Question about marriage to a Foreign National

[Paddy]

Cayita,
just out of curiousity I just wanted to know the process with the Fiancee visas that you can get from US consulates abroad. I don't profess to know anything about these visas except that I think you have 90 days from the date of your arrival in the US to get married....am I right? This leads me onto my next question, Once you have married here in the US what happens then? Do you automatically get your green card or do you have to go through the same process of "Adjustment of Status" as those immigrants like myself who apply for the green card thru marriage to a USC whilst in the USA? As I said before, I was just curious because I wanted to compare the whole process in terms of both length and content as opposed to the adjustment of status I went thru.

[Cayita]

Send me an email to cayita_@hotmail.com (in english or spanish).

[ctcarr821]

HI Cayita...
I am planning on sending everything to the VSC. I am curious on how the process works in Peru?? Will I have to go there too for an interview??
I would lvoe to talk with you a bit more about this....

[Cayita]

Hey CTCARR821 (that is a complicated name),
I am from Peru and my husband filed th K1 petition to the Vermont Service Center. Since the day he filed until the day I received my visa in the US Consulate, it passed less than 4 months (the VSC is the fastest, they approved the petition in just 2 months).
If you need more specific information, send me an email.

[ctcarr821]

Hello all,
(I am the originator of this question)
I consulted with an immigration attorney who told me that it's best to file for a K1 visa. We could get married here on the visitor's visa, but we have chosen not to do that and to wait.This attorney told me it will take 4-6 months for the visa to be approved, but does anyone out there know if that is actually true, or is it more like a year?(He is from Peru)
I guess I just don't want to rush my marriage day since it is such an important day in my life. And really, if I am going to be with this person forever, I can wait 6 months or so until the visa is approved. It stinks to have to be apart, but I think it's better to follow the rules as they are set up. So, in any case, we are filing for a K1 visa and I will let you know how everything works out! If anyone has more advice, let me know!Thanks!

[Feed Me Please]

Hi again Paddy,

I really have enjoyed reading your post very much. They are very refreshing and soothing, but if you have read up on my thread, Mohan and many others do have a point.

My Fiance is not here. He is still in his country, but he could very easily get a Visitor's Visa to come to the U.S. just to be with me at Christmas. This is what started my thread. I thought we could get married in this way instead of having to wait for the K-1 to go through, but with my stinkin' luck, BCIS would probably not accept the I-130 as Mohan stated. Man, this is so depressing.

You know, Paddy, for some reason I really am feeling good about you being able to apply for your citizenship next year. I really think that you will get it. I can feel you really deserve it and I think your wife is very lucky to have someone such as you. Please, give her my regards.

Hang in there, Paddy, and soon, all of your dreams will be fulfilled.

Thank you for all of your kind thoughts and words.

Take care!

[Paddy]

I've been married 3 years now but because I was only married 18 months before I was given my green card, I am now stuck in the mess of the I-751(removal of conditions on green card).I so desperately want to apply for my US citizenship next year when I become eligible but don't know how the backlog of the I-751 will delay it. Anyway don't worry about that now.......get married and apply now feed me.take care

[Feed Me Please]

Thank you, Paddy, so much for sharing with us your experience and for your opinion. I understand completely in what you are trying to say in your post about wasting time. We have already been together and waiting for over three years now, I really don't care to wait another year just for the Service Center to finally decide they want to process our papers.

Thanks again, Paddy, and thanks for the good wishes! By the way, how long have you been married now?

[Paddy]

To CTCARR821 and Feed Me,
I think your attitude to the immigration minefield is right. From my experience so far, all the BCIS cares about is that the marriage is genuine and you follow their rules to the letter. So in this case getting the fiancee visa would be a waste of time and could jeopardise your future spouse's immigration. So please get married towards the end of the visa and apply for the green card so that both of you can be together and him working. If you still want to follow the K-1 visa route then that is your decision.....I don't know anything about the fiancee visa except that the alien spouse would have to leave the country which I suspect you don't want right???? Well good luck you guys

[Feed Me Please]

Hi ctcarr821,

First of all, I want to wish you good luck and good wishes on whatever choice you make. Second of all, I was wondering if you do choose to go this way, could you please keep us informed on how things went for you? I am also in a similar situation, but honestly afraid to marry him while he was here on a visitors visa. If the BCIS just happen to consider it a fraud marriage, then where would we be? Separated again, but for an even longer time.

If you did get marry, how soon do you think it will be?

Again, best of luck to you and please keep us posted.

Take care!

[ctcarr821]

Hi Paddy,

I am the originator of the question and I just wanted to thank you and everyone else for helpful advice. I think we will plan on marrying while he is here and apply for an AOS.
Thank you!

[Feed Me Please]

Thanks so much, Paddy. Some people as I understand it, call this fraud or abusing the laws, but as I see it, we will be getting married either way except one way is faster than the other.

Am I looking at this in a wrong way?

[Paddy]

If you are planning to get married anyway, you might as well do it while the alien is still legal. It doesn't really matter if you get married after his visa expires and apply for the green card then as all you will do is delay the things you both want and that is being together and him working. Why waste time, get married now and apply for the green card so that the process is started. You can always renew your vows at a later date like I did. I was forced into bringing my marriage forward to due the early birth of my children

[Feed Me Please]

Paddy, please expand on this a little more. Why marry between now and December and why would that guarantee that he/she would not have to return to their country if done during this time?

[Paddy]

why bother with the fiancee visa. Get married between now and december and apply for the green card. That way he won't have to leave the country.