What Visa do I need? K1 or IR1 CR1. From Canada to USA

[Boiler 45,449]

16 minutes ago, mark_adders said:

 

Why do you think DCF not applicable? Nothing I have read is definitive. Have you explored this?

There is nothing you have mentioned that suggests DCF is possible, quite the contrary.

[mark_adders 0]

13 minutes ago, Boiler said:

There is nothing you have mentioned that suggests DCF is possible, quite the contrary.

copy that, I did some more digging and I understand the reason and use for it now. And yes fully agree.

[SalishSea 17,803]

2 hours ago, mark_adders said:

 

Why do you think DCF not applicable? Nothing I have read is definitive. Have you explored this?

You’re not eligible.   It’s for USCs living abroad and looking to petition a spouse, generally due to the need to relocate quickly due to job.

[SalishSea 17,803]

2 hours ago, mark_adders said:

So the wait times of approx 300+ days for an interview are incorrect? I had a consultant tell me it could be 2 years before I get a response on the K1 fiance, which checks out with the wait times of 600 + days on this website. 

What exactly is the P3+P4 process I cant find any info on that. 

 Thanks for the lawyer outlook.

Why could you not do the 1-130 route? Did you not go Canada to US too? What was your take on the process? Surprises and challenges?

You’re getting ahead of yourself here.   
 

There are several distinct steps in both the K-1/CR-1 processes.   They both start with a petition and end with an interview.  
 

Some of the processing times you’re seeing might be for the petition approval alone.   

 

Since they both currently take around two years overall, easily the best choice is the CR-1, as there is no delay with the green card.

 

US immigration is not cheap, fast, or easy.   I suggest the USC petitioner joins the convo here.

[Crazy Cat 41,814]

10 hours ago, mark_adders said:

what is your experience with the process?

Personal (wife's) journey took 13 months for CR-1 in 2016-2017.  I have witnessed thousands of case experiences here since I joined Visa Journey in 2016.  I have seen many, many people regret they chose a K-1.  I have seen zero spousal visa couples who say they should have chosen a K-1 instead.  To me, that alone, speaks loudly.  

Edited August 28, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[Redro 4,611]

7 hours ago, mark_adders said:

Yes, in reading the data on this website the wait time for Canadian is 300 days where as the uk is 150 days so I could cut 150 days off a 600 day process according to all the numbers available. Which checks out with your 18 months 

Where are you getting these numbers? 

You can see individual timelines for UK vs Canada.  

Last 10 cases out of UK: 327 - 519 days

Last 10 cases out of Canada: 386days - 791 days. 

 

The first part of the process (I-130) is not impacted by beneficiary's country or petitioner's home state. 

The second part (DS260/I864) is not impacted by beneficiary's country or petitioner's home state. 

DQ to interview is the only time beneficiary's country matters. 

 

You can follow DQ to Interview for the UK here.

DQ to interview for Canada here.

 

UK for sure appears to have the edge, but even though the I-130 gives you the option to choose the consulate you interview at, the approved petition will go to Canada because you as the beneficiary will indicate you currently reside in Canada. This means you will need to request they move the case from Canada to UK (adding time to the process). In addition, you will need to go to the UK for your medical and the interview. Which means flying to the UK and staying there for the required time. So, you will need to complete your own cost benefit analysis of whether moving the interview location is worth it. 

 

 

[Mike E 11,739]

13 hours ago, mark_adders said:

I had a lawyer/ consultant from Visa Place tell me to disregard the fiancé visa (mostly due to Canadian consulate wait times) and focus on spousal visa or one other side door option, involving being a Canadian citizen.  Do the lawyers and consultants tend to have an ulterior motive behind advice? Are they skewed toward revenue generating options?

If this lawyer was skewed toward the higher revenue generating option, then that lawyer would advise K-1. Literally a license to print money. Sadly, the people who can least afford K-1 tend to be the ones who pursue it. Then they arrive in the U.S. to face crippling:

 

* higher U.S. cost of living

* health insurance

* I-485 package 

* I-751

* no way to work for a year

 

As well as  total dependence on the good graces of the petitioner. In the wrong hands, K-1 and K-2 are a licenses for trafficking humans. Your prospective lawyer might also be thinking about this.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Mike E

[Crazy Cat 41,814]

10 minutes ago, Mike E said:

If this lawyer was skewed toward the higher revenue generating option, then that lawyer would advise K-1.

That is my thinking, too.  Adjustment of Status provides a great "continued employment" opportunity. 

[Cathi 5,746]

11 hours ago, mark_adders said:

 

 just trying to make the most sense of it I can. 

You will learn very quickly that nothing makes much sense when it comes to US immigration.

There is nothing easy, cheap or quick about immigrating here. If you accept those facts now, you won't be disappointed. It is what it is.

[Me and her 279]

@Crazy Catoutlined each visa.  K1s used to be quicker, much quicker.  Only certain circumstances warrant a K1 visa.  I believe the better option is CR1.  Yes, it may be a little longer, but much cheaper and less time involved.  I was K1, and would have rather opted for CR1....  just my two cents...

[leviiathan 206]

14 hours ago, mark_adders said:

So the wait times of approx 300+ days for an interview are incorrect? I had a consultant tell me it could be 2 years before I get a response on the K1 fiance, which checks out with the wait times of 600 + days on this website. 

What exactly is the P3+P4 process I cant find any info on that. 

 Thanks for the lawyer outlook.

Why could you not do the 1-130 route? Did you not go Canada to US too? What was your take on the process? Surprises and challenges?

The thing that I think you're missing, is there are multiple steps to the K-1 process. First you file your I-129f petition, you wait for your case to be adjudicated either with an RFE, approval, or in rare cases a denial. Once approved, your case is sent to the national visa center which is essentially just a mailing center for K-1 (but they do a lot more for I-130 CR1/IR1) which sends it off to the consulate. Montreal then sends you P3, which is a pre-interview checklist to ensure you have everything you need. Once you reply to them with the information requested in the P3, they send you P4. That can be same day, or it can be a few weeks. P4 allows you to book the interview. My wait was about 5 months for the interview, and it would've been 4 but I had an issue with the consulate. They ghosted me, despite having only sent 2 emails. Weird. But we resent it on my Husbands end and got our P4.

As you can view from my timeline
My I-129f was approved in 367 days from my NOA1 date.
My interview took 521 days from my I-129F NOA1 date.

There wasn't a huge extra wait for my interview, and I still am a regular chatter with a bunch of other Montreal peeps whos timelines are very similar to mine, and more recent. 

I-130 is similar, but has a different NVC > Interview process which is longer than K-1's NVC > interview. For the I-130, they actually ask stuff for you at NVC and whatnot

I couldnt do I-130 because of covid, I couldn't leave Canada because there was a mandatory hotel quarantine that was costing people around $2000 at minimum in my area. I can't afford that, we had enough money for all visa expenses and the while of time I cannot work, but what we didn't have is "just because" money. We had no idea when Canada was going to lift those restrictions, so we filed K-1. The restrictions didn't lift until months later, so I am still confident in that choice but I do wish I-130 had been possible.

K-1 has sucked. If I leave out the part where they processed me as a b2 on entry, then it's still been a heap of trouble. 
Trying to get on my husbands bank as a joint sponsor, they kept trying to input me as a citizen. I kept telling them the importance of them NOT doing that, I'm not a citizen and I don't want false claims that I am literally being on my bank account, that sounds really dangerous. But time and time again they kept calling to check if citizenship was the right box, and said that they didn't have any other options because I don't have an ITIN. Eventually, they called some supervisor and was able to resolve that. When my husband and I were quoted health insurance, we searched all around. The cheapest we could find was like $250, with a 9k deductible and doctor visits not covered. I'm pretty young, so unless something absolutely devastating happens I am not frequenting hospital visits, nothing I do would even reach that 9k. We don't have that kind of money for a possibility. The only viable option, or the one I thought would be fine, was $500 and it had doctor visits, prescriptions, and I forget how much the deductible was but it was significantly less. 

The issue is, we don't have an extra $500/month to put towards health insurance! On a k-1 you can't work for awhile, so that's Rent/mortgage, health insurance, car insurance, food, and care products all on one persons pay. Many can afford that, some can't. It hasn't been an issue in my marriage, even now i'm not working to further my career despite being able to, but it is an additional stress for something that could feel very preventable if you were simply able to work! Not all jobs in america provides good health insurance either, my husbands work covers something so little that im surprised they can even call it health insurance. $150/year towards wellness checks, like.. $100 per overnight hospital visits...

Another big issue, is no travel permission. I have seen many cases of people who entered on a k-1, realize one of their close family members is dying. Even with an expedited I-131, they didn't get it in time to say goodbye. That's a real possibility, you never know what could happen and how fast USCIS will deal with it. There's something really hard about being the beneficiary, unable to travel knowing each day something could happen to your childhood dog, or your parent, or sibling, or friend, and not be certain that you'd be able to be there!

I feel so happy each day that I got my GC before anything bad happened, but not everyone is as lucky as I to be able to say that.

Hope this helps, K-1 is a nightmare and I hope that whatever path you choose, that it turns out great.

Edited August 28, 2023 by MissLadyRea
countless wrong wordings

[leviiathan 206]

14 hours ago, mark_adders said:

Okay this is good to know. 

Reading the data then they are both 600 days from submittal of petition to interview with the consulate. Which seems like such a long time. What might change? What might get quicker if things trend toward a normal period of time?

I am about to become eligible for Canadian citizenship. I will likely apply as it seems logical to do so while i wait. 

The reason for US is purely because of my partner. Moving to Canada was for me and now US plans are for my lady. 

What is your story and how did you come to gain experience in all these processes?

Take all dates with a grain of salt.
When I applied for I-129f, the wait for petition approval was 6-9 months, when I was approved it was 12 months. I had no idea when I was going to be approved, each day I was looking at what cases they were processing trying to figure out even a rough idea, and there just was no possible way to estimate it. I didn't know things could change so fast, you never know with USCIS. 

I have a friend who applied for I-129f months ago when the speeds weren't exactly getting better, and their wait was an estimated 14-16 months. Now it's looking like it 12 or under, and they're not quite feeling ready for that speed. USCIS will throw countless curveballs at you, that will have you so confused. Hope for the best, expect the worst, and expect your expectations of the worst to be blown out of the water because somehow, they have the ability to always disappoint you.

USCIS timelines are simply a display of "How long have the current approvals been waiting?" not, "How will approvals look 12+ months down the line". In reality, you wont have a good idea on when you can/will move until you have the visa in your hand. There are even occasionally issues at the interview that lengthens your wait, Montreal for example gives out a lot of DS-3025 that ends up taking people like 6+ months to get through. Still uncommon, but point is; you don't know what will delay you. Don't rely on a timeline.

[Scott-Ilyn 81]

2 hours ago, MissLadyRea said:

I couldnt do I-130 because of covid

I was in the same boat, too.  My wife and I definitely wished that we could've done the spousal visa vs K1.  It was a loooooooong 1 year wait for her to get her green card.  She's working and happy now, about to take her driving test soon, too.  We're not looking forward to the long wait for the ROC.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Scott-Ilyn

[Redro 4,611]

On 8/27/2023 at 7:05 PM, mark_adders said:

Okay so need input/ data/ anecdotes/ advice to help deciding a route. 

 

I am a British citizen living and residing in BC Canada on permanent residency, 1 month short of being a citizen of Canada.

Partner is US citizen and lives permanently in MT USA. We live two hours away by car.

We are not yet married. Nor engaged. But we would do both in an instant. Pending visa requirements.

We want to have our lives together and do not know the best option, balancing efficiency, security, ease and time apart.

 

My understanding is we are 1.5 - 2 years away from any closure on this. And this is hurtful. 

1- Fiancé(e) Visa (K1) 

2- Spousal Visa (K3)

3- Spousal Visa (IR1 / CR1)

4- Direct Consular Filing

 

All seem possible, with 1 & 3 being the obvious choices and the other 2, 4 being side door options that we found recently. Do not know the credibility of choosing these.

We have done a lot of reading and the more I read the less I am sure of the way to proceed. We desperately need advise, falling into a wormhole. We want to start out on the right foot and not choose an option that is going to extend being apart more than it needs to. Or extend the inability to work as is often the case, how does that benefit a new family starting out in a new country? Im not sure being dependent on resources really helps anyone.

 

I had a lawyer/ consultant from Visa Place tell me to disregard the fiancé visa (mostly due to Canadian consulate wait times) and focus on spousal visa or one other side door option, involving being a Canadian citizen.  Do the lawyers and consultants tend to have an ulterior motive behind advice? Are they skewed toward revenue generating options?

 

 

Re-reading your OP. It appears being able to work as soon as you arrive to the US is important to you.

For that reason, CR1/IR1 is realistically your only option. 

If you are worried about being apart for the 1.5-2 years it takes the visa to process. Don't worry. You can still visit each other as you have done during your courtship. If you are worried about something like COVID happening again.

Well, we cannot predict the future. Something might happen in your lives where you realize you actually do want to live together in Canada or the UK.

I would keep options open. But, as you know you love each other it seems the first step is to marry as that will make your eventual decisions easier to plan around. 

Being someone's spouse carries more weight than being someone's fiance. 

 

[mark_adders 0]

On 8/28/2023 at 5:16 AM, Redro said:

Where are you getting these numbers? 

You can see individual timelines for UK vs Canada.  

Last 10 cases out of UK: 327 - 519 days

Last 10 cases out of Canada: 386days - 791 days. 

 

The first part of the process (I-130) is not impacted by beneficiary's country or petitioner's home state. 

The second part (DS260/I864) is not impacted by beneficiary's country or petitioner's home state. 

DQ to interview is the only time beneficiary's country matters. 

 

You can follow DQ to Interview for the UK here.

DQ to interview for Canada here.

 

UK for sure appears to have the edge, but even though the I-130 gives you the option to choose the consulate you interview at, the approved petition will go to Canada because you as the beneficiary will indicate you currently reside in Canada. This means you will need to request they move the case from Canada to UK (adding time to the process). In addition, you will need to go to the UK for your medical and the interview. Which means flying to the UK and staying there for the required time. So, you will need to complete your own cost benefit analysis of whether moving the interview location is worth it. 

 

 

 I found a link on this website the other night that had processing times for the consulates in each country. I wish I could find it again .

I take it the numbers you quoted are anecdotal? And what exactly is DQ? I will try to follow those posts thanks for the links!!

And good insight to have on the location, I had no idea how that works. Moving it around seems like it will be problematic.