K1 September 2014 Filers (TSC)

[SincerelyMeike 52]

I remember not understanding your situation 100%. You applied to both UT and a university in Germany and have yet to receive an acceptance letter. If you are accepted to UT you may still go to the other university? It seems like it would have made more sense to wait until you were accepted and then apply for a visa, right? How could you be $20,000 in debt unwillingly?

Because applications don't begin until March for UT, other than that though I'm fairly certain that my fiancé and I would get accepted because both of us were straight A's perfect GPA's and he even did everything in honors during college. With germany, same thing I'm fairly certain he'd get accepted, he's way beyond the requirements. The thing is neither of us have ever been to Texas. We both grew up our whole lives in Florida. If the visa falls through for whatever reason that's cool, we have a back up plan for starting in Germany and that doesn't start until September. University in Austin starts in August. That means I need to 100% know for a fact I want to live for the next 4-6 years in Austin and I need to know that's the school I wanted to go to with my fiancé. He's kind of giving up studying at a really good renewable energy in germany to go with me to test out Austin. I'm really scared of being pushed into going to university somewhere neither of us want to go, plus out of state fees for both of us, that's near 40k for both of us. University in Germany is free. I really need at least a month or more to commit to this decision, I was really riding on the 3 months. We're giving up amazing studying oppertunities to be close to our families.

I'm not sure I remember. Is it you (the US citizen?) or your fiancé's university plans or both?

Is there a reason why you can't just defer a semester and start in January? I know it's not ideal but....

To be honest I'm not sure, because were both starting day one at our bachelors. Both of us just graduated with our associates.

[Wooderz 314]

That's really tough. It sounds like the visa isn't really even the main issue. It seems like maybe neither of you are really positive about where you want to be? There must have been some reason that made you both want to move here over Germany?

I don't know either of you, but Austin is the bomb. And that's hard for me to say because I went to Texas a&m. I have a hard time imaging many people don't like it there.

Also are you both planning on masters too? Otherwise why would it be a 4-6 yr commitment after an associates degree?

For me, I think I'd have to decide where we want to live first and then make it work with school. I'm fairly confident you could defer a semester. May be worth looking into...

[Mena28 35]

I think I sort of follow your train of thought, but just a random question out of curiosity - what spoke against studying in Germny, getting married and doing DCF? (apart from your families being in the US?)

[SincerelyMeike 52]

That's really tough. It sounds like the visa isn't really even the main issue. It seems like maybe neither of you are really positive about where you want to be? There must have been some reason that made you both want to move here over Germany?

I don't know either of you, but Austin is the bomb. And that's hard for me to say because I went to Texas a&m. I have a hard time imaging many people don't like it there.

Also are you both planning on masters too? Otherwise why would it be a 4-6 yr commitment after an associates degree?

For me, I think I'd have to decide where we want to live first and then make it work with school. I'm fairly confident you could defer a semester. May be worth looking into...

Yep masters as well! we wanted to do renewable energy but in Austin I think we were going to do something more along the lines of regular engineering with a minor of environmental sciences. Honestly if we could defer for a semester it would be at so much stress off my shoulders! Universities don't start in germany until October, and my job training won't start until late September.

I think I sort of follow your train of thought, but just a random question out of curiosity - what spoke against studying in Germny, getting married and doing DCF? (apart from your families being in the US?)

We wanted to get married with our families and thought of we were gonna do it, we might as well live there as well, better sooner than later was the original thought because we thought we'd be through by June. Btw what is DCF?

[TabeaK 517]

Direct consular filing. Some countries still offer this route for married couples with a USC, Germany is one of them. You basically bypass the Service Center and the entire process is handled at the local embassy. Takes 3 months to complete give or take, only available for married couples where the USC half has lived at least 6 months (don't quote me on that) in Germany. Military couples use this route a lot.

I wish you guys all the best for your university years - these are important...

Edited February 5, 2015 by TabeaK

[Wooderz 314]

Oops. Answered my own question. Yeah, dcf is an option if you both end up studying in germany

Edited February 5, 2015 by April+Daniel

[TabeaK 517]

Yes, the USC petitioner needs to prove a long enough residency in a country that still does DCF.

[Mena28 35]

We wanted to get married with our families and thought of we were gonna do it, we might as well live there as well, better sooner than later was the original thought because we thought we'd be through by June. Btw what is DCF?

Makes sense :-)

DCF is Direct Consular Filing, which is possible in Germany (as far as I know). I am not an expert on it, but you have to be married for it, and the USC has to have lived with the foreign spouse in their country (or at least abroad, not sure) for six months or something. Instead of going via USCIS and the NVC before ending up at the american embassy in Germany it goes straight to the embassy and gets processed there. Quicker, but not possible for a lot of people because of the requirement of living together for an extended time - which is not always possible for the USC.

you are the USC with double citizenship, right?

There was a couple in one of the threads a while back who did that... if I could just remember their names...

Edit: Basically what the others said :-P

Edited February 5, 2015 by Mena28

[SincerelyMeike 52]

Thank you guys for all the wonderful responses!! I'll definitely keep that in mind!! That honestly does put me to ease a bit!!

My stupid lawyer never told me about DCF.. ? my vacuume cleaner is more useful than her..

But Yep! I'm American and Canadian, and my fiancé is german and Trinidadian!

[TabeaK 517]

And you met in Florida? Fascinating.

Bascially, if you guys end up studying in Germany - would that be possible language wise for you? - you could get married (anywhere, including the US) and after you have established sufficient residency time in Germany do the DCF.

Once you are married to a German cititzen you can get over and get residency immediately. You basically collect the documents (health insurance, birth certificate, passport, registration in Germany, marriage cert - ideally evidence that you have basic German knowledge though this can be waived for husbands/wife), rock up at the German equivalent to the Service Centers and get your title right away. No waiting around in limbo for months.

Unmarried, you can get a student visa - for that you need to prove sufficient funds - tuition at uni is free in Germany, but you need to show you can support yourself cost of living wise. The uni international office can help with that.

[Wooderz 314]

Hope you guys can figure out what's right for you! Take a step back and digest these options and take it from there. Try to not let emotions get in the way and just think rationally, put a plan together and go for it!

[av8or1 246]

Yes April is correct. Austin is a wonderful place to live. I'm a native TEXAN and have wanted to end up here. Fortunately in 2005 I landed a job that finally brought me this way. I doubt I'll ever live anywhere else.

FWIW

[av8or1 246]

Well what do you know...today I received a reply from senator Cruz via (snail) mail. The letter didn't even address the complaint regarding processing times. Instead, it simply stated that if I wanted to pursue an expedite that they would help. However they also added that an expedite is very difficult to get (which we all know). They sent the expedite criteria and a privacy release form. But again, nothing whatsoever regarding TSC or CSC. I guess they just glossed over that and sent me their generic reply that they use to respond to all such letters that they receive; I suspect they've done that once or twice in the past.

Sigh. I won't even bother replying.

FYI. FWIW.

Edited February 6, 2015 by av8or1

[Ethline 17]

I don't even know how to start off I feel so frustrated. This process is not for the weak at heart. I knew when started my journey that it was not going to be easy but I had no idea that TSC was going to basically hijack my life and leave me feeling broken and defeated. When I first started out trying to decide whether to get married and file cr1 or do the K1 process all the data I found pointed out that the K1 was definitely much faster. I took two months to do all my research and gather all my documents.(wishing I would have filed in July)Looking at current data it's taking about 7 months to get an approval then another 3 to get an interview how is this faster. Not to mention we will have to go through this again filing and waiting for AOS. I feel like this is torture. I pray for all of us so we can be with our love ones soon. I've never founght this hard in my life for a relationship.

[SincerelyMeike 52]

Guys.. I've been fighting with immigration for the past 2 years, and while this is damn hard, this was by far the easiest thing I've done yet. American immigration is hell on earth.