Impact of abandoning K1?

[frodomaximuss 0]

My fiancee just picked up her K1 visa yesterday. Her old B2 tourist visa was cancelled as a result.

We have been planning to have her come to the US (obviously), but some things have come up that have got us thinking about moving to her country (Colombia) instead, at least for the foreseeable future.

What are the impacts of abandoning a K1? We would still love for her to be able to travel and visit the US.

How soon, if at all, would she be eligible to apply for a new B2 visa, and if we are married at that point, will she have any issues entering the US? i.e. does a K1 application in the past suggest risk that a person would try and overstay a B2 entry in the future in the eyes of border control?

What are the outcomes if we still have her enter the US on the K1, marry, and then depart without filing for adjustment of status. Or if we did file for AOS, how soon, and for how long are you able to leave the US?

Thanks for you advice!

[jwcir12016 32]

If you abandon the K1 then you abandon it, and anything from here on after you will have to start from scratch. It should not reflect negatively on applying for future visas, although they will ask about it. If she does come to the US on a K1 she will have to apply for AOS to get her 2 year conditional green card before she is allowed to travel at all. The green card which will give you all the opportunity to travel, but again you still cannot stay out of the country for extended periods of time.

If you plan to marry after abandoning the K1, then you will have to start all over again with the CR1. With each visa you apply for you are just adding more and more time to the process and keeping her out of the US since her tourist visa is now cancelled. The CR1 is a year or more wait time.

If it were me, I would follow through with the K1. I am unsure of exact AOS wait times, but you can find that easily somewhere one here.

[Eric-Pris 1,607]

If you abandon the K1, marry in Colombia, and at some later time, she decides to apply for a tourist visa, she will likely get denied, unless she really has super strong ties to her country. A lot more than she needed to show in the past since her husband now lives in the US, so she has a good reason to not come back to Colo. There's a chance she would not be able to get another tourist visa.

If I were you, I'd use the K1, get married in the US, apply and get the 2 year greencard, and then be free to travel to Colo for up to 12 months (more if you apply for a re-entry permit I believe, correct me if I'm wrong).

[frodomaximuss 0]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I guess my line of thinking extends even further... That is, I'm talking about my becoming the expat in this situation.

Here's what I'm looking at:

1. She enters US on K1, we marry

2. We return to Colombia and make our home there. Abandoning the AOS or K1 in the process.

3. A year later, we just want to pop up and visit my family, without plans to settle here.

What are the options in that case? I wouldn't be looking at a CR1, because the plan would not be for her to immigrate.

I guess the question is, what type of visa do expats get for their foreign spouses to make a visit to their home country together? If I had known I'd find myself in this position, probably wouldn't have started this process to begin with, she'd have a B2 and we'd be all set...

[C-ma'am 684]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I guess my line of thinking extends even further... That is, I'm talking about my becoming the expat in this situation.

Here's what I'm looking at:

1. She enters US on K1, we marry

2. We return to Colombia and make our home there. Abandoning the AOS or K1 in the process.

3. A year later, we just want to pop up and visit my family, without plans to settle here.

What are the options in that case? I wouldn't be looking at a CR1, because the plan would not be for her to immigrate.

I guess the question is, what type of visa do expats get for their foreign spouses to make a visit to their home country together? If I had known I'd find myself in this position, probably wouldn't have started this process to begin with, she'd have a B2 and we'd be all set...

Anyone who is looking to visit the US, independently if they are married or not to a USC, needs to apply for a B1/B2. If you abandon AOS, she will still have to apply for a tourist visa.

If you are planning on moving back to the US with her, you will have to do a CR1.

So, expat or not, she would still have to apply for a B1/B2

[Unlockable 7,315]

By your plans she would need a tourist visa or she can stay in the US and try for the citizenship in 3 years. If she becomes a USC she can come and go as she please.

[Enigma11561 336]

The K1 is a visa to enter the U.S. Once she is here the K1 is dead. You don't abandon it. Once you marry, file for AS and in a few months she will have her green card.. Now you are both free to travel.

[NuZayetsPogodi 117]

You need to evaluate just how serious and permanent your plans are to move to Colombia.

Abandoning the K-1 is a bad idea in this situation. It would be much better if you two could be patient, get married on the K-1 visa, wait here while she adjusts status and receives a green card. As an American, you are able to travel almost anywhere without problem. The opposite is not true for our non-American loved ones. Unless she has exceptional circumstances, she will be unable to get a B-2 visa in the future because she now has a record of having a fiance in the US. If she applies for a tourist visa, she will have to make a very convincing case that she will return to Colombia. The trouble here, though, is that if you really plan on living in Colombia, her green card will be canceled because she needs to have actual residence in the US. If she goes too long without being here, it will be canceled. The best way (on paper, of course) of carrying out this plan is for your fiance to come here, adjust status, receive a green card, and ultimately become a USC in a few years when she's eligible. Then she can come and go as she pleases.

If you're absolutely, 100% sure you want to live in Colombia, then there is no consequence for your fiance to not use her K-1 visa. Yes, later on you two can get married and file for CR-1 if you want to live in the US. But again, the question will come up - where do you actually want to live? The goal of filing for a CR-1 is to get a green card. But if you just plan on visiting the US as a married couple, she'll have trouble proving strong ties to her country - especially in the beginning of your relationship - when it comes to getting a B visa.

I hope that makes sense.

Edited October 12, 2016 by NuZayetsPogodi