engagement before meeting?

[James T M 1]

I have a deep, two year relationship, but we have yet to meet. We want to marry and she would come from Russia to the USA to do so. We have done research and discovered that meeting in person is mandatory and that seems right, I was not surprised to see that and in fact it makes great sense beyond the technical, legal aspect. We should not rely on photos and video chatting. Anyway, that said. Has anyone done this before? Specifically began with a verbal engagement and then picked a neutral country and trip for the purpose of meeting? If so any advice?

I would say make it several days, one hotel room, lots of photos and videos, save all receipts and then wait several months before applying for the fiance visa. 

[OldUser 7,188]

Meet in person, get to know the person in real life and pop the question.

 

Why would you propose to somebody without seeing them? And also, wouldn't your future fiance appreciate the face to face proposal?

 

I'm not aware of any restrictions on USCIS side, you can certainly propose before meeting. You just have to meet before you sponsor fiancé for I-129F.

 

But for your own sake, I'd meet a person few times on different trips before making a proposal. Majority of virtual relationships do not withstand reality... Meeting before proposing will also reduce any suspicion from USCIS that this case is fradulent. Your future fiance may be asked about timeline of events, and proposal before ever meeting is not going to make case stronger. 

Edited Friday at 10:31 PM by OldUser

[SalishSea 18,019]

51 minutes ago, James T M said:

I have a deep, two year relationship, but we have yet to meet. We want to marry and she would come from Russia to the USA to do so. We have done research and discovered that meeting in person is mandatory and that seems right, I was not surprised to see that and in fact it makes great sense beyond the technical, legal aspect. We should not rely on photos and video chatting. Anyway, that said. Has anyone done this before? Specifically began with a verbal engagement and then picked a neutral country and trip for the purpose of meeting? If so any advice?

I would say make it several days, one hotel room, lots of photos and videos, save all receipts and then wait several months before applying for the fiance visa. 

Becoming engaged prior to meeting is not something that will lend credibility to your relationship.  In fact, it would behoove you to have as much time spent in person prior to filing any type of petition, particularly a K-1 for a country like Russia.