Ah help! K1, CR-1, or DCF?! [merged threads]

[Emily8460 13]

On 8/23/2021 at 7:28 PM, Alytes said:

I know you've made the decision to go for CR-1 already, and I think it's a good decision.  I'm just going to backtrack a bit in the conversation and tell you about my fiancé-now-husband.  We talked a lot over the1.5 years our K-1 was processing about how he would need to be ok with living a life of leisure as a house-husband for up to a year (fingers crossed not longer, though it is possible) once he got here, since he wouldn't be able to work until he received EAD.  I make plenty to support us, so that isn't a problem.  He has been here 4 months and he's going a bit stir crazy:)  He hates feeling like he can't contribute and he feels bad that I sit in my Covid home office working all day while he gardens, cleans, walks dogs, and watches tv.  I keep telling him to enjoy it while he can, but I get it.  It's hard.  It sounds like your fiance has a big brain and sitting around for a year doing nothing but waiting for permission to even start looking for a job will be stressful.

 

I almost hired a lawyer at the start of the K-1.  It all seems so daunting when it is new and I was afraid to mess it up.  I called and talked to four different lawyers.  One told me to get married and call him back (I didn't want to get married yet), two sounded a lot like Rapid Visa, and the 4th said you don't need me, your case is easy, the paperwork is tedious, but easy. He said I should call him back when we get to AOS.  So I called him back when my fiance got here and he said we didn't need him for AOS either, that I should file the paperwork on my own and call him if somehow we hit any speedbumps. So far he was right.  We filed paperwork for AOS, EAD and AAP along with my i864.  It's not hard, just a little time consuming.  The hard part of all of this is the waiting, the endless waiting.  This forum is great and if you start checking in and reading other folks threads throughout your waiting period, you'll start to know the answers yourself.  I think the CR-1 is the right decision and I'm glad you found this forum in time! 

May I ask what lawyer you used? We want to talk to one about our process and there are so many out there