Sarah&Facundo

My husband and I traveled around Europe with his K1 in his passport before he entered the US. Zero issues.

Why would they make you open at envelope at airport security? They are looking for things like explosives, liquids, etc. They can see in the machines that it is paper. I travel for work all the time and constantly have folders, envelopes, etc. You have absolutely no need to worry.

When we flew to the US with my husband's visa, we could not check in online. We had to talk to someone there. Maybe it's better just to check in at the airport since they will know what to do and you can be certain.

I don't think so. B2 vs. K1 comparisons are not fair at all. A majority of K1 visas get approved. You just need to meet the requirements. With a B2, you need to improve you don't have immigrant intent which is WAY harder than proving a real relationship (if you have the documents). It is much easier to prove a positive than prove a negative. For what it's worth, my now-husband applied for a B2 visa with a Spanish speaking officer and was approved. He applied for a K1 and had a white American guy who spoke English and sort of spoke Spanish and he was approved. It made no difference.

As long as it is before the visa, you can enter even 5 minutes before midnight of the expiration. For reference, my husband came the day before.

Yes you can. I did this with my now-husband. He got his K1 and was given 5-6 months to enter. I went to his home country of Argentina and stayed for a month, then we backpacked Europe for a few months, and then we entered the US two days before his K1 was set to expire and got married 2 weeks later. No issue. You just need to enter before the K1 expires. No one cares what you do before that.

Miami in that particular instance, but I've flown back to the US through all different airports a several dozen times from abroad. You can wait from 5 minutes to two hours just to talk to an officer. We've been in secondary a few times and again, waits vary. It can come down to where you are seated on the plane, if the first flight is delayed, etc. Tons of factors.

They didn't really interview us. They just asked "Do you plan on marrying within 90 days?" We were able to stay together. That part in it of itself wasn't long. But between waiting about 45 minutes on line, going to secondary and waiting there again, and getting/rechecking our bags, plus having to be at the next flight for the boarding time..... 2.5 hours would not have been enough for us. But it all depends on the flight, the lines, and how many others are waiting in line/processing.

Spend a lot more time together, especially if you haven't seen each other since 2021 and the beneficiary is from Nigeria.

Screenshots of conversations is not strong evidence. To be honest, I didn't include a single screenshot of conversations nor any evidence of social media interaction and we received the K1. However, not seeing each other since 2021 can really be a mark against you especially if the beneficiary is from a high fraud country. Where are they from?

We were also one of the few lucky couples selected for a ROC interview last year. We were completely confused as to why. We are both pretty young and never married before, we are the same age, both speak English, we both work, own a car, have 100% joint accounts, health insurance, etc. But, sometimes it happens. Anyway, we were baffled trying to figure out what went "wrong" and how they were going to "grill us" at the interview. But honestly, we were in and out in 5 minutes. They asked the same basic questions we were asked at the AOS interview that is listed on the I-485 sheet. She asked each of us to share what the other person does for work and a few basic things like that. Our ROC was approved within an hour of us leaving. So, we still have no idea what triggered it. It definitely wasn't something we needed a lawyer for, and honestly, we never entertained it. That was our experience. Good luck!

That's pretty normal. They received it and cashed the check--that's all. That usually happens within a week or two, then you'll get the NOA1. The next step is the beginning of the long wait.

My husband and I postponed for over 8 months (by choice) and then we waited until the very end right before his visa was about to expire to enter (he entered 2 days before the expiration). So we basically bought ourselves an extra 14 months. So in our experience, this was entirely possible. In terms of the wedding you paid for, I would be careful with that because the wedding ceremony may not fall within your 90 day timeline (unless you planned on doing a courthouse-type marriage first to satisfy the visa agreements then do the wedding reception later on). I'm so, so sorry to hear about your family's health and I wish you both all the peace in the world.

You must have your taxes, specifically the last 3 years. When we were at the interview, the officer literally read mine right in front of me. I'm not sure how you would have gotten past the NVC for an interview. Who was the last one you heard from? Was it the actual beneficiary's home country consulate itself?

That is state-dependent and also depends on your salary. I was on Bronze for years up until 2023. Bronze plans available to me were never under $300 per month when I was single and they were over $500 per month when I was married with deductibles around $8,500 and $17,000 out of pocket max. These were the cheapest plans and we are both young and healthy. Still grateful ACA is an option though! Healthcare was completely prohibitive before that and not an option for many (and probably wouldn't have been an option for me had I been old enough to purchase my own healthcare pre-ACA).

In their eyes, that courthouse wedding IS the real wedding. They don't care about any religious ceremony/party/etc. you may have after that. They just want to know you'll get married within 90 days of entering on the visa. Most people don't have a solid plan.

You do not need an engagement ring, formal proposal, or wedding plans (other than the obvious plan to marry somewhere in the US within 90 days of entry). We had none of those.

Granted this was in 2019 and it was for AOS and not naturalization, but we had a scheduled trip to my husband's home country and of course, we received our AOS interview date which fell during that time we would be away. We opted to postpone the AOS interview and we attended it at a rescheduled date later. As long as you have a green card, there really isn't a rush to naturalize since it doesn't really change anything anyway. If you are okay with waiting a few weeks or months, I'd try to just postpone the date.

To piggyback off of this, my now-husband traveled to the US during the K1 process multiple time on his B2 visa (not a student visa). Traveling to the US is okay if you have an appropriate visa (and there is still a question if your fiancé can use the same F1 visa, even though it has an expiration of 2025 since she will be attending a different program--but I don't know as much about that aspect). HOWEVER, the border patrol has to believe your fiancé intends to return home. In our personal experiences, my husband (then-fiancé) wasn't asked any questions any time he entered with his B2. They never asked for a return ticket, proof of returning home, and I don't even know if they even asked him how long he would be staying. He went through multiple airports as his point of entry (Chicago, NYC). That isn't the same for everyone, just HIS experience. I know it turns out differently for many. The point is, even if you intend on doing everything correctly and your fiancé truly does intend on returning home at the appropriate time, it all depends on what the border agent decides. There is NO ONE here who can tell you which way it will go. It's the luck of the draw of who she encounters, what questions they ask, and how the agent is operating on that particular day. So no one can give you an exact answer. What YOU BOTH need to decide is if this is worth a potential risk. Yes, it may work out very well. But what if it does not? This is what people here are saying. And on another note, DO NOT DO ANY KIND OF TRADITIONAL CEREMONY BEFORE ENTERING WITH A K1. None. Nothing in her country, nothing in the US. NO Traditional ceremonies or you just went through the whole K1 process for nothing and will need to start all over again. Good luck!

Definitely at least several hundred dollars a month per person plus a very high deductible on the ACA/Obamacare. Edited to add: You can actually go to healthcare.gov right now, plug your parents information (birthdate, expected state/city) in and see exactly what it would cost. Keep in mind it goes up every year. I was on ACA for years until very recently, but I am so thankful it exists because without it, we would not have had healthcare.

If she is unable to travel to the interview location, you can try to reach out to them. We postponed our interview for reasons that were way less serious than the one you are describing just to delay travel and we had no issue.

You can still work and travel with your expired green card and the extension letter. We traveled many times with these documents. The wait time for the new card will likely be a while, but it varies by state/jurisdiction. For reference, we waited 18 months from the time we applied and my husband received his 10 year green card over the summer. Some wait 2+ years. We were also randomly selected for an interview, but it was super simple and less than 5 minutes since we had no red flags.

What? My husband and I are extremely frequent travelers and do multiple international trips per year. We would never declare anything like what was listed by the OP. If you bring back something worth thousands of dollars, than sure maybe. But food and inexpensive jewelry? Never.

They don't care how or where you marry as long as it is within 90 days of entering the US on the K1 visa (not before or after). We were never asked about specific wedding dates or plans.

You don't need to naturalize if you don't want to. My husband has chosen not to, even though he was eligible a year ago.