New, frustrated and need help

[dnort127 0]

Hi all, my name is Dylan. I guess i should say im not as much frustrated as I am confused. Sorry if this has been posted before, i searched and couldnt find anything.

So heres my situation. FIrstly, I am an American, born and raised. I am currently in a relationship with an amazing girl from Canada. We have talked about things and shes made the decision that she wants to move down here to be with me. Right now it will be another year and a half before she can move due to school.

I guess my question is, what are the steps to getting her down here? We will eventually be getting married (hopefully).

I will be going to visit her next summer also. Dont know if that helps my case just a bit more information.

Thanks in advance for the help. Please let me know if I need to provide more info.

[seanimo 32]

Sounds like you may want to look into a spousal visa. You have definitely found a great website to do research. Check out the "Guides" section at the top of this page.

[dnort127 0]

Thanks for the reply. The whole proposal deal, do i need to do that in canada or is there a way to just "claim" we are engaged? That really the whole issue im having. Once we are engaged i will be able to aplly for a K-1 right?

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Hi all, my name is Dylan. I guess i should say im not as much frustrated as I am confused. Sorry if this has been posted before, i searched and couldnt find anything.

So heres my situation. FIrstly, I am an American, born and raised. I am currently in a relationship with an amazing girl from Canada. We have talked about things and shes made the decision that she wants to move down here to be with me. Right now it will be another year and a half before she can move due to school.

I guess my question is, what are the steps to getting her down here? We will eventually be getting married (hopefully).

I will be going to visit her next summer also. Dont know if that helps my case just a bit more information.

Thanks in advance for the help. Please let me know if I need to provide more info.

Welcome to VJ.

Here is a link from the guide tab if you want to get married after she gets here, for a K1 visa : http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

Here is a link if you want to get married before filing, for a CR1 visa : http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

It is a personal decision which one you would both prefer. After you have navigated the site and studied the information in

the links, ask your detailed questions if something is unclear.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Welcome to Visa Journey. You are in good company here because so many of us have experienced similar types of confusion and frustration. You are smart to look into the immigration aspects of an international relationship now because you will have the time necessary to discover your options and determine which ones are best for you before you are in the position to move to the next level.

You basically have two options and two different processes available. The first is a fiance visa. The second is a spousal visa. If you wish to get engaged now knowing that you intend to marry some time in the future, go ahead. It will be fine for whatever option you choose. You can get engaged in whatever way works for you - in Canada, in the US, over the phone (ok, maybe not the best option ). You can be as formal or as informal as you like. Just start keeping records of your time together because one of the things you will need to do for immigration is prove you have a valid relationship and it is easier to collect the documentation (plane tickets, hotel receipts, etc.) when you create them rather than scrambling afterwards to try and find them.

The two most important things you need to know right now are:

1) that your girlfriend/fiancee/wife is not going to be allowed to move to the US until she has the appropriate visa from US Immigration. She can't just move down a year and a half from now when she finishes school. You can start the paperwork rolling, however, so that when she is ready to move, the paperwork is also completed and she has the visas.

2) the paperwork takes a long time regardless of what process you use so your time frame will be about 1 year give or take a few months, and you do have some flexibility about when she 'uses' the visa as it will be valid for 6 months.

If you get engaged now, you can start the first paperwork for her to get a fiance visa. It is a 2 part process. The first part is your responsibility. You file an I-129f petition with USCIS requesting permission for a fiancee to apply for a fiancee visa. All of the petitions you will file during the immigration process will also have other documents required and conditions that you must satisfy, so a good idea would be to read up on the whole process, including reading the forms and their instructions now so you can figure out what you will need to collect. You will send off the I-129f petition to the appropriate address along with all of the requested attachments and a few months later you will receive a decision - yes or no - from USCIS. Part 2 comes next. Your petition is forwarded to the US Consulate in either Montreal or Vancouver depending on where your fiancee lives in Canada (east of Manitoba or Manitoba and west). They will notify her that they have received an approved request for her to apply for a K-1 visa. She will be given instructions on what she needs to do and how she needs to do it, but it will involve getting a Canada wide security check, undergoing an immigration medical and attending an interview in either Montreal or Vancouver. When she gets the Visa she will have 6 months in which to use it. It will be good for a one time entry into the US for her and her belongings for the purpose of getting married to you in the US within 90 days. She then applies for permission to remain in the US and become a permanent resident. If you start this process in the near future, it will probably all be in place for her to move to the US around the time she finishes school.

If you decide to get married, you can get married either in Canada or the US or anywhere you wish, but again, she is not allowed to remain or live in the US until she gets a spousal visa. The spousal visa has 3 parts. You start the process by filing an I-130 form with US immigration - to sponsor a family member. Once you receive a decision, the process moves to a central visa processing center which requests further information from you. It then forwards all of the information to the US Consulate in Montreal, Canada. Your wife again needs to provide an immigration medical, a security check, and attend an interview in Montreal. She will receive an CR-1 spousal visa in her passport and once she enters the US, she automatically becomes a permanent resident. Since you need to be married to apply for the CR-1 visa and the processing takes about a year (give or take a few months), if you got married within the near future, she would again be able to move to the US about the time she finishes school.

One thing you also need to keep in mind with the fiancee visa . . one of the requirements is that you have physically met in person within the 2 year time period immediately prior to filing the I-129f petition. So, if you have not yet met in person you do need to do that before you can file any petition. If you have met in person, then you can go ahead as soon as you wish. The more time you are able to spend together physically, the better it will be, both for your relationship and to prove to US immigration that you are both in a valid relationship and not one only for immigration benefits.

Good luck.

[dnort127 0]

Welcome to Visa Journey. You are in good company here because so many of us have experienced similar types of confusion and frustration. You are smart to look into the immigration aspects of an international relationship now because you will have the time necessary to discover your options and determine which ones are best for you before you are in the position to move to the next level.

You basically have two options and two different processes available. The first is a fiance visa. The second is a spousal visa. If you wish to get engaged now knowing that you intend to marry some time in the future, go ahead. It will be fine for whatever option you choose. You can get engaged in whatever way works for you - in Canada, in the US, over the phone (ok, maybe not the best option ). You can be as formal or as informal as you like. Just start keeping records of your time together because one of the things you will need to do for immigration is prove you have a valid relationship and it is easier to collect the documentation (plane tickets, hotel receipts, etc.) when you create them rather than scrambling afterwards to try and find them.

The two most important things you need to know right now are:

1) that your girlfriend/fiancee/wife is not going to be allowed to move to the US until she has the appropriate visa from US Immigration. She can't just move down a year and a half from now when she finishes school. You can start the paperwork rolling, however, so that when she is ready to move, the paperwork is also completed and she has the visas.

2) the paperwork takes a long time regardless of what process you use so your time frame will be about 1 year give or take a few months, and you do have some flexibility about when she 'uses' the visa as it will be valid for 6 months.

If you get engaged now, you can start the first paperwork for her to get a fiance visa. It is a 2 part process. The first part is your responsibility. You file an I-129f petition with USCIS requesting permission for a fiancee to apply for a fiancee visa. All of the petitions you will file during the immigration process will also have other documents required and conditions that you must satisfy, so a good idea would be to read up on the whole process, including reading the forms and their instructions now so you can figure out what you will need to collect. You will send off the I-129f petition to the appropriate address along with all of the requested attachments and a few months later you will receive a decision - yes or no - from USCIS. Part 2 comes next. Your petition is forwarded to the US Consulate in either Montreal or Vancouver depending on where your fiancee lives in Canada (east of Manitoba or Manitoba and west). They will notify her that they have received an approved request for her to apply for a K-1 visa. She will be given instructions on what she needs to do and how she needs to do it, but it will involve getting a Canada wide security check, undergoing an immigration medical and attending an interview in either Montreal or Vancouver. When she gets the Visa she will have 6 months in which to use it. It will be good for a one time entry into the US for her and her belongings for the purpose of getting married to you in the US within 90 days. She then applies for permission to remain in the US and become a permanent resident. If you start this process in the near future, it will probably all be in place for her to move to the US around the time she finishes school.

If you decide to get married, you can get married either in Canada or the US or anywhere you wish, but again, she is not allowed to remain or live in the US until she gets a spousal visa. The spousal visa has 3 parts. You start the process by filing an I-130 form with US immigration - to sponsor a family member. Once you receive a decision, the process moves to a central visa processing center which requests further information from you. It then forwards all of the information to the US Consulate in Montreal, Canada. Your wife again needs to provide an immigration medical, a security check, and attend an interview in Montreal. She will receive an CR-1 spousal visa in her passport and once she enters the US, she automatically becomes a permanent resident. Since you need to be married to apply for the CR-1 visa and the processing takes about a year (give or take a few months), if you got married within the near future, she would again be able to move to the US about the time she finishes school.

One thing you also need to keep in mind with the fiancee visa . . one of the requirements is that you have physically met in person within the 2 year time period immediately prior to filing the I-129f petition. So, if you have not yet met in person you do need to do that before you can file any petition. If you have met in person, then you can go ahead as soon as you wish. The more time you are able to spend together physically, the better it will be, both for your relationship and to prove to US immigration that you are both in a valid relationship and not one only for immigration benefits.

Good luck.

Thank you so much! This has helped us out incredibly. I do have one more question, if we go the k-1 way, do i still need to sponsor her and be above 125% of the poverty level (not an issue right now, just curious incase something were to happen at my current job), or is the sponorship deal not applicable with the fiance visa?

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Thank you so much! This has helped us out incredibly. I do have one more question, if we go the k-1 way, do i still need to sponsor her and be above 125% of the poverty level (not an issue right now, just curious incase something were to happen at my current job), or is the sponorship deal not applicable with the fiance visa?

I'm glad it helped .

Yes, you need to be able to prove you have at least 125% of the poverty level in income, or through a combination of income and assets, for both a fiance visa and a spousal visa. If you do not meet that requirement on your own, you are allowed to use a co-sponsor - someone who does meet that requirement when adding the intending immigrant to the size of family they already support financially.

The K-1 is slightly different, though, because it uses a different form for the Affidavit of Support during the K-1 process than the CR-1 spousal process does. The form is I-134. It is not considered a legally binding form but is used by the Consulate to determine that if they allow your fiancee into the US you are in a financial position to make sure she doesn't become a liability on the US government. Since her status in the US will only be valid for 90 days after her arrival, the I-134 basically expires at the same time, and is not enforceable.

Part 2 of the immigration process for a Fiancee, however, is that after they are married, they need to apply for permission to remain in the US permanently (known as getting their green card). Part of this application includes a new Affidavit of Support document - I-864. This is the form you would have provided for a spousal visa as it is a legally binding document that continues until one of several circumstances occur, but can 'generally' be expected to be in place and enforceable for 5 to 10 years.

So, for all visa situations where you are requesting permission for a fiancee or family member to come to the US you are the sponsor and they are the beneficiary. All sponsors must be able to prove that they are able to support or arrange for the support of the beneficiary so they do not become a liability on the US tax payer.

Edited September 26, 2014 by Kathryn41

[dnort127 0]

I'm glad it helped .

Yes, you need to be able to prove you have at least 125% of the poverty level in income, or through a combination of income and assets, for both a fiance visa and a spousal visa. If you do not meet that requirement on your own, you are allowed to use a co-sponsor - someone who does meet that requirement when adding the intending immigrant to the size of family they already support financially.

The K-1 is slightly different, though, because it uses a different form for the Affidavit of Support during the K-1 process than the CR-1 spousal process does. The form is I-134. It is not considered a legally binding form but is used by the Consulate to determine that if they allow your fiancee into the US you are in a financial position to make sure she doesn't become a liability on the US government. Since her status in the US will only be valid for 90 days after her arrival, the I-134 basically expires at the same time, and is not enforceable.

Part 2 of the immigration process for a Fiancee, however, is that after they are married, they need to apply for permission to remain in the US permanently (known as getting their green card). Part of this application includes a new Affidavit of Support document - I-864. This is the form you would have provided for a spousal visa as it is a legally binding document that continues until one of several circumstances occur, but can 'generally' be expected to be in place and enforceable for 5 to 10 years.

So, for all visa situations where you are requesting permission for a fiancee or family member to come to the US you are the sponsor and they are the beneficiary. All sponsors must be able to prove that they are able to support or arrange for the support of the beneficiary so they do not become a liability on the US tax payer.

Kathryn, your information has been so hopeful. Well, we've done some more talking about things. I will be traveling to see her next summer. I'll be staying a week or so. Return home and wait for her to finish school. When she finishes school she is going to come down here to visit me. Now when she visits me I think I'm going to propose! Shhhhh don't tell Here's my next question.. Would it be better for her to go home and start our k1 paperwork, or is there another way for her to stay here during the process?