Withdrawing K-1 now filing CR-1 [merged threads]

[Dan and Akari 44]

Based on feedback from our initial post over in the K-1 forum here:

 

We are withdrawing our I-129F petition and filing an I-130.  I am now reading through the CR-1 filing guides as well as combing through the posts from folks in a similar situation.  It is my understanding that we simply file the I-130 and accompanying I-130A to initiate the process.  However, I have read somewhat conflicting posts regarding the withdrawal of the I-129F.  Some say that the filing of the I-130 automatically voids the I-129F so don't bother sending a letter because USCIS won't acknowledge the letter anyway, while others say sending a letter requesting withdrawal to the processing center handling our case is the appropriate course.  I figure sending a letter won't cause any harm. Just one more thing to do in terms of time and treasure (mailing even a few pages to the US from Thailand is fairly costly).

 

Nonetheless, we will initiate the CR-1 process this week barring any advice to the contrary.  I mentioned in the other post that I am "early retired" but I don't want to keep living on retirement savings so I figured I should jump back into the market.  I am actively seeking employment in Thailand so I can establish legal residence, bank account, etc. in Thailand while we wait.  If nothing materializes in the corporate world (Thailand can legally discriminate based on any factor they want...like age) I know that I can get a job as an English teacher since I have my TEFL certification.  My wife could then live in Thailand with me on an "O" visa which holds more weight in terms of residency than her current education visa.  No need to return to Myanmar except to visit family occasionally.

 

Now we are just settling in for the long (hopefully not too long) journey ahead.

[Dashinka 24,483]

If the system was efficient, filing an I130 would automatically cancel a previous I129F filing,  it there are stories where that did not happen and the I129F proceeded causing headaches in the future.  There is no requirement to send a letter requesting a cancellation of the I129F when switching to a spousal visa, but many folks do it, and many here like myself will recommend it.

 

Good Luck!

[Dan and Akari 44]

I have searched the forums and found some related information, but not specific to my question.  My apologies if this was covered somewhere and I missed it.

 

We will be filing our I-130 and related documents soon.  I plan on living with my wife in Thailand during the process.  The condo where we live in solely in her name.  WE are asking our agent if we can dd my name, but Thailand requires certain visas in order to do this.  She is here on an education visa which qualifies her to be on a lease; however, I am only in Thailand on a tourist visa which I must renew every 90 days by leaving the country and returning with a new visa.  My mailing address is in the US, but I will physically live in Thailand.  Do I need something more than a tourist visa to say that my physical address is in Thailand?  Is this kind of proof even required by USCIS for me to say that my physical address is in Thailand?  If so, do I need to put my physical address as my US address even though I am living overseas?  FWIW, when we filed our I-129F that we are withdrawing, the immigration lawyer we retained had me put my Thailand address as my physical address, whether right or wrong.  

 

Am I making this too complicated?  I know that there are no "trick questions" on the forms and to take each question at face value, but given the long process, I don't want to make any missteps that will extend our timeline.  I think sometimes that my time in the US Army has permanently engrained the "pay attention to every little detail" when dealing with the government into my brain, almost to a flaw.  😀

[Dan and Akari 44]

So now that we have decided to withdraw the K1 and file a CR1, we need to obtain our marriage license because although USCIS may recognize us as married based on our engagement "Ceremony" in Myanmar, a marriage certificate would be in my opinion, more solid evidence of a bona fide union: they may use the ceremony to deny the K1, but they may not accept the ceremony to approve the CR1.

 

A lot of folks on our initial post suggested we just do the Utah County online wedding, file the I-130 and move on.  My wife and I are physically together in Thailand and can be in Myanmar in 2 hours to register our marriage in the same country that we had our ceremony.  Other than the advantage of being able to marry when the husband and wife are in different locations, what are the advantages of the online Utah wedding versus just getting married in Myanmar since we are together?

[LucindaLou 43]

You might want to look into the laws regarding marriage in the US vs. Myanmar, there might be differnces

[ShazShaz 32]

Utah Wedding - easy recognised US cert, but need to check how (and how long) to obtain the physical copy.

Myanmar Wedding - Might need to translate document, if not in English.

 

I understand from other threads that both of you are based in Thailand. Would the embassy interview be in Thailand or Yangon? If in TH, have you considered marrying in TH?

Edited July 4, 2023 by ShazShaz

[Mike E 11,739]

Utah: You do not need to leave your house to get married and file I-130. A digital marriage certificate acceptable for I-130 is emailed after completion of the ceremony.
 

All other solutions: you need to leave your house.

 

You will need the paper marriage certificate in hand for the CR-1 interview in Bangkok. Utah County will mail it to a U.S. address.

[Redro 4,611]

1 hour ago, Dan and Akari said:

So now that we have decided to withdraw the K1 and file a CR1, we need to obtain our marriage license because although USCIS may recognize us as married based on our engagement "Ceremony" in Myanmar, a marriage certificate would be in my opinion, more solid evidence of a bona fide union: they may use the ceremony to deny the K1, but they may not accept the ceremony to approve the CR1.

 

A lot of folks on our initial post suggested we just do the Utah County online wedding, file the I-130 and move on.  My wife and I are physically together in Thailand and can be in Myanmar in 2 hours to register our marriage in the same country that we had our ceremony.  Other than the advantage of being able to marry when the husband and wife are in different locations, what are the advantages of the online Utah wedding versus just getting married in Myanmar since we are together?

Marriage certificate is in English. 

This means when you live in the US and if for any reason need to show the marriage certificate, authorities in the US understand it. 

Cost of translating documents from English to Burmese for the registration in Myanmar, cost of having to go to the US embassy to obtain a document stating you (the US citizen) are free to marry, then cost of translating the marriage certificate to English before you can submit it to USCIS. 

Marrying via Utah will save you time and money. 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Redro

[Redro 4,611]

1 hour ago, Dan and Akari said:

So now that we have decided to withdraw the K1 and file a CR1, we need to obtain our marriage license because although USCIS may recognize us as married based on our engagement "Ceremony" in Myanmar, a marriage certificate would be in my opinion, more solid evidence of a bona fide union: they may use the ceremony to deny the K1, but they may not accept the ceremony to approve the CR1.

 

A lot of folks on our initial post suggested we just do the Utah County online wedding, file the I-130 and move on.  My wife and I are physically together in Thailand and can be in Myanmar in 2 hours to register our marriage in the same country that we had our ceremony.  Other than the advantage of being able to marry when the husband and wife are in different locations, what are the advantages of the online Utah wedding versus just getting married in Myanmar since we are together?

Question: When you register the marriage in Myanmar. Will the date of marriage be the registration date OR the ceremony date... ? 

If the ceremony was quite a few months ago/a year ago  and the marriage will be backdated I might suggest Myanmar to register the marriage. 

This way your wife will be more likely be granted an IR1 visa as opposed to CR1. 

[Crazy Cat 41,814]

45 minutes ago, Redro said:

When you register the marriage in Myanmar. Will the date of marriage be the registration date OR the ceremony date... ? 

That is a great point.  

[Dan and Akari 44]

1 hour ago, LucindaLou said:

You might want to look into the laws regarding marriage in the US vs. Myanmar, there might be differnces

I have been trying to research that very topic.  Good luck.  Myanmar doesn't have a lot of digital content and third party information is almost non-exitent or without substance.

30 minutes ago, Redro said:

Marriage certificate is in English. 

This means when you live in the US and if for any reason need to show the marriage certificate, authorities in the US understand it. 

Cost of translating documents from English to Burmese for the registration in Myanmar, cost of having to go to the US embassy to obtain a document stating you (the US citizen) are free to marry, then cost of translating the marriage certificate to English before you can submit it to USCIS. 

Marrying via Utah will save you time and money. 

We will get everything notarized, translated into English, have those translated docs notarized.  She has friends who are lawyers in Myanmar so we have our bases covered.

Regarding a document from the US Embassy stating that I am free to marry, we are being told this is not required in Myanmar.  Is this something that USCIS may ask for down the road?  Again, just wanting to make sure I don't miss something.

26 minutes ago, Redro said:

Question: When you register the marriage in Myanmar. Will the date of marriage be the registration date OR the ceremony date... ? 

If the ceremony was quite a few months ago/a year ago  and the marriage will be backdated I might suggest Myanmar to register the marriage. 

This way your wife will be more likely be granted an IR1 visa as opposed to CR1. 

Our ceremony was in February so we wouldn't be gaining a whole lot towards the IR-1 versus the CR-1.  We can choose whatever date we want after the wedding date.

[Redro 4,611]

36 minutes ago, Dan and Akari said:

We will get everything notarized, translated into English, have those translated docs notarized.  She has friends who are lawyers in Myanmar so we have our bases covered.

 

You seem to have a lot of contacts in Myanmar which makes it easier. I was just highlighting the other advantages of Utah compared to marrying overseas. Most people do not have your resources.  If you don't need the affidavit that you are free to marry in Myanmar even better, USCIS will not require it at any point either... 

 

36 minutes ago, Dan and Akari said:

Our ceremony was in February so we wouldn't be gaining a whole lot towards the IR-1 versus the CR-1.  We can choose whatever date we want after the wedding date. - When you say "wedding date" do you mean the ceremony you had in February? 

I personally think February is a good amount of time. 4 months might not seem a lot now but if you can date back the marriage to February 2023 by registering the marriage in Myanmar I would do that... It also seems like for whatever reason you really want to formalize the ceremony you had in February, so even if it isn't 100% practical I would go to Myanmar and sign the paperwork. 

I will add- having my foreign marriage recognized in my home country took a long time. So, if it is complicated to have the Utah marriage recognized in Myanmar- I vote one more time for the Myanmar regisitration process. 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Redro

[Mike E 11,739]

What is the point of registering a U.S. marriage in Burma? I have never known a Burmese citizen to do so. It becomes moot once she becomes a U.S. citizen, since Burma does not permit multiple citizenships.

 

 

[Redro 4,611]

8 hours ago, Dan and Akari said:

I have searched the forums and found some related information, but not specific to my question.  My apologies if this was covered somewhere and I missed it.

 

We will be filing our I-130 and related documents soon.  I plan on living with my wife in Thailand during the process.  The condo where we live in solely in her name.  WE are asking our agent if we can dd my name, but Thailand requires certain visas in order to do this.  She is here on an education visa which qualifies her to be on a lease; however, I am only in Thailand on a tourist visa which I must renew every 90 days by leaving the country and returning with a new visa.  My mailing address is in the US, but I will physically live in Thailand.  Do I need something more than a tourist visa to say that my physical address is in Thailand?  Is this kind of proof even required by USCIS for me to say that my physical address is in Thailand?  If so, do I need to put my physical address as my US address even though I am living overseas?  FWIW, when we filed our I-129F that we are withdrawing, the immigration lawyer we retained had me put my Thailand address as my physical address, whether right or wrong.  

 

Am I making this too complicated?  I know that there are no "trick questions" on the forms and to take each question at face value, but given the long process, I don't want to make any missteps that will extend our timeline.  I think sometimes that my time in the US Army has permanently engrained the "pay attention to every little detail" when dealing with the government into my brain, almost to a flaw.  😀

Use your US address.

You are not living in Thailand. You are not a resident of Thailand. You are on a very long vacation in Thailand. 

In addition, you want to show USCIS and NVC you are maintaining your residence/ties to the US. 

If you are wanting to use your physical presence in Thailand as proof you and your partner have spent a lot of time together.

Proof would be mail to that address. 

Passport stamps indicating you are present in Thailand should be sufficient for bonafides. 

 

 

[bck86 20]

For me, getting married in Utah was quicker, easier, and significantly less expensive.

 

To get married in my husband's country, I would have had to get an FBI report from here, go to the US Embassy there to get a copy of my passport notarized, go to the Ministry of Interior/Foreign Affairs so he can apply for marriage to a foreigner, wait for the approval (sometimes months, but if you have $$$ it can be faster), submit it to the village chief, wait for a 30 day "announcement" period, etc. Then when I called my local county clerk's recording office to ask if my international marriage license would be registered/accepted here in the states, first she said I would just get "re-married" here (which I think was wrong) but then backtracked and said that I would need to file something like a "recognition of marriage," I can't recall the exact name. It was way too much hassle, time, money, and uncertainty.

 

With the Utah ceremony, we had our license and ceremony in a matter of a week for a little over $100, and it's fully and automatically recognized in the US, which was the most important factor for us since this is where we will be living. We were both physically together for the ceremony, which meant that within days after our wedding, we were able to file our I-130 with our digital marriage certificate that was emailed to us.