Doing it right

[Damn Punchie 2]

Hello 

I do have a question please

. So my fiancé and I started talking in January 2018 and met in person in May... we will be getting married in October God willing and we are planning to apply for the CR1 December or January. Is it advisable to go ahead and apply for it or it's too soon for that? I believe by the time USCIS will approve it and goes through NVC stage all will take a while so can we just proceed with it? 

Or wait? Every advice will be appreciated, Thank you.

[JFH 12,190]

Ghana....married on the second visit after knowing each other less than a year...probably not a good idea. You really should have some more visits before filing. Ghana is a very difficult embassy to get through. You have an uphill battle on your hands. Technically you can file immediately after marriage (as soon as you have the official marriage certificate in your hands) but for Ghana it's recommended you rack up a lot more time spent together before filing. 

[p-ana 933]

Read on Ghana’s country portal here and you’ll see that a lot more face to face time is needed before applying. It’s a pretty tough embassy so I suggest reading a lot first, getting to know each other better, involve your families, etc, before even thinking of immigration 

 

best of luck

[Sunnyland 639]

I would never advise anybody to marry someone after only one visit. You don't know each other that well and the beneficiary being from a high risk country may be seen as trying to immigrate the US with the first one that gives them opportunity. 

[debbiedoo 2,339]

Ghana is a notoriously difficult consulate. Put a few more visits under your belts before you file. And personally, id wait until later to get married. But thats me. Marriage is more than phone conversations and whatever text app you use and a few weeks of vacation time. I wouldnt marry someone on only the second time i met them (and Paul and i knew from the beginning we'd get married, and for us, we have almost 3 years and 40 visits and still arent married. Obviously, thats not possible for most people but no one can say we DONT know each other well lolol)

 

aside from only meeting twice (come later this year), what other red flags are there?

[JFH 12,190]

Also be mindful of the typical "red flags" for such cases. Are you the same age and religion? Are you of the same ethnic origin? How many previous marriages for either of you? 

[Damn Punchie 2]

3 minutes ago, JFH said:

Also be mindful of the typical "red flags" for such cases. Are you the same age and religion? Are you of the same ethnic origin? How many previous marriages for either of you? 

Well she's 29 and I am 27

we've both never been married 

both Christians. 

[Dashinka 24,505]

1 minute ago, Sheff&Cori said:

Well she's 29 and I am 27

we've both never been married 

both Christians. 

So not a lot of red flags.  Just make sure you do your research through the appropriate sub-forum to make your journey as successful as possible.  As to getting married on the 2nd visit, that is your decision, but as to having a successful visa application, there is more that you will need to prove to a CO to grant a visa.

 

Good Luck!

[Liflead 112]

19 minutes ago, Sheff&Cori said:

Hello 

I do have a question please

. So my fiancé and I started talking in January 2018 and met in person in May... we will be getting married in October God willing and we are planning to apply for the CR1 December or January. Is it advisable to go ahead and apply for it or it's too soon for that? I believe by the time USCIS will approve it and goes through NVC stage all will take a while so can we just proceed with it? 

Or wait? Every advice will be appreciated, Thank you.

CR1 takes almost a year. So if you get married in October and apply for it in January 2019, your spouse will get the visa tentatively by December 2019.

 

If you apply for K-1 (fiancé visa) say in first week of October 2018, you would get the approval from USCIS by March 2019 and if all goes well then K-1 visa by end of May 2019.

 

Now, there are advantages and disadvantage of both the visas. Though CR1 takes long time (approximately one year if all goes well) to come, once your spouse gets the visa she enters US as a permanent resident and is eligible to work. She gets the social security number in two weeks. Also, the total amount of money that you spend on CR1 is comparatively less than K-1 visa.

 

With regards to K-1 visa, your fiance will get the visa in approximately 8 months (if all goes well) and she will enter US as your fiance with the intention to marry you within 90 days. Once your guys are married then you will have to apply for her Adjustment of Status(AOS) that gives her a conditional green card which takes approximately 4-6 months to come. In addition to that if she wants to travel out of US during her AOS period, she will have to apply and obtain Advance Parole. If she wants to work in US then she will have to apply for Employment Authorization Document (EAD). You pay separately for each of these requests.

 

The main advantage of K-1 is that it allows you to be with your partner at the earliest. So it's up to you what you want to opt for. If you wanna go for CR1, it will take one year for maybe lil more for your spouse to be with you.

[debbiedoo 2,339]

2 minutes ago, Liflead said:

With regards to K-1 visa, your fiance will get the visa in approximately 8 months (if all goes well) and she will enter US as your fiance with the intention to marry you within 90 days. Once your guys are married then you will have to apply for her Adjustment of Status(AOS) that gives her a conditional green card which takes approximately 4-6 months to come. In addition to that if she wants to travel out of US during her AOS period, she will have to apply and obtain Advance Parole. If she wants to work in US then she will have to apply for Employment Authorization Document (EAD). You pay separately for each of these requests.

 

3

AP and EAD are not an additional charge if applied for simultaneously with AOS

 

And neither K1 or CR1 will be approved and visa in hand in those time frames. Not for Ghana.

[Mrsamoah2019 593]

My husband is also from Ghana.....There are no red flags that I see...She visited one time and they are marrying second visit...nothing wrong with that as long as she make more visits and submit a lot of evidence. Once your interview occur you will be together over a year...you only 2 years younger and same religion....be prepared at the interview and plenty evidence of bonafide and you should be good.....Remember God has the final say so in this process ...face to face time is key and u are affiliated with each others families

Dont do a K1 they are hardly approved with Ghana's embassy...you will be wasting time and money

Edited September 2, 2018 by Mrsamoah2018

[Liflead 112]

1 minute ago, debbiedoo said:

AP and EAD are not an additional charge if applied for simultaneously with AOS

 

And neither K1 or CR1 will be approved and visa in hand in those time frames. Not for Ghana.

Those are average timelines. It completely depends on how strong your documents are. And you can always contact USCIS if it goes beyond the given timeframe.

 

Not sure if for AP and EAD there are no additional charges if applied together but it's good if there are not. The USCIS website shows individual charges for them.

[TNJ17 1,329]

Yeah you’re looking at a tough battle ahead for you. You’re gonna need way more visits and family getogethers before the wedding takes place. You met online, got engaged in just a handful of months, and wanna start immigration process. You’ll be most certainly seen as non-bonafide couple and you will get denied for sure. Meet more, meet each other’s families. Take trips together to other countries. This is gonna take a while and cost you a lot. Good luck. 

[Damn Punchie 2]

1 hour ago, debbiedoo said:

Ghana is a notoriously difficult consulate. Put a few more visits under your belts before you file. And personally, id wait until later to get married. But thats me. Marriage is more than phone conversations and whatever text app you use and a few weeks of vacation time. I wouldnt marry someone on only the second time i met them (and Paul and i knew from the beginning we'd get married, and for us, we have almost 3 years and 40 visits and still arent married. Obviously, thats not possible for most people but no one can say we DONT know each other well lolol)

 

aside from only meeting twice (come later this year), what other red flags are there?

We have no red flags 

[Damn Punchie 2]

1 hour ago, Bill & Katya said:

So not a lot of red flags.  Just make sure you do your research through the appropriate sub-forum to make your journey as successful as possible.  As to getting married on the 2nd visit, that is your decision, but as to having a successful visa application, there is more that you will need to prove to a CO to grant a visa.

 

Good Luck!

Thank you 

what more can we provide to prove a bona fide relationship