Fastest way to have my fiance with me in the USA

[lotus77 0]

Hello all,

I am a US citizen who has been living in Canada with my Canadian fiance for the past 2.5 yrs. I have recently accepted a job offer back home in the US and would like to immigrate my fiance to the US. I am aware that I have two options here (K-1 visa and C-R1). My goal is to have my fiance with me in the US as quickly as possible and am aware that K-1 might be my best bet, however I was wondering if anyone was aware of a way for me to move her down faster or offer insight into another option. Maybe a work visa? As a Canadian she can visit me without a visa. I've read on this forum of another possibility in which she could visit me, get married and simply stay and apply for an adjustment of status. With this option she won't be able to go back to Canada until her application is finalized. Would there be any reprecussions with this alternative? Your feedback would be appreciated.

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

Visiting on her Canadian travel privilege with the intent to stay/ immigrate and adjust status due to marriage is visa fraud and illegal, don't do it.

If she is here on a legit other visa, such as a work visa, then she CAN adjust status. She might look into the TN visa.

[afortunada 182]

She can not come over as a "visitor" with the intention of marrying you and adjusting status. That is fradulent and illegal. It really is frustrating that there are no faster ways of doing it, but everyone with a foreign spouse is/was suffering through the long process, hence why you can not adjust from a visitor status and "jump the line." Everyone is deeply missing their spouses and if that were an option, everyone would be doing it.

K-1 is definitely faster, but keep in mind then she is not allowed to work until after she has arrived in the states, you've completed the marriage, and you have filed for AOS. Otherwise if you get married now in Canada and file the CR-1 petition she can work right away (and the filing fees are less), but the process takes about a year. You can visit each other during the wait, though.

Yes, she could adjust status if she is here on a work visa.

Good luck on your journey!

[JFH 12,190]

The fastest way isn't necessarily the best way. K-1 visa holders are unable to work or travel internationally for about three months after the marriage. In the time between arrival into the USA and marriage they are very much in limbo with no real status. During this time many have found they struggle to get a driving licence, for example. Personally, I don't see how the K-1 could ever be suitable for someone with a career and who lives in a VWP country or Canada where they can visit relatively easily. K-1s are taking about 6 months. I've seen spouse visas lately taking around 8 months. In the past when spouse visas were taking years to processs I can see why the K-1 was so tempting. But not anymore. I'm hoping our case is 10 months from submitting I-130 to having my visa in hand and we had a longer than average processing time for the I-130. Would I have done a K-1 just to shave 4 months off that processing time and find myself unable to work or leave the country for months? Absolutely not. I visited my husband twice during the process. We survived.

[lotus77 0]

Thank you all I'm the Canadian fiance. I'm just kicking myself that we haven't started with it early enough. But we were not planning to move to the US this soon. I have a good job here and he was going to get one here but the Alberta economy is not doing well at the moment.

Anyway, now I realized that I should not get married and stay in US while I visit with VWP. TN visa looked promising. Do you know any thread here about it? I was not able to find one. With TN visa, how soon can I get married once I arrived in the US? If I get married right away and start C-R1, would that look suspicious?

Is the CR1 application process pretty self explanatory? Would you recommend hiring a lawyer?

Thank you!!

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

Thank you all I'm the Canadian fiance. I'm just kicking myself that we haven't started with it early enough. But we were not planning to move to the US this soon. I have a good job here and he was going to get one here but the Alberta economy is not doing well at the moment.

Anyway, now I realized that I should not get married and stay in US while I visit with VWP. TN visa looked promising. Do you know any thread here about it? I was not able to find one. With TN visa, how soon can I get married once I arrived in the US? If I get married right away and start C-R1, would that look suspicious?

Is the CR1 application process pretty self explanatory? Would you recommend hiring a lawyer?

Thank you!!

Side note: Canada is not part of the VWP program. Canadians have something even better: automatic B1/B2 status as visitors.

No lawyer is necessary, but you do have to do a little research.

Two different processes:

If you are in the US on a visa (like TN) and you are married to a USC, then you are applying for Adjustment of Status (Green Card), not for a visa.

If you are in Canada and are married to a USC, you can have your spouse file an I-130 petition for you, eventually leading to a CR-1 (spousal) visa, and upon entry to the US, a Green Card.

It is perfectly fine to get married while visiting the US as long as you go back to Canada to wait out the spousal visa process.

Edited September 2, 2016 by EM_Vandaveer

[lotus77 0]

Side note: Canada is not part of the VWP program. Canadians have something even better: automatic B1/B2 status as visitors.

No lawyer is necessary, but you do have to do a little research.

Two different processes:

If you are in the US on a visa (like TN) and you are married to a USC, then you are applying for Adjustment of Status (Green Card), not for a visa.

If you are in Canada and are married to a USC, you can have your spouse file an I-130 petition for you, eventually leading to a CR-1 (spousal) visa, and upon entry to the US, a Green Card.

It is perfectly fine to get married while visiting the US as long as you go back to Canada to wait out the spousal visa process.

If I am in the US on a TN visa, can I marry my fiance right away to start the AOS application process?

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

If I am in the US on a TN visa, can I marry my fiance right away to start the AOS application process?

TN is a non-immigrant visa. Entering on TN with the intention of filing AOS straight away is basically the same as doing so on Canadian visitor status, e.g. visa fraud.

Visiting on her Canadian travel privilege with the intent to stay/ immigrate and adjust status due to marriage is visa fraud and illegal, don't do it.

If she is here on a legit other visa, such as a work visa, then she CAN adjust status. She might look into the TN visa.

Isn't getting TN with he intention of marrying and filing AOS straight away visa fraud the same way doing it on a tourist visa is? TN is a non-immigrant visa.

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

TN is a non-immigrant visa. Entering on TN with the intention of filing AOS straight away is basically the same as doing so on Canadian visitor status, e.g. visa fraud.

Isn't getting TN with he intention of marrying and filing AOS straight away visa fraud the same way doing it on a tourist visa is? TN is a non-immigrant visa.

I think you are right... I thought it was a non immigrant visa but with dual intent, but it is not.

[Boiler 45,558]

Most visa's etc are effectively dual intent.