QUOTE(Maureen @ May 4 2008, 09:59 PM)
I live in Canada, my fiance lives in the Us. We want to get married and our plan is for me to move there. My two kids and I are going to spend the summer there, July and August, and planned to head back in early Sept for school.
We considered applying for a K-1 visa, sometime this month, figuring it would take 6-9 months to get approved, assuming nothing goes wrong. We have also talked about getting married sometime early this summer and then applying for the K-3 visa thinking at least when we did get approved, I would be able to work once entering the country. I'm not thrilled at the idea of going there and not being able to work.
Ok, so here's my questions :
1. Can you really work upon entering the country on a k-3 visa more quickly than you can with a k-1?
2. If I went there this summer, and our intent was not to get married, but we ultimately did, is there a way to stay in the country without having to return to Canada?
3. What's the average cost of a lawyer for this type of thing?
I guess we're really unsure as to what the best route is, so any and all opinions and advice are welcome
1. NO! If ya want to work ASAP, you need to go the CR-1 route. Where in Canada are you? ALL cr-1 goto Montreal for the interview, which can be a bit slow at handing out any visa type!!. BUT for the k1 and k3 there are two consulates that do those interviews--Montreal and Vancouver. Manitoba and west goto VAN, rest goto Mtl. Reason why I ask, is that Vancouver is usually much faster at handing out interviews. If your in a province that goes through Montreal, and want to get a marriage based visa (k3 or cr-1) ur probably better off with the cr-1 as they take about the same amount of time, and the cr-1 has better options! and I believe costs less! In a perfect world (no such thing when it comes to immigration) the K3 should be faster, but that really isnt the case anymore. The process takes anywhere from 8 months to a year!! K1 can take 6 months or longer
2. If one went to the USA on a holiday and had NO intention of staying, then out of the blue said, hey, I'm staying, that would be fine. But since you have intent, well that isn't!! But its not us that you have to convince!! Keep in mind if one goes that route, one may have to prove they had no intent, and that one can't leave the USA until you have completed AOS or got AP. Well u can leave the USA, but just may not get back in!! have others done this route, of course, and it worked out for them,but one does stand a chance of being denied, your choice
3. lawyers aren't cheap and not all of them are worth their $$$$$ We used one based out of New York and she cost us $2500 plus filings!! Not cheap! She was great, but not worth the $$$,lol Wish we had of found VJ before we started! if you go the k1, k3 or cr-1 route, sit down and go over the stickies at the top of each of those forums. Everything you need is here. There are step by step instructions for each, even pictures, and its free!!! The filling out of the paperwork isnt that hard, just take time to do it right, ask questions. The hardest part is the waiting!! Some people get lucky and zoom right through the process, while others seem to wait and wait! And a lawyer doesn't make it any faster. Really, the lawyer is just a $$$$ proof reader. YOU still have to gather all the required documents (police check, divorce cert, etc) and have to give personal info to the lawyer! We stil filled out our own forms and our lawyer proof checked them! Can do that for free on VJ,lol So if ya have a straight forward case, save ur money (straight forward meaning no criminal record, overstay in the USA)
Best of luck
