K-1 or CR1 for long distance relationship?

[SalishSea 17,837]

43 minutes ago, StrangerMe said:

That’s my problem though! You guys were living together, my partner and I are unable to do that until after I move to the US

He chose to move there and live with his wife before filing. 

 

The USC petitioner in your case could do the same thing.

 

We all make choices.

[StrangerMe 1]

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

He chose to move there and live with his wife before filing. 

 

The USC petitioner in your case could do the same thing.

 

We all make choices.

Actually, I fear for our safety. Living together as a non-married couple (our marriage in a another country won’t count because Saudi has its own laws on marriage) in Saudi Arabia is illegal and i, for starters, would not wanna risk that. And marrying here is not an option either since I need to have a “guardian” to approve of my marriage and yeah that’s not gonna happen.

[SalishSea 17,837]

2 hours ago, StrangerMe said:

Actually, I fear for our safety. Living together as a non-married couple (our marriage in a another country won’t count because Saudi has its own laws on marriage) in Saudi Arabia is illegal and i, for starters, would not wanna risk that. And marrying here is not an option either since I need to have a “guardian” to approve of my marriage and yeah that’s not gonna happen.

Then without that option, you'll have to try even harder to overcome the cost or whatever your constraints are to spending time in person.

[yoda one for me 322]

5 hours ago, StrangerMe said:

We both speak English and I’m not really religious (I am registered legally as one though, so we’ll see how that goes) nor is he. Only 4 year gap. He is willing to “change his religion” if it were to make our case more legit but I don’t think there’s anything like that legally in the US like there is here.

There isn't really a legal registration, but if he's genuine about doing it, I'm sure a local Imam would be happy to help guide him and provide a letter endorsing him afterward. How you two choose to practice (or not) that shared religion once you're together is up to you. It might help if you need parental/guardian approval to marry him in your country though?

 

I say this as I have a family member who converted to Islam in order to get family approval to marry a woman from a Muslim country. He has remained a Muslim and they have been very happy, living variously in the UK and Malaysia.

[StrangerMe 1]

10 minutes ago, yoda one for me said:

There isn't really a legal registration, but if he's genuine about doing it, I'm sure a local Imam would be happy to help guide him and provide a letter endorsing him afterward. How you two choose to practice (or not) that shared religion once you're together is up to you. It might help if you need parental/guardian approval to marry him in your country though?

 

I say this as I have a family member who converted to Islam in order to get family approval to marry a woman from a Muslim country. He has remained a Muslim and they have been very happy, living variously in the UK and Malaysia.

I see how this might seem like a straightforward solution, however in my family it really isn’t. They would never approve of me marrying a resident non- Saudi man here let alone a white man that only speaks English and has never lived here. I basically have all ties cut with most of my family so it really wouldn’t work. We’re not on good ends. That’s why we’re planning on marrying abroad.

[yoda one for me 322]

1 hour ago, StrangerMe said:

I see how this might seem like a straightforward solution, however in my family it really isn’t. They would never approve of me marrying a resident non- Saudi man here let alone a white man that only speaks English and has never lived here. I basically have all ties cut with most of my family so it really wouldn’t work. We’re not on good ends. That’s why we’re planning on marrying abroad.

Yeah that sounds tough. I don't have any more advice, but best of luck to you!

[Redro 4,611]

13 hours ago, StrangerMe said:

My partner and I are very conflicted on this and honestly I have been losing sleep and worrying all day about all of this.

We have been together online 3.5 years and haven’t met yet. (Finances, we’re both still students)

in about two years we will meet, however with the saving up we need to do I suspect we will only meet twice before I move there.

we could go the Utah Online Marriage route for a CR1 since I’ve seen a lot of K-1 haters.

however, do you think in my case (high fraud country, only meeting in person two times maximum -yes I’m aware we need to meet after the marriage in order for it to be legit-) a k-1 would be a better choice? Or would a CR1 still be non suspicious? We have been calling and messaging almost every single day for 3.5 years but I know that in person stuff matter way more, and I know for a CR1 joint finances and whatnot are what really matters. 
We’re honestly at a loss. 

How do you know you'll only be able to meet twice before the visa is approved and you move to the US?

7 hours ago, StrangerMe said:

That’s my problem though! You guys were living together, my partner and I are unable to do that until after I move to the US

How do you know you won't be able to live together before you move to the US? 

Have you explored living together in a third country?

You have 2 years to figure out alternate plans as opposed to just "meet once, file K1 or get married, meet again, move to the US.

6 hours ago, StrangerMe said:

Do you think meeting twice for a period of 10-14 days each would be enough to prove it?

We are willing to do more if we absolutely cannot get one with only visiting twice, but that would be kind of hard especially because we’re saving to live together.

It sounds like you are a planner and it is great you have an idea of what might happen when you meet 2 years but a lot can change. 

Maybe your partner will be able to get a job closer to you and you can meet more often. 

Why the rush to move to the US as soon as you meet?

I would explore alternate options after you both graduate. 

You're both young so you can take your time and explore options. 

And you don't know if you will actually "click" in person when do you eventually meet. 

I would try to be more flexible in your plans... 

 

[StrangerMe 1]

1 hour ago, ROK2USA said:

How do you know you'll only be able to meet twice before the visa is approved and you move to the US?

How do you know you won't be able to live together before you move to the US? 

Have you explored living together in a third country?

You have 2 years to figure out alternate plans as opposed to just "meet once, file K1 or get married, meet again, move to the US.

It sounds like you are a planner and it is great you have an idea of what might happen when you meet 2 years but a lot can change. 

Maybe your partner will be able to get a job closer to you and you can meet more often. 

Why the rush to move to the US as soon as you meet?

I would explore alternate options after you both graduate. 

You're both young so you can take your time and explore options. 

And you don't know if you will actually "click" in person when do you eventually meet. 

I would try to be more flexible in your plans... 

 

1. I don’t know that for sure! However with how our paths are looking like right now, that seems to be the likely possibility with our potential jobs. I like to be a worst case scenario planner.

 

2. Hmm, the idea of moving to a third world country hasn’t occurred to us, mostly because he is an animal breeder and moving away from home with 20+ animals would be kind of a hassle if you can imagine lol. As well as finding a job there. Just seems easier to instead get a K-1 if marriage visa is not liable because of not living together.

 

3. Definitely no rush! We are aware it will take AT LEAST two years from us meeting to even getting the approval for the visa which I’m thinking will likely take longer. I just really want to be with him as soon as possible, and waiting this many years isn’t rushing in my eyes haha. It’s already a long wait and we just really really want to be together. It was already crushing me how he lost one of his pets that I really wanted to meet earlier this year. Just don’t wanna spend more time not being with him.

 

4. For sure the whole not clicking thing could be a thing, and hey I guess good thing we’re gonna meet first before filing anything, but I really have no doubts about that because we’ve been together video calling for 3.5 years everyday for at least 3-5 hours and still heads over heels over each other (is that how the saying goes? Haha)

 

Honestly sometimes it gets tough, especially when I see people that just go on a tourist visa and AOS and have it just work it when we just want to be together so bad lol.

 

Thank you so much for all the info you’ve given, we’ll definitely explore more options since we have some time before then and consult a lawyer.

Edited August 5, 2022 by StrangerMe

[Ryan & Rachaya 9]

For what it's worth, my partner and I were considering a similar question: whether to marry now or wait  until we could be together permanently in the US. We decided to do it now because that's what we would do if immigration didn't control the situation. We know we want to be be together forever, and that would start today if it were up to us. USCIS says it will be more like two years, but that's their decision no ours. Until we can be together permanently, we'll spend as much time together as finances allow. That's really all we can do.

 

We have, however, met in person at least. A month earlier in the year and a month just recently - with constant online contact between. With my job I expect to be able to fly over a couple times a year for about a month each time. It's not feasible for me to move there (can't do my job from there) and she tried to get a tourist visa to the US but was denied. So we're doing what we can, gathering paperwork to start the CR-1 process, and assuming it will be a rather long time before we can really begin our "happily ever after" phase.