So I need some advice from everyone who has gone through with the K1 Visa:

When the foreign fiance(e) moved to the USA, how did they manage to support themselves? Because I am basically assuming that my fiance is not going to get an EAD when he crosses the border on his K-1. I am only a University Student with a part-time job, and cannot support him.

Basically, I'm wondering how everyone else got by not being able to work, and living in a foreign country.

Thanks in advance!

Hey gal - check the Pinned EI thread at the top of the CDN forum. It is possible for your guy to collect EI while in the US waiting for his EAD to be approved. It's not big bucks but it's a start.

I withdrew volentary amounts out of my pension, sold all my possessions and saved like a crazy person before I left as well.. It is possible, and now that I'm working it's all good. We managed to make it through without going into debt which I'm VERY thankful for!

Yay you found it!
Welcome

I responded in the other thread too.

I'm just saving up as much as I can before I come down there. Nick has a pretty good job but I still want to do my part.

Do you live with your parents? Does your fiance work, is he able to save any money at all before he moves down?

Best of luck!!!

Savings is always the way to go; and do check out the EI possibility. And once the man is in the US, marry away sister and apply for that AOS and EAD pronto. I remember when I married Bren, and both in Canada with a study permit and changed mine to a work permit, the wait was insane, and the not having money was even crazier.
Good luck, L.

We basically saved about 6 months worth of my salary so that we wouldn't live on too tight a budget. I actually didn't realize that I wouldn't be able to work until a couple months into the process (darn...could have been saving a little) but it's great that you're anticipating this now.

It was hard to plan a wedding, plus think about saving too. We were married in our owning living room. Made the brunch and decorated everything ourselves. I don't have a final total, but I would guestimate about $1500 or so. Yes I found my dress super on sale at Sears of all places and it cost about $100 for alterations ($300 in total). My husband's suit was about as much - go figure. It's doable though. Your expectations may change about what you thought equalled the perfect wedding...mine did

No idea what you have planned there....but ask people for suggestions and help. I found family willing to help out even when we didn't need it or anticipate it.

I chose to cash in my Tier 3 Stock plan from work since it wasn't huge and the tax hit was reasonable...that was a few thousand bucks which immediately went into savings. Each of us had a 3 pay month which we choose to save from rather then spend. I also started cutting down on buying new work clothes (cuz frankly I used to just buy for the sake of buying...my wardrobe is full) and I still managed to squeak in a few new items on sale. I ate out a little less and commited to a $$ amount to be transfered over to savings on pay day. I already had a money market fund for rainy days and shopping expeditions (X dollars every pay) so I didn't notice a few bucks extra.

Yah - sounds well planned, but honestly I'm still stressed out despite the fact that we have the cash. We got a few generous gifts from the Wedding which were very nice as well.

I'm always ticked that the AOS fee is $1010 per person (for some fo the same damn forms I've already filled out) and I have to do it for me and my daughter

I applied for EI - but they're not the quickest bunch and what with waiting periods etc....I'm not sure I'll see anything before I get back to work...but hey...be cool if I got a little lump sum cheque from them towards the end too!!!!!

Similar situation-I'm a grad student so get a small stipend. We decided to go the CR1 route for the reason that we couldn't live with out the hubby working. Where are you in the process? you might consider a quick legal wedding to get the paperwork started, then have a ceremony/party later.

sorry hope that didn't come off rude-I didn't mean for it to be. just wanted to give you another route to consider.

Shite. Does that mean I cannot blackmail you letting the world know you are falsifying your research results????????? Darn.

some Mexican princess got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

of course if you were hoping to base your financial future on what you can get out of blackmailing me-all I can say is

You're hosed, eh

1.- That would be Mexican Queen to you.
2.- You have broken my . I will now have to rent myself at the UWash. Darn.
3.- Please make tenure and then I can blackmail you properly

Im on parental benefits i think its good for a year..

money sucks but its better than nothing.

While our petition was in process, I started saving up money from my job to accommodate the jobless period. For moving expenses, I sold most of my stuff to help counter the UPS fees. As a farewell gift my family and close friends also gave me a sum of money to take with me

EI is also a great way to get some money while jobless.

We had grand plans for C. to save up about $12,000 prior to his move down here. Due to some scheduling shenanigans with work, that ended up being about $2,000, but we lucked into being able to procure an EAD stamp so he was able to get in about two months' worth of work. We were lucky; his employer was going international just as we were moving down here, and it's not the sort of thing I'd recommend.

Of course, having to wait for the AOS-EAD meant that the schedule went ahead without him, and now they're shutting down work for Christmas, and we're now living on my grad student stipend until January. It's a little stressful because being married has essentially doubled my expenses with no income (doubled rent, as I split it before, health insurance for him, parking, car insurance, extra food.) We're making ends meet without going into debt, but we have almost no discretionary spending.

I would recommend having at least the $1010 in hand to file for AOS right away, but figure on four-six months of unemployment at a minimum for him. If he has a job now, have him start socking away as much as he can because between moving, putting a household together, &c, your 'burn rate' will be high for a few months.

How are you intending to meet the 125% above poverty requirements to get his visa in the first place?

sorry queeny. UW is high on my list of places that I would love to rent myself out to, although now that I'm afraid of your blackmailing me I'll have to hide

the good thing about our line of biz is that the world is small, he he he [insert really MEAN laugh here]
Come over, we have good coffee.
And let's stop hijacking the thread....

many of us have co-sponsors to meet the requirements. that doesn't mean that we expect those wonderful people to actually support us. I know that it's un-american to not have tons of money and we don't really deserve to marry our loves but what can you do, we just keep expecting to be treated like proper citizens anyway.

Worked like a dog before leaving Canada. Paid off all debts before crossing the border.

Cashed in all my RRSP's before I left Canada. The tax rate in BC for me was lower than the non-resident fee I would have payed in the US if I did it later.

Stay at home once you get to the USA. Try not to drive when you don't need to. Eat at home.

Cancel unnecessary things. Cell phones, top of the line TV package, don't buy new clothes. It's still not easy waiting for the EAD, but you do what you gotta do to scrape by.

Take up walking as an activity. Gets you out of the "stuck inside all day" mind problem. Good exercise.

Meeting the 125% above poverty requirements just means having a sponsor willing to sign a form. It doesn't say anything about your daily living expenses, which might come out of your own pocket.

I am selling my house (which I should make a good chunk of change on because I bought before things went completely nuts with the housing market in Edmonton) plus I still have some money I took out from remortgaging my house that was going to get used on renos but now that I'm moving there's not much point in going all out on that. Plus my fiance makes good money as well so I'm not terribly worried.

My husband and I live separately and we are both working while we wait out the the IR-1/CR-1 route. We decided that was the only way to go without going insane from poverty. Yeah, it definitely sucks living apart, but the alternative for us (to live together and have only 1 working) was a failed experiment when I tried that by moving to Canada. The upside is, we will have more than enough just in our savings account to satisfy the financial requirements and my salary on the U.S. side will just be bonus.

Work, who wants to work!! I can wait till I finish school in may 2009,lol

I know were a bit different because we live together in Canada and are moving together...for the last year my entire income has been going to savings and weve been living off my husbands income alone.. I know not everyone has that option heres some other things that weve done to save:

we stopped going to Blockbuster EVERY weekend (with the exception of renting Big Love Season 2 this weekend! and we each get a "New Release" on pay weeks only, got WAITRESS last week and I highly recommend it, loved it!) we also get free movies from the Library

I often write letters to the manufacturers of the products that we use alot of in our house and let them know how much we like their products and ask for coupons..often they will send you more than 1 coupon and even coupons for FREE products...(coupons just dont seem to be used as much in Canada as they are in the US, Ive never seen any stores in Canada that double the coupons..I miss that!)

cook at home, much cheaper than eating out...I make alot of stews, chilis, soups so that I can freeze them for ready to go dinners or lunches... and we also buy most of our meats from Costco in bulk and divide it up at home..

we save our water bottles and re-fill them

my husband hates change, so he always throws his pennies, nickels, dimes, in a jar...last time I cashed in the change we had almost $35...and the jar is getting full again..


dont know if any of these suggestions will help you or not... I wish you the best of luck with the process

Well, I have been talking to my sister (who is an attorney) or my parents, who both make a decent sum of money. We are also planning on living with one of them... and trying to save money, but I am still stressing that we may not be able to get by.

My fiance says that he can cash his stocks (a little over 4 grand), but I'm just nervous...

My question wasn't meant to be malicious. Just thinking that you have to get over one hurdle before you approach the next.

I had to take a semester off of university and work (&live with my mom) to save up money. My boy graduated from university, went back to Canada, and also lived with his family and worked full-time to save up money while our petition was going through. (Went through Vancouver so we didn't have to wait 93084309843 million years for an interview.) We probably had about $5,000 in combined assets when he came down. Plus, another $2,000 in wedding gifts from both of our parents.

That money, combined with my part-time job at Wal Mart, probably would have been enough in more experienced hands. But we were (are) both young and inexperienced with budgeting and being completely financially independent from our parents. Yes, we planned out a budget beforehand. It just didn't work and our spending tended to rise in unison with our funds.

I ended up having to make the switch to a part-time student, full-time worker at Wal Mart. (I'm now on the six year college plan, I think? Arrgggh.)

hah, I'm in the exact same situation Hannah. I work part time at Wal Mart here in the US...I haven't really been able to save any money though (I eat out way too much). He is working as a Physical Therapist Assistant in Edmonton right now and saving all he can, so when he comes down he should have around 6k saved and me still working (like 650 a month )...we are going to get a cheap apartment (around 350/month..I live in a small town ) and try to get by on the savings and my paycheck until the EAD comes through. I'm pretty optimistic about it, I'll just have to get used to cooking more than eating fast food

Only thing I'm really worried about is that he has to go through licensing exams + apps. for being a PTA. So much red tape just for him to be with me!
Good thing is, my parents are paying for the wedding so I get to have a nice semi-big wedding. And according to them we should get a good amount of money as gifts from the wedding.

I'm using my dad as a co-sponsor.