Is it better for a US citizen to marry their SPOUSE in or out of country?

[mcooper76 0]

Hi everyone,

I am a US citizen and am looking to marry a Jordanian national (who has never been to the US before on a visitor's visa).

I am wondering what is the best course of action for me to take and what is the expected processing time?

-Should I marry him and apply for his immigration visa OUTSIDE the country? How long does that process take?

-Shall we get engaged and apply for the K-VISA (fiance visa) outside of the country? How long does that process take?

-Is it easier if he applies for a US visa as a visitor or a student (F-1) and when he gets to US we get married in-country and he changes his status in country?

I think the most convenient route would be to marry in-country and I adjust his status in-country when we get married. However, I am worried he might not get a US visitor or student visa....he never visited the US before and he is 26 years old.

Do you think if he get accepted to an English langauge progamme in the US it will be eaiser for him to get a student-visa?

Please advise on the best course of action for me to take and on the processing times.

I really appreciate your help!

Maria

[Penguin_ie 5,985]

**** Moving from Bringing Family to What Visa do I need forum *****

Using a tourist visa to enter the USA with the intent of staying is visa fraud, don't do that.

There are advantages to both the K1 fiance visa (faster) and the CR-1 spousal visa (cheaper, allows travel and work right away once in the USA. Ultimately, either works well, depending on what your circumstances are. One consideraton might be whose family can travel easier to a wedding in the other country.

[Ian H. 207]

It's a big NO NO if you obtain an nonimmigrant visa and then marry someone here and have them do an adjustment of status they will see that as fraud. You have two options that will save you time, money and headaches in the long run. You can do the K1 process after getting engaged which will allow him to enter the US and have to marry you within 90 days, then adjust status. Or you can go to Jordan and get married there and have him apply for the CR1/IR1 immigrant visa and he will enter the US as a permanent resident and you will not have to adjust status. I recommend you analyze the costs before you make a decision. The paperwork is about the same, however you have to decide if it's better for you to travel over there and get married and then go back for the visa interview. Or petition him as a fiancé, he travels here, you get married, file the AOS, and get his CR1 card. It really is up to you to weigh the pros and cons because every situation is difficult. These are the fastest and least painful ways. Doing the visitor or student thing can lead them to think you committed fraud and could permanently hamper his chances of being in the US. Good luck!

[JIJourney 96]

If you want to wait on marriage than just get engaged and whenever ready, do the fiance VISA. If you have talked about plans, etc. then do the spouse VISA. There is no right or wrong, just what you two decide to do.

For us, we are doing the fiance visa because we want to take our time for the wedding and we know it is best to wait for both of us