Given Political Situation in Russia, CR1 or K1 Visa is better? Personal Experiences?

[cjp9b3 1]

Hello Everyone, 

 

I am trying to decide whether it would be best to pursue a CR1 or K1 visa for my fiancee with the hopes of us being able to live together as soon as possible. My original thought was to pursue the K1 as its timelines are generally shorter, but I had someone going through the process reach out to me and tell me that due to COVID, the timelines are so slow that they are taking as long as a CR1 and it would be better to pursue so she would receive her right to work. However, when I look on Visa Journey, it is showing the average time of a K1 near 300-400 days and a CR1 for 600+. Do any of you have personal experience with this given the particularly bad embassy situation in Moscow right now?

 

Any general advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

 

Charles

[payxibka 10,045]

5 minutes ago, cjp9b3 said:

Hello Everyone, 

 

I am trying to decide whether it would be best to pursue a CR1 or K1 visa for my fiancee with the hopes of us being able to live together as soon as possible. My original thought was to pursue the K1 as its timelines are generally shorter, but I had someone going through the process reach out to me and tell me that due to COVID, the timelines are so slow that they are taking as long as a CR1 and it would be better to pursue so she would receive her right to work. However, when I look on Visa Journey, it is showing the average time of a K1 near 300-400 days and a CR1 for 600+. Do any of you have personal experience with this given the particularly bad embassy situation in Moscow right now?

 

Any general advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

 

Charles

Your question is better addressed in the regional forum 

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/98-russia-ukraine-and-belarus/

[Crazy Cat 41,881]

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

 

K-1       
    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 5-8 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 5-8 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  

    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) 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.
  �

 

Edited June 9, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[cjp9b3 1]

Thanks Payxibka, I just found that regional forum as I am a newbie. thank you for the help!

[Crazy Cat 41,881]

****Moved to the Russia, Ukraine, & Belarus regional discussion area***

Edited June 9, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[cjp9b3 1]

Thank you Lucky Cat!

[Crazy Cat 41,881]

My personal opinion is that there are many factors worth considering.  

[cjp9b3 1]

Yeah, for what we want the CR1 is definitely the better option. However, we have spent almost a year apart, and if the outlook is that CR1 visas will truly take 600 days it's hard to fathom being apart for almost three years. Although if we are married, I can continue to travel to Russia regardless of the political situation. I guess it's worth investigating whether or not she could travel to the US on a tourist visa while a CR1 is being processed as well... 

[Crazy Cat 41,881]

1 minute ago, cjp9b3 said:

Yeah, for what we want the CR1 is definitely the better option. However, we have spent almost a year apart, and if the outlook is that CR1 visas will truly take 600 days it's hard to fathom being apart for almost three years. Although if we are married, I can continue to travel to Russia regardless of the political situation. I guess it's worth investigating whether or not she could travel to the US on a tourist visa while a CR1 is being processed as well... 

Visiting during the spousal visa process is fine....assuming she can convince CBP that she will, in fact, return to her country after the visit.

[mushroomspore 3,044]

17 minutes ago, cjp9b3 said:

Yeah, for what we want the CR1 is definitely the better option. However, we have spent almost a year apart, and if the outlook is that CR1 visas will truly take 600 days it's hard to fathom being apart for almost three years. Although if we are married, I can continue to travel to Russia regardless of the political situation. I guess it's worth investigating whether or not she could travel to the US on a tourist visa while a CR1 is being processed as well... 

The separation time does suck but there are other things to consider as well. After K1, your foreign fiance(e) (who will become your spouse) will not be able to work or to leave the USA for many months (expect 6-8 months until they receive the EAD/AP card). And then to get the green card can take more than a year after K1. This can drive a lot of people insane, especially people who are unfamiliar with the USA. Many immigrants experience culture shock, intense loneliness, a difficult adjustment. And this is even more difficult if the immigrant doesn't speak English and/or they are still learning English. I personally was lucky because I was living in the USA on a different visa before I ever even met my spouse and English is my first language. Emotionally, you want to be together and that's fine. But it is not necessarily true that ending the separation time will solve all of your problems either. At least with CR1, your spouse will have the ability to work immediately, to get to know new people through their job, to practice English more (if they need to) and the financial burden will be split between you both rather than it falling to one person for almost 1 year (which is what you have to deal with if you do K1).

Edited June 9, 2021 by mushroomspore

[SteveInBostonI130 3,454]

57 minutes ago, cjp9b3 said:

Yeah, for what we want the CR1 is definitely the better option. However, we have spent almost a year apart, and if the outlook is that CR1 visas will truly take 600 days it's hard to fathom being apart for almost three years. Although if we are married, I can continue to travel to Russia regardless of the political situation. I guess it's worth investigating whether or not she could travel to the US on a tourist visa while a CR1 is being processed as well... 

 

The problem is ability for her to travel to the US and where to get married, if you try for the CR1 route.

 

The ZAGS process is difficult for you, especially since you currently cannot travel to Russia without some exceptional circumstance (family there, diplomatic visa, other mission-critical visa).   Even in normal times people did not have fun navigating the ZAGS process.

 

The best option is to travel to a neutral country, like Turkey, but I do not know how easy/difficult it would be to get married there.  If she has a schengen visa, then an EU country might be able to handle a quick wedding.

 

A single woman with a boyfriend/fiance in America has an extremely slim chance to get a B2 visa.  And I am not sure when the Moscow embassy will start processing tourist visas - they have been closed for well over a year.

 

This is one of those rare cases that I would actually recommend a fiance visa.  The problem with that is that Moscow is still closed.  But she may be able to get her interview in Warsaw.  

[cjp9b3 1]

Thank you both for the input! Mushroom, this is all very good insight for the process after K1. I think that I just want this time apart to end enough that it's easy to overlook the protracted pain which comes with trying to get the green card afterwards. Although she is fluent in English, has been to the US, and would likely integrate, I think she would go insane not being able to work for a year. Also, that would be quite a financial burden. She has a very good job in Moscow, and I think it would be a tough transition to joblessness. 

 

Steve, these are all very good points as well. On the bright side, we are both going to travel to Georgia where we can get married in September. Once we have that, I can at least visit her in Moscow under a family visa, but to be fair I don't know how hard the ZAGS process is. I lived in Moscow for two years under a student visa, but not sure how it is for the family circumstance. As for the interviews, like you said, I heard from another couple that they are planning on offloading some interviews out of Moscow to neighboring countries - her fiance was just scheduled for Poland.

[Crazy Cat 41,881]

14 minutes ago, cjp9b3 said:

I think she would go insane not being able to work for a year.

Although some are happy with a K-1, there are many K-1 members here who have said they wish they had chosen a CR-1/IR-1 instead.  I have not seen a single CR-1/IR-1 couple say they should have chosen a K-1 instead.  Let that sink in.  Good luck on your journey.  You are in a great community here on VJ.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[SteveInBostonI130 3,454]

6 hours ago, cjp9b3 said:

Thank you both for the input! Mushroom, this is all very good insight for the process after K1. I think that I just want this time apart to end enough that it's easy to overlook the protracted pain which comes with trying to get the green card afterwards. Although she is fluent in English, has been to the US, and would likely integrate, I think she would go insane not being able to work for a year. Also, that would be quite a financial burden. She has a very good job in Moscow, and I think it would be a tough transition to joblessness. 

 

Steve, these are all very good points as well. On the bright side, we are both going to travel to Georgia where we can get married in September. Once we have that, I can at least visit her in Moscow under a family visa, but to be fair I don't know how hard the ZAGS process is. I lived in Moscow for two years under a student visa, but not sure how it is for the family circumstance. As for the interviews, like you said, I heard from another couple that they are planning on offloading some interviews out of Moscow to neighboring countries - her fiance was just scheduled for Poland.

 

If you get married in Georgia, you can skip ZAGS.  Instead you will have to provide whatever marriage documents the Russian consulate requires for the family visa.

 

Right now people have been able to move their interview to Warsaw and Almaty.  I am not sure if any other embassy is accepting transfers from Moscow.  Your future spouse would need at least a Polish visa to be able to interview in Warsaw.  I believe Russian citizens can travel to Almaty without a visa.

 

Regardless, it will be a year or so at the earliest for the interview to be scheduled.  Maybe things will improve and the Moscow embassy will be open by then.  But at least there are options if that doesn't happen.

 

[Strawberrymermaid 346]

Hi, I started our process thinking k1 was our best route but nearly 9 months in with no approval we got married in Mexico. Now are on the cr1 track and have an I-130 in process. As his wife, I got a 3 year private visa to visit Russia. Moscow embassy remains closed for both. You can message me if you have any questions  

 

Also, her chances of getting a tourist visa to the US are low even with an open embassy, but covid times and a closed embassy are basically none. 

 

My best advice is to not focus on the time. It will be a long wait either way. It very well could be 2 years for some of us waiting from Russia. 

Edited June 10, 2021 by Strawberrymermaid