Please check our plan for K-1 visa interview + move/marriage

[AUTtoPA 6]

Hello,

 

I'm currently in the process for a K-1 visa, I passed the medical exam and have the interview at the U.S. consulate in Vienna soon. My fiancée and I have collected most things, but want to make sure we did not miss anything.

 

My fiancée recently gave birth to our child and after I (hopefully) move there we will live with her mother for the foreseeable future, so a 4 person household. For the I-134 I read it's good to already be above 125% of federal poverty guidelines to show we're ready for AOS, so her mother is also filling out an I-134 already even though not strictly necessary. 100% is 31.2k and 125% is 39k for a 4 person household, they are earning around 34k each.

I read current income is the best evidence, so they are sending me their tax return transcripts, W-2s, recent pay stubs and employer letters as well as the bank statement for their account balance etc.

Will it help if I list my own bank account under my assets? I've read people leave it empty if the sponsors have enough income.

 

Assuming everything goes well with the interview, I have a few questions about moving to the U.S.:

 

- I will need health insurance for the time before I marry my fiancée and can be added on the health insurance plan she gets through her employer. Is there any site/plan you could recomment or should I just google "K-1 visa health insurance" and look for a suitable plan for 90 days?

 

- I read that getting an SSN is possible almost immediately after entry into the U.S. with the K-1 visa, is that correct? Is it possible to get a drivers license with this SSN or do I have to wait for EAD? I read conflicting information about this.

 

- For opening a bank account I read that you need proof of living in the U.S. such as a utility invoice or a rent contract addressed to you, but seeing as we will be living with my fiancées mother I won't have that. What would be best in this case?

 

- Due to not being sure when I can open a bank account, I'm thinking of bringing around $ 10k in cash with me. I read that it's fine as long as I fill out the declaration form to give to the customs officer upon arrival and bring a confirmation of the withdrawal from my bank account to prove where it's from. Any advice here?

 

- Transferring money from my Austrian bank account to my future U.S. one - I read doing it through the bank results in high fees, is using Wise for this a good idea?

 

- We read up on the requirements for marriage in PA in our case/area, we should be good to go and will get a marriage license and get married as soon as possible after I move there. We are thinking about doing the self-uniting marriage that's possible in PA to save time and money, is that fine for the AOS process or would there be any issues?

 

 

Thank you in advance, we appreciate any wisdom you can share.

[Crazy Cat 41,983]

15 minutes ago, AUTtoPA said:

We are thinking about doing the self-uniting marriage that's possible in PA to save time and money, is that fine for the AOS process or would there be any issues?

Personally, I would not do this.  Just get a courthouse wedding with a judge officiating.  You then ensure you get a certified marriage certificate. 

[AUTtoPA 6]

1 hour ago, Crazy Cat said:

Personally, I would not do this.  Just get a courthouse wedding with a judge officiating.  You then ensure you get a certified marriage certificate. 

From my googling I'm not sure the courthouse judges in PA officiate weddings, we'll have to call the county courthouse and ask.

If not, we could at least get a professional officiant though, thanks for your input.

[M & Alex 28]

We got self united married in PA. Marriage License was applied by the Montgomery County Orphans' Court, then they will have you attend a quick zoom meeting to tell you what is the next step. Just need to have 2 witnesses and we had my wife's brother and his girlfriend. After that, return the duplicate certificate portion of your marriage license via regular mail and a certified copy will be provided after.

 

[AUTtoPA 6]

We'll have to research some more and think about it, if the county tells us the marriage certificate is exactly the same as with judge/officiant it may be fine.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Nous Eb 128]

On 7/28/2024 at 12:29 PM, AUTtoPA said:

Will it help if I list my own bank account under my assets? I've read people leave it empty if the sponsors have enough income.

 

My sponsors have enough income so I left all my own stuff empty. It's up to you I guess. 

 

On 7/28/2024 at 12:29 PM, AUTtoPA said:

- I will need health insurance for the time before I marry my fiancée and can be added on the health insurance plan she gets through her employer. Is there any site/plan you could recomment or should I just google "K-1 visa health insurance" and look for a suitable plan for 90 days?

 

I decided not to get any, but when I was still in The Netherlands I read that there was something for people who were moving to a different country, but it was incredibly expensive. If you have health problems now you will probably need to get something like it, but since I don't have any health issues, I decided not to take it. 

 

 

On 7/28/2024 at 12:29 PM, AUTtoPA said:

- Transferring money from my Austrian bank account to my future U.S. one - I read doing it through the bank results in high fees, is using Wise for this a good idea?

 

I think the bank fees from The Netherlands to the USA is about 12 euros per transaction, so depending on the amount you send it's not bad at all, no clue what Austrian banks charge though. I have used Wise before the other way around and that went smoothly as well. Do NOT take euros here and deposit into your USD bank account, the exchange rate they offer here was ridiculous. Make sure that if you take cash in USD and not in EUR. You can bring as much as you want, as long as you declare it and have evidence of where it came from.

 

 

On 7/28/2024 at 12:29 PM, AUTtoPA said:

- We read up on the requirements for marriage in PA in our case/area, we should be good to go and will get a marriage license and get married as soon as possible after I move there. We are thinking about doing the self-uniting marriage that's possible in PA to save time and money, is that fine for the AOS process or would there be any issues?

 

Not sure if that would give issues, I had never heard of it so had to look it up. We wanted to save time and money and plan on renewing our vows and having a real wedding when my family can be there, and my husband didn't want to do the courthouse thing, so we did the online Utah marriage. Was hilarious, quick and comfortable in our hoodies on the couch HAHA! They provided two Philippine women as witnesses for us and a minister married us. I think that was around $500 and we received a digital certificate, a video and the official certificate in the mail 3 days later. I'd do it again so highly recommended! 

 

Edited August 28 by Nous Eb

[AUTtoPA 6]

Update in case someone else would like to know about this topic:

 

The county courthouse in PA advised me not to do the self-uniting marriage as I am not a U.S. citizen, so we got married in front of the judge. It all went pretty smoothly and we're happy that we went this route.

 

Thanks again for everyone's input.