My Au Pair wife.

[cjthomas2290 0]

Hello, I met my wife in July of 2014 and we just got married this past weekend. She is an Au pair from Germany on a j-1 visa with no 2 year residency requirement. Her visa expires on may 19th and we have decided that she should go home and see her family before we start a life together here in the states for financial and other reasons. I myself am moving to Hawaii in August and plan to reunite with her there. My question is, is it legal to apply for a spousal or marriage visa while she is still here? Should I wait until I move to Hawaii to start the process since I will move to a different uscic jurisdiction area? How much will all of this cost? Any information would be great. This girl is the love of my life and I want to make sure I am taking the right steps to being together after she returns home. Thank you

[TabeaK 516]

I would adjust status. You can have an advance parole for traveling within 90d - no need for a CR-1 visa. Once AOS is approved you get your 2 year GC and are good to go. Cost: $1070.

[cjthomas2290 0]

Would there be enough time though seeing that she leaves in about a month..?

[TabeaK 516]

No. She may wanna delay leaving by about 2 months - if you file today you can have the AP in hand in about 3 months.

CR-1 will take WAAAAY longer. Assume 1-2 years - she won't be back before late 2016.

[Pitaya 2,576]

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

~Inquiry about family visas, not K1 related~

[Mena28 35]

Also keep in mind that there are rules for aupairs to not get married while on the program. Did you wait until she was in the grace period?

I had a girl in my cluster get married in the middle of her program and they had to file for AOS within three days or get reported by the aupair company (they filed).

But yeah, you guys already are married, and I am with what TabeaK says - do AOS (adjustment of status) as soon as possible and have her travel to see the family later. They say it takes about three months to get your documents so she can work and travel while she waits for her Greencard.

I was an aupair as well when I met my fiance and I came back here and we are doing K-1 which means being stuck in the TSC hell hole for six months and counting.

Overall it was the right decision for us to have me come back for now, but as you guys decided to already get married and have the option - do you really want to be apart for the first 1-2 years of your marriage? I am guessing that you met after she entered the US, so you are fine with intent and all of that.

All the best with whatever you decide to do!

[cjthomas2290 0]

We were considering a fiance visa which we were told would take 8-10 months to process but decided to go with the marriage visa which we were told would take 8-12 months.. So it could take as long as two years you're saying?

[Boiler 43,425]

A year ish, most unlikely two.

Also think she should adjust, much much simpler.

[Camillasofie 5]

I was an au pair too, and regret that I didn't just stay and adjusted my status! I haven't seen my fiancé for 4 months now and it's hard to be apart for so long! I'm still waiting to get my K-1 approved, we filed 5 and a half months ago and now that I look back I oh so wish that we had just gotten married while I was in my grace period and adjusted my status, cuz we are probably going to wait another 4 months before we can see each other again :'(

[ricnally 258]

Yes, I agree you should definitely just adjust status now, even if you have to borrow the money. Even if she may miss some important occasion at home by waiting longer to visit, it is absolutely worth it, rather than being apart for so long during the CR1 route. (Oh, the things my spouse and I would have done differently if we'd known that this would have been an option for us!)

Edited April 15, 2015 by ricnally

[Sarahnick 19]

I met my fiancé during my time as an au pair too and the plan was for me to go home when I was done with the program, apply for a student visa and come back. I was denied the student visa so we decided to go for the k1 visa, we have waited for 6,5 months and got approved today at the tsc center, but we still have another 2/4months before the whole visa will be over and done and hopefully approved. So yes, it is a really really long and painful wait so I agree with the other girls, do AOS now and don't let her leave the country before that is done!

And know that since you already are married you cannot do the k1 visa. Need to do cr1 which I believe is a even longer wait.. Difference is that she will have gc and work permit from day 1 in the states

[Cathi 5,609]

No. She may wanna delay leaving by about 2 months - if you file today you can have the AP in hand in about 3 months.

CR-1 will take WAAAAY longer. Assume 1-2 years - she won't be back before late 2016.

it is closer to 10-12 months for a cr1, and during the time they are waiting for approval she can still visit on the VP.

[Mena28 35]

Yeah, but visits are expensive. I shudder to think how much we have spent on international airfare over the last six months. And in the big scheme six months are really not that long. Feels long when you are in them though.

Never mind the logistics involved with having to plan this with the little vacationtime most Americans get in their jobs plus me having to find a job first so I could afford to visit *urgh*. We had our reasons, but as I said before - you guys made the choice to get married last weekend, might as well do AOS too :-D

Good luck! Let us know how it all plays out and that it went well!

Edit: I just looked at your original post again and if her visa was good until May 19, then you guys must have married while she was still on the program? How did you handle that? (No need to share, just thinking out loud.) I dont have my contract with me right now, but I feel like there was something about marriage in there. Isnt her visa only good while she is placed with the family and stuff? Because as soon as you are out of the program, you have three days to leave to go home. Which she didnt, so that means she could be out of status right now? You are married and marriage excuses all kinds of things, so no big obstacles there, but being out of status is not something I personally would feel comfortable with.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Mena28