's what I've found.

As of today, it takes a minimum of 1 year to process a CR, while the K1 is ~5 months. The EAD takes another 2-3 months. So, time to work is:

CR = > 12 months

K1 = < 9 months

Those 3 months of working in the states and her being with me the whole time is very much worth the extra 7-800$ we'll be paying. Of note, doing the AOS takes another entire year to process.

Here is the link to the official government processing times for each office https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do

[NikLR 13,227]

EAD takes 3 months.

Total immigration cost for CR1 = $903

Total immigration cost for K1 = $1650

(not including medical or travel etc...)

Of course because your fiancee lives in Vancouver it's more cost effective to do the K1 because you will not have to travel to Montreal. I suggest the K1 in your case with the understand she will not be able to work for 3 months after you file the AOS after you get married. However, she can collect Canadian EI, but that will not start until after the EAD is approved even though it must be applied for within 4 weeks of the last day worked.

[Ontarkie 14,222]

~~Moved to What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration, from IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures - as the decision has not yet been made~~