K1 vs CR-1 question

[GoSox 3]

Hi everyone,

 

Looks like a pretty niche community I've been lurking for the past few months. I asked my girlfriend from Belarus to marry me early last month, so we are beginning process together.

 

We were deciding between K1 and CR1, and the advantages of CR1 are obvious to me and don't need to be reiterated.

 

My question is, the CR1 application's examples for evidence of bona fide marriage are things like cohabitation, joint finances, or even children. The K1 evidence is just evidence of "having met in the past 2 years." We have been together every month in 2022 with photographic evidence and documented flights and everything, so this will not be an issue. We do not have evidence of the sort expected for a CR-1 Visa, so we have tentatively opted for a K1. The other advantage of a K1 in our opinion is the consolidation of all legal documents into a single location (the USA).

 

Everyone here seems pretty hell-bent on steering new applicants to a CR-1, but this issue has me a little nervous, because I would obviously hate to be turned down and restart this process all over again.

 

Thanks!

Edited January 3, 2023 by GoSox

[Daphne . 1,852]

My husband and I had no joint bank account (we still don’t 😅), children together, or any of that type of evidence, which makes sense because we were living on seperate continents, and we had no issues. We did the CR1. 
USCIS understands that couples who don’t live together yet don’t have that type of proof.

 

Focus on the evidence of time spent together. 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Daphne .

[Crazy Cat 41,809]

22 minutes ago, GoSox said:

We do not have evidence of the sort expected for a CR-1 Visa, so we have tentatively opted for a K1. The other advantage of a K1 in our opinion is the consolidation of all legal documents into a single location (the USA).

You aren't expected to have joint accounts, property, etc for a CR-1.  Afterall, most couples are living in different countries.   I'm not sure where you got that misinformation. The best evidence is evidence of being together.  Many people have opted for a K-1 , then regretted it later.  

Edited January 3, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[Crazy Cat 41,809]

Please allow me to re-post this in case someone else wants to see some of the differences:

 

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 6-8 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 6-8 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 K-1 might be a better choice when 18-21 year old children are immigrating also
    In some situations, marriage can affect certain Home country benefits, making a K-1 a better choice   
    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.
   

 

[Crazy Cat 41,809]

18 minutes ago, GoSox said:

The other advantage of a K1 in our opinion is the consolidation of all legal documents into a single location (the USA).

^^^^ Please explain this statement....

Edited January 3, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[GoSox 3]

7 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

You aren't expected to have joint accounts, property, etc for a CR-1.  Afterall, most couples are living in different countries.   I'm not sure where you got that misinformation. The best evidence is evidence of being together.  Many people have opted for a K-1 due to lack of information, then regretted it later.  

From the I-130 form instructions:

(1) Documentation showing joint ownership of property;
(2) A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence, meaning you both live at the same address together;
(3) Documentation showing that you and your spouse have combined your financial resources;
(4) Birth certificates of children born to you and your spouse together;
(5) Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital
relationship. Each affidavit must contain the full name and address of the person making the affidavit; date
and place of birth of the person making the affidavit; and complete information and details explaining how the
person acquired his or her knowledge of your marriage; or
(6) Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union.

 

Our evidence would be entirely from 6 and maybe a few affidavits as described in 5.

 

3 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

^^^^ Please explain this statement....

Having our documents be in the US seems like it might be helpful. It's honestly not even a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Not sure why I included it in the original post. It was the only other "perk" I could think of for K1.

[Daphne . 1,852]

1 minute ago, GoSox said:

From the I-130 form instructions:

(1) Documentation showing joint ownership of property;
(2) A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence, meaning you both live at the same address together;
(3) Documentation showing that you and your spouse have combined your financial resources;
(4) Birth certificates of children born to you and your spouse together;
(5) Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital
relationship. Each affidavit must contain the full name and address of the person making the affidavit; date
and place of birth of the person making the affidavit; and complete information and details explaining how the
person acquired his or her knowledge of your marriage; or
(6) Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union.

 

Our evidence would be entirely from 6 and maybe a few affidavits as described in 5.

 

 

These are examples of proof that you can submit, it is not a requirement to send them all. As mentioned before, I had no evidence of financial co-mingling etc. but plenty of proof of time spent together, my CR1 was approved without any issues. 

[Crazy Cat 41,809]

9 minutes ago, GoSox said:

(6) Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union.

Your best evidence, when living apart, is your marriage certificate and evidence of time actually spent together, as @Daphne . explained.  Those other things are examples, not requirements.  

Edited January 3, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[GoSox 3]

Yes, I am aware that they aren't all requirements, but when the list of suggested supplemental evidence includes things like "joint finances" and "children," it felt insubstantial, silly even, to only submit a few pictures of us vacationing in Europe, you know what I mean?

 

Anyway, I appreciate the reassurance. We will likely go with a CR-1.

[Crazy Cat 41,809]

1 minute ago, GoSox said:

Yes, I am aware that they aren't all requirements, but when the list of suggested supplemental evidence includes things like "joint finances" and "children," it felt insubstantial, silly even, to only submit a few pictures of us vacationing in Europe, you know what I mean?

 

Anyway, I appreciate the reassurance. We will likely go with a CR-1.

Welcome to Visa Journey!  There are a LOT of extremely knowledgeable folks around here.

[GoSox 3]

Thank you, I appreciate it! This seems like a pretty vibrant and active community. We are looking forward to being a part of it.

[Chancy 6,241]

3 hours ago, GoSox said:

Yes, I am aware that they aren't all requirements, but when the list of suggested supplemental evidence includes things like "joint finances" and "children," it felt insubstantial, silly even, to only submit a few pictures of us vacationing in Europe, you know what I mean?

 

A few vacation photos, by themselves, would be insubstantial.  That's why you should submit passport stamps and/or boarding passes as your primary evidence of time spent together in person.  Then you add the vacation photos as supporting evidence.  That's exactly what we did, and I got my spouse visa just fine without any RFEs at all during the process.  We also had no joint finances and no children together.  If you were together every month in 2022, then you have more time together than we did when we submitted our petition.  Our bona fide relationship evidence was just 12 pages, most of which consisted of our passport stamps, country entry/exit records, and photos together.

 

[Mike E 11,739]

Fees for I-485 and I-751 are going to jump dramatically. CR-1 and entry into USA after 2 years of marriage is the best approach 

[Redro 4,611]

7 hours ago, GoSox said:

Hi everyone,

 

Looks like a pretty niche community I've been lurking for the past few months. I asked my girlfriend from Belarus to marry me early last month, so we are beginning process together.

 

We were deciding between K1 and CR1, and the advantages of CR1 are obvious to me and don't need to be reiterated.

 

My question is, the CR1 application's examples for evidence of bona fide marriage are things like cohabitation, joint finances, or even children. The K1 evidence is just evidence of "having met in the past 2 years." We have been together every month in 2022 with photographic evidence and documented flights and everything, so this will not be an issue. We do not have evidence of the sort expected for a CR-1 Visa, so we have tentatively opted for a K1. The other advantage of a K1 in our opinion is the consolidation of all legal documents into a single location (the USA).

 

Everyone here seems pretty hell-bent on steering new applicants to a CR-1, but this issue has me a little nervous, because I would obviously hate to be turned down and restart this process all over again.

 

Thanks!

I-130 is filed by couples who met IN THE US (think people here on work or student visas) AND people who've met OVERSEAS and live together OVERSEAS before deciding to apply for the immigration benefit AND MOVE TO THE US and ALSO couples who've met, have never lived together and want to live together in the US... 

If you stick around you'll see some couples are approved with proof of meeting a few times, a few photos, and the marriage certificate. 

Some couples have even been approved with JUST the marriage certificate (although I don't recommend sending in no evidence). 

 

[Kanja 201]

My brother did k1. His fiancée arrived in December of 2021, she received her work permit in august of 2022 and green card in September 2022. It is a long wait, but quite frankly I don’t think she would have likely been able to begin working any earlier than a few months before she got her work permit. It was a big culture shock for her and she needed the time to adjust. During the time she waited she took ESL courses, studied for her driving permit, learned how to take public transportation, and learned about things like ebanking, and using a debit card, online shopping etc. With that being said, that’s not everyone’s situation and at the very least the restriction of travel is challenging. In my brothers case the k1 made sense because due to his job and pandemic there was no way he was going to be able to go to her country within a reasonable amount of time to have it make sense (he proposed in 2019 and then pandemic hit… submitted her petition during the pandemiC). I know if he didn’t have the limitations of travel he would have gone the cr1 route.