I am a US citizen, my fiancee is a Canadian citizen. We intend to marry in the states as soon as possible. Should we file for a K1 visa or have her come to the states, marry quickly, and then apply for a K3. She wants to start working in the US as soon as possible. We both have college degrees.

If she wants to start working ASAP I would suggest going the CR1 route. For that, you get married, file the I-130 and she can work immediately upon entry. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...page=i130guide1

The K1 is work authorized but she would need to get temporary work authorization at POE (only some POEs give it out, most commonly is JFK) but it is only valid for 90 days. Some employers may be wary about emplying someone with a temp EAD. You would need to get married ASAP and file for AOS and EAD (can take a couple of months to get the EAD). She needs to have either of those to work. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=k1guide

A K3 is not work authorized and she would need to get that before working (takes anywhere from 60-90 days). http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=k3guide

You are going to have to decide which is most important -- being together quickly, or working in the US as soon as possible after the visa is issued.

If you want to be together quickly, file for K-1. It is tending to be processed in about 6 months or so (I could be wrong with my figures, you might want to do some timeline research on here for current times). However, like ZeeNusah said, it takes time to get work authorization, and if getting married in Canada is important to your fiance, you won't be able to do that with a K-1 and you will have to take into consideration as well.

If working ASAP a factor, get married and then file for the CR-1 spousal visa. This takes longer to process than the fiance visa but once it is done and your wife is in the US, she will get her 2 year green card and can work right away, thereby bypassing a lot of steps others have to take. The separation will be longer, but you can still visit each other while waiting.

K-3 spousal visas used to be processed quicker than CR-1s, but it no longer seems to be the case, and you aren't work authorized when you come to the US, so you'd have to wait for that.


Definitely check out the links to the guides that ZeeNusah provided in her post, read everything carefully here on VJ and on USCIS's website, ask questions if you have questions, and decide for yourselves what path will be the best for the two of you.

Unfortunately, wanting to "marry in the states ASAP" and to "start working in the US ASAP" are oxymorons....

I think ASAP has never been in the USCIS dictionary to begin with!

Where in the US do you live? That makes a pretty big difference in how long it takes to process a K1 visa. As previous people said...you can either get here quickly OR work immediately upon entry. With a K1, once she enters the country and you marry you want to immediately apply for adjustment of status and work permit (EAD). The EAD averages 45-90 days to approve, so it isn't too much longer. That is the fastest way to get her here, especially if you live on the east side of the country (you would file at Vermont, which is much quicker than filing at California...those are the only two centers that process K1s).

Someone who has gone the CR1 route will have to verify this...but I believe that with a K1 you can get usually be here, married, and able to work quicker...but there is time in the middle where the foreign fiance/e can not work at all...which can be a huge financial strain in a lot of situations. We'll be living with my mom during that time to cut down on costs while my fiance waits for his EAD to be approved.



That is so true!!

It is too bad they did not think about getting married when the fiancee had already entered the USA on a previous visit...

We thought about this before we were engaged...but he has too may responsibilities in Canada, he couldn't just walk away from them. Sometimes I wish we had gone that route anyway.