Newbie here, looking for advice on me (US citizen) marrying an Indonesian citizen

[jordanzs 0]

Ahoha,

I'm a newbie to this messageboard, but I'm sure I'll be posting a lot here &

asking lots of questions over the next who-knows-how-long.

I've been travelling to Bali almost every summer since 1999, and this year

(thanks to the wonders & joys of Myspace), I met & bonded with my future wife.

Ethnically she's Chinese, but born & raised in Lampung, Sumatra, so she's an

Indonesian citizen. She is Christian by religion (mom is even a pastor),

Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design from a university in Jakarta. Not sure if

all this needed to be mentioned, I was just wondering how much her background

comes in to play during the whole screening process.

My original thoughts & plans were to go back to Bali next year for a wedding. I

would love to marry in Bali, her family could then all join, and lots of my

friends travel to Bali too, so they could attend. Upon further investigation, I

am unclear about the process to bring her to America after we would marry there.

Can she travel back with me? Does it take a couple of months or years to get

clearance? I guess you would need a spouse visa, is that correct? If we marry at the US embassy, or someone from the

embassy performs the wedding, does that help?

The other option seems to be for me to get her a fiance visa & bring her to

America & we can marry here. Is that an easier route to go? Or is it a pain in

the butt to get the K1 to bring an Indonesian citizen to America? I have no

idea!

A 3rd option is for me to move to Bali, marry her, and then live there until she

can come to the US.

Any help, advice, information, resources, etc would be very much appreciated! We

would definitely like to take the path of least resistance, or at least the

lesser of the 3 evils!

Thank you,

Jordan

Edited September 25, 2008 by jordanzs

[MichelleN 0]

If you marry in another country and file for a spouse visa, I believe she has to wait in her country of residence (Indonesia) until the process is complete. And the time it takes varies. Check out the timelines and processing dates links on this site to get a feel for what the wait time in. Definitely not years though

As for which is easier...the K1 or the K3 I don't think either one is more difficult or harder than the other from what I've seen around the site. Sometimes it's faster to go one route over another but again, that's something you should check the timelines and such about.

[pushbrk 12,160]

Ahoha,

I'm a newbie to this messageboard, but I'm sure I'll be posting a lot here &

asking lots of questions over the next who-knows-how-long.

I've been travelling to Bali almost every summer since 1999, and this year

(thanks to the wonders & joys of Myspace), I met & bonded with my future wife.

Ethnically she's Chinese, but born & raised in Lampung, Sumatra, so she's an

Indonesian citizen. She is Christian by religion (mom is even a pastor),

Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design from a university in Jakarta. Not sure if

all this needed to be mentioned, I was just wondering how much her background

comes in to play during the whole screening process.

My original thoughts & plans were to go back to Bali next year for a wedding. I

would love to marry in Bali, her family could then all join, and lots of my

friends travel to Bali too, so they could attend. Upon further investigation, I

am unclear about the process to bring her to America after we would marry there.

Can she travel back with me? Does it take a couple of months or years to get

clearance? I guess you would need a spouse visa, is that correct? If we marry at the US embassy, or someone from the

embassy performs the wedding, does that help?

The other option seems to be for me to get her a fiance visa & bring her to

America & we can marry here. Is that an easier route to go? Or is it a pain in

the butt to get the K1 to bring an Indonesian citizen to America? I have no

idea!

A 3rd option is for me to move to Bali, marry her, and then live there until she

can come to the US.

Any help, advice, information, resources, etc would be very much appreciated! We

would definitely like to take the path of least resistance, or at least the

lesser of the 3 evils!

Thank you,

Jordan

Start by clicking on the word "Guides" at the top of any page here. No, she won't be returning to the US with you right away. Think in terms of six to twelve months for a spouse visa process, either CR1 or K3.

You'll also want to check with the US Embassy's website and the Indonesian Embassy's website to learn what is required for a foreigner to marry an Indonesian citizen in Indonesia.

[tinyrosie 0]

Hi

I am Indonesian citizen too and I thought I could share my own experience with you.

My fiance and I opt to go through K1 visa (fiance visa) because (we think) it's less complicated than

say K3 (spouse). We explored options like you did, and found that getting married in Indonesia was very complicated

in terms of bureaucracy and my fiance simply couldn't leave his work in the states for too long to take care such

complicated procedures in Indonesia. Also, at the end we would still have to deal with USCIS anyway and would have

to wait longer for me to get in to the states (K3 generally takes longer time to process than K1).

But surely getting married in the states means that very likely I will not have my family to attend my wedding.

It's sad... but that's just the way it is.

I suggest you really explore each option and the implications... and discuss with your fiancee.

Best of luck to you

D

Ahoha,

I'm a newbie to this messageboard, but I'm sure I'll be posting a lot here &

asking lots of questions over the next who-knows-how-long.

I've been travelling to Bali almost every summer since 1999, and this year

(thanks to the wonders & joys of Myspace), I met & bonded with my future wife.

Ethnically she's Chinese, but born & raised in Lampung, Sumatra, so she's an

Indonesian citizen. She is Christian by religion (mom is even a pastor),

Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design from a university in Jakarta. Not sure if

all this needed to be mentioned, I was just wondering how much her background

comes in to play during the whole screening process.

My original thoughts & plans were to go back to Bali next year for a wedding. I

would love to marry in Bali, her family could then all join, and lots of my

friends travel to Bali too, so they could attend. Upon further investigation, I

am unclear about the process to bring her to America after we would marry there.

Can she travel back with me? Does it take a couple of months or years to get

clearance? I guess you would need a spouse visa, is that correct? If we marry at the US embassy, or someone from the

embassy performs the wedding, does that help?

The other option seems to be for me to get her a fiance visa & bring her to

America & we can marry here. Is that an easier route to go? Or is it a pain in

the butt to get the K1 to bring an Indonesian citizen to America? I have no

idea!

A 3rd option is for me to move to Bali, marry her, and then live there until she

can come to the US.

Any help, advice, information, resources, etc would be very much appreciated! We

would definitely like to take the path of least resistance, or at least the

lesser of the 3 evils!

Thank you,

Jordan

[Beautiful_years 0]

I think both response hits the nail at the spot, but you have to consider the timing and processes you will have to go through in indonesia as well as with uscis.

But from my point of view, i think it would be a lot easier to file for the k1 which has a shorter processing time, let her come here, you get married, file the papers as soon as she gets here, then wait to get advanced parole with which you can both travel back to indonesia. Timelines shows that it takes between 30 to 90days to get advanced parole.

With that in hand you can plan for a ceremony and invite friends and family over either here in the usa or there in indonesia.

My visa application and processing took approximately 8months.

I got here July, got married August, filed for AOS/EAD/AP september 12th, iv got notice of action on all three, now waiting to see how long it will take to get advanced parole.

I got married here alone which was kinda sad because i wanted my family and friends to be here. But in all truth, it hasnt been too long a wait especially now that im with my love. Being here together and waiting together makes it easier.

My Relatives, husbands family etc are having a ceremony here for me soon and at same time we are making plans to go back home where i come from to have a traditional ceremony so it even turned out better than i expected and was worth the while.

My friends and family from here who would wish to attend are free to come too.

So check the guides, the time frames, the hassles from uscis and getting married in indonesia.

Whatever works for you is best.

Welcome to vj and one thing iv learnt here is that love truely works!

God speed to all honest hearted ones like us.

Beauty....

[BnLia 0]

Ahoha,

I'm a newbie to this messageboard, but I'm sure I'll be posting a lot here &

asking lots of questions over the next who-knows-how-long.

I've been travelling to Bali almost every summer since 1999, and this year

(thanks to the wonders & joys of Myspace), I met & bonded with my future wife.

Ethnically she's Chinese, but born & raised in Lampung, Sumatra, so she's an

Indonesian citizen. She is Christian by religion (mom is even a pastor),

Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design from a university in Jakarta. Not sure if

all this needed to be mentioned, I was just wondering how much her background

comes in to play during the whole screening process.

My original thoughts & plans were to go back to Bali next year for a wedding. I

would love to marry in Bali, her family could then all join, and lots of my

friends travel to Bali too, so they could attend. Upon further investigation, I

am unclear about the process to bring her to America after we would marry there.

Can she travel back with me? Does it take a couple of months or years to get

clearance? I guess you would need a spouse visa, is that correct? If we marry at the US embassy, or someone from the

embassy performs the wedding, does that help?

The other option seems to be for me to get her a fiance visa & bring her to

America & we can marry here. Is that an easier route to go? Or is it a pain in

the butt to get the K1 to bring an Indonesian citizen to America? I have no

idea!

A 3rd option is for me to move to Bali, marry her, and then live there until she

can come to the US.

Any help, advice, information, resources, etc would be very much appreciated! We

would definitely like to take the path of least resistance, or at least the

lesser of the 3 evils!

Thank you,

Jordan

Hi there,

Congratulations on your engagement! Like you, I am a USC and met a wonderful Indonesian and am now engaged. We chose the K-1 process due to the relatively quicker application processing time (at least on the U.S. side) as you know, the K-3 is certainly an option, but the wait begins after you are married... and in Indonesia the marraige ceremony is a huge thing... there is no such thing as a small ceremony... so the time and expense must be factored in to the process. Consider filing for the K-1... then get married in the U.S., file for Advance Parole and travel back to Bali for a ceremony with the family. Our K-1 application is currently at VSC, waiting since July. Stay in touch and I'll let you know how the process on the Consulate end at the embassy in Jakarta goes when they get the package from NVC...

Good Luck!

[tinyrosie 0]

Jordan

Hi there,

Congratulations on your engagement! Like you, I am a USC and met a wonderful Indonesian and am now engaged. We chose the K-1 process due to the relatively quicker application processing time (at least on the U.S. side) as you know, the K-3 is certainly an option, but the wait begins after you are married... and in Indonesia the marraige ceremony is a huge thing... there is no such thing as a small ceremony... so the time and expense must be factored in to the process. Consider filing for the K-1... then get married in the U.S., file for Advance Parole and travel back to Bali for a ceremony with the family. Our K-1 application is currently at VSC, waiting since July. Stay in touch and I'll let you know how the process on the Consulate end at the embassy in Jakarta goes when they get the package from NVC...

Good Luck!

Hi BnLia We also file our petition at VSC and we just received our approval yesterday. Now waiting for the process

at the embassy in Jakarta to get started. Good luck in your journey and I hope you will get your approval soon

[jordanzs 0]

Thanks everyone for being helpful & friendly & providing great advice. Also, an extra large apa kabar to Tinyrosie for answering Syelvia's questions!!!

So with this information, we're going to start rolling forward on the fiance visa process. Green light from both families, with a small wedding in the US, and reception parties in America & Bali (once she can travel back).

I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of research on the site & asking lots of questions, so thanks to all for lending a helping hand!!!

[jordanzs 0]

Also, an extra large apa kabar to Tinyrosie for answering Syelvia's questions!!!

Oooops, I meant an extra large Terima Kasih Banyak to Tinyrosie!! Hahahaha, my Indo phrases get a little mixed up first thing in the morning.

[Sabr 0]

Apa kabar.

Hope you journey is fast and easy. It was very easy for me to marry in Indonesia. Now I struggle to bring Isteri Saya to the US.

Saya sinung kanalkan dingan anda. My bahasa is improving but my spelling gets worse.

[tinyrosie 0]

Jordanzs, terima kasih kembali Glad I could help.

We received mail from NVC saying our case was in the process and they would send it to the embassy in Jakarta

sometime this week. Looking forward to receiving Packet 3 perhaps next week.

Good luck to all of us in our journey

D

Also, an extra large apa kabar to Tinyrosie for answering Syelvia's questions!!!

Oooops, I meant an extra large Terima Kasih Banyak to Tinyrosie!! Hahahaha, my Indo phrases get a little mixed up first thing in the morning.

[himher 634]

We got married in Jakarta last year, and I filed when I returned to the States. I don't think they care what your wife's background is, unfortunately there are no mitigating circumstances that I know of that will get you guys out of waiting apart until her visa is approved.

There are some shortcuts that we took that really seemed to save some time -

- RIGHT after we were married my wife went to the Indonesian immigration office and got her name in her passport changed - they make a note of the new name and stamp the passport on either page 4 or 5. When we subsequently filed for everything it was all issued in her new name, which meant the visa, social security card, EAD card, green card, passport, and drivers license painlessly all match and we had no problem with the last name change that a lot of people experience because they get some documents in the old name and some in the new name during the process. The cost was like $30 <grin, 300,000>

- I stayed in contact with the embassy the entire time. We waited about (4) months after filing (we filed in June) and went ahead and scheduled the medical exams in late October, and the embassy held the medical results until the NVC sent the visa package in early December. This saved us the time that is would have taken for the embassy to receive the package, send the medical forms to my wife, schedule an appt, and wait for the results to get back to the embassy. That meant that as soon as the embassy received the NVC package, my wife went directly to interview. Since they knew me, her interview was pretty painless "have you ever been to the States?" and "This should make your husband happy" (It probably is a good idea to stay in touch but not torment them like I did but I was pissed because they turned us down for a visitor visa while we were waiting apart and systematically sent in congressional/senatorial inquiries as to the immediate and direct status of our case)

- My wife went to get her police certificate as soon as we got the approval email from USCIS

- The Indonesian consulate does not like to give visitor visas to spouses or potential spouses - see above

Best of luck

[jordanzs 0]

Wow, the great advice keeps on pouring in!!! Thanks so much & keep it coming! I was considering getting an immigration attorney, but after finding this messageboard, I'm gonna pass on that since it seems like the attorneys just complicate the process.

I'm now waiting for Syelvia to get her passport photos taken, so she can send them along with the G325A & the letter of intent, and then I can submit everything. I'm assuming that DHL is the best way for her to send that stuff?

Thanks himher for that advice on how to handle everything in case we marry in Indo first. If the fiance visa process gets held up, then we may just go that route & marry next summer in Indo. I wouldn't mind having an 'extended surf trip' in Bali while waiting for her to get clearance to come to America.

[SusieK 3]

Cheers and congrats first of all -

Keep in mind that once u file that K1 visa thats what she enters on - so you can NOT marry until she enters or gets the visa. Sorry reading quickly but I think you understand. You can not file the K3 after a K1 (I-129F) unless it lapses or withdrawn.

God Speed

[jordanzs 0]

Cheers and congrats first of all -

Keep in mind that once u file that K1 visa thats what she enters on - so you can NOT marry until she enters or gets the visa. Sorry reading quickly but I think you understand. You can not file the K3 after a K1 (I-129F) unless it lapses or withdrawn.

God Speed

Yeah for sure. Now that brings up a question.....

If let's say May rolls around and the k1 visa is for some reason wrapped up in red tape, if I hit the 'withdrawal' button, is that an instant thing where I can get married in a month or 2 without complicating the k3 process that would start upon marraige??

I'm pretty confident about the k1 getting approved, as long as stuff doesn't get lost in the mail.

A couple of minor questions:

1) I'm in the process of selling my house, and I'm not sure what my next address will be. So on all the forms, my 'current address' will definitely change. Does that complicate anything?

2) I was a loan officer from 2003 to the middle of 2007, at which time I became a mortgage broker. When I made that switch, I went from being w2'd to 1099'd. So for 2007, half of my income shows on a w2, and the other half on a schedule C, with a bunch of deductions. I'm assuming that when I have to prove income, they go with the net profit on the schedule C, which won't be much. If I have to show assets, can I use a IRA rollover to prove them? If not & the income is questionable, who can I use as a co-sponsor? Immediate family or anyone who is willing?

Thanks for the advice.