Do you have any regrets?

[Ontarkie 14,234]

~~Moved to General Immigration, from K1 P&P - The OP is not asking a K1 processing question.~~

Edited July 15, 2018 by Ontarkie

[ramesesthe2nd 149]

How long does it take for K1 from filling to visa in hand? CR-1 might be cheaper, but it takes so freaking long. I wish there was a faster option. 

[jakejon 1,197]

No, me and my fiancé are on agreement K1 was best choice for us. I see benefits of CR-1 but wasn’t for us personally. We have just got our NOA2 recently and hoping I’m there for some stage October as opposed to 2019, which would have been the case had we done the other route 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

19 hours ago, usmsbow said:

 

One reason we didn't go that route is getting married in Indonesia requires a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy. The K-1 process seemed a lot faster/easier, and getting married in the US was a lot less bureaucratic... That was back in 2014 though when the K-1 process wasn't that long and the EAD/AP was less than a 3 months wait. If we were doing it now, we'd probably go the CR-1 route.... 

 

 

LOL my wife's family wasn't going to send her away without marriage books.  We did it the hard way (Indonesia).  Filed K-3, so it would be faster.  No regrets though.  Same process when she arrived (except no wedding)

Edited July 15, 2018 by Nitas_man

[Wooderz 314]

I don’t really regret it, but if I’d have understood aos better and known the K1 would take 10 months instead of the 6 it was taking when we filed, we would have done the cr1. It all worked out, but I do think cr1 is a better way to go, in hindsight. 

[DavidandJen 15]

We were fortunate that we were in a secure enough place financially that my not being able to work for six months wasn't a problem. I needed that time to get used to living in the States. By the time I was able to work, my perfect job came along, so everything worked out really well for us. I'm not sure I would have adjusted as well to living here if I'd had to jump straight into everything.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

My only regret was filing for a K1 and then marrying 1 month before the I-129F was approved.  

 

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

5 minutes ago, LizM said:

I did not know this! So you went back and did the CR1? 

Yep. 

 

Mind you at the time we married, we hadn't planned on immigrating to the USA at all.  About a month later, the situation changed, we filed for a CR1, I sent a letter to withdraw the I-129F, and then the I-129F was approved pretty shortly thereafter.

 

A lot was going on at the time, so I don't think either of us was really thinking clearly.    If we had been, we probably would have just stayed in Denmark.  Hindsight is 20/20 and all.

 

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

Yes and no. I think we mostly regret not being as well educated on our options before starting anything, most of all. At the time, we had not found these forums and were not even aware of the CR1 option. So we went with K1. That being said - it ended up working well for us. Things went pretty smoothly throughout our process, and I'm not sure if I would have liked being married and separated for however long, opposed to getting married once we were together and living together for good. However - I think a part of both of us regret it now, only because CR1 recipients are able to start working and such much faster than K1 recipients. But after he's working and more settled, that probably won't even be a thought in our minds anymore.