K-1 Fiance Visa without plans to marry

[researcher123 1]

I have met my girlfriend's parents (Nicaragua) and visited her 4 times over the past couple of years.  She has applied for 2 tourist visas and been denied (right before Trump took office).  She was told insufficient funds in her account, I think she had around $1,000.  Things drifted apart but now I am trying to reconcile.

She has never met my family, and I want to bring her to the US.  I did not want to do fiancé visa, because I don't want to rush into a marriage.  I think I would like to marry her some day but that is not my intent today.  I have read that some questions they ask at K-1 interview are 'where will the wedding be' "why are you getting married in US instead of your country" etc.  But I'm not bringing her here to marry.  That would be an option after at least a month or so but I'm not going to plan a wedding or anything now.

It seems like a catch 22-- obviously with 90 day term (used to be longer), the purpose is to TRY things out, and you do not have to marry.  But on the other hand, it seems the interview and many questions assume you are marrying.  So what is the best way to handle this?  I want to be honest but I am not going to a) rush into a marriage before I am ready or b) deprive myself of a possible really nice relationship because of the immigration rules.  The best option was tourist visa but that failed twice.

[Frage 67]

If you don't plan to marry her, don't file K-1.

 

If you need more time with her before marriage, why not live in Nicaragua? It's one of the safest countries in Central America right now. 

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

The purpose of a K1 is not to TRY things out. The 90 days is just the amount of time your given to fulfill the condition of the visa - which is to marry.

When petitioning you sign an intent to marry. It is required. Unfortunately the option is the tourist visa.  If she can't get that then consider having your family meet her with you in a third country or her country. Those are the options.

Edited September 12, 2017 by Suss&Camm

[LionessDeon 2,060]

10 minutes ago, researcher123 said:

I have met my girlfriend's parents (Nicaragua) and visited her 4 times over the past couple of years.  She has applied for 2 tourist visas and been denied (right before Trump took office).  She was told insufficient funds in her account, I think she had around $1,000.  Things drifted apart but now I am trying to reconcile.

She has never met my family, and I want to bring her to the US.  I did not want to do fiancé visa, because I don't want to rush into a marriage.  I think I would like to marry her some day but that is not my intent today.  I have read that some questions they ask at K-1 interview are 'where will the wedding be' "why are you getting married in US instead of your country" etc.  But I'm not bringing her here to marry.  That would be an option after at least a month or so but I'm not going to plan a wedding or anything now.

It seems like a catch 22-- obviously with 90 day term (used to be longer), the purpose is to TRY things out, and you do not have to marry.  But on the other hand, it seems the interview and many questions assume you are marrying.  So what is the best way to handle this?  I want to be honest but I am not going to a) rush into a marriage before I am ready or b) deprive myself of a possible really nice relationship because of the immigration rules.  The best option was tourist visa but that failed twice.

Wait until you are ready to marry and then file the K1.  One of the documents required for filing the K1 one is a "Letter of Intent to Marry".

http://www.visajourney.com/content/examples/  You can find it here under Fiance(e)  letter of intent.

[luv2teach77 41]

The K-1 is a Fiancee visa.  She can't be your Fiancee unless you've asked her to marry you.  If you haven't proposed, don't intend to or have no plans to marry her, the K-1 is not the visa for you.  

 

The 90 days provided to you as a K-1 visa holder isn't to determine if you want to get married, it's there to provide committed couples with the time required to finalize wedding plans before legally getting married.  The interview you talk about is attended before the visa is issued.  You don't have the option of trying things out stateside for 90 days and then calling it all off before your interview.  

 

Failure to Marry within the allotted 90 days would mean your entire K-1 application was wasted and now means nothing.  Additionally it would also mean that your "Fiancee" would need to leave the US.

[Unlockable 7,315]

38 minutes ago, researcher123 said:

I have met my girlfriend's parents (Nicaragua) and visited her 4 times over the past couple of years.  She has applied for 2 tourist visas and been denied (right before Trump took office).  She was told insufficient funds in her account, I think she had around $1,000.  Things drifted apart but now I am trying to reconcile.

She has never met my family, and I want to bring her to the US.  I did not want to do fiancé visa, because I don't want to rush into a marriage.  I think I would like to marry her some day but that is not my intent today.  I have read that some questions they ask at K-1 interview are 'where will the wedding be' "why are you getting married in US instead of your country" etc.  But I'm not bringing her here to marry.  That would be an option after at least a month or so but I'm not going to plan a wedding or anything now.

It seems like a catch 22-- obviously with 90 day term (used to be longer), the purpose is to TRY things out, and you do not have to marry.  But on the other hand, it seems the interview and many questions assume you are marrying.  So what is the best way to handle this?  I want to be honest but I am not going to a) rush into a marriage before I am ready or b) deprive myself of a possible really nice relationship because of the immigration rules.  The best option was tourist visa but that failed twice.

A few things...

 

First, if you are not ready to get married then......don't. Don't even pretend you are going to get married so you can have your girlfriend come here.

 

Get a passport and go visit your gf so you two can get to know each other better. If she wants to meet your parents then have them go there and meet her. What you are suggestion is not only fraudulent, but also silly and inconsiderate. There are many people who are going through the K1 process because they are officially ready to be married.  Don't waste USCIS' time with a throwaway K1 petition because your gf can't get a visitor visa when there are plenty of people who deserve it.

 

You are not the only US citizen whose significant other could not get a visa to visit the US. It happens EVERY DAY. And we see many people posting about it on this forum.

 

 

[Roel 7,193]

I'm sorry, there is no "Let's try things first" visa.

And K1 is not for you.

 

Either she visits you on the tourist visa for a short trip.

Either you visit her. That's it.

 

When you're ready to marry, you can start considering K1 or CR1.

[RO_AH 1,662]

1 hour ago, researcher123 said:

deprive myself of a possible really nice relationship because of the immigration rules. 

You don't bypass rules because they are inconvenient. 

[bakphx1 789]

Yes, when you apply for a fiance visa, they will assume you want to get married. 

You may want to take your time and have what is unfortunately a long-distance relationship with her.  A finance visa application shortly after two failed tourist visa attempts won't be the best timing you can have.  Even if you were to try for a visa like that now, the hole she's trying to dig out of would just become deeper.

 

[JFH 12,191]

If she's eligible, she can apply for a student or work visa to "try things out" with you for a few years.

 

If you were prepared to spend hundreds on a wasted K-1 (basically you would be paying for a very expensive 90-day visit visa - she wouldn't be able to work, study or possibly even drive, depending on your state of residence), then spend that on an extended visit to her to "try things out". 

 

 

By by the way, what happened to your other fiancée? You've been through the process once already....you know how it works!

 

 

[researcher123 1]

Thanks for the helpful comments but can you guys (one person) chill with the ad hominem?  No one was suggesting anything fraudulent and it's pretty rude to tell someone you don't know that wanting to spend time with their S.O. before marrying is "silly" or trivial.  Remember, these are actual peoples lives and loves we are talking about.  Also, no one "deserves" a visit to the states.  Visas are granted all the time, or not, to people regardless of how "deserving" they are.

 

The rest of you guys were all very helpful, but there seem to be a minority of commenters on this site who like to throw in accusatory and judgmental comments that are not helpful to the original poster, and certainly not to anyone else reading here.

 

It sounds like spending more time down there, and/or shoring up some evidence for ties to her country and trying another tourist visa to the U.S. are the best bets.  She has a decent job in import/export near the airport for several years. The reason for rejection before was stated as lack of money in the bank, I believe she had around $1,000 USD.  I noticed the rejection rate of Nicaragua is over 40%, so it's not terribly easy (Costa Rica is less than 10%).

 

As for the work visa, I thought those are very difficult and expensive, especially in today's America, and you must really prove the job is one that could not be met easily by an American.  The student visas, the consensus seems to be they are incredibly expensive (require $10,000+ university tuition).  I can look into a local English language school at my university, but I think they only help with the visa if you enroll full time, so again thousands of dollars. 

[JFH 12,191]

The plot thickens....

 

OP, are you a USC? How did you go from being denied entry on the VWP to having a fiancé being interviewed for a K-1 (for which you have to be a USC) in a year? How did you go from tourist to USC so quickly? 

 

 

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

27 minutes ago, JFH said:

The plot thickens....

 

OP, are you a USC? How did you go from being denied entry on the VWP to having a fiancé being interviewed for a K-1 (for which you have to be a USC) in a year? How did you go from tourist to USC so quickly? 

 

 

[researcher123 1]

I'm a US Citizen, girlfriend from Nicaragua, she would be potentially immigrating through me under a fiancé visa, when the time comes for that.  But we are not wanting an immigrant visa at this time; My understanding is my status is irrelevant to a tourist visa application to visit US.

[Frage 67]

I'm very confused now