Fiance Visa or Marriage-based Visa?

[oceanrock 0]

I'm GC holder currently living in LA, eligible to apply for US citizenship by the end of next year (2017). My fiancé is in Brazil. We are engaged and ready to get married. We are planning a wedding in Brazil in November this year. After marriage, I will go back to the US and he will remain in Brazil. The goal is for us to live together in the US eventually.

However, upon having done some research, I realized we have two options to achieve this goal.

1) We get married in Brazil in November. We wait until I become US citizen, after that I will file paperwork to sponsor him to come to America to live with me.

2) We don't get married yet. We wait until I become US citizen. I sponsor him for his fiancé visa. He comes to America on the fiance visa and we get married within 90 days. After marriage, we will file paperwork to adjust his status so he can get his GC.

Either way, I think we will be separated for about 1.5-2 years. I travel to visit him maybe 2-3 times each year. He might not be able to get a tourist visa to come visit me in the US since he got absolutely no travel record and he is poor.

We are trying to figure out which is the best way to go about this. I'm not entirely sure which way is better in terms of less cost, lesser time to wait, if I will be required to come to brazil for interviews, etc (I will come if required, I just want to know so I can prepare myself). If you know better and have any input to help us make the right decision, I'd love to hear.

Thanks in advance.

Edited June 29, 2016 by oceanrock

[p-ana 933]

Get married in November, file a i130 for him right away. It's around 2 years to get a visa this way. In the meanwhile, if you get your citizenship, you update your info with uscis, and he'll be able to go through consular processing as soon as possible.

If you have to wait anyway, Bringing him on a cr1 will be more beneficial, once here he can work right away and won't need to go through aos.

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from Bring.Fam.Memb. of PR to America to What Visa Do I Need Forum~

~Inquiry about family visa processes~

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

I agree with the previous reply, get married now, file right away, upgrade when you become a citizen.

[JFH 12,190]

Unless your GC was obtained through marriage to a US citizen/LPR and you have not passed the 5-year mark of permanent residency, there is nothing to stop you marrying and filing tomorrow.

If you DID obtain your GC through marriage to a citizen or LPR then you have to wait until you have also been an LPR for 5 years.

Edited June 29, 2016 by JFH

[zkt101 38]

Option 1 is better because by the time your wife come to the US, you guys would be likely married for more than two years, and she will get a 10 year green card upon entering the US, so no removal of condition to worry about.