American marrying a foreigner [merged threads]

[HudaMan06 0]

Hello friendly Interwebs! 

 

There is a lot of information out there so I figured I try this out. 

 

I'm an American who has met the love of his life while living in Singapore. She is Swiss and we are planning on getting married in the US. 

1) does she need a special visa when we come in for the marriage? Which one? 

 

2) As we both live and work in Singapore, taxes are a concern. Our combined incomes and assets could put us over the limit and make me pay taxes in the US while I don't live there. That's a big concern so I wasn't too be smart about this. Can anyone help me figure out what I need to do please? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

[usmsbow 802]

1. You're planning to get married in the USA, but don't plan to live here? Then she doesn't need any kind of visa. She can come here via the Visa Waiver Program (since she's swiss), get married, then return to Singapore. 

 

2. File as Married, Filing Separately. That keeps your income (and deductions) separate from hers for income tax purposes. Problem solved. 

[audacieux89 256]

I know a couple who applied for k1 in singapore and had the same case as yours. They both lived and worked in Singapore. They were approved for k1 and during interview the fiance was given a 221g because they needed proof that the USC had domicile in the US. 

 

He had to show proof that he was going to be employed in the US and had to provide a lease agreement under his name (and some other documents I'm not sure 😂)

 

If you would like to know their experience and get tips on your application, you can message @charlesisjan  😊

[EandH0904 1,184]

As the other poster said, if you are planning to get married in the US and return to Singapore, no visa is needed. 

 

If you are planning to marry and stay in the US, you have a couple of options - the K1 visa, which you file BEFORE you get married, and the CR1 visa, which you file AFTER you get married. They both have pros and cons and I urge you to read up on each ones. There are basic guides here:

K1: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

CR1: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

 

And a quick comparrison guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

 

The K1 takes an average of 8-10 months currently from start to finish, and the CR1 is about 12-14 months start to finish. As I said, they both have benefits, it depends on how much money you want to pay, if both of you being able to work/travel immediately is important, etc. 

 

Its important that you DO NOT bring her here to get married and simply adjust status so she can stay. That is clear immigration fraud. If you want her to stay, you need to go through the proper filing of forms and waiting. 

 

 

[TBoneTX 46,127]

Apparently inadvertent duplicate threads have been merged.

[charlesisjan 39]

3 hours ago, audacieux89 said:

I know a couple who applied for k1 in singapore and had the same case as yours. They both lived and worked in Singapore. They were approved for k1 and during interview the fiance was given a 221g because they needed proof that the USC had domicile in the US. 

 

He had to show proof that he was going to be employed in the US and had to provide a lease agreement under his name (and some other documents I'm not sure 😂)

 

If you would like to know their experience and get tips on your application, you can message @charlesisjan  😊

Yes!

We went through the K1 visa process but we really had the intentions of living in the United States. 

For your particular case, you sound like you have no intentions of getting moving back Stateside after marriage. If that's the case, your wife will then be subject to U.S. Taxes as a Non-Resident Alien (NRA) OR you can file for an exemption. You'd have to file as "Married, Filing Separately" and your spouse doesn't have any income from within the USA AND if you do not claim her as a dependent, then you can claim for an exemption for NRA.

If in any case you have the intentions of living in the United States after marriage, then I suggest going through the K1 visa route as others have mentioned in this thread though you will need proof of domicile and most probably a co-sponsor for proof of finances since they will not care about your income in Singapore.

[HudaMan06 0]

Thank you so much for all the helpful advice!

 

As of now we are planning on staying in Singapore for at least the next year. Only then would we begin looking into other areas which could potentially be the US. Is there any advice/links that would be useful for immigration after marriage and living abroad that anyone can help me with? 

[geowrian 22,338]

6 hours ago, HudaMan06 said:

Is there any advice/links that would be useful for immigration after marriage and living abroad that anyone can help me with? 

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1