Fiance visa or marrying abroad? (split)

[cheillie 0]

I am a US citizen in Alaska. My fiance is from AFG. We have been working on the 129F form and are meeting in October to fulfill that requirement. My friend, who is from Ukraine, suggested we get married while we are in Dubai and then work on Spouse paperwork instead. I am not seeing any benefits to this, time or money saved. In fact, the charts I was reading earlier looked like it takes longer as a spouse. Maybe I was looking at the K-3 stuff. Am I missing something?

I just read this

"If you plan to marry a foreign national outside the United States or your fiancé(e) is already residing legally in the United States, you do not need to file for a fiancé(e) visa. See the “Green Card” link to the right." from http://www.uscis.gov/. And this:

"Get a Green Card While Outside the United States

If you are currently outside the United States and are an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, you can become a permanent resident through consular processing. Consular processing is when USCIS works with the Department of State to issue a visa on an approved Form I-130 petition when a visa is available."

--So I would not fill out a CR1? Just an I-130?

What is the best course of action? We want to do what is fastest and cheapest, or course. Please help!

[Ian H. 207]

For a fiance, the process is faster and more expensive. For a spouse, the process is slower and less expensive. There is a comparison of the pros and cons of each here on the site, below is the link:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

I am a US citizen in Alaska. My fiance is from AFG. We have been working on the 129F form and are meeting in October to fulfill that requirement. My friend, who is from Ukraine, suggested we get married while we are in Dubai and then work on Spouse paperwork instead. I am not seeing any benefits to this, time or money saved. In fact, the charts I was reading earlier looked like it takes longer as a spouse. Maybe I was looking at the K-3 stuff. Am I missing something?

I just read this

"If you plan to marry a foreign national outside the United States or your fiancé(e) is already residing legally in the United States, you do not need to file for a fiancé(e) visa. See the “Green Card” link to the right." from http://www.uscis.gov/. And this:

"Get a Green Card While Outside the United States

If you are currently outside the United States and are an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, you can become a permanent resident through consular processing. Consular processing is when USCIS works with the Department of State to issue a visa on an approved Form I-130 petition when a visa is available."

--So I would not fill out a CR1? Just an I-130?

What is the best course of action? We want to do what is fastest and cheapest, or course. Please help!

[cheillie 0]

I learned this about DCF:

Do I qualify to do Direct Consular Filing if I am living in the US?

You must be residing in the consular district for 6 months and have evidence of your lawful status in the country.

AND, you have to be resident in one of these countries, they are the only ones with USCIS offices to accept direct filed petiitons.

Austria, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

So.

I had been looking at working on the K-3 stuff incase we decided to marry on our vaction, but it seems like the IR1/CR1 is the better route price wise, but so much longer. The chart at the top of the pages says 14 months, but in the summary section it says 7 months. What should I consider in deciding which application to use? Several comments lead me to believe the K-3 is not the way to go, but why besides he would not be able to work for a while?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

K-3 is virtually unobtainable, so I would forget that.

Marrying on the first meeting will be seen as a red flag; most people don't marry someone they have never seen before, so it calls in to question lots of things. I would stay with the fiance visa.

[Karam and Jamie 44]

Fiance Visa seems faster!

[YouAndMeForever 1,022]

I am a US citizen in Alaska. My fiance is from AFG. We have been working on the 129F form and are meeting in October to fulfill that requirement. My friend, who is from Ukraine, suggested we get married while we are in Dubai and then work on Spouse paperwork instead. I am not seeing any benefits to this, time or money saved. In fact, the charts I was reading earlier looked like it takes longer as a spouse. Maybe I was looking at the K-3 stuff. Am I missing something?

What is the best course of action? We want to do what is fastest and cheapest, or course. Please help!

The K1 is faster but more expensive, the CR-1 is slower but cheaper. I'd suggest the K1. Just make sure that you two have a lot of proof that you met at least once in person and of the ongoing relationship: plane tickets, boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel receipts, photos, emails, Facebook messages, Skype call history, etc.

Info about the K1:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1flow

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1tips

Hope this helps!

Good luck!

Edited November 2, 2014 by YouAndMeForever