Using Irish vs British citizenship to immigrate to US

[JennyJay 1]

Hi,

My fiance (US citizen, living in US) and I (British/Irish, currently living in Northern Ireland) will be getting married in April 2014 in Northern Ireland and plan on starting the CR-1 process after our marriage. However I wanted to ask some questions here as we are finding the whole process a bit confusing and overwhelming. We have been together for 4 years and just want to end the travel(l)ing back and forth!

I know our quickest option would be to get married quickly in the US, start the process now and have a wedding celebration later, which we thought about, but decided we wanted to have our legal marriage in Northern Ireland rather than the US.

What I am wondering is: I am from Northern Ireland so have both Irish and British citizenship - which citizenship should I use to apply for my immigrant visa? Does one process more quickly than another? I've heard from a couple of people that Irish should be quicker but wasn't sure if this was just hearsay. I've found it hard to work out from visiting the London and Dublin US embassy websites.

Also - if I have an offer of a job in my fiance's hometown is there any way of speeding up the process so that I could start the job sooner? The company has tried and failed to find someone locally to do the job - it would be running a marketing department for a tech company and the area is quite remote so hard to recruit. The company has ultimately said they will wait for me as the chances of finding another good candidate in the meantime are slim, but obviously would prefer for me to start asap.

Lastly, is there any advantage to applying for K-3 visa at the same time as CR-1? I believe K-3 was designed to allow family to wait in the US for their permanent residency but have read that it's not taking any less time than CR-1.

If anyone can help with any of my questions it would be very much appreciated!

Thanks!!

[apple21 953]

Your USC spouse will have to file i-130 (CR1) after your Irish wedding. You will enter the US via CR1 visa which will automatically give you a 2 year conditional resident status and you can start working immediately. A US job offer will not speed up the CR1 process, sorry.

Your citizenship has no bearing on the petition as spouses of US citizens are processed (generally) on the same pace. You will have to put both citizenship on the forms though.

The K3 is obsolete. You'll be fine with the CR1 route.

Edited December 8, 2013 by apple21

[JennyJay 1]

Thanks apple21. I suppose the Irish/British question is really about the waiting time for an interview at the embassy - whether I would get one quicker at the Dublin or London embassy.

[apple21 953]

Hmmm, the embassy interview is the last step of the process, I wouldn't worry much about getting the interview schedule, but you can check the regional forums to get a benchmark of the scheduling difference between Dublin and London.

The initial stage at USCIS is probably the most stressful as it can take 5-6 months (or even more) to get your i-130 approved. But there are some lucky ones that get approved quickly.

The second stage at the National Visa Center can also take a month or so depending on the completeness of your financial and civil documents.

Just be prepared that it can take more or less a year before you can immigrate to the US.

Good luck.

Edited December 8, 2013 by apple21

[Penguin_ie 5,995]

Because you are resident in NI, you will interview in LOndon- it's based on residency, not citizenship.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Penguin is correct. You can't Interview in Dublin because you currently reside in Northern Ireland which goes to London. Others have had the same idea as you, but because it was closer in distance. They tried and were not allowed.

[2ndMessiah 184]

Yup...

London for NI. residents. Dublin For ROI residents.

There have been a couple of people on here who have messed up their application by trying to interview at the wrong embassy.

It would have made my life eaiser to drive to Dublin but I ended up flying to London.

There is no way to speed up your application.

You wont be able to work until you have your EAD (Employment authorization Document)or Green card.

Be prepared to wait................

One thing to remember. Her Majesty's government requires people from non EU countries to have some sort of marriage entry visa/permit to get married in the UK. It cannot be got on entry and this would really mess up a very expensive day. Check with your local registrar about this. The law may have changed since it came into being in 2006.

[JennyJay 1]

Thanks everyone. I didn't know about the residency-based interviewing location so glad I didn't waste my time.

We're aware of the UK Visitor for Marriage Visa requirements - thank you for checking though. This can only be done max 3 months before the wedding so we'll be able to do that in January.

[Boiler 45,740]

A work visa, H1b?, could be a bit quicker.

[rocketman 6]

A work visa, H1b?, could be a bit quicker.

quicker but no way easier. There are only 65,000 h1b visas which is mostly dominated by IT folks

[JennyJay 1]

Interesting. Does anyone know what the average time frame is for the H-1b is? The job is in the tech industry so that may help. Thanks.

[JennyJay 1]

And, if I did have this type of visa, how would I transition to permanent residence as the spouse of a US citizen? Would the work visa negatively impact that?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Interesting. Does anyone know what the average time frame is for the H-1b is? The job is in the tech industry so that may help. Thanks.

H1b applications for fiscal year 2014 were accepted beginning Apr 1, 2013. They reached their quota in the first few days of last April. Your employer can apply for a 2015 visa starting next April 1, but it all obviously needs to be in on opening day for you to have a chance. They use a lottery of sorts to choose the quota when more apply than available visas. I believe the visas start being issued by October (start of fiscal year 2015). It will generally cost the employer thousands of dollars including attorneys to prepare the application and the proper documentation to the Dept of Labor showing there is nobody but you who could fill the job. Get busy gathering proof of your degrees, etc. because April is around the corner.

In the US, you will adjust status from H1b on your own ($1070) to get a greencard. With your CR1 immigrant visa, you don't have to adjust status. People entering on K1 or VWP, or who are here on other non-immigrant visas, adjust status based on marriage to an American.

[rocketman 6]

In my understanding, one will not know the outcome of h1B until october of the year you apply.

Edited December 10, 2013 by rocketman

[JennyJay 1]

In my understanding, one will not know the outcome of h1B until october of the year you apply.

Is it possible to file concurrently for both H1b and CR1?

Thanks for all your help.