K1 Visa... to file or not?

[Cheburashka34 228]

Just now, DaveAndAnastasia said:

Yeah; even back in normal times, dealing with Russian bureaucracy is not fun.

 

That's mostly why we did a K-1; I couldn't reasonably spend more than a week or so in Russia or take multiple trips on short notice, and setting up a third-country meeting somewhere two foreigners could marry quickly would have taken another couple months minimum if we didn't want to spend a fortune.

Exactly. And I think it would be more money trying to plan a destination wedding for both of our flights and hotel stay than it is for adjustment of status. 

[Cheburashka34 228]

By the way I posted a topic very similar to yours a few months back, that is why I was drawn to it. Here is the link

 

[SteveInBostonI130 3,432]

3 hours ago, Ellie__ said:

Do you think it is still a good plan to file for K1 during these times or just wait for the situation to improve? 

Hello,

 

As I see it, the only real benefit for the the K1 is if you have not spent much time together and the 90 days allows you a chance to see if marriage is right for the two of you.  Or if it's the only reasonable way to obtain a visa for the US.

 

But if you are from the EU or another VWP country, then it's better just to visit and live with your fiance for a length of time, before deciding on marriage.

 

Also, if you are in the EU right now, there are ways to still travel to the US.  I believe you can spend 2 weeks in Serbia or Croatia, then you are allowed to travel (as long as you do not transit through an EU country).  That will allow you to go to the US, marry, then return to wait for the CR1 approval.  And you can still visit him by doing the same thing (via Serbia/Croatia).  But I realize this takes time away from work and may be costly (2 additional weeks of travel expenses).

 

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

If your fiancé is unable to travel as well as yourself your only option is to file the k1.  The longer you wait the longer you will receive the visa- there’s no point in not waiting thinking things will speed up eventually... they still have to process everyone that filed before you...

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

14 minutes ago, Cheburashka34 said:

Exactly. And I think it would be more money trying to plan a destination wedding for both of our flights and hotel stay than it is for adjustment of status. 

Everyone’s situation is different. For those of us Unable to travel to the majority of the world without a visa (that costs time and money and not a guarantee) as well as dealing with countries that are backwards in their paperwork (or you bribe someone to get it done) the k1 makes sense.

[Ellie__ 8]

41 minutes ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

Hello,

 

As I see it, the only real benefit for the the K1 is if you have not spent much time together and the 90 days allows you a chance to see if marriage is right for the two of you.  Or if it's the only reasonable way to obtain a visa for the US.

 

But if you are from the EU or another VWP country, then it's better just to visit and live with your fiance for a length of time, before deciding on marriage.

 

Also, if you are in the EU right now, there are ways to still travel to the US.  I believe you can spend 2 weeks in Serbia or Croatia, then you are allowed to travel (as long as you do not transit through an EU country).  That will allow you to go to the US, marry, then return to wait for the CR1 approval.  And you can still visit him by doing the same thing (via Serbia/Croatia).  But I realize this takes time away from work and may be costly (2 additional weeks of travel expenses).

 

I was actually thinking about that too, spending 14 days away and then go see him, this can be an option I guess  

[HRQX 4,145]

50 minutes ago, Ellie__ said:

I was actually thinking about that too, spending 14 days away and then go see him, this can be an option I guess  

Yup, it has worked with ESTA:

 

[Ellie__ 8]

23 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Yup, it has worked with ESTA:

 

I was actually thinking of Croatia  Thank you so much!

[NoMansLand2020 298]

5 hours ago, Ellie__ said:

Do you think it is still a good plan to file for K1 during these times or just wait for the situation to improve? 

It's more or less a personal choice. For some K1 is the best route, for others, CR1. 

 

We are a fairly young couple. I'm almost 40 and my fiancée is 25. She has two small children and we want to have more children in the future. For this reason, we want to be together sooner and also so the kids are not separated from me. They already call me Daddy and are upset quite often because they miss me and don't understand why I can't come visit, or why they can't come here. 

 

Although she plans on working in the states, it was not something she wanted to do right away. Most people in my opinion, would want some time to adjust to the new culture. 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2020 by Solaris81

[Cheburashka34 228]

4 minutes ago, Solaris81 said:

It's more or less a personal choice. For some K1 is the best route, for others, CR1. 

 

We are a fairly young couple. I'm almost 40 and my fiancée is 25. She has two small children and we want to have more children in the future. For this reason, we want to be together sooner and also so the kids are not separated from me. They already call me Daddy and are upset quite often because they miss me and don't understand why I can't come visit, or why they can't come here. 

 

Although she plans on working in the states, it was not something she wanted to do right away. Most people in my opinion, would want some time to adjust to the new culture. 

 

 

Finally someone has some positivity toward the K1 thank you!

[JFH 12,190]

1 hour ago, Cheburashka34 said:

Finally someone has some positivity toward the K1 thank you!

As we always say, everyone’s situation is different. Some people want to move through this at break-neck speed and start filing their K-1 after 1 visit. Others take their time. I visited my husband around 25 times before we married and over 40 times in total before I immigrated. It’s partly a cultural thing too - one-visit engagements with I-129Fs filed almost before the bags have even been unpacked tend to be the norm for the Philippines, for example. But highly unusual for Europeans. Likewise not being able to work for months is not something I could have tolerated under any circumstances. A few extra months of waiting for a CR-1 didn’t kill me. 

[Cheburashka34 228]

3 minutes ago, JFH said:

As we always say, everyone’s situation is different. Some people want to move through this at break-neck speed and start filing their K-1 after 1 visit. Others take their time. I visited my husband around 25 times before we married and over 40 times in total before I immigrated. It’s partly a cultural thing too - one-visit engagements with I-129Fs filed almost before the bags have even been unpacked tend to be the norm for the Philippines, for example. But highly unusual for Europeans. Likewise not being able to work for months is not something I could have tolerated under any circumstances. A few extra months of waiting for a CR-1 didn’t kill me. 

Well I've been with my fiance for almost 3 1/2 years but only been able to visit him three times due to work and it's really difficult for him to get a tourist visa to come here so I'd really just like to be with him asap. And he said he doesn't mind waiting a bit to work. He's used to it being a lawyer in Russia, it's hard for him to find a good job for a long period of time.

[Juliet57 304]

I would take into account the timelines in your countrys embassy to decide.

[Ellie__ 8]

7 minutes ago, Juliet57 said:

I would take into account the timelines in your countrys embassy to decide.

I live in Italy, so k1 in normal times does not take that long from what I saw...

[aphr0dite 22]

7 hours ago, Scandi said:

I wouldn't recommend the K-1 route under normal circumstances, and definitely not under the current circumstances. Everything seems very "up in the air" right now, and the K-1 visa is already putting the beneficiary in a crappy situation as it is with not being able to do much of anything while waiting for the EAD and/or greencard after entering the US. Imagine if the virus causes an insane amount of backlog, what are you going to do in the US if your work authorization takes a year or maybe even more? And if your greencard takes another 2 years? Nah, too risky for me personally, I wouldn't do it. Definitely get married and file for the CR-1 instead.

This exact reason has me wishing we went for the spousal visa instead. Who knows how long this pandemic is going to back things up for. I feel like we could be facing delays for years at this point. Sigh. 😔