Fiance Visa or Marriage Visa? Best Option

[brian_mosher 9]

#######, what does the passport process entail? Link to that somewhere on this site?

[nitsirk7562 82]

This is probably it, but I can't read Spanish. You could check the regional forums on here too.

http://embamex.sre.gob.mx/libano/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37&Itemid=15〈=es

#######, what does the passport process entail? Link to that somewhere on this site?

[NorrisSF 16]

HI Brian,

http://www.sre.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=242&Itemid=264

you can find the info for her to get a passport here.

greetings!

Have her make an appt online and go to her nearest SRE branch and she will get it from 1 to 5 business days (depends if it's a local branch or a regional branch)

[Halai&Tim 5]

My husband and I are currently going thru the I-130 route. We chose this way because he will be able to work as soon as he is allowed back into the US (since we met while he was on a working visa and hasn't been back to the US since). If you feel that the both of you will be able to live on one income (yours), I would go ahead and do the fiancé visa (K-3) as it does take a few months less than the spouse visa. But keep in mind that it is only faster by a few months. So you just have to weigh the options and what works best for your situation. My husband cannot just sit at home and do nothing, so that's why we decided it made more sense to do the I-130. Good luck!

[NorrisSF 16]

Also, to what someone said earlier today... if you still have a legal residence in Mexico (visa residente temporal or permanente). you can get married and apply for DCF depending on where you live in Mexico. that's faster than doing a CR1 from the US. but if not, a K1 is surely faster.

[Enigma23 68]

Enigma, I'm confused. So you are telling me that if we have a celebration, that has no legal binding whatsoever, they may deny a K-1 visa? I find that hard to believe since everything is driven by legality. How can they deny you a K-1 because you had what appeared to be a wedding celebration, but there is no documentation anywhere that you are a married couple? Has anyone else ever heard of this?

And this may be a totally dumb question, but she doesn't currently have a Mexico Passport. This isn't a prerequisite to getting one of these Visas is it? Having to file for her change of status when she gets here isn't important to me. She can wait and get a job after all that goes through. I'm just trying to find the fastest and smoothest way to get her over here for now.

See the following links for more information and case accounts...

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/426569-having-a-non-legally-binding-wedding-before-the-k1-visa-is-processed/?p=6181794

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/331197-non-legal-religious-wedding-before-k1-visa/

and she needs a Border Crossing Card at least but a Passport is best.. I'm not sure if they can issue a Visa to a BCC??

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/572/~/entering-the-u.s.---documents-required-for-foreign-nationals-(international

A visa and passport are not required of a Mexican national who is in possession of a Form DSP-150, B-1/B-2 Visa and Border Crossing Card*, containing a machine-readable biometric identifier, issued by the Department of State and is applying for admission as a temporary visitor for business or pleasure from contiguous territory by land or sea. Mexican citizens using the Border Crossing Card may travel 55 miles into the U.S. - except in the Nogales/Tucson area, where travel to Tucson is authorized.

The Border Crossing Card (BCC) is acceptable as a stand-alone document (by itself) only for travel from Mexico by land, or by pleasure vessel or ferry. Together with a valid passport, though, it meets the documentary requirements for entry at all land, air, and sea ports of entry (to include travel from Canada). Note: You must be a Mexican citizen and a resident of Mexico to have a BCC.

Anywhere a Mexican Citizen can or cannot go she will be limited to until such time that she has her Lawful Permanent Resident card...

Anywhere GREY on this map is off limits without a visa until she has her LPR card (takes about a year to receive after applying for AOS). So if you don't intend to travel outside of theses areas you should be fine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Mexican_citizens

Also be awre that just marrying you does not give her rights or protect her. 90 days after US Entry she would become "out of status" from her K-1 until you two are married and file for her AOS and actually have the I-797 proving you applied for her Adjustment of Status readily available. There have been a few cases of folks being near the border and not AOS'ing who were detained and had to hustle up. If you are legally living there.... See if you can get DCF as someone else previously suggested.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/dcf

[Husakovic 31]

Fiancee

[brian_mosher 9]

Unfortunately I'm not a legal resident of Mexico. I came back to the States a couple of times during that year and was never there more than 6 months at one time, so I just never went the resident route. Wish now that i would have! Thanks all. I guess I need to get her on getting a passport as I start this process either way. And I'm totally fine with her not being able to work for a period of time after she gets here. That won't be an issue.

[j&ana 363]

Enigma, I'm confused. So you are telling me that if we have a celebration, that has no legal binding whatsoever, they may deny a K-1 visa? I find that hard to believe since everything is driven by legality. How can they deny you a K-1 because you had what appeared to be a wedding celebration, but there is no documentation anywhere that you are a married couple? Has anyone else ever heard of this?

And this may be a totally dumb question, but she doesn't currently have a Mexico Passport. This isn't a prerequisite to getting one of these Visas is it? Having to file for her change of status when she gets here isn't important to me. She can wait and get a job after all that goes through. I'm just trying to find the fastest and smoothest way to get her over here for now.

In some countries if the celebration look a lot like a wedding celebration a K-1 visa will be denied because they will believe you are already married and are just trying to find a way to get that person over here.

A passport is not required of her for you to send either the I-129f or the I-130 form in. It will be needed after the petition is approve and is sent to the NVC or the embassy. she will have to have her Mexico passport to get the visa

My wife just got her first Philippines passport recently it was after we file the I-130 form but before it was approve

Edited January 12, 2015 by j&ana

[msbau764 245]

If not then see our comparison chart and figure out which is best for you as a couple. If it's important for your fiancée to get married in her home country with her family there, then maybe the CR1 is the route to go. After all it will be about 90 days after filing the AOS on a K1 visa that she would be able to work or travel. Meanwhile as a CR1 she could travel or work right away because she'd have a green card upon arrival. So the K1 is faster to visa but the CR1 is faster to green card and is about $700 less in fees.

90 days and working is a stretch on a K1 visa. There are several people in AOS purgatory that have been waiting 6 to 9 months and counting for their green card.

[Eric & Idalia 56]

My husband and I live in Mexico and we decided to get the CR1 visa.

In Mexico the legal marriage is to go to a civil register and have a ceremony. There are two "styles" bienes separados (separated property) where what you buy during your marriage is just legally yours (properties and responsibilities like loans) and bienes mancomunados (shared property) where what you buy is shared by both, wife and husband. They are like a pre-nuptial agreement.

Also to get married in civil register in Mexico the foreign partner has to get his/her birth certificate with apostille. Here more info about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_Convention

The church marriage is just for the church and it is not legally recognize by the government.

Most couples in Mexico get married by the church and civil register the same day. So the marriage is in good terms with government and church.

I know that in USA if you get married in the church is valid for the government, here it's not.

Edited January 12, 2015 by Eric & Idalia

[brian_mosher 9]

Right, but Eric & Idalia, these are US Customs officials making decisions on letting a Mexican citizen come into the US, not the other way around. So from all of the horror stories I have been reading today about people having a non-legal wedding and the customs official getting wind of it and possibly denying it, I'm still not sure it sounds like a good option.

[NikLR 13,227]

90 days and working is a stretch on a K1 visa. There are several people in AOS purgatory that have been waiting 6 to 9 months and counting for their green card.

You don't need a green card to work on a K1 AOS. You simply need the EAD.

[msbau764 245]

You don't need a green card to work on a K1 AOS. You simply need the EAD.

Good to know. To be quite honest, knowing that I will be stuck in TSC purgatory for so long as made me not even bother investigating all the necessary steps for the AOS. I remember hearing about the EAD being moot because a green card cancels it or the application of one will cause it to expire. I am probably wrong.

[NikLR 13,227]

No it's moot to apply for the EAD before sending the AOS. The I-94 would expire before you could even use that EAD. But you should apply for AP and EAD when you do the AOS paperwork. It can take up to a year or more to get the green card and the EAD allows you to work while the I-485 is pending.

Also if you apply for AP and EAD during the AOS, it's free, whereas otherwise it costs money.