Thinking about K1 Visa, need major help please. (merged)

[BK Blake 1]

Hello everyone, hope you are all having a great day. I'm currently really struggling figuring out the correct path forward for my fiancée and myself. A little background about us is that I am a US citizen in California and my fiancée is from the Czech Republic. We met because my fiancée was out here on a work visa (au pair limited to two years) and well things kind of fell in to place from there. She has to go back in February of 2023 and we would like to get married after that here in the United States, so should we apply for a K1 visa now? I didn't realize the time line was this long for the whole process and we really do not want to be separated for that long. Would it be best for us to get the ball rolling on the K1 visa? How long would be typical for this process to take? She wants to go back to school here in the United States and I would have the money to pay for it, so would a student visa into marriage into green card be a route to keep us together? Just wondering what route would be best for us or potentially other options that we have. She will be here in the US for like 7 more months, would this affect anything at all in the process? Sorry for all the questions.  I'm confused, nervous, and stressed out. 

[Boiler 45,488]

Marry and  adjust

[polishk1 1]

Just now, Boiler said:

Marry and  adjust

I agree 

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

14 minutes ago, BK Blake said:

Hello everyone, hope you are all having a great day. I'm currently really struggling figuring out the correct path forward for my fiancée and myself. A little background about us is that I am a US citizen in California and my fiancée is from the Czech Republic. We met because my fiancée was out here on a work visa (au pair limited to two years) and well things kind of fell in to place from there. She has to go back in February of 2023 and we would like to get married after that here in the United States, so should we apply for a K1 visa now? I didn't realize the time line was this long for the whole process and we really do not want to be separated for that long. Would it be best for us to get the ball rolling on the K1 visa? How long would be typical for this process to take? She wants to go back to school here in the United States and I would have the money to pay for it, so would a student visa into marriage into green card be a route to keep us together? Just wondering what route would be best for us or potentially other options that we have. She will be here in the US for like 7 more months, would this affect anything at all in the process? Sorry for all the questions.  I'm confused, nervous, and stressed out. 

Marry and adjust now.  Once she leaves the US, she cannot legally enter the US via a non-immigrant route with the intent to stay and adjust status.  

Edited August 25, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[BK Blake 1]

1 hour ago, Crazy Cat said:

Marry and adjust now.  Once she leaves the US, she cannot legally enter the US via a non-immigrant route with the intent to stay and adjust status.  

So let's say we got legally married in the next month or so, can we immediately file for adjustment of status and advanced parole to potentially go to Czech together for a bit in the Spring/Summer? Also, can she keep working at her job, or will that completely change the moment we apply for adjustment of status? Really appreciate the help, means a lot to me. Plan on talking to an immigration lawyer ASAP to get this figured out. 

[BK Blake 1]

2 hours ago, Boiler said:

Marry and  adjust

Okay, this seems to be the best step forward and I will definitely be in contact with an immigration lawyer to figure this out. Let's say we legally get married within the next month, could we apply for an adjustment of status and an advanced parole at the same time to visit Czech in the Spring/Summer of 2023? If this is the way forward I think it will be get married ASAP (have wedding with family later in 2023), apply for proper visas, go to Czech on advanced parole, then come back to the States while we wait for the green card. Does that sound right? If we did go the K1 route, we would have to apply now, but due to it taking a while she would have to go back to Czech right in Feb when her current visa is up? Thank you so much, means the world to me.

[powerpuff 6,697]

~~ Topic moved from K1 forum to AOS work/student/tourist visas ~~

[SteveInBostonI130 3,434]

10 hours ago, BK Blake said:

Okay, this seems to be the best step forward and I will definitely be in contact with an immigration lawyer to figure this out. Let's say we legally get married within the next month, could we apply for an adjustment of status and an advanced parole at the same time to visit Czech in the Spring/Summer of 2023? If this is the way forward I think it will be get married ASAP (have wedding with family later in 2023), apply for proper visas, go to Czech on advanced parole, then come back to the States while we wait for the green card. Does that sound right? If we did go the K1 route, we would have to apply now, but due to it taking a while she would have to go back to Czech right in Feb when her current visa is up? Thank you so much, means the world to me.

Use the guides here.

 

Go to the top blue bar if you're on a PC, or select "guides" from the three horizontal bar menu on the right if on mobile.

 

AP may take up to 8 months.  Factor that in your plans.

[beloved_dingo 1,976]

Honestly you don't need a lawyer. We see so much bad information here from lawyers. If your case is straightforward, there's really no reason to spend the money for an attorney when all the info you need is right here to do DIY. 

 

Get married and then follow this guide: https://www.visajourney.com/guides/i130-spouse-inside-usa/ 

 

 

Your situation is the perfect example of when getting married and adjusting status in the U.S. is the correct and most logical path to take. 

[AOSFairfax 111]

18 hours ago, BK Blake said:

So let's say we got legally married in the next month or so, can we immediately file for adjustment of status and advanced parole to potentially go to Czech together for a bit in the Spring/Summer? Also, can she keep working at her job, or will that completely change the moment we apply for adjustment of status? Really appreciate the help, means a lot to me. Plan on talking to an immigration lawyer ASAP to get this figured out. 

 

18 hours ago, BK Blake said:

Okay, this seems to be the best step forward and I will definitely be in contact with an immigration lawyer to figure this out. Let's say we legally get married within the next month, could we apply for an adjustment of status and an advanced parole at the same time to visit Czech in the Spring/Summer of 2023? If this is the way forward I think it will be get married ASAP (have wedding with family later in 2023), apply for proper visas, go to Czech on advanced parole, then come back to the States while we wait for the green card. Does that sound right? If we did go the K1 route, we would have to apply now, but due to it taking a while she would have to go back to Czech right in Feb when her current visa is up? Thank you so much, means the world to me.

Marrying and adjusting would be the easiest option that keeps you all together. You are correct, if you went the K1 route, she'd have to leave at the end of her current visa and you'd be separated. She can work in the US until her current visa allows her to (sometime in Feb it sounds like). She would then have to stop working completely until she receives her EAD / AP, at which point she can resume working. You will not be able to visit the Czech Republic until she receives her EAD / AP. If you go the AOS route, make sure to take into consideration that there may be a period of time where she can't work and will thus have no income. Make sure you all are prepared to cover that loss of income via your own employment or savings. I would advise marrying and filing for AOS asap so that her employment gap is as little as possible. As others said, if your case is straightforward and you're willing to do some research, you don't really need a lawyer. I did my own AOS paperwork when adjusting from a student visa in a similar situation to yours and had no issues / RFEs. Good luck!

Edited August 25, 2022 by AOSFairfax

[Redro 4,611]

21 hours ago, BK Blake said:

So let's say we got legally married in the next month or so, can we immediately file for adjustment of status and advanced parole to potentially go to Czech together for a bit in the Spring/Summer? Also, can she keep working at her job, or will that completely change the moment we apply for adjustment of status? Really appreciate the help, means a lot to me. Plan on talking to an immigration lawyer ASAP to get this figured out. 

She needs to check her contract to see if she is allowed to continue to au pair after she marries you. 

I know you're supposed to be single when you apply to au pair but I think each company has different rules about what you're allowed to do if you do get married during your time in the US. 

 

 

[BK Blake 1]

Hello everyone, hope you are all having a wondering day and thank you all in advance for your help. We really appreciate it.

A little background on us. I am a United States citizen and my fiancée is from the Czech Republic. She came out here on a J1 visa (two year rule does not apply to her) to be an au pair and well we met about 16 months ago and we are now engaged. Our goal with the adjustment of status is to keep her here in the United States until she gets her green card and also apply for the work permit and the advanced parole. She really wants to go visit her family in Czech, but more importantly to us is being able to stay together during this process so this is why we think the AOS with a work permit and advanced parole is the best option for us. We understand it will all take some time, but we are ready for the journey. So on to my question. Her visa ends in February 2023 and we will most likely get married in January 2023. From what I have read these are the forms we have to submit. Do we submit all of these together?

 

I-130 Petition for Alien Relative

I-13-A Supplemental Info for Spouse Beneficiary

I-131 Application for Travel Document

I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status

I-693 Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record

I-765 Application for Employment Authorization 

I-864 Affidavit of Support

 

Is this all of the forms we would need for everything that we want or is there anything that we are missing? Also, what documents would we need to get from her home country and translated? I am having a hard time finding this info out and we are not certain what we need to have her mom send over here. Is there somewhere I can check what documents we need? And for the final question, are we giving ourselves enough time to get everything filed in a month? She wants to get married in January so she can finish out her au pair contract. I personally would like to get married sooner to have more time with everything and to get the ball rolling, but she is afraid that she will have no income going into the holiday season if she gets kicked from the program since getting married is a breach of contract. Thank you all so much. It really means a lot to me. Have a great day.

[milimelo 4,477]

Top of the page - guides. All the info you need - adjustment of status from student, tourist, work visa is what you’re looking for. 

[AOSFairfax 111]

36 minutes ago, BK Blake said:

Hello everyone, hope you are all having a wondering day and thank you all in advance for your help. We really appreciate it.

A little background on us. I am a United States citizen and my fiancée is from the Czech Republic. She came out here on a J1 visa (two year rule does not apply to her) to be an au pair and well we met about 16 months ago and we are now engaged. Our goal with the adjustment of status is to keep her here in the United States until she gets her green card and also apply for the work permit and the advanced parole. She really wants to go visit her family in Czech, but more importantly to us is being able to stay together during this process so this is why we think the AOS with a work permit and advanced parole is the best option for us. We understand it will all take some time, but we are ready for the journey. So on to my question. Her visa ends in February 2023 and we will most likely get married in January 2023. From what I have read these are the forms we have to submit. Do we submit all of these together?

 

I-130 Petition for Alien Relative

I-13-A Supplemental Info for Spouse Beneficiary

I-131 Application for Travel Document

I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status

I-693 Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record

I-765 Application for Employment Authorization 

I-864 Affidavit of Support

 

Is this all of the forms we would need for everything that we want or is there anything that we are missing? Also, what documents would we need to get from her home country and translated? I am having a hard time finding this info out and we are not certain what we need to have her mom send over here. Is there somewhere I can check what documents we need? And for the final question, are we giving ourselves enough time to get everything filed in a month? She wants to get married in January so she can finish out her au pair contract. I personally would like to get married sooner to have more time with everything and to get the ball rolling, but she is afraid that she will have no income going into the holiday season if she gets kicked from the program since getting married is a breach of contract. Thank you all so much. It really means a lot to me. Have a great day.

That looks like the correct list of documents to me, yes. Yes, you file them all together. I think a month between getting married and filing the petition is enough time as long as you can get your marriage certificate back from the county in that time frame. The timeline for that is gonna vary by state / county. Prep everything else in advance so you're ready to send it off as soon as you have the certificate. That's what I did.

 

On the top left corner of the VJ page, there's a tab that says "Guide." There's a detailed guide on how to fill out all the AOS paperwork that will prove helpful to you and will likely answer most questions. If I remember correctly, the only document I needed from my home country was a birth certificate.

 

I do understand her concern with wanting to stay employed as long as possible though of course, the earlier you marry the better. Just make sure you have enough income / savings to support the both of you once she has to stop working. Good luck!

Edited September 1, 2022 by AOSFairfax

[Ontarkie 14,221]

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