Need advice for K1 or CR1

[Jaquelly 1,647]

Just to echo:

CR-1 is superior in a lot of ways. We chose a K1 only because we are fortunate in our situation that I make enough money to cover both of us comfortably.

 

Also, regarding the receipts and such: Follow the guides on this website. You can scoff all you want and tell people they are wrong, but USCIS will NOT care about the flowers and things like that. They will want the noted evidence they seek IN THE GUIDES, regardless of how your embassy handles things.

 

Good luck!

[JFH 12,189]

Wait, these people are sending money before they've even met in person? I must have mis-read. I thought they had met at least once. Now I'm thinking the money side of things, especially because it was the first thing mentioned by the OP as her "evidence of a genuine relationship", is even more of a red flag. 

 

That said, if anyone here who hasn't met me would like to make my car payment, I'm not gonna say no! 😂

[PedroYRosa 3]

57 minutes ago, Jaquelly said:

Just to echo:

CR-1 is superior in a lot of ways. We chose a K1 only because we are fortunate in our situation that I make enough money to cover both of us comfortably.

 

Also, regarding the receipts and such: Follow the guides on this website. You can scoff all you want and tell people they are wrong, but USCIS will NOT care about the flowers and things like that. They will want the noted evidence they seek IN THE GUIDES, regardless of how your embassy handles things.

 

Good luck!

Thank u!! 

[PedroYRosa 3]

56 minutes ago, JFH said:

Wait, these people are sending money before they've even met in person? I must have mis-read. I thought they had met at least once. Now I'm thinking the money side of things, especially because it was the first thing mentioned by the OP as her "evidence of a genuine relationship", is even more of a red flag. 

 

That said, if anyone here who hasn't met me would like to make my car payment, I'm not gonna say no! 😂

That happens in your country, not the Caribbean!!

[Jaquelly 1,647]

35 minutes ago, PedroYRosa said:

That happens in your country, not the Caribbean!!

But you aren't moving to the Caribbean... You're trying to come to America. That's the point we are trying to make.

[Roel 7,192]

Just now, Jaquelly said:

But you aren't moving to the Caribbean... You're trying to come to America. That's the point we are trying to make.

You want to know what US embassy is going to think? That all you care about is money and green card. And they will think your fiance is "buying you". 

I cant imagine my husband sending me anything valuable before we met in person. I'd even refuse if he'd suggest that. Only thing he send me was letters and postcards. 

 

 

They will have reasons to think that unless you provide proofs of solid relationship and actual meetings in person. The more the better. 

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

- A prior K1 will not automatically or necessarily effect your new/future K1 or CR1 process, but do expect it to come up and have to answer for it.

- That being said: do not compare your new/future K1 or CR1 process to your previous K1 experience. The timeframes will likely be VERY different, and one has nothing to do with the other.

 

- K1 versus CR1 ultimately comes down to what your deal breakers are as a couple. With K1, the beneficiary cannot work immediately, whereas with CR1 they can, etc. For us, in hindsight, we sometimes wish we had done CR1 instead of K1, but at the time, we preferred the idea of being engaged while apart versus being married while apart, but that's a "to each their own" sort of thing. These are just things you and your partner would have to discuss and decide on as a partnership.

 

- If you have not met/have only met one time, regardless of which route you take, I'd strongly recommend meeting more times and spending as much time together as possible, before submitting anything. I'm not 100% on the CR1, but with the K1, you HAVE to have met at least one time within the 2 years prior to your application, and the more times the better.

 

- Including evidence of things like gifts, flowers, etc, I do not believe would necessarily negatively impact your application - IF it is submitted with OTHER stronger pieces of evidence. For instance, you are also submitting solid evidence of your time spent together in person (boarding passes, plane tickets, etc.), photos together, and other evidence of the relationship itself. Submitting things like receipts of gifts without much else could negatively impact your petition, as this could be seen as insufficient.

 

- You've made various comments indicating your reasoning being that some of the things you have suggested are considered sufficient in your country/other countries. Remember, you are essentially petitioning to immigrate to the US - not to another country. The feedback you are getting from people is based on the US immigration process, and should be considered seriously.

 

- And finally... no matter which path you wind up taking, I suggest doing as much research as possible on what you can expect, from beginning to END, as far as requirements, what will be asked of you, and how much it will all cost. I see so many stories of people being unprepared and getting to a certain stage of the process and either messing up due to negligence, or running out of time/money/patience/whatnot. This is a SERIOUS PROCESS and it will NOT be easy, or quick for that matter. Make sure both you and your partner are serious about this, understand what will be expected, and are on the same page. Not just with the path you choose for immigration, but with your relationship - both currently and long term.

 

Best of luck to you!

[JFH 12,189]

47 minutes ago, PedroYRosa said:

That happens in your country, not the Caribbean!!

Seems you're getting a bit upset about all this. We are giving you advice as we have been through the process successfully. It might be normal to send money to people you've never met before in your country. But when you play the immigration game all rules change. Given that this is your second attempt to marry an American and immigrate, you need to be on your toes as the bar has already been set high for you to prove that this one is the real deal. Yes, people who are interviewed at embassies in the Caribbean may have shown evidence of financial transactions but not before they even met! They are referring to sending money for birthdays and Christmas and so on after a relationship has been established. Many US embassies in economically disadvantaged areas have posted warnings on their website about "online lovers" and sending money. 

 

No embassy "requires" you to provide evidence of money going back and forth in this process. The gold medal of evidence is always time spent together, and that applies to all embassies. 

[PedroYRosa 3]

1 hour ago, JFH said:

Seems you're getting a bit upset about all this. We are giving you advice as we have been through the process successfully. It might be normal to send money to people you've never met before in your country. But when you play the immigration game all rules change. Given that this is your second attempt to marry an American and immigrate, you need to be on your toes as the bar has already been set high for you to prove that this one is the real deal. Yes, people who are interviewed at embassies in the Caribbean may have shown evidence of financial transactions but not before they even met! They are referring to sending money for birthdays and Christmas and so on after a relationship has been established. Many US embassies in economically disadvantaged areas have posted warnings on their website about "online lovers" and sending money. 

 

No embassy "requires" you to provide evidence of money going back and forth in this process. The gold medal of evidence is always time spent together, and that applies to all embassies. 

It does not bother me at all, on the contrary I am taking seriously all the suggestions that you have given me here ... But I understand that maybe I have not been able to explain oh they have only focused on the part of which I mentioned the money and flowers as part of the evidence !! I do not know which countries you are from, but believe me I have 4 years in groups in my country about this kind of things ... For us here it is not as serious as you see it and yes here the embassy has requested that kind of evidences because they know how is the management here ... I'm not talking lies or I'm wrong because I read daily experiences of people who go to appointments ... I just asked for advice about something that may happen in the future, it may not be so fast ... Just that he has asked me what to do in the future and since we have looked for opinions ... But I take all this very seriously!

[PedroYRosa 3]

1 hour ago, Roel said:

You want to know what US embassy is going to think? That all you care about is money and green card. And they will think your fiance is "buying you". 

I cant imagine my husband sending me anything valuable before we met in person. I'd even refuse if he'd suggest that. Only thing he send me was letters and postcards. 

 

 

They will have reasons to think that unless you provide proofs of solid relationship and actual meetings in person. The more the better. 

 

I think that if my comment had been placed in a Caribbean forum everyone would understand me perfectly!

[Jaquelly 1,647]

At this point, maybe the best thing for you to do is again, follow the guides available and give them what they ask for. Aside from that, good luck and hopefully you don't get a RFE for insufficient evidence.

[PedroYRosa 3]

8 minutes ago, Jaquelly said:

At this point, maybe the best thing for you to do is again, follow the guides available and give them what they ask for. Aside from that, good luck and hopefully you don't get a RFE for insufficient evidence.

Thank you very much! We just want to document if our relationship works well, I know that even if we have a year in contact, the important thing is physical contact and we are working on that, nobody has taken that into consideration, nor that his mother and father come to meet me in Christmas, only that I mentioned money and flowers, something common in my country :(

[Jaquelly 1,647]

Just now, PedroYRosa said:

Thank you very much! We just want to document if our relationship works well, I know that even if we have a year in contact, the important thing is physical contact and we are working on that, nobody has taken that into consideration, nor that his mother and father come to meet me in Christmas, only that I mentioned money and flowers, something common in my country :(

I think that it may have rubbed people the wrong way, and please, for those of us who have been through it and then stuck around to offer help to people, it is a little frustrating?

 

A lot of people assume they can just show receipts for gifts and that will be evidence. The fact that you were like, "But in our embassy they want this" made some of us (I assume) wonder if you were not focusing on the right things, which is the passport stamps and actual time spent around each other.

 

Don't hesitate to ask for help. I know that there is a language barrier (I'm American and I still struggle with speaking English from time to time) and that there are cultural differences, as well. People are just trying to help, and we tend to all beat a dead horse.

[PedroYRosa 3]

6 minutes ago, Jaquelly said:

I think that it may have rubbed people the wrong way, and please, for those of us who have been through it and then stuck around to offer help to people, it is a little frustrating?

 

A lot of people assume they can just show receipts for gifts and that will be evidence. The fact that you were like, "But in our embassy they want this" made some of us (I assume) wonder if you were not focusing on the right things, which is the passport stamps and actual time spent around each other.

 

Don't hesitate to ask for help. I know that there is a language barrier (I'm American and I still struggle with speaking English from time to time) and that there are cultural differences, as well. People are just trying to help, and we tend to all beat a dead horse. 

 

My daughter must pay too? In K1 the children are included in the form ...

[BRENTWOOD 14]

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Edited August 29, 2018 by BRENTWOOD