About to file for K1, incredibly nervous.

[thysuki237 1]

Really just hoping for some moral support posting here, hopefully it's the right section. We went with Boundless Immigration because there are a few special conditions with our case I was unsure of how to file solo. This process is taking longer than I thought, and I'm hearing rumors that processing times are going to be much longer than current estimates, which is really sinking my morale. The immigration company is saying 13 months for the country my fiance is from, which is okay, but I'm hearing rumors of two or more years... Anyone else in the same boat of staring down a long wait? I've done quite a bit of research here and elsewhere but is there anything I could be missing that would result in an RFE? The company said that if my fiance isn't currently in the US I don't need to submit I-94s. Is this correct? That's not how I interpreted the section on I-94s, but they seemed confident.

[Mike E 11,739]

It will take  2 years.
 

Get married and do the CR-1. Your husband can enter 2 or more years after your marriage and avoid I-751.  

[arken 4,197]

59 minutes ago, thysuki237 said:

The company said that if my fiance isn't currently in the US I don't need to submit I-94s. Is this correct?

Correct.

[thysuki237 1]

29 minutes ago, Mike E said:

It will take  2 years.
 

Get married and do the CR-1. Your husband can enter 2 or more years after your marriage and avoid I-751.  

I'm seriously wondering about that now that the processing times should be similar. I'm not sure how to get him in the country for a wedding without lying about intent, though. I'll have to come up with some form of entry proof. More research I guess. Thanks for the advice.

[slavaskii 886]

23 minutes ago, thysuki237 said:

I'm seriously wondering about that now that the processing times should be similar. I'm not sure how to get him in the country for a wedding without lying about intent, though. I'll have to come up with some form of entry proof. More research I guess. Thanks for the advice.

Utah Zoom Marriage is a frequently recommended option. Coming to the US to get married - even if you intend to depart right away - is going to be a huge red flag. 

 

Moral support wise, it's good that you're thinking these things now rather than later. As a disclaimer, my wife and I are still happy with our K-1 journey, but obviously the major selling point of it - the speed - was all but gone by the time we got approved. Our situation was a bit different, though, as filers from Eastern Europe were screwed all around and I still maintain the K-1 got us to the US significantly faster than the spousal (unique in this context).

 

Because your fiance(e) is from England, he can always visit you temporarily while the spousal visa is processing. This is a huge advantage for ESTA countries. Don't think of any of this as if you lost time/money/etc. The delays are pretty out of control, and nobody has/had a crystal ball. And don't forget, sometimes people pay thousands of dollars for an attorney to ultimately read off the USCIS estimated processing times for 14 months!

[thysuki237 1]

Just now, slavaskii said:

Utah Zoom Marriage is a frequently recommended option. Coming to the US to get married - even if you intend to depart right away - is going to be a huge red flag. 

 

Moral support wise, it's good that you're thinking these things now rather than later. As a disclaimer, my wife and I are still happy with our K-1 journey, but obviously the major selling point of it - the speed - was all but gone by the time we got approved. Our situation was a bit different, though, as filers from Eastern Europe were screwed all around and I still maintain the K-1 got us to the US significantly faster than the spousal (unique in this context).

 

Because your fiance(e) is from England, he can always visit you temporarily while the spousal visa is processing. This is a huge advantage for ESTA countries. Don't think of any of this as if you lost time/money/etc. The delays are pretty out of control, and nobody has/had a crystal ball. And don't forget, sometimes people pay thousands of dollars for an attorney to ultimately read off the USCIS estimated processing times for 14 months!

Thank you very much! I appreciate your reply. I'll look into zoom marriage, though I'd highly prefer not to, it may be worth it to avoid border issues if I do take that route.

[Timona 4,207]

You don't have to marry in US. Utah zoom or meet somewhere and marry. 

[SalishSea 17,801]

4 hours ago, thysuki237 said:

Really just hoping for some moral support posting here, hopefully it's the right section. We went with Boundless Immigration because there are a few special conditions with our case I was unsure of how to file solo. This process is taking longer than I thought, and I'm hearing rumors that processing times are going to be much longer than current estimates, which is really sinking my morale. The immigration company is saying 13 months for the country my fiance is from, which is okay, but I'm hearing rumors of two or more years... Anyone else in the same boat of staring down a long wait? I've done quite a bit of research here and elsewhere but is there anything I could be missing that would result in an RFE? The company said that if my fiance isn't currently in the US I don't need to submit I-94s. Is this correct? That's not how I interpreted the section on I-94s, but they seemed confident.

The 13+ months is just for the petition approval.  That is just the first part of the overall process.

 

It will take at least two years, but so would the CR-1, which has more advantages later on.....so, I encourage you to look at the pros and cons of each.

 

In any event, every single part of US immigration takes longer, and is more expensive than you would think.  It requires a LOT of patients, and some drive to learn whatever you can about it.  The company you've hired to help you is fine, but most of us have done our entire processes without paid help.  VJ is a font of information.  Best luck!

[SalishSea 17,801]

3 hours ago, thysuki237 said:

I'm seriously wondering about that now that the processing times should be similar. I'm not sure how to get him in the country for a wedding without lying about intent, though. I'll have to come up with some form of entry proof. More research I guess. Thanks for the advice.

You don't have to marry in the US.

 

He cannot come to the US with the intent to stay.  He will need to show very strong ties to home, or risk being sent back at POE.  

[SalishSea 17,801]

3 hours ago, thysuki237 said:

Thank you very much! I appreciate your reply. I'll look into zoom marriage, though I'd highly prefer not to, it may be worth it to avoid border issues if I do take that route.

You still have to meet in person before filing, if you go this route.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

11 hours ago, slavaskii said:

Coming to the US to get married - even if you intend to depart right away - is going to be a huge red flag. 

Not quite. It is perfectly OK to come to the US to get married -plenty of people do a wedding in Las Vegas, for example. What is not OK is to come on a tourist visa with the intent of getting married and adjusting status. Just marrying here and leaving shortly afterwards is fine, so long as one is completely honest about the plan if asked at POE.

 

OP, the waiting times are indeed long, and unfortunately, immigration is not a priority for the government. Therefore, they are likely not going to get better. 

If your SO has a tourist visa, they can come to the US, get married, start the CR1 process, and wait it outside. The CR1 has the added advantage that, once the visa is approved and the person lands in the US, they become PR automatically, and can start working and travelling outside of the US right away.

Alternatively, you can do a Zoom Utah marriage or you can marry anywhere else in the world.

[thysuki237 1]

1 hour ago, Rocio0010 said:

Not quite. It is perfectly OK to come to the US to get married -plenty of people do a wedding in Las Vegas, for example. What is not OK is to come on a tourist visa with the intent of getting married and adjusting status. Just marrying here and leaving shortly afterwards is fine, so long as one is completely honest about the plan if asked at POE.

 

OP, the waiting times are indeed long, and unfortunately, immigration is not a priority for the government. Therefore, they are likely not going to get better. 

If your SO has a tourist visa, they can come to the US, get married, start the CR1 process, and wait it outside. The CR1 has the added advantage that, once the visa is approved and the person lands in the US, they become PR automatically, and can start working and travelling outside of the US right away.

Alternatively, you can do a Zoom Utah marriage or you can marry anywhere else in the world.

Thank you so much. I'm starting to seriously consider the CR1 again, I chose the K1 on advice that it would be shorter and that you can't visit the US with a pending CR1 which I am now seeing is possibly false.

However, with my fiance's situation, he won't have a lease or a job to prove his intent to leave. He does have medical appointments scheduled he could show them, and a job offer for after he returns. I'm concerned that won't be enough.

[SalishSea 17,801]

1 hour ago, thysuki237 said:

Thank you so much. I'm starting to seriously consider the CR1 again, I chose the K1 on advice that it would be shorter and that you can't visit the US with a pending CR1 which I am now seeing is possibly false.

However, with my fiance's situation, he won't have a lease or a job to prove his intent to leave. He does have medical appointments scheduled he could show them, and a job offer for after he returns. I'm concerned that won't be enough.

You are correct.  Those are weak ties.  

[Boatsi 7]

I'd like to throw in something that kept us from going the CR1 route. The part of getting married and then stay apart for 2 years. This is not how we wanted to start our lives together and definitely not with an online marriage. we would regret this in 10 years so much therefore we decided to go with the K1 Visa and just wait a few more months. What are a few more months when you spend the rest of you lives together. Yes I have to adjust status. Yes this will take many more months. Yes I cannot travel outside until I have AP. And yes I cannot work. I'm going back to study. I'm going to travel the beautiful country as there are so many places I haven't been to. But it will be worth it to experience all of this together with my husband after we get married. Even if K1 takes longer. Maybe there are some people that feel the same way but I haven't seen anyone here on VJ feeling the same way about marriage and being together, staying together instead of spending the first 2 years married being separated. Everyone is always looking at the logical site and gives logical advice which is fine and makes sense. But maybe that's not for everyone. This is why I wanted to throw in another perspective. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Boatsi

[Crazy Cat 41,810]

On 10/19/2022 at 1:23 PM, Boatsi said:

The part of getting married and then stay apart for 2 years.

You are misinformed.  There is no difference in visitation ability for a K-1 or CR-1.