Opinion on my CR1 situation

[Merlofil 5]

Hey everyone,

 

I am a 22 year old Italian guy and my girlfriend is a 22 year old US citizen. For the last four years I have studied in the US and we have been dating for the last 2 and a half. I am now going to go to London starting in september for a 1 year masters while she will remain in the US. Once the master is over we would like to marry and have me to move to the US so we can be together permanently (due to the language barrier we cannot move to Italy).

 

I wanted to know two things. The first thing is that the K-1 visa seems to be used by a lot of people that have only met twice or three times before. Would the fact that we dated for two years when I was a student be an advantage of a disadvantage? We have pictures proving our relationship however I do not have flight tickers and itineraries as I did not keep those from the times I was flying home and back from school breaks. We will have flights proof for this coming year as I'll visit her 3 or four times.

 

Regarding the CR1 visa I wanted to know whether I can come to the US and get married, leave and apply for it. I was always told by the border officers that if I tried to get married to my girlfriend while on my ESTA that was visa fraud. I am asking about getting married in the US as I will have both the money and the time to fly here while she will not have time off as she will be working full time.

 

Any insights and contributions would be much appreciated!

[jskibo 588]

You can get married in the US and leave and apply  Its coming here with intention to get married, stay and adjust status that is a no no

[Merlofil 5]

4 minutes ago, jskibo said:

You can get married in the US and leave and apply  Its coming here with intention to get married, stay and adjust status that is a no no

I know that staying would be visa fraud. I just wanted to know whether its possible to just get married and leave. I just have a quick question that you might be able to answer. I see that you have to provide evidence of a bona fide marriage. We have proof of our relationship but we have never had a joint lease, bank account and we don't own any property together. Would that be a problem? We can prove a bona fide relationship as we really have been together for 2+ years but we can't prove a marriage besides proving the future marriage certificate.

[Crazy Cat 42,217]

16 minutes ago, Merlofil said:

Hey everyone,

 

I am a 22 year old Italian guy and my girlfriend is a 22 year old US citizen. For the last four years I have studied in the US and we have been dating for the last 2 and a half. I am now going to go to London starting in september for a 1 year masters while she will remain in the US. Once the master is over we would like to marry and have me to move to the US so we can be together permanently (due to the language barrier we cannot move to Italy).

 

I wanted to know two things. The first thing is that the K-1 visa seems to be used by a lot of people that have only met twice or three times before. Would the fact that we dated for two years when I was a student be an advantage of a disadvantage? We have pictures proving our relationship however I do not have flight tickers and itineraries as I did not keep those from the times I was flying home and back from school breaks. We will have flights proof for this coming year as I'll visit her 3 or four times.

 

Regarding the CR1 visa I wanted to know whether I can come to the US and get married, leave and apply for it. I was always told by the border officers that if I tried to get married to my girlfriend while on my ESTA that was visa fraud. I am asking about getting married in the US as I will have both the money and the time to fly here while she will not have time off as she will be working full time.

 

Any insights and contributions would be much appreciated!

1. The K-1 requires that the two people have met at least once within 2 years of filing.  More time spent together before marriage is always a good thing in every aspect.

2.  You can marry in the US while on Esta and leave.  You cannot, however, enter on ESTA with the intent to stay and adjust stauts.

[jskibo 588]

3 minutes ago, Merlofil said:

I know that staying would be visa fraud. I just wanted to know whether its possible to just get married and leave. I just have a quick question that you might be able to answer. I see that you have to provide evidence of a bona fide marriage. We have proof of our relationship but we have never had a joint lease, bank account and we don't own any property together. Would that be a problem? We can prove a bona fide relationship as we really have been together for 2+ years but we can't prove a marriage besides proving the future marriage certificate.

The list they provide for CR1 is suggestions.  When we sent ours I added some wedding photos,  visa stamps from Philippines, copies of tickets, receipt from engagement ring and honeymoon receipt as well as copies of my 401k and insurance that showed her as beneficiary.  And that's all I sent 

[Ryan H 3,830]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Progress Reports to What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration forum.

[Ryan H 3,830]

***Duplicate thread removed; any follow-up questions should be posted in this thread instead of starting a new one.***

[Merlofil 5]

I have more questions about the CR1 visa that I would appreciate an answer to! 

 

I was wondering whether we would have to plan a big wedding or if once I enter the US we can just get married in court. I would like to know whether this is ok for both the border patrol and for the CR1 visa. 

 

I also would like to know if I can visit the US with an open application in my name. As I would be living in Europe and my future wife in the US I would have a lot more time off of work than her, therefore I would be the one with the availability to travel to her and not vice versa. I was wondering whether I would be sent home at the border. 

 

My last question is about processing times. I seem to be seeing lots of people with 450 plus days between when they sent in the application and their interview date. Is that normal? I thought is should take around 13 months. 

 

I also don't understand how one knows what service center to send the documents too. My girlfriend lives in michigan, where would our stuff go?

 

Any other tips on this visa would be much appreciated! And if you can advise on whether to go k-1 or cr1 please do! Thank you for all the help!

Edited April 3, 2018 by Merlofil

[Ryan H 3,830]

4 minutes ago, Merlofil said:

I have more questions about the CR1 visa that I would appreciate an answer to! 

 

I was wondering whether we would have to plan a big wedding or if once I enter the US we can just get married in court. I would like to know whether this is ok for both the border patrol and for the CR1 visa. 

 

I also would like to know if I can visit the US with an open application in my name. As I would be living in Europe and my future wife in the US I would have a lot more time off of work than her, therefore I would be the one with the availability to travel to her and not vice versa. I was wondering whether I would be sent home at the border. 

 

My last question is about processing times. I seem to be seeing lots of people with 450 plus days between when they sent in the application and their interview date. Is that normal? I thought is should take around 13 months. 

 

I also don't understand how one knows what service center to send the documents too. My girlfriend lives in michigan, where would our stuff go?

 

Any other tips on this visa would be much appreciated! And if you can advise on whether to go k-1 or cr1 please do! Thank you for all the help!

 

Answers:

• If you enter on a CR-1 visa, you are already married, you wouldn't get married in the US again.
• Yes you can visit; however, admission to the US is not guaranteed.
• From the time a petition (not an application) is submitted to the time an interview takes place, plan on at least a year and count your blessing if it takes less than that.
• You will not know which service center a petition is being sent to until you are told which one it was sent to (i.e. you will not know in advance).

[j&ana 378]

 for the CR-1 yes you can enter The U.S and marry as long as you leave the U.S

you can marry in church or the courthouse or at home, as long as the person marrying you is  authorized to officiate the marriage. It does not matter to the USCIS

what kind of wedding it is

Do not worry about not having joint bank account or having property together most people doing the CR-1 visa do not have that

passport stamps, pictures of you and her and family, any other type of evidence you have  is good

The CR-1 takes at least a year or more in most cases

However the CR_1 visa is a superior visa compare to the K-1. You will have a green card and Social security card  right away . So if you plan on wanting to work in the US as soon as you arrived, you will be able to

The K_1 visa you will be able to move to  the U.S  faster but other then that there is no advantage.It is more costly in the long run. you will have to adjust status to receive green card so it could be a little while after arriving that you will be able to work

yes you may still be able to visit while the CR-1 visa is being process