CR1 vs K1 and some general questions about the visas

[MariusHeg 1]

Me (norwegian) and my girlfriend (american citizen) are doing a long distance relationship. She is currently an au pair in Germany, this to give us more time together in the same timezone, as she recently graduated college. I am in my last semester of my engineering bachelors, we are both 22 years old, born 2001.

 

We both want to get married and are looking into ways to live together in america, since that is where we want to live. We have looked at both the K1 and CR1 visas and thought that K1 visa seemed like the fastest and best way to quickly get me to america, but after looking more into it, it seems that the approval of the K1 visa is as slow as the CR1? and people say that they would have chosen to do the CR1 instead of the K1. 

Our biggest worry currently is the timezone difference, hence her being an au pair. There is a 9 hour difference between Norway and Oregon, and the times do not overlap well when it comes to working. It has been working great up till now due to both of us studying and having more control of our schedule, but when my girlfriend starts working her work times would basically be at the times we would be able to call and spend time together. 

We have some general ideas of what could work for us if the wait time is long: Her getting a remote job where she can clock in at hours of her choosing or us just using the small time frames where none of us work to just talk, and spending time during weekends. 

 

Some questions we have right now about the filing and approval of either visas are:

Does my girlfriend have to earn the required amount of money when the application for the visa gets submitted, or would it be fine if she gets a job by the time the visa is approved and I can move to america? If it is possible to prove that she can have a job by the time she gets back would that help? Another question would be if she has had to work x amount of time and have x amount of money available, or does just the annual income matter?

 

How long would it typically take for the visa to get approved when my girlfriend is from Oregon? We saw that the closest USCIS office is in California, and they had the longest approvement time out of all the offices. Would the application go to them, or is it possible to choose ourselves? 

 

 

We are grateful for any input and feedback any of you might have  

[powerpuff 6,680]

11 minutes ago, MariusHeg said:

but after looking more into it, it seems that the approval of the K1 visa is as slow as the CR1? and people say that they would have chosen to do the CR1 instead of the K1.

They’re Pretty much very close when it comes to the processing time; even if K1 is 2-3 months faster, that is not worth the drawbacks of the K1. And I’m one of those people. I did K1 and I do not recommend it.

 

13 minutes ago, MariusHeg said:

Does my girlfriend have to earn the required amount of money when the application for the visa gets submitted, or would it be fine if she gets a job by the time the visa is approved and I can move to america?

For CR1, at NVC stage after USCIS approval (roughly 12-14 months). For K1, at the interview, roughly 18+ months after filing 

 

14 minutes ago, MariusHeg said:

If it is possible to prove that she can have a job by the time she gets back would that help?

No, she needs to have the job in place. Hypotheticals, no matter how convincing, are not going to work.

 

15 minutes ago, MariusHeg said:

Another question would be if she has had to work x amount of time and have x amount of money available, or does just the annual income matter?

Annual 

 

16 minutes ago, MariusHeg said:

How long would it typically take for the visa to get approved when my girlfriend is from Oregon? We saw that the closest USCIS office is in California, and they had the longest approvement time out of all the offices. Would the application go to them, or is it possible to choose ourselves? 

I think you’re talking about a petition, not a visa (USC files a petition which later allows the beneficiary to apply for a visa at a US consulate abroad). Petition placement is not location based and you can’t choose one. USCIS assigns it according to their internal system and reasons, not known to the public.

[Boiler 45,445]

Simple route

 

Get married asap

She files the I 130

She finds a Joint Sponsor, Parent is usual.

You arrive in the US as a Permanent Resident good to work get a DL etc

 

Say 18 months from filing

 

I also did a K1 back when it was a more logical option and still would do that again with the benefit of hindsight.

 

[manyfudge 285]

Google DCF.

 

Fastest would be if she got a job offer in the US - get married and file i130 directly with embassy in stockholm (they handle all Scandinavian immigrant visas).  
 

Line up a joint financial sponsor.

Edited January 1 by manyfudge

[Ontarkie 14,216]

~~Moved to What Visa DO I Need, form DCF - as the OP is just starting to look into things~~

[Boiler 45,445]

33 minutes ago, manyfudge said:

Google DCF.

 

Fastest would be if she got a job offer in the US - get married and file i130 directly with embassy in stockholm (they handle all Scandinavian immigrant visas).  
 

Line up a joint financial sponsor.

 

I had thought of that and would add the following.

 

She is in Germany so they would need to marry and then he would need to move to Germany.

 

Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are equal partners in the internal market, on the same terms as the EU member states. This includes having access to the internal market's four freedoms, the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital. I do not know her skill set or when her time in Germany is up.

 

She could of course move to Norway, now I have no idea about how long that would take, probably much quicker than a spouse moving to the US.

 

She is an AuPair, not sure how easy it would be to get a short notice job offer that Frankfurt would buy.

[MariusHeg 1]

32 minutes ago, manyfudge said:

Google DCF.

 

Fastest would be if she got a job offer in the US - get married and file i130 directly with embassy in stockholm (they handle all Scandinavian immigrant visas).  
 

Line up a joint financial sponsor.

 

Do you not need it to be an exceptional situation for the filing of i130 to be approved for overseas filing/embassy in stockholm? If so what even defines an exceptional situation? 

[MariusHeg 1]

3 minutes ago, Boiler said:

 

I had thought of that and would add the following.

 

She is in Germany so they would need to marry and then he would need to move to Germany.

 

Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are equal partners in the internal market, on the same terms as the EU member states. This includes having access to the internal market's four freedoms, the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital. I do not know her skill set or when her time in Germany is up.

 

She could of course move to Norway, now I have no idea about how long that would take, probably much quicker than a spouse moving to the US.

 

She is an AuPair, not sure how easy it would be to get a short notice job offer that Frankfurt would buy.

We have looked into the possiblity of me moving to germany, but it would require me to get work there. Which from the research I have done seems hard as an entry level.

 

For her to be able to move to Norway she also has to get a job, and with norways job market that is hard. She could also get a visa to live here through marriage, but the age restriction is 24 for this, which means we would have to wait till 2025 anyway. 

[Boiler 45,445]

Just now, MariusHeg said:

We have looked into the possiblity of me moving to germany, but it would require me to get work there. Which from the research I have done seems hard as an entry level.

 

For her to be able to move to Norway she also has to get a job, and with norways job market that is hard. She could also get a visa to live here through marriage, but the age restriction is 24 for this, which means we would have to wait till 2025 anyway. 

Thanks I did not know about the age limit so I would go with my first suggestion.

[manyfudge 285]

13 minutes ago, MariusHeg said:

? If so what even defines an exceptional situation? 

US job offer.

[manyfudge 285]

16 minutes ago, Boiler said:

She is in Germany so they would need to marry and then he would need to move to Germany

Why would he need to move to Germany?  Is there a hard requirement that both live in the same country?

 

1) get married - wherever,

2) she files i130 Frankfurt with US job offer

3) joint sponsor 

 

[Boiler 45,445]

1 minute ago, manyfudge said:

Why would he need to move to Germany?  Is there a hard requirement that both live in the same country?

 

1) get married - wherever,

2) she files i130 Frankfurt with US job offer

3) joint sponsor 

 

I have never hard of DCF where they did not live in the same country.

 

Let me see.

 

 

[Boiler 45,445]

Short notice of position relocation – A U.S. citizen petitioner, living and working abroad, has received a job offer in or reassignment to the United States with little notice for the required start date.

Discretion

The list of examples provided above is not exhaustive. DOS may exercise its discretion to accept local Form I-130 filings for other emergency or exceptional circumstances of a non-routine nature, unless specifically noted below. However, such filings must be truly urgent and otherwise limited to situations when filing with USCIS online or domestically with an expedite request would likely not be sufficient to address the time-sensitive and exigent nature of the situation.

DOS may consider a petitioner’s residency within the consular district when determining whether to accept a filing, but it is not required.[6] 

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-b-chapter-3

 

I read it that Frankfurt could, they have fairly wide discretion, still think it is a major ask and have never seen it actually happen.

[manyfudge 285]

@Boiler, thanks.

@MariusHeg, can’t your gf get an aupair position in Norway?

 

https://www.aupair.com/find_family.php?quick_search=search&countryQ=152&language=en

 

 

[SalishSea 17,801]

I don't see DCF happening in this situation.