UK - US help

[Reacher29 0]

Hi everyone, my name is Gary (British) and my girlfriend (American) I plan on proposing to her soon and I want help with the k1 process.

1. Her and I are both in the uk and will be for the next year and 6 months. We plan on getting married (June/July 2017) in the USA and coming back to the uk for a few years. Question is does the k1 visa need to be filled out in the USA by her? If so is there any way around that part?

2. Do I need to be sponsored to come to the USA to get married? Does it need to be the girl I am going to marry or can I get her dad or whatever? Because she isn't in the USA so she won't have a job to sponsor me. Is their an income requirement for the k1 visa? Even tho I will be leave right after I get married, with that in mind does the job have to be in the USA because both is is have jobs in the uk.

I have more questions but I will let you stick your teeth into them first. Thanks a lot everyone.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

**** Moving from K1 to What Visa do I Need forum as Op doesn;t seem to need a K1 *****

OP- K1s are fiance visas to get married and stay in the USA. Since you only want to get married in the USA, maybe stay for a few weeks honey moon and then live in the UK, you can do that by you travelling as for a normal holiday, on the Visa Waiver Program.

Once you are ready to move to the USA permanently, your wife will start a spousal petition for an IR-1 visa for you, but that is not until about a year before you want to move permanently.

[Reacher29 0]

that sounds a bit of a risk i don't want to take. i would rather do it on the K1 and then go from there because nearer the time i might want to stay. if you could answer the other questions i would be thankful.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

that sounds a bit of a risk i don't want to take. i would rather do it on the K1 and then go from there because nearer the time i might want to stay. if you could answer the other questions i would be thankful.

You need to understand that a K1 visa would only get you into the US to marry within 90 days. If you should leave after, you have nothing to legally come back. The K1 visa by itself is not a greencard or permission to work or get a driver license or remain in the US more than 90 days. It is a lot of money and effort if you are not positive you will stay and apply for permanent residence. Cost:

K1 for UK = $635 + £295

$340 (USCIS) I-129F petition

£45 (ACPO) Police certificate just before petition approval

£250 (Knightsbridge Doctors) medical exam. Pay at exam.

$265 (Embassy) Visa fee prior to interview. Online pay.

$30 Courier fee if home delivery, $0 to pick up at a depot. Online.

THEN additional

$1070 (USCIS) Adjustment of Status/Work Authorization/Advance Parole (after marriage)

If you marry on a visa waiver visit and both return to living in the UK, you are eligible to short-cut the processing time by doing what is called direct consular filing (DCF) because she is legally resident in the UK. All applications go to London and you can have a spouse visa in maybe 5 months or less. When you enter the US on a spouse visa, you are a permanent resident with no further applications. You should do that visa when you are ready to live in the US permanently.

With either visa, her father can be a joint sponsor. She will be expected to have US tax returns for her paperwork as a sponsor if she has earned enough income, even abroad, for filing. Filing a tax return is require of Americans no matter where they live if they are earning money.

[NikLR 13,227]

Getting married on your vwp isnt a risk. It's perfectly fine.

[Reacher29 0]

I am just a bit worried that I would get turned away. I will contact my local US embassy and see what they say about it

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I am just a bit worried that I would get turned away. I will contact my local US embassy and see what they say about it

From the U.S. Embassy London website FAQs http://london.usembassy.gov/iv/ivfaqs_general.html

We are traveling to the United States to marry and will return to the United Kingdom after marriage. Do I still need a fiancé(e) visa?

If you will return to your permanent residence you may apply for a visitor (B-2) visa, or if eligible, travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program. At the time you apply for the visa and/or travel to the United States you will be required to show that you have a residence outside the United States that you do not intend to abandon. There is no set form that this evidence takes as it varies with each person's circumstances.

Edited January 2, 2016 by Nich-Nick

[NikLR 13,227]

How would an embassy help you with entry? Customs and border patrol are in charge of entry. They are part of the US Department of Homeland Security. US embassies and consulates are part of the US Department of State. Like a left and and a right hand, they are part of the same government body but are independent of each other.

Bring evidence that you will return like a letter from your employer, copies of leases, or other things that a normal person wouldn't just leave behind. Lots of people enter the USA every year just to marry here.

Heck you can probably search out on here the number of people who do so.

[JFH 12,190]

I am just a bit worried that I would get turned away. I will contact my local US embassy and see what they say about it

I, and many others here, am living proof that you are allowed to marry in the US and return to the UK to live. I don't know why you think you need to contact the embassy when you have a whole bunch of people here who already know the answer.

If you still think you can't get married under the VWP and return, you might want to contact various holiday companies who sell Las Vegas and Florida weddings - thousands of people from Europe travel to the USA to get married. Such companies wouldn't be in business if there were any risk of deportation involved.

Edited January 2, 2016 by JFH

[Reacher29 0]

Ok guys thanks a lot. I feel a lot better now