Fiance' Visa or Tourist Visa to Ghana

[Grateful77 1]

Hello Everyone,

I met my fiance'online a year ago. We want to get married. He is a Ghanian. I am a U.S. citizen. I have been reading about the process. It seems long and complicated. I want to make sure that we do things right. Do I need a lawyer? We want to get married there for his family blessings and etc. Then I would like him to of course come here to the U.S. Do I need to apply for a tourist visa or a fiance' visa? What if he applied for a fiance' to the U.S. instead and we married here? Would he be able to stay in the U.S. after we marry or would he have to go back to Ghana until the process is complete? Thanks everyone in advance. Blessings...

[aoifemc 2]

if you apply for the fiance visa, which is very very simple, then you will petition for him to come to the states as your fiance. you cannot be married before you start the visa application. the whole point is that he is your fiance upon application. if the visa gets approved then you have 6 months to bring him to the states, and once he enters you have 90 days in which to get married. then once you are married you can begin your lives in the states and apply for an adjustment of status, the process of getting a greencard. a tourist visa would be easier alright in terms of how soon he could get here, but there is no guarantee he will be allowed to stay in the country even if ye get married. good luck! the fiance visa is a good way to go. there's no way you need a lawyer, you just need to be organized

[aoifemc 2]

also. it would be you who applies on behalf of your fiance so all petitioning and documents will be sent to texas, the place where they process them. theres also a spousal visa where you get married wherever you wish and then apply for the spousal visa. not sure about the details of that one.

[Penguin_ie 5,984]

He is very unlikely to get a tourist visa unless he is wealthy and has a good job and/ or property over there. Realistically, your options are a CR-1 spousal visa (get married, then apply- take longer as you need to get married first and have a marriage cert, but is cheaper and he gets a greencard upon entry, ie can work and get a DL right away), or a K1 fiance visa (apply first- after process of 8-12 months he comes over, you get legally married, apply for Adjustment of status, he can work about 34-6 months after entering the USA). If you go for the K1, you could always go for a belated honeymoon to his country after he has his greencard, and have a ceremonial wedding there.

Have you met in person yet? You must have met in person within the last two years to petition him for a K1 (fiance) visa.

[Barbara J 115]

Hello Everyone,

I met my fiance'online a year ago. We want to get married. He is a Ghanian. I am a U.S. citizen. I have been reading about the process. It seems long and complicated. I want to make sure that we do things right. Do I need a lawyer? We want to get married there for his family blessings and etc. Then I would like him to of course come here to the U.S. Do I need to apply for a tourist visa or a fiance' visa? What if he applied for a fiance' to the U.S. instead and we married here? Would he be able to stay in the U.S. after we marry or would he have to go back to Ghana until the process is complete? Thanks everyone in advance. Blessings...

As stated a 129f fiance petition is for you to bring him here to the US and marry within 90 days and yes he can stay here. You then apply for AOS and wait for green card 4-6 months. If you go there and marry he will stay in his country and you come back ot the states and file CR1 spousal visa. The benefit of the fiance/ee visa is once they are here you don't have to be apart, whereas the spousal visa you do and he wont get a tourist visa as stated unless he is wealthy and has a good job. So if you want to bring him here to stay then fiance petition is for you and then he is interviewed and granted a K1 visa to enter the USA. Or you marry there and be apart till CR1 is approved.

Oh and if you go with 129f you have to have met at least once in the past 2 years in person

Edited March 16, 2011 by Barbara J

[Black Velvet 4]

You can go the K-1 (fiance) or CR-1 (married) route. I agree with Penguin. It will be very difficult for your significant other (SO) to get a tourist (B-2) visa. The K-1 is the fastest route, but the CR-1 is more convenient. Here is a comparison chart.

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

Try to weigh your options. In the mean time, please gather your proof of a relationship (e.g. boarding passes, airline/hotel receipts, Moneygram or Western Union receipts, e-mails, phone records, etc).

PLEASE DO NOT HIRE A LAWYER. IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY! THERE ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE VJ MEMBERS WHO CAN HELP (MYSELF INCLUDED). Just PM me if you have additional questions. Good luck.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

First, you need to meet in person. No matter what you feel through a computer screen , meeting in person is a requirement for filing to bring someone here. While you are there you could marry, although doing so on the first visit may not get you a visa , especially if you are a different race/religion than your spouse. You can visit return then start a fiance petition.

[pushbrk 12,096]

Hello Everyone,

I met my fiance'online a year ago. We want to get married. He is a Ghanian. I am a U.S. citizen. I have been reading about the process. It seems long and complicated. I want to make sure that we do things right. Do I need a lawyer? We want to get married there for his family blessings and etc. Then I would like him to of course come here to the U.S. Do I need to apply for a tourist visa or a fiance' visa? What if he applied for a fiance' to the U.S. instead and we married here? Would he be able to stay in the U.S. after we marry or would he have to go back to Ghana until the process is complete? Thanks everyone in advance. Blessings...

You don't mention anything about having met in person yet. That's a requirement BEFORE you begin any process to bring him to the USA. You don't need a fiancee visa to travel to Ghana to marry him. You would just need a tourist visa. If you have not yet met, your next step is to book a trip to Ghana. He's not coming here as a tourist. You can forget about that.

Don't know if this applies to you but here are some earmarks of Ghana relationship scams.

1. Online meeting but not yet in person.

2. Emails and chat sessions but no phone calls or webcam chats

3. US Citizen is asked to send money, usually only about $50 the first time.

4. US Citizen receives a list of costs for obtaining a passport and visitor visa for the Ghana Citizen to visit the USA

5. US Citizen asking questions along the lines of those seen in the original post for this thread.

6. Ghana Citizen indicating they can obtain their own visa to come to the USA if they had the funds to do so,

If any of this is ringing a bell, pressing for a webcam session and a firm date for YOUR travel to Ghana will usually clear up and confusion.

[patient2010 93]

Just FYI the timelines stated in earlier post for K1 fiance visa and CR1 spousal visa are all a non factor when it comes to Ghana. Right now Ghana is having a serious back log of petitions and you are looking at at least a year wait to get an interview date in Ghana and once the date is assigned it is possible that it will be at least 4-6months out from the time they assign the date. Good luck to you when you decide and how you decide to start your journey......Also if your case is not complicated you dont need to really hire a lawyer VJ has what you need most of the time

[lori7734 6]

Hello Everyone,

I met my fiance'online a year ago. We want to get married. He is a Ghanian. I am a U.S. citizen. I have been reading about the process. It seems long and complicated. I want to make sure that we do things right. Do I need a lawyer? We want to get married there for his family blessings and etc. Then I would like him to of course come here to the U.S. Do I need to apply for a tourist visa or a fiance' visa? What if he applied for a fiance' to the U.S. instead and we married here? Would he be able to stay in the U.S. after we marry or would he have to go back to Ghana until the process is complete? Thanks everyone in advance. Blessings...

If are looking for fast fiance visa if u are looking for cheaper in the long run cr1 i did mine all buy myself got visa issues first intervieww pm me if u need help

[romnick 15]

Ghana is severely backlogged most especially CR1/IR1 cases, so the best bet will be for you to go for Fiancee visa category cos that seems to have a lesser waiting period.As for me, CRI is the best bet but definitely not with Ghana's situation at the moment.all the best.

[E-N 48]

Hi everyone. How can a person not living in ghana obtain police certificates?