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scottyent

Engagement Visa or just get married?!

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Filed: Timeline

Hi all,

I was hoping you would be able to give me some advice! This is my first post on here but it seems like it's a great resource for visa information, and in there area my fiancé and I are quite confused.

My fiancé and I have been together four 4 years now, and I proposed to her last month and she said yes! She is here on a J-1 visa working as an intern, and we hadn't exactly planned how we would handle it once her visa would end...but we were hoping she would get a work extension. Then I proposed last month, so now we know that at least we will get married so that she can stay....however the timing is proving to be quite an issue.

We planned our wedding for July. Her J-1 technically ends May 20th, so we were hoping to do the K-1, she goes back to her country to get it, and comes back in time for the wedding. But upon doing our research, we learned that the process can take quite a long time, and the forms cost quite a bit of money. Mostly we are worried about timing, and that it won't work out to make the wedding. Naturally we don't want to risk that after putting the money down for the wedding etc.

So we have a choice, either try and move the wedding up before May 20th, or try the engagement visa and hope for the best in terms of timing.

What do you all think? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Best,

Scott

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Brazil
Timeline

Hello,

I'm honestly not sure if you can just get married, I can't answer that.

But one thing came to my mind: isn't she under the 2 year rule?

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/study-exchange/student/residency-waiver.html

Good luck!

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (pnd) Country: Chile
Timeline

If you are in Nevada, you would be with the California Service Center and your process could actually be very fast. What country is your fiancée from? That impacts the timing too. Ours was I-129F sent to visa in hand in just over 4 months, so it's possible!

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Filed: Timeline

Thanks for the feedback!

She doesn't have the 2 year requirement because her job is not funded by the government, and it isn't an internship so that she can't get more skills and bring them back to her home country.

We are thinking probably just get the marriage done on paper before her visa ends, that way we won't have to pay for the flights back and forth and everything, and it will take a lot of stress of being uncertain about timing.

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: China
Timeline

~Moved from K1 Process to What Visa Do I Need Forum~

~Inquiry about family visas~

Completed: K1/K2 (271 days) - AOS/EAD/AP (134 days) - ROC (279 days)

"Si vis amari, ama" - Seneca

 

 

 

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In my opinion, Fiance visa, is only made with the main proposal to bring a fiance ( as non-imigrant) to the US and then adjust estatus to start the process. In your case she is in the US. So if your want to get marry, it is better to bring the wedding date as soos as a way that she wont stay ilegal and star the process., because once it happens she wont be able to apply for an IR1/cr1 and probably she will need to leave the country and start a process overseas.

Edited by inloveVEN
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Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Argentina
Timeline

First thing, Congratulations!

Immigration fraud occurs when a non-citizen enters the US legally with a non-immigration visa, with the intent to immigrate. Your fiance entered on a student visa, and is in the process of graduating! This shows that she did not intend to immigrate!

If you can show that you two have no previous ties back to each other in her home country, I would say get married before she leaves, and adjust her status. It's not that uncommon! If you do, I would suggest you contact an immigration lawyer to get legal advice, on how strong your case is to adjust her status if you do so and what evidence you'd need to gather.

The K1 visa will require her to leave the US after her J1 expires, and wait in her home country while it processes. The petition approval can take 5-8 months. Some see it sooner. This does not count the embassy stage, which can take even longer. Many will have their love back in their arms via the K1 in 8-12 months, in addition with the K1 visa costs about $420 (I think) just to apply, then the visa fee at the embassy ($205 I think). Your fiance will get given a Conditional Green Card (CGC) which is valid for 2 years, and you'll have to apply for a Removal of Conditions (RoC) prior to the 2 years ($590).

You may still get a 2 year CGC if you get married on the J1, and RoC, but you won't have to pay the other fees.

Good Luck!

Edited by d3adc0d3

~ Don't forget to 'Vote Up' useful advice from others ~

K1 Visa Journey [April 11, 2013 - August 31, 2014]
[2014-09-20] !!! WEDDING !!!
[2014-09-22] Applied for SSN
[2014-09-26] Marriage License in Snail Mail
[2014-10-22] Notification of SSC in mail, will arrive "within 2 weeks"
[2014-10-27] SSC Arrived!

2015-04-30] Mailed AOS Package!
[2015-06-16] EAD Approved!
[2015-06-16] AP Approved!
[2015-06-23] EAD/AP Card Received!

[2015-10-02] AOS Approved (No Interview)!

[2015-10-07] Greencard Mailed

[2015-10-09] Approval Notice Recieved

[2015-10-09] Greencard Recieved!

I used RapidVisa for my petition; a paperwork service. A K1 is $375.00 to use their hassle-free online application system.

Useful Links:
Igor's List | Advanced Search Tool | Q&A With a Former USCIS Adjudicator
Visa Status Checker (Once you get a Case # from NVC) | Offical USCIS Reasons for a K1 Denial

The advice offered by this user is not legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain legal advice.

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Thanks for the feedback!

She doesn't have the 2 year requirement because her job is not funded by the government, and it isn't an internship so that she can't get more skills and bring them back to her home country.

We are thinking probably just get the marriage done on paper before her visa ends, that way we won't have to pay for the flights back and forth and everything, and it will take a lot of stress of being uncertain about timing.

Am I mistaken in thinking that if you are adjusting from a J-1 you need an advisory opinion letter from DHS confirming that the two-year rule does not apply to the future petitioner? My wife is adjusting from a J-1 and we knew from the get-go that no government funding was involved by either the U.S. or her country, but we still needed that letter to move forward.

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Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Argentina
Timeline

Am I mistaken in thinking that if you are adjusting from a J-1 you need an advisory opinion letter from DHS confirming that the two-year rule does not apply to the future petitioner? My wife is adjusting from a J-1 and we knew from the get-go that no government funding was involved by either the U.S. or her country, but we still needed that letter to move forward.

To add to this, I found this:

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/87378.pdf

~ Don't forget to 'Vote Up' useful advice from others ~

K1 Visa Journey [April 11, 2013 - August 31, 2014]
[2014-09-20] !!! WEDDING !!!
[2014-09-22] Applied for SSN
[2014-09-26] Marriage License in Snail Mail
[2014-10-22] Notification of SSC in mail, will arrive "within 2 weeks"
[2014-10-27] SSC Arrived!

2015-04-30] Mailed AOS Package!
[2015-06-16] EAD Approved!
[2015-06-16] AP Approved!
[2015-06-23] EAD/AP Card Received!

[2015-10-02] AOS Approved (No Interview)!

[2015-10-07] Greencard Mailed

[2015-10-09] Approval Notice Recieved

[2015-10-09] Greencard Recieved!

I used RapidVisa for my petition; a paperwork service. A K1 is $375.00 to use their hassle-free online application system.

Useful Links:
Igor's List | Advanced Search Tool | Q&A With a Former USCIS Adjudicator
Visa Status Checker (Once you get a Case # from NVC) | Offical USCIS Reasons for a K1 Denial

The advice offered by this user is not legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain legal advice.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Brazil
Timeline

First thing, Congratulations!

Immigration fraud occurs when a non-citizen enters the US legally with a non-immigration visa, with the intent to immigrate. Your fiance entered on a student visa, and is in the process of graduating! This shows that she did not intend to immigrate!

If you can show that you two have no previous ties back to each other in her home country, I would say get married before she leaves, and adjust her status. It's not that uncommon! If you do, I would suggest you contact an immigration lawyer to get legal advice, on how strong your case is to adjust her status if you do so and what evidence you'd need to gather.

The K1 visa will require her to leave the US after her J1 expires, and wait in her home country while it processes. The petition approval can take 5-8 months. Some see it sooner. This does not count the embassy stage, which can take even longer. Many will have their love back in their arms via the K1 in 8-12 months, in addition with the K1 visa costs about $420 (I think) just to apply, then the visa fee at the embassy ($205 I think). Your fiance will get given a Conditional Green Card (CGC) which is valid for 2 years, and you'll have to apply for a Removal of Conditions (RoC) prior to the 2 years ($590).

You may still get a 2 year CGC if you get married on the J1, and RoC, but you won't have to pay the other fees.

Good Luck!

The petition actually costs $340. The visa fee is $265. Medical is around $200. AOS (right after getting married) $1070.

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The hubby and I met at college, and we got married in the states at the end of my OPT period so that I could adjust my status from F-1. Since we already had a shared lease and a life together in the States, it made a lot more sense for us.

If you end up choosing the marriage/adjustment route over the K1 route, you don't necessarily have to change your wedding date. You could have a civil ceremony performed at city hall with just the two of you (and a couple of other witnesses, if you want) to get the paperwork side done, and then use your original date to throw your wedding "party." That's what we ended up doing: since neither of us are religious, we were going to have a civil ceremony anyway, so it was all the same to us. This approach also had the added benefit of separating the immigration paperwork headache from the wedding planning headache too!

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Filed: Timeline

The hubby and I met at college, and we got married in the states at the end of my OPT period so that I could adjust my status from F-1. Since we already had a shared lease and a life together in the States, it made a lot more sense for us.

If you end up choosing the marriage/adjustment route over the K1 route, you don't necessarily have to change your wedding date. You could have a civil ceremony performed at city hall with just the two of you (and a couple of other witnesses, if you want) to get the paperwork side done, and then use your original date to throw your wedding "party." That's what we ended up doing: since neither of us are religious, we were going to have a civil ceremony anyway, so it was all the same to us. This approach also had the added benefit of separating the immigration paperwork headache from the wedding planning headache too!

I like this idea the most! I think that is what we will end up doing. We have gotten conflicting information from a bunch of sources regarding transferring J-1 to permanent resident, but then we also asked around a lot of our friends and found at least 6 couples that did just that without any problem whatsoever. So apparently it's relatively common.

We don't want to go through the fees and the time pressure of a k-1 as it will just be more stress, more uncertainty, and more fees. We will probably end up doing the civil ceremony a bit early, then throwing the wedding party as we have it planned for July.

Thank you everyone for all the information, I apologize I haven't been more communicative. It's all been really overwhelming, and we are both just kind of trying to process this while at the same time plan our wedding and figure out visa paperwork.

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Regardless of what you do, get the two-year rule advisory opinion letter confirming that the rule doesn't apply to you. My wife and I did it when we were engaged.

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Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Argentina
Timeline

The petition actually costs $340. The visa fee is $265. Medical is around $200. AOS (right after getting married) $1070.

Thanks, they changed the fees since I went through the process and the website was vague when I looked it up. Heh.

~ Don't forget to 'Vote Up' useful advice from others ~

K1 Visa Journey [April 11, 2013 - August 31, 2014]
[2014-09-20] !!! WEDDING !!!
[2014-09-22] Applied for SSN
[2014-09-26] Marriage License in Snail Mail
[2014-10-22] Notification of SSC in mail, will arrive "within 2 weeks"
[2014-10-27] SSC Arrived!

2015-04-30] Mailed AOS Package!
[2015-06-16] EAD Approved!
[2015-06-16] AP Approved!
[2015-06-23] EAD/AP Card Received!

[2015-10-02] AOS Approved (No Interview)!

[2015-10-07] Greencard Mailed

[2015-10-09] Approval Notice Recieved

[2015-10-09] Greencard Recieved!

I used RapidVisa for my petition; a paperwork service. A K1 is $375.00 to use their hassle-free online application system.

Useful Links:
Igor's List | Advanced Search Tool | Q&A With a Former USCIS Adjudicator
Visa Status Checker (Once you get a Case # from NVC) | Offical USCIS Reasons for a K1 Denial

The advice offered by this user is not legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain legal advice.

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