K1 questions

[OldUser 6,709]

44 minutes ago, Tiff. said:

They asked me what the purpose of my visit was and every time I’ve told them it was to visit my boyfriend. The third time I visited it was December 10th 2022 and the visit before that one I left on September 27th. The officer told me that it was getting suspicious and to wait a little longer or had him visit which I did since my visit after wasn’t till July 2023. I heard you should stay in your home country twice the amount you were there and I didn’t know that yet so I assume that’s why. I visited for 42 days last time and it’s already been triple the amount of that so I’m assuming I’d be fine in May if that’s how it works? What ties me to my home country if I don’t have a job and live with family? 

This just proves the point you shouldn't be counting on coming to the US often as a visitor.

 

Let your significant other visit you too, or go to a vacation in a third country.

 

Can we guarantee your ESTA / visa won't be canceled as you try to enter on next or any subsequent visit? No.

 

Wait and separation is going to be a part of immigration. I gave enough comparison between K-1 and CR-1. You can decide whatever works best for you.

 

Edited January 27 by OldUser

[SalishSea 17,836]

5 hours ago, Tiff. said:

What’s different for the cr1 financially?  Also our biggest concern is me getting there since it’s so draining and I thought k1 was the fastest. We don’t mind the costs and I’m ok with not being able to get a gc right away. We already have the entire package ready but if we were to start the cr1 how would that go? Would that still be faster even tho we’d have to plan to get married first? How do we plan that when i won’t be allowed to enter for marriage since i have weak ties to my country? Is there another way? 

Look, your petitioner is 19, right?  There is no way he has the skills or education yet to be able to support to two of you in 2024 United States.  You will be unable to work or drive (or return to the US, if you leave) for upwards of 8 months.  That is not a smart financial move, and this ill though-out plan speaks to your youth and inexperience, IMHO.  

 

And what do you mean you wouldn't be able to enter the US to marry?  How were you able to meet for the required K-1 meeting?

[SalishSea 17,836]

5 hours ago, OldUser said:

I literally ran out of reasons why somebody may choose K1 over CR1 in 2024. Other than they cannot marry because of visas. But even then there are third countries and Utah zoom (with consumation of course)

Right.  It would make sense for same-sex partners from a conservative country with a K-2.  Otherwise, it makes zero sense.  Especially with the huge fee increases coming.

[OldUser 6,709]

18 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

Right.  It would make sense for same-sex partners from a conservative country with a K-2.  

Good point

[Tiff. 2]

On 1/27/2024 at 4:50 AM, SalishSea said:

Look, your petitioner is 19, right?  There is no way he has the skills or education yet to be able to support to two of you in 2024 United States.  You will be unable to work or drive (or return to the US, if you leave) for upwards of 8 months.  That is not a smart financial move, and this ill though-out plan speaks to your youth and inexperience, IMHO.  

 

And what do you mean you wouldn't be able to enter the US to marry?  How were you able to meet for the required K-1 meeting?

I don’t see why you have to be rude about this. It’s not like we decided to do this without a plan. Both his parents have already told us that they will support us during the entire process and we both have savings that we will be able to use during the time that I won’t be able to work if needed. I don’t even have a license yet anyways and it’s not a priority since he lives in a walkable town. Also I’m assuming since I don’t have strong ties to keep me here they might deny me entering to marry since they would think I might not return even if that’s my true intention. It was probably different before since my intention was to only visit him. Who says I even want to return to my home country while I’m waiting for the adjustment of status? Also he doesn’t have pto to visit me to marry till in a few months which would delay the process anyways and it would be the same since I’m not visiting till may.

[yuna628 9,676]

On 1/25/2024 at 6:13 PM, Tiff. said:

Me and my fiancé want to apply this month for a k1 and I had a few questions about this and hope someone could answer them all since I haven’t been able to find much.

 

1. Does age matter ? I’m 21 and he’s 19 and he’s the petitioner, would this cause extra scrutiny? I’m not worried about the age difference but I am worried about how young we are since it’s apparently looked down upon?

2. Is it ok for his mother to be the sponsor with him? I saw that the sponsor has to be 21 so he can’t be the sponsor but does that mean he can be the sponsor with his mom?

3. We got tickets for a concert in June and I wanted to visit him. How do I proof I don’t want to live there yet? I currently don’t have a job and live with my parents so I don’t know if that would help. I have pets but is that enough reasoning? How big is the chance they’ll deny me? Does it depend on the airport? What other proof could I show them? What questions should I prepare for? 

4. Should I stay shorter than I usually do? On an average I visited him about weeks and was planning on staying for 4weeks or would this be suspicious? I have visited him 4 times now for an average of 41 days and left when I said I would, except once when I changed the flight home to a week later which was still within the 90 days. would this make them trust me more since they can see that? 

5. We have about 20 photos together, texts, call logs, FaceTime photos, engagement ring photos and receipt and 3 statements of 2 friends and his dad. Then lastly we have proof of meeting up 7 times (tickets, receipts boarding passes etc) is there anything we should add for proof?

6. We don’t have proof of us calling before 2023 since we used a server call which isn’t recorded, does that matter? I do have some screenshots from us in videocall but that’s it. 

 

7. Are the forms really randomly sorted to the centres or is there some way of knowing before you send it? 

8. If the form fee is sent by personal check, do we send the form at the same time? How do we add proof of payment if it has to be at the same time? We wanna make sure we have a copy of the receipt so how would we do that? 

 

I’m sorry if this I didn’t post this right please tell me if I did. 

Hi Tiff,

 

So you both are really young, and you're probably tired of hearing about that aren't you? So I'd like to give you some perspective of what was once another young couple, and by that I mean me and my husband. See long ago, I met my best friend, and eventually he was 18 and I was 19 and he was all the way across the pond. He always promised he'd visit me though and so the crazy guy flew out here to meet up. Of course we hadn't a clue about immigration, and boy oh boy did they grill him up and down. I honestly don't know why they let him in, but for every question they had, he had an answer so they just couldn't find a reason to deny him or maybe they were feeling charitable or we were just lucky. We knew that first week that one day we were going to get married and go through the immigration thing, but he was a student going into college soon, and I had a tiny bit of money saved, but had a lot of responsibilities at home. So we made the decision to wait. Years of college, and employment and saving. Life got in the way at times which caused delays, but a lot more visits were possible. By the time we'd studied up on immigration, had our co-sponsor and saved what we thought was enough money (it's never enough money btw) - we had nearly left our 20s behind.

 

Now that's a long time to wait. It's not the norm I'd say for a lot of people, and I would not suggest that for anyone. We also chose a K1, and would I recommend that for anyone knowing what I know now? Well... no... or maybe. It depends on the circumstances. Respectfully, K1 leaves you as a couple financially unstable for a significant period of time and I think those couples that have not built up a lengthy resume or educational experience can create even more problems. You may have a lot of savings - we had about 15k, with an additional amount put aside for our wedding (something I don't recommend planning at the same time as a K1 either), and honestly? We had a co-sponsor and a whole extended family to support us. We had a car. That was not enough. Why? Health insurance, car insurance, and other bills. A K1, once married, must adjust status - that means they cannot work or travel until authorized. That authorization is increasingly becoming slower than it was before - and back then it was still too slow. So let's say you get the authorization. Do you have the skillset to find a job, a good paying job with benefits, and fast? I figured my husband wouldn't have a hard time - he's a very educated man with skills. But everywhere in every state is different - job markets are different. No one wanted to hire him, and eventually he was so frustrated he considered low paying jobs anywhere. They didn't understand what an EAD was vs a green card. This town also prefers unskilled labor vs skilled. We had medical bills to keep paying all this time and the funds were draining. He felt embarrassed and worthless, but eventually after an even longer wait, the green card came. Suddenly, lots of jobs were interested, but all were not for full time with benefits work and late hours. Everyone has to start somewhere though, and a very nice person took a chance on him. The money helped but it was a struggle with still paying for benefits - six more months and he finally went full time. By then we were so close to losing our health insurance because we could no longer afford it and as luck would have it, it wasn't long after both he and I ended up in the hospital.

 

Over the years here I have encountered many K1 couples that have no idea the struggle that the cost of health insurance can cause or the pain that is suffered by not having it. Most Europeans do not understand because their system is fundamentally different and as Americans in the relationship we have to try to protect them. Most younger Americans will not understand either, because they are usually covered by their parents insurance. For a poor person like me growing up, we were always financially insecure and didn't have insurance, and health suffered because of it. Some immigrants in America may believe that it will be very easy to find work when they want it (we are the land of opportunity and we are... but it isn't always fair) - and bless them I hope they do. They believe illness won't hit them because they are young. I hope not, but we are in a pandemic now, and the likelihood of severe illness is high. We are not as immune from accident, injury, and illness as we like to pretend.

 

If you see some people here that tell you bluntly to take a step back, they've been through it. They've had their own struggles with the immigration process, felt the strain, and maybe can't imagine why someone that is young would try it without more preparation. No disrespect is intended, because even when you are prepared you will go through it too. If I had chosen a spouse visa, we'd need to change a lot of plans we had and take a different approach, but my husband would have had his green card and we'd have hopefully reached a starting point without draining our entire savings. Knowing what to do with the forms is only one part of the struggle.

 

As for visiting a lot, I'd encourage as many as you can afford, if you can afford them. That doesn't guarantee you'll successfully visit though. Just never ever overstay. VWP is not a thing you want to abuse either. If you have concerns about not having strong ties, I'd point out that your fear over that isn't an unrealistic thing. Having employment will help you both financially in the future. It gives you experience you can use in the US, and it gives you money and boy are you going to need it. How do you prove you don't want to live somewhere? No matter how much proof you give it will always be up to the officer to decide. 

 

K1s are fine. We did it. We made it like everyone else that uses it. It's more appropriate for those that cannot get married in the US or in another country for some reason and it is useful for a couple that really is done with their home country, is very financially secure, and for a couple that absolutely does not wish to be separate once they've said vows. Because I get it, it's hard to be apart. But life and the system as it is in the US is increasingly making using this process harder. Whichever way you choose, tread carefully.