Some inquiries about CR1 Visa. Please help !!!

[steven1987vn 0]

Hello all,

Thanks for reading my post and sorry If my English is not good but I will try to list out as much details as I can.

First of all, its our background about our relationship. I am Vietnamese working in Singapore under work visa and she is USC. We both have good job and financial stability. She is now working inside the university and I am working for the airport.

We had been friend and had gone into relationship for a month before she received the visa to immigrate to US with her family so we decided to break up and pursued our own dream (at that time, we were just 18 years old). It was almost 10 years ago and since then, there was sometimes we lost the connection and got in touch again through Blog360 the lost contact and contacted again through Facebook.

We have been talking more lately since 2 years ago but were still friend. We shared our own life to each other, our sad stories about our ex ones and cheered each other up. Day by day, we have a feeling for each other and when she knew I would fly back to my hometown (VIETNAM) in last September for vacation (Im currently working in Singapore under work visa), she decided to travel back to my hometown to see me with her family. She told me that I was the only sole purpose for her to travel back to find me. After that, we decided to get back into the relationship and I brought her to introduce to my family and she did the same thing. In November she flew again to Singapore to meet me and we went to Thailand for 4 days trip with a group of my friend. After she came back to US, we still chat with each other everyday through whatsapp or facebook messenger but rarely called because her time and my time are different (her day is my night and Im a shift worker, which means no weekend and no holiday and when she is at home, i will be at work).

And then, I promised to fly over to US for a vacation on this April but my visa was rejected (I think because I said I would go to US for tourism and meeting my GF). She was sad and her family also likes me so they encouraged us to get married since her parents are quite old (father is 78 and mother is 64). We are also almost 29 this year and we also think it should be the time to get married. She and her parents did go to the immigration attorney to ask for advice and was said that CR1 will be better for us since K1 visa might highly be rejected and we could not appeal. So we decided that she will fly to Sing to meet me again and we travel together to Malaysia this time with a group of my friend, after that we will sign the marriage certificate this May in Singapore and fly back to our hometown to discuss about our wedding on October when she will fly back with her parents. This is our plan.

Hence, there are few questions regards to the CR1/K1 Visa that I want to ask before we proceed to file this petition. Hope VJers coudl enlighten me on these:

1. With my case, around 8 months in relationships (counted until the month we will get married or file fiance visa on May), will it be a weak point in proving our bona fide relationship since we have not much pictures together, quite alot of chats but not much calls either?

2. is it really true CR1 is better than K1 in my case? (we are still considering before deciding to sign the marriage certificate)?

3. If we sign the marriage certificate in Singapore, can she file the petition for me in Singapore and I will get interview here or I should go back to Vietnam to get interview? (she said the attorney advises her to file petition for me in Vietnam since I am still Vietnamese). Then will US embassy in Vietnam recognizing my Singapore marriage certificate or we have to sign again in my hometown?

4. Does B2 visa rejected affect my case since I just applied it last month and 3-4 months later we will file petition under spousal/fiance visa?

5. Can we sign the marriage certificate first and do the wedding later in October?

Look forwards to your reply soon. Many thanks

Steven

[Michael and Ganna 104]

Hello and welcome....

New marriages are just that. You will not have tons of evidence.....gather what you can.

A rejected visitors visa will not affect your spousal visa

Signing a marriage certificate is a civil marriage, a wedding is a formality

[laisa 0]

The difference of filing the k1(fiancée visa) and cr1(spousal visa) is the required document.the cr1 is marriage certificate and photo of your wedding ceremony and the fee,the k1 is engagement ring,receipt of it if you have and photo together.anything that you can prove.the rest are the same like the time process.

[NikLR 13,227]

~~moved to what visa do I need from CR1/IR1 process and procedures~~

[steven1987vn 0]

Tks Laisa,may we know do we need to have the wedding first be4 filing the petition or after we sign marriage certifcate then we can proceed with our petition? We want to do petition on May and have a wedding on October since it will be at least a year until the interview day and we want to be together as soon as possible.

[NikLR 13,227]

Sooner would be a K1 visa. You sound like you meet the requirements. Check in your regional forum to see how hard it is to get a K1 visa vs CR1.

[Dal&Rose 45]

Also, wedding ceremony is not required and you don't need to have photos of it before submitting a petition. You can have the civil marriage completed and later have the wedding ceremony.

My husband and I went to the local county office, completed the forms, signed them in front of the clerk, and it was filed all done within 15 minutes. Afterwards, we went to breakfast and I took the day off work. So any ceremony is dependent on the couple. Other photos are good to include, pictures you with her family, pictures of her with your family. And definitely some photos of you and your soon-to-be wife. If the family photos are not available, it's alright, just adds more evidence is all.

Good luck!

[Mike91 0]

Hi Steven please find my input below. I will answer your questions in the order they appeared.

1. 8 months in relationship will not be a weak point in terms of bona fide relationship. The immigration authority does not clearly specify how much time you need to be in relationship. You must supply documented evidence to prove it (pictures do not worth much these days). The following is acceptable. Bank statements you your COMMON bank account dated 2-3 month back. COMMON property that you own or lease (lease agreement). Copy of airline tickets of your COMMON vacation. COMMON insurance policy dated couple months back. Copy of car ownership where BOTH of you listed as owners. Copy of phone messages/email dated couple months back. The general idea is COMMON ownership or involvement in something. There is no need to specify all the documents. It might be just couple, but it must be something evident. It must have history of couple of months (2-3 months at least)

2. K1 allows you to come to U.S. and continue your immigration process from within the U.S. so, you might enter the U.S. earlier. CR1 in contrast requires you to complete your immigration process outside of U.S. Both processes are time consuming. So, there is no shortcuts here. Rejection of your B2 visa however might affect your K1 application as well.

3. Your future wife can file the petition from any place in the world. Your interview will be in the country that you will declare as your primary residence as long as that country has U.S. consulate where interview can be conducted. No need to go to Vietnam. The general rule is though the less countries you involve in your immigration process the better. U.S. Immigration will recognize your marriage certificate. They don't care where was it issued.

4. You can still immigrate to U.S. if your B2 visa is rejected, but it will definitely be taken into account at your immigration process whether its K1 or CR1. You WILL be asked question "Have you ever been rejected a visa to U.S.?". I suggest you verify with U.S. border why your visa was rejected.

5. For immigration purposes (CR1) you are required to supply marriage certificate. Immigration doesn't care if you have a wedding or not. Marriage certificate is enough.

Hope this helps

Mike

[NikLR 13,227]

B2 rejection needs to be noted but will not affect either a K1 or CR1.

[steven1987vn 0]

Tks Dal&Rose, NLR and Mike91 for your precious info. I know what to do know ^^