What if we don't start AOS after K1 + marriage?

[geocity 1]

I have a question and hope someone can provide some advice.

 

My fiance will be getting the K1 visa soon, and travel to the US, and get married there.

 

However, soon after, we will need to travel overseas. How do we re-enter the US, if we choose to travel overseas after K1 and marriage, but BEFORE starting the AOS/ Green Card/ I-485 process? 

 

We don't want to start that process after getting married because we don't want to wait for the 90+ day processing time to obtain the "advance parole document" which would allow us to leave the US while the AOS is still in progress. 

 

Therefore, what kind of visa/ process would we follow so that she can re-enter the US later on say 6-12 months after getting married in the US (after entering on the K1)?

 

thank you!

Geocities fan

[Boiler 45,486]

CR1

 

Likely to take longer than 12 months.

[Unlockable 7,314]

8 minutes ago, geocity said:

However, soon after, we will need to travel overseas. How do we re-enter the US, if we choose to travel overseas after K1 and marriage, but BEFORE starting the AOS/ Green Card/ I-485 process? 

 

She can't. It won't be possible. And that is one of the problems with the K1. She HAS to remain in the US until AOS is completed if she wants to do things like work and/or travel overseas. If she leaves before it is completed, it will be deemed abandoned and she will not be able to reenter and you will have to start all over with a spousal visa, which will take over a year.

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We don't want to start that process after getting married because we don't want to wait for the 90+ day processing time to obtain the "advance parole document" which would allow us to leave the US while the AOS is still in progress. 

Unfortunately, you have no choice. This is what you signed up for when you choose the K1. If traveling immediately after coming to the US was a big issue, then the K1 was the wrong visa. You could have gotten married in her country (or another country) and did a spousal visa. With the spousal visa, she would be able to travel out of the US immediately.

 

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Therefore, what kind of visa/ process would we follow so that she can re-enter the US later on say 6-12 months after getting married in the US (after entering on the K1)?

That would have been the spousal visa. But that option is already gone. If she is going to be out of the US that long it sounds like it is best for her to come over on the K1, get married, leave, then you file for a spousal vise for her to return. But she will not get the visa for 12 - 18 months.

 

Your plan will not work the way you want it to. You best bet is to try to AOS while she is here. Otherwise, you two have done this K1 for nothing and will have to start all over with another visa.

[geocity 1]

9 minutes ago, Unlockable said:

She can't. It won't be possible. And that is one of the problems with the K1. She HAS to remain in the US until AOS is completed if she wants to do things like work and/or travel overseas. If she leaves before it is completed, it will be deemed abandoned and she will not be able to reenter and you will have to start all over with a spousal visa, which will take over a year.

Unfortunately, you have no choice. This is what you signed up for when you choose the K1. If traveling immediately after coming to the US was a big issue, then the K1 was the wrong visa. You could have gotten married in her country (or another country) and did a spousal visa. With the spousal visa, she would be able to travel out of the US immediately.

 

That would have been the spousal visa. But that option is already gone. If she is going to be out of the US that long it sounds like it is best for her to come over on the K1, get married, leave, then you file for a spousal vise for her to return. But she will not get the visa for 12 - 18 months.

 

Your plan will not work the way you want it to. You best bet is to try to AOS while she is here. Otherwise, you two have done this K1 for nothing and will have to start all over with another visa.

thank you @Unlockable !

we are actually currently both in China, and even though we got NOA2 in June 2020, we are indeed considering abandoning the K1 process, and starting from scratch with the CR1 process. I just wanted to see if there was a smarter way about it -- it sounds like there isn't. We would like to come home to the US, but also we aren't in a 'rush' to return back either.

 

here is a post that also supports the notion that starting the CR1 now might now delay the process that much vs K1 (even without the travel complications I described), what are your thoughts on this view?  ->> 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by geocity

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, geocity said:

here is a post that also supports the notion that starting the CR1 now might now delay the process that much vs K1 (even without the travel complications I described),

Guangzhou is going to have a major K-1 backlog. Since the end of January, only 1 K-1 visa was issued there. That case met an exception to PP9984.

[JFH 12,190]

Even if you decide to go down this route (enter on a K-1, marry, leave the country, file a CR-1 when you are ready to return), note that if she stays in the US past the date on her I-94 after entering on a K-1 and has not filed AOS paperwork, she is then out of status and subject to removal. You didn’t say how long you were intending to stay before leaving again. If you just want to get married in the US for the convenience of your US-based friends and family and then want to return to China, this can be achieved with a tourist visa. No need for a K-1 just to have a wedding ceremony in the US. Getting a tourist visa may be difficult for her if she doesn’t already have one. COVID also throws a whole other spin on things too.

Edited October 10, 2020 by JFH

[HRQX 4,145]

On 10/9/2020 at 10:15 PM, JFH said:

Getting a tourist visa may be difficult for her if she doesn’t already have one. COVID also throws a whole other spin on things too.

Yeah. PP9984 is still in effect indefinitely. In mainland China, only about 17 tourist visas are issued monthly because of PP9984: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/nonimmigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-nonimmigrant-visa-issuances.html

Edited October 11, 2020 by HRQX

[geocity 1]

2 hours ago, HRQX said:

Yeah. PP9984 is still in effect indefinitely. In mainland China, only about 17 tourist visas are issued monthly because of PP9984: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/nonimmigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-nonimmigrant-visa-issuances.html

yep we are not planning to get a tourist visa for any reason because of that