K1? or getting married in argentina and K3?

[DalekMD 1]

Hello. I am an argentine medical student (I would be graduating in june 2017) engaged to an american citizen (same sex: woman + woman). She and her son came to Argentina in 2010 to live here with me until I finished med school. She has been working in a store since then. The plan is to live in the US. We never got married yet because we were waiting to have a nice wedding once I was a medical resident and could make decent money, we didn't want to get married just to have our papers in order, although that is what it will end up happening since there doesn't seem to be a better option. Our plan now is to apply for the K1 while she is still here in Buenos Aires (we would send the papers to her dad and he would file it with a check on her name), then she was going to move back in January 2017 to find a house to live and once I got my visa approved and my degree I would join her. However, I have a few concerns:

_ She was married before, to a man, and got divorced in 2009. Her ex-husband is not the father of her child. Would that be a concern for the people processing the Visa? I' m afraid that they will think that we are just friends and she is marrying me just to help me get papers so it would be easier for me to practice medicine in the US. Would the photographs, letters, etc be enough? Or should we get married while she is still here and then apply for the K3 or another type of Visa? if the latter, would I be able to join her in the states as soon as possible? (I have a tourist Visa good until 2018) or would I have to wait until two years or until the K3 is approved?

_ She hasn't lived in the States since 2010 and therefore has not filed taxes. Should she file previous taxes even declaring that her income was $0? Her father would be co-sponsoring the Visa.

Any advices? What Visa do you think it will be best for us: K1 or getting married in Argentina and apply for K3?

Thank you very much

[JFH 12,190]

Welcome to the forum.

I just want to say first of all that the K-3 is as good as obsolete now and 99.9% of spouses are now processed as CR-1 visas.

All couples need to demonstrate that the relationship is bona fide and not just for immigration purposes. You have very good evidence of this in that she moved to Argentina to live with you. Make sure you focus on that. Send in a copy of your joint lease, joint financials, utility bills in both names, credit cards in both names, etc. This time spent together living in Argentina should be your main focus. Photos are secondary evidence.

She needs to file the back taxes. Even if she didn't earn enough overseas income to have to pay taxes, she still has to file. She needs to do that asap.

I would t think about which visa you are most likely to get but which one suits your situation better. With a K-1 you won't be able to work or travel outside of the country for several months. Can you afford that? Could that damage your career chances in the future to be out of work for an extended period? But the CR-1 takes longer. If it's important to you to be together in the USA quickly and you can afford a career break, then go for the K-1.

You can visit during your application process. Be prepared for extra scrutiny at the airport as you have a love interest in the USA. That can be bad news to a CBP officer who thinks you are trying go stay with her illegally. It doesn't mean you are banned from entering, it just might be more difficult and they will want to see strong ties to Argentina.

Good luck with your visa journey.

[DalekMD 1]

Thank you! and sorry for the delayed reply.

We don't really have anything in our names since we are living in a house that belongs to my dad and all the utility bills are on his name. Maybe I can use that as proof?

I' ll tell her to file her taxes then.

I needed a career break anyways because I need to study to take the USMLEs so I wans't probably going to be able to get into a medical residency until 2018 so looks then that the K1 is the way to go.

Thank you very much again.

[Boiler 45,538]

You said she had been working so how come her income is 0?