Not Sure Where to Begin

[Jx2 0]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm an American and my girlfriend is South Korean.  We both currently live in China; me for almost 5 years and she for over 10 years.  We have been together for 4 years.  We had started making plans to move to the US in 2025, but I just found out a few days ago that my contract with my school (I'm an EFL teacher) will not be renewed next semester.  Now my visa will expire on August 1st and I'm not confidant about getting a new job here, plus my girlfriend and I are getting tired of living in China.  We had expected to be here until at least January, but that seems unlikely now.  I am 49 now and my girlfriend is 41, and there is definitely a lot of age discrimination here.  We both were planning on going back to school, preferably in the US.  I want to get a master's degree and she wants to become a nurse.  We found a relatively inexpensive university in North Carolina that accepts international students and also has an accelerated nursing program, but their admissions department doesn't seem very helpful or knowledgeable thus far.  She is also considering returning to South Korea and enrolling in a nursing school there, but I would greatly prefer to return to the US.  I'm also not sure about finding employment for myself in Korea.

 

So, we're not really sure what would be the best visa option for getting her into the US permanently.  We obviously don't want to live apart for 1.5 years or more, and we plan on getting married.  We can't get married right away, however, as she and her ex didn't get around to filing for divorce until earlier this month for a variety of reasons (even though they have been separated and living in different countries for 8 years or more).  The divorce should be finalized by August or possibly September, but we probably need to leave before then.  I have been reading up on the different visa types and all of the steps one needs to go through and I'm feeling overwhelmed!  I had already purchased a round-trip ticket to the US this summer to visit family and friends for 5 weeks, but fortunately I can cancel or change the flight without penalty.   Even so, our lease is up in July, and we have to decide what to do rather quickly.   

 

I'm not even sure if this is the correct forum for this discussion, as I have questions about several visa types.   I think that I can rule out a work visa for her, as I'm not sure what kind of a job in the US would hire her from overseas.  I don't see much of a benefit for a fiancé visa either, as it seems to take as long as a marriage visa.   That leaves us with 3 options I guess:  marriage visa, student visa or maybe a longshot DCF.

 

A DCF would be nice and certainly faster, but I have my doubts about going that route.  I do have some health problems that could be better treated in the US than in China, but I don't think that constitutes a medical emergency.   I'm not sure if I can find a job in the US that will hire me from overseas either; in my experience most US companies much prefer to hire local candidates.  Plus, we need to get married first and stay in China for perhaps another 6 months longer in order to pursue that option.  My girlfriend is on a 3-year visa, but I would have to either find a new job or else leave the country and try to return on a tourist visa.   Most schools won't hire a teacher for only one semester though, so that's another problem.  Also, would it look bad to the consulate in Guangzhou if we got married right after she got divorced, and then almost immediately tried to get her a visa via the DCF method?  Has anyone gone through a similar process?  

 

Getting a marriage visa seems like the safest route, but it takes forever.  We don't want to be separated for that long if there's any way to avoid it.  She's been to the US before using ESTA and had no problems, but we can't afford to fly us back and forth between the US and Korea every 90 days for a year and a half or more!  That would make working difficult as well, although I suppose we could start taking some online classes during that time.  I'm not sure how hard it is to get a work visa for myself in Korea either.  My girlfriend tells me there is a fair amount of age discrimination there as well; they only like to hire young teachers.   It would be easier for her to work obviously, though.  She could get into a Korean nursing school as well, although they don't have any accelerated nursing programs there.  Does anyone have any insights about the marriage visa option?  Have I overlooked anything by dismissing the K visa option?

 

Finally, there's the student visa option.  I am leaning towards this route, but my girlfriend has serious reservations.  I like it because we could be together while attending school and we could get married in the US.  Then we could apply for her green card while living in the US together while she's on her student visa.  That's true, correct?  Has anyone gone this route before?  My girlfriend gets really nervous when talking to immigration though, and she seems to think that she would be denied.  She thinks she's too old, her English isn't good enough (it's actually fine), she won't be able to convince them that she won't overstay her visa, etc., etc.  I have heard that she shouldn't say that she wants to be a nurse in the US after she finishes her university program:  is this true?  She says that she has to tell them that she plans on leaving the US, even though that's not true.  Has anyone on here become a nurse in the US after attending school there on a student visa?  Any thoughts?  How difficult is it to get a student visa and how hard is it to get into nursing school?  I am also wondering if she can attend a community college and a university simultaneously on an F visa?  We're looking at maybe taking some of her prerequisites at a community college in order to save a little money.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice that any of you have.  It will definitely help, and I appreciate that.  Thanks for taking the time to read this long post too! 

 

Jx2    

[pushbrk 12,870]

She's unlikely to get a student visa at her age, unless it's for an advanced degree.  You mention a Masters for you but she doesn't need an advanced degree to be a nurse.  I don't think two foreigners can marry in China, so maybe in South Korea, once the divorce is final.  For your situation, the spouse visa is a much better fit.

 

All that said, it takes as long as it takes, and NO, you don't qualify for DCF based on what you said.  The members here quickly learn that separation is a fact of life in spouse immigration.  It doesn't have to be always, but I don't see a way around it for the two of you, unless you find a way to wait it out with her outside the USA.

 

Start by clicking on the word "Guides" at the top of any page here.

[Jx2 0]

Thanks, pushbrk.  That is all good information to know, even if it's not all good news.  She wants to get a BSN degree, which is more advanced than an RN and equivalent to a bachelor's degree or possibly a little higher.  I'm not sure if that's advanced enough though.  

 

Does anyone know if she tries to get a student visa and fails, would that prevent her from getting an ESTA or a marriage visa in the future?

[pushbrk 12,870]

39 minutes ago, Jx2 said:

Thanks, pushbrk.  That is all good information to know, even if it's not all good news.  She wants to get a BSN degree, which is more advanced than an RN and equivalent to a bachelor's degree or possibly a little higher.  I'm not sure if that's advanced enough though.  

 

Does anyone know if she tries to get a student visa and fails, would that prevent her from getting an ESTA or a marriage visa in the future?

An "Advanced Degree" is advanced beyond Batchelor's degree.  If she already has a Batchelor degree in a medical field, and is enhancing it to be a surgical nurse, maybe.  If she IS a nurse, there are special visas for nurses, but there are quotas.  I have a friend in the Philippines (American) whose Filipino wife got a visa for an RN that allows immigration benefits later.  The quota issues delayed their move by a year though.

[Jx2 0]

Ahh, I see.  No, she's not a nurse already.  She earned an associate's degree in nutrition and a bachelor's degree in English, both from Korean universities.   That's why she's interested in the accelerated BSN program - it allows one with a bachelor's degree but no nursing background to take all of the required courses for RN through BSN in one condensed time period.  

[pushbrk 12,870]

1 hour ago, Jx2 said:

Ahh, I see.  No, she's not a nurse already.  She earned an associate's degree in nutrition and a bachelor's degree in English, both from Korean universities.   That's why she's interested in the accelerated BSN program - it allows one with a bachelor's degree but no nursing background to take all of the required courses for RN through BSN in one condensed time period.  

Might work, but you also need to understand that to use a non-immigrant visa (Student visas are non-immigrant.) with the real intention of immigrating, is "fraud".

[Jx2 0]

Yeah, I understand that.  Thanks again for your help!

[nastra30 2,284]

Op, tell gf to get the divorce papers going right now; no need for delaying this any further with the intentions you guys have in mind.

Also, in all immigration matters always tell the truth about intentions when questioned.

Good luck.

[Crazy Cat 41,814]

8 hours ago, Jx2 said:

A DCF would be nice and certainly faster, but I have my doubts about going that route.

1.   DCF is not available if you aren't married.

2.  Marriage is not possible until her divorce is final

3. She cannot enter the US as a visitor (including VWP, an F-1, etc) with the intent to stay and adjust status.

 

You can move back whenever you want.  Then you could establish physical domicile and find employment.  No couple likes to be separated, but immigration, sometimes, requires it. Some of us were separated for more than a year.  It isn't fun, but it can be done.

Another option is to re-locate to SK, marry, secure employment in the US, and seek the DCF route.

  Good luck in your journey. 

[powerpuff 6,686]

*** Thread moved from CR1/IR1 forum to What Visa do I need forum as OP is asking about options ***

[Jx2 0]

Thanks everyone for the advice!

[pushbrk 12,870]

6 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

1.   DCF is not available if you aren't married.

2.  Marriage is not possible until her divorce is final

3. She cannot enter the US as a visitor (including VWP, an F-1, etc) with the intent to stay and adjust status.

 

You can move back whenever you want.  Then you could establish physical domicile and find employment.  No couple likes to be separated, but immigration, sometimes, requires it. Some of us were separated for more than a year.  It isn't fun, but it can be done.

Another option is to re-locate to SK, marry, secure employment in the US, and seek the DCF route.

  Good luck in your journey. 

All good stuff, but I doubt DCF would be successful based on finding a new job.  Works for transfers within the same company, but would not hurt to try.

[Noname93 200]

15 hours ago, Jx2 said:

She wants to get a BSN degree, which is more advanced than an RN and equivalent to a bachelor's degree or possibly a little higher.

Slightly unrelated, but a BSN is a bachelor's degree. It's a bachelor of science in nursing

[Jx2 0]

Great info.  Thanks everyone!

[pushbrk 12,870]

4 hours ago, Noname93 said:

Slightly unrelated, but a BSN is a bachelor's degree. It's a bachelor of science in nursing

Correct. You can be an RN without a BSN, and a BSN doesn't in and of itself make you an RN.  It's a great goal, and a legitimate reason to seek a student visa, if she hadn't also found a groom and didn't have immigrant intent.