When Should I Start?

[Rose-Romagnoli 0]

Greetings to all,

My fiance is a citizen of Italy, and I will apply for his K1 Visa to move here to the USA after he attains his Baccalaureate at the University of Calabria. He will finish around the autumn of 2009 if he is able to take all of his exams on time, so it is possible for him to move to the USA in about 1 and a half years. With this in mind, when should I initiate the process of the Visa application?

Also, we agree that the restriction to be married within 3 months of his arrival on the Visa is a formality and we will formalize our marriage in the Catholic Church on our predetermined date. In the meantime, we will have frequent opportunities to become legally married. I go to Italy 3-4 times a year and he will be in the USA for the Christmas holiday 2008.

Finishing his degree in Italy is mportant for both of us and therefore it is not an option for him to move to the USA before graduation. If I applied for the visa and all was approved within the next year, could we be legally married while he is here to visit and subsequently return to Italy to finish college, or will he be required to stay here?

If we legally marry in Italy BEFORE I apply for any visa, what is the course of action?

What is easiest? Time is not important for us, as we have set certain goals to ourselves for our personal success that will require a delay. We just want to know when to start for the Visa for him to have clearance to come to the USA to marry after the fall of 2009.

Grazie!!!

[KarenCee 3]

Read the guides....lots of useful information there

K1 is Fiancé Visa...you cannot be legally married and apply for this one

K3 is Spouse Visa...you can apply for this if you legally marry before filing any sort of petition

It will be hard to tell you when either visa would be granted since the approval and issuance time varies. Best wishes with whatever course of action you take.

Edited to add a bit more clarity

Edited February 2, 2008 by KarenCee

[brnidokiegurl 1]

Hard to plan that far ahead really, if the visa is given i believe they have 6 months to move here but if you marry that is a completely different visa and u can not do the k1. The K1 (single) is quicker with the cr1 now takeing about 10-12 months i believe, you will just have to study up and compare you school timeline and decide to marry or not marry soon

[Steve'sGirl 0]

Welcome to VJ!

Since you mentioned that you're planning to get legally married before your fiance will actually move to the US, the K3/CR-1 is the right way to go. You can only apply for a K1 is you are not legally married. Since you have plenty of time, I believe the main point you may want to consider when you want to get married. The K1 may be slightly faster than the K3/CR-1, but if you're fiance is planning not to move to the US before fall 2009, this would not make a difference.

All the very best for your journey!!!

[pushbrk 13,729]

Welcome to VJ!

Since you mentioned that you're planning to get legally married before your fiance will actually move to the US, the K3/CR-1 is the right way to go. You can only apply for a K1 is you are not legally married. Since you have plenty of time, I believe the main point you may want to consider when you want to get married. The K1 may be slightly faster than the K3/CR-1, but if you're fiance is planning not to move to the US before fall 2009, this would not make a difference.

All the very best for your journey!!!

This is pretty much my thinking. Since it seems you wish to marry at your convenience, I would go ahead and do so. Then file a petition a year or so before he plans to immigrate.

However, there have been some disturbing developments in the K3 visa scenario that would rule that out for the time being. Things might change though. Since if you marry in the next six months, you'll have plenty of time, you'd be a lot happier with the CR1 visa anyway. Once the visa is in hand, he has six months to enter the US.

Getting a K1 visa to come to the US and marry followed by a return to Italy and school, just won't work. He'd need to stay long enough to apply for and be granted advanced parole, otherwise he wouldn't be allowed to re-enter the US.

Another perfectly viable option is to file the petition for a fiance visa in early 2009, then he can just come here, get married and stay. With this scenario, you must wait until he's here to stay, marry in the US and apply to adjust his status to permanent resident. As a practical matter, he won't have authorization to work until about three months after your marriage.

With the CR1 visa, he can work within a month or so, perhaps sooner.

[Rose-Romagnoli 0]

Thanks for the replies!

I have read through all of the guidelines as well as the timelines, but I was unclear on a good estimate of when I should start my visa for my fiance.

We indeed have plenty of time and since I can make freqent free (military) flights to visit it is not a hardship for us to be apart while completing schooling to secure our future.

I only gave the hypothetical marriage scenarios to generate answers, as it stands I believe that we are best suited to wait about a year to begin the K1 Visa option. I think that we can spend this year attaining documents for my fiance such as translations of birth certificate and so forth, to submit a package when he is here to visit next December. That should put us in a good time frame.

In the meantime I will be here lurking for the most part, and enjoying the many BEAUTIFUL stories of distant, instant, and dedicated love! I must say that I feel my wait is not a burden, but a preparatory period. I am finishing my second degree and becoming a full member of the Catholic Church, which are as much for me as for US. This has been a wonderful time for personal development while anticipating our life TOGETHER!

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

Thanks for the replies!

I have read through all of the guidelines as well as the timelines, but I was unclear on a good estimate of when I should start my visa for my fiance.

We indeed have plenty of time and since I can make freqent free (military) flights to visit it is not a hardship for us to be apart while completing schooling to secure our future.

I only gave the hypothetical marriage scenarios to generate answers, as it stands I believe that we are best suited to wait about a year to begin the K1 Visa option. I think that we can spend this year attaining documents for my fiance such as translations of birth certificate and so forth, to submit a package when he is here to visit next December. That should put us in a good time frame.

In the meantime I will be here lurking for the most part, and enjoying the many BEAUTIFUL stories of distant, instant, and dedicated love! I must say that I feel my wait is not a burden, but a preparatory period. I am finishing my second degree and becoming a full member of the Catholic Church, which are as much for me as for US. This has been a wonderful time for personal development while anticipating our life TOGETHER!

i think thats a good plan, best wishes to you.