K1 or CR1 for long-distance relationship?

[Garko86 4]

Hi all,

 

I joined this website today, and it's been incredibly helpful - so thanks to all that have been contributing!

 

After doing (A LOT!) of research, my partner and I have come to the conclusion that we need to decide between filing for a K1 visa, or getting married and then CR1. My main concern is that the evidence we have for CR1 is weak - more details below. I'd appreciate any thoughts / advice!

 

Our personal situation:

1/We are a gay couple in our early 30s. I live in London, UK and I'm a British citizen. My partner lives in NYC, and is a US citizen. We met in November 2019 while I was in NYC visiting friends. We have no evidence of meeting, but we can prove we were both in NYC that week. We both have our own careers in London and NYC, and there are no red flags in terms of background / age / financial situations.

2/ We have been in a long distance relationship since then. Mostly video-calling (we can produce logs/screenshots) and chatting on snapchat (which unfortunately doesn't leave any records - we are now switching to whatsapp!). We are planning to take a trip together in December, which we'll make sure to document.

3/ We recently came to the conclusion that the only way for us to be together is based on a family-based visa. I have several work connections in NYC and have had discussions about moving there, but getting a work visa ended up being an insurmountable issue.

4/ Whichever path we choose, neither my partner nor I are out to our families. I am aware this could be a red flag, however we can get letters from all of our close friends supporting our bona fide relationship.

 

K1 visa: I believe this would be doable, however leaving my job/career and moving with no work authorization makes me very nervous. In my field, staying out of work for 6 months+ would be seen very negatively.
I could reach out to my work contacts in NYC again: how likely is it we could expedite the EAD process if I were to get a formal job offer upon my arrival?

 

CR1 visa: would this even be an option in our case? Realistically, our only evidence would be a trip or two together + pictures from our wedding + videocalls + letters from our closest friends.

Also, the CR1 timeline appears to be very long (up to 24 months?). Which is why we are wondering if K1 + request to expedite wouldn't be the quickest / most realistic option?

 

Thanks everyone for reading this long message!

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

You are from London, consider yourself lucky. You have no red flags mentioned. Don’t count on an EAD to be expedited. Your best bet, if a job is important to you, is to marry and file a CR1. The evidence you present for both visas is basically the same. Time spent in person is most important. Being married you can also write up wills, be beneficiary’s on each others life insurance/retirement plans, be added as joint credit card users etc. You are lucky you are from the UK because you don’t need to prove your relationship as much as someone from other places. No one can predict the timelines for either visa category and if you ultimately chose a visa based on your projected waiting time you will be disappointed. Good luck and browse through the website to further gain knowledge.

[PaulaCJohnny 713]

1 hour ago, Garko86 said:

Hi all,

 

I joined this website today, and it's been incredibly helpful - so thanks to all that have been contributing!

 

After doing (A LOT!) of research, my partner and I have come to the conclusion that we need to decide between filing for a K1 visa, or getting married and then CR1. My main concern is that the evidence we have for CR1 is weak - more details below. I'd appreciate any thoughts / advice!

 

Our personal situation:

1/We are a gay couple in our early 30s. I live in London, UK and I'm a British citizen. My partner lives in NYC, and is a US citizen. We met in November 2019 while I was in NYC visiting friends. We have no evidence of meeting, but we can prove we were both in NYC that week. We both have our own careers in London and NYC, and there are no red flags in terms of background / age / financial situations.

2/ We have been in a long distance relationship since then. Mostly video-calling (we can produce logs/screenshots) and chatting on snapchat (which unfortunately doesn't leave any records - we are now switching to whatsapp!). We are planning to take a trip together in December, which we'll make sure to document.

3/ We recently came to the conclusion that the only way for us to be together is based on a family-based visa. I have several work connections in NYC and have had discussions about moving there, but getting a work visa ended up being an insurmountable issue.

4/ Whichever path we choose, neither my partner nor I are out to our families. I am aware this could be a red flag, however we can get letters from all of our close friends supporting our bona fide relationship.

 

K1 visa: I believe this would be doable, however leaving my job/career and moving with no work authorization makes me very nervous. In my field, staying out of work for 6 months+ would be seen very negatively.
I could reach out to my work contacts in NYC again: how likely is it we could expedite the EAD process if I were to get a formal job offer upon my arrival?

 

CR1 visa: would this even be an option in our case? Realistically, our only evidence would be a trip or two together + pictures from our wedding + videocalls + letters from our closest friends.

Also, the CR1 timeline appears to be very long (up to 24 months?). Which is why we are wondering if K1 + request to expedite wouldn't be the quickest / most realistic option?

 

Thanks everyone for reading this long message!

Hi there. You will need evidences for both cases but for marriage you will need more than just video calls and letters from friends. What make a relationship more "real" is share important things like joint bank accounts, life insurance, etc.

 

For the K1 you cannot use a job offer to have your EAD faster. You will need to wait until you are allowed to work.

 

Any imigration case is long and need a lot of commitment an patience. 

 

You will need to discuss with your partner better about it. Read together about all the evidences you need to show is good too because he need to know what he can start to doing here in the US to help the case.

 

Good luck 

Edited October 4, 2020 by Paula&Johnny

[Crazy Cat 42,033]

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation.

K-1
    Possibly Slightly faster arrival in the US    
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)    
    Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 5-6 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 5-6 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.
    A denied K-1 is sent back to USCIS to expire
  

CR-1
   Possibly Slightly slower arrival in the US 

    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765, I-944) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.

    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
  �

 

[Crazy Cat 42,033]

1 hour ago, Garko86 said:

Which is why we are wondering if K1 + request to expedite wouldn't be the quickest / most realistic

You have to expedite based a valid reason acceptable by USCIS and the consulate.

[Garko86 4]

38 minutes ago, Paula&Johnny said:

Hi there. You will need evidences for both cases but for marriage you will need more than just video calls and letters from friends. What make a relationship more "real" is share important things like joint bank accounts, life insurance, etc.

Thanks, that's exactly our concern. We live in different continents and have never lived together.

 

We can add each other to our respective life insurance / health insurance, but we would continue to live completely separate lives for now (I'm not even sure I could open a joint US bank account from London). Getting married soon - which I believe we could, in the UK - wouldn't really change that. Hence our worries re. filing for CR1 with so little evidence.

[SalishSea 18,064]

On 10/4/2020 at 6:45 AM, Paula&Johnny said:

For the K1 you cannot use a job offer to have your EAD faster. You will need to wait until you are allowed to work.

People can, and do request EAD expedites based on formal written job offers all the time.

[SalishSea 18,064]

On 10/4/2020 at 7:24 AM, Garko86 said:

Thanks, that's exactly our concern. We live in different continents and have never lived together.

 

We can add each other to our respective life insurance / health insurance, but we would continue to live completely separate lives for now (I'm not even sure I could open a joint US bank account from London). Getting married soon - which I believe we could, in the UK - wouldn't really change that. Hence our worries re. filing for CR1 with so little evidence.

OP, you won't need to have lived together in order to get a spousal visa.  US immigration realizes that most married couples who live in separate countries have not cohabitated.  Adding each other as account/insurance beneficiaries, establishing wills and advance directives, and spending as much time together in person as you can are all good ways to show a bonafide marriage.

 

Also, I wanted to point out that there is no need to be out to your families, or to show any family involvement or approval for London.  It won't even be questioned.  Affidavits from friends, etc, are generally not needed either.

 

Best wishes and stick around VisaJourney for help along the way.