Hi all,

I am US citizen by birth, but I am also a Colombian citizen as my parents are both Colombian and I was registered as their child. I am engaged to my GF in Colombia. We are not in a huge hurry for a visa as she will not be graduating from university until December 2008.

I have reviewed our options for requesting a visa and find that neither the K1 or K3 options are ideal. We would like to get married in Colombia through the Catholic church after she graduates so the K1 is out. However, we would hate to get married and have to wait nine months to be together in the US.

Consequently, we have thought about the possibility of getting a civil marriage in March or April of next year in order to begin the K3 process at that point. The idea would be that we could have the visa approved by the end of 2008 or the early part of 2009. Then we could have our religious wedding, go on our honeymoon and then bring her to live with me in the US.

Would this type of arrangement potentially cause any problems with the visa process? I would hate to raise any red flags since we would be getting married but not living together for a while. I travel to see her every few months and we talk on the phone an average of 1-2 hrs a night.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
CG

Have a read of this, alternate option:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...om&page=dcf

You say you are American citizen, where is your home? Columbia, or U.S.A? Your profile dose not show where you live, my answer depends on where your home is.

Sorry. I live in Houston, TX.

Thanks for the quick responses.

Dan, I think the general rules with residency may not possibly apply in this situation as the OP has dual citizenship.

ColombianoGringo
See the link that meauxna provided and contact the Columbian Consulate/Embassy about filing directly.

Thanks for the suggestion. Sorry I wasn't clear about my location. Unfortunately, DCF does not appear to be an option in Colombia. They only accept DCF from US citizens who reside in Colombia.

Thanks,
CG

You may want to look at the compare page you have 2 options, K-3 and CR-1 lately CR-1 takes a little longer to get but has the advantage of Green Card as soon as enter the country, so can work, as soon as arrive. No Adjustment of status process in the country.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=compare

Thanks for letting me know where you have Domicile, my answer would have been much different if you has said you lived in Columbia.

You may want to add Huston to your profile.




I was thinking more along the lines of domicile requirements for the I-864 form. Not having domicile in the USA tends to sometimes cause problems. That is not a problem since the OP indicated home is in TX

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/in...nfo_1328.html#4

CG as I said above, you have dual citizenship, please contact the consulate to at least enquire.

Wow!

Thanks for all the quick responses. I didn't expect this to be such an active board.


AW. Thanks. I will check with the embassy/consulate next time I am in Bogota. From what I have read and heard, they are not very good at answering phone calls or emails, so I will just stop by in person.


I really don't mind going the K3 route and doing the civil marriage well ahead of her graduation. I just want to ensure that this won't cause problems in the approval/interview process. We wouldn't plan on doing our Catholic wedding until after the visa was granted.

Thanks again to all.

GC

GC,
Please do read the DCfF Guide info before you call. You may get some ideas of how to maximize your inquiry and you'll get the right names for what you'd like to do.
Going in person will be better than any other option, too.

Your original plan is fine too. There are plenty of people who have done just what you propose, with success. I guess just double check with your priest that it is OK (the second ceremony might not be a traditional Mass but a vow renewal or something).

best wishes & good on ya for planning ahead!