DoD civilian - K1 or K3?

[maadams2004 0]

I have a unique situation (I think) and wanted to solicit details from the knowledgable folks here.

Some background:

I’m a government civilian employee. I’ll be taking an assignment to Germany on orders from the Department of Defense in late November. I have a fiancee who is a citizen of and lives in Santiago, Dominican Republic. She has two minor children. I’ll likely be in Germany for two to three years.

I’ve done some researching here on the site on the K1 and K3 process and can’t quite find a situation in the forums like mine. I guess I’m trying to determine the best course of action to take towards my end goal of marriage and having my fiancee and her daughters with me.

I understand that if I go the K1 route, my fiancee recieves the visa, she can come to the U.S. and we have 90 days to get married, file for change of status, and wait for….her green card? But she can’t leave the U.S. until this process is complete. The problem is I can’t leave my assignment in Germany to come back home and wait this process out. The one option is of course to leave my wife there in the U.S. while I continue my duties overseas. But I don’t want to. I’m not going to bring my new bride to the states just to dump her there – in a foreign culture – and go back off to Germany. And I have no one she can stay with until the process runs its course.

The K3 route seems to be the same except we’re getting married outside the U.S. Doesn’t she still have to wait in the states until she receives her green card?

Can anyone give me any advice as to how to proceed? I want my fiancee, once we’re married, to be able to travel to Germany with me on my assignment. I’m going to call the USCIS Monday to ask some direct questions, but I was hoping some of you folks may be able to assist

[R de la R 2]

I have a unique situation (I think) and wanted to solicit details from the knowledgable folks here.

Some background:

I’m a government civilian employee. I’ll be taking an assignment to Germany on orders from the Department of Defense in late November. I have a fiancee who is a citizen of and lives in Santiago, Dominican Republic. She has two minor children. I’ll likely be in Germany for two to three years.

I’ve done some researching here on the site on the K1 and K3 process and can’t quite find a situation in the forums like mine. I guess I’m trying to determine the best course of action to take towards my end goal of marriage and having my fiancee and her daughters with me.

I understand that if I go the K1 route, my fiancee recieves the visa, she can come to the U.S. and we have 90 days to get married, file for change of status, and wait for….her green card? But she can’t leave the U.S. until this process is complete. The problem is I can’t leave my assignment in Germany to come back home and wait this process out. The one option is of course to leave my wife there in the U.S. while I continue my duties overseas. But I don’t want to. I’m not going to bring my new bride to the states just to dump her there – in a foreign culture – and go back off to Germany. And I have no one she can stay with until the process runs its course.

The K3 route seems to be the same except we’re getting married outside the U.S. Doesn’t she still have to wait in the states until she receives her green card? Yes, she has to wait to receive the green card and she can travel outside of the US but with an advance parole but she can´t stay a long time out of US

Can anyone give me any advice as to how to proceed? I want my fiancee, once we’re married, to be able to travel to Germany with me on my assignment. I’m going to call the USCIS Monday to ask some direct questions, but I was hoping some of you folks may be able to assist

The K3 route seems to be the same except we’re getting married outside the U.S. Doesn’t she still have to wait in the states until she receives her green card? Yes, she has to wait to receive the green card and she can travel outside of the US but with an advance parole but she can´t stay a long time out of US

Good luck with your call, they are helpless.

Edited September 28, 2008 by YMR

[pushbrk 12,149]

I have a unique situation (I think) and wanted to solicit details from the knowledgable folks here.

Some background:

I’m a government civilian employee. I’ll be taking an assignment to Germany on orders from the Department of Defense in late November. I have a fiancee who is a citizen of and lives in Santiago, Dominican Republic. She has two minor children. I’ll likely be in Germany for two to three years.

I’ve done some researching here on the site on the K1 and K3 process and can’t quite find a situation in the forums like mine. I guess I’m trying to determine the best course of action to take towards my end goal of marriage and having my fiancee and her daughters with me.

I understand that if I go the K1 route, my fiancee recieves the visa, she can come to the U.S. and we have 90 days to get married, file for change of status, and wait for….her green card? But she can’t leave the U.S. until this process is complete. The problem is I can’t leave my assignment in Germany to come back home and wait this process out. The one option is of course to leave my wife there in the U.S. while I continue my duties overseas. But I don’t want to. I’m not going to bring my new bride to the states just to dump her there – in a foreign culture – and go back off to Germany. And I have no one she can stay with until the process runs its course.

The K3 route seems to be the same except we’re getting married outside the U.S. Doesn’t she still have to wait in the states until she receives her green card?

Can anyone give me any advice as to how to proceed? I want my fiancee, once we’re married, to be able to travel to Germany with me on my assignment. I’m going to call the USCIS Monday to ask some direct questions, but I was hoping some of you folks may be able to assist

I would suggest getting married and filing just an I-130 petition (with supporting documentation) for a CR1 visa. Once the visa is in hand and used, she enters the US with LPR status. The actual green card will arrive at the US address you have on file within a few weeks but the I-551 stamp in her passport will allow her to accompany you to Germany immediately.

You would want to check on whether DOD civilians on assignment are treated the same as actual military as to their overseas assignments. If military, your wife being in Germany with you on assignment would be considered the same as if she were in the States, with respect to maintaining permanent resident status. I'm not sure DOD civilian employees' spouses get the same treatment.

[Benika 1]

My fiance and I were looking at the same issues. He was going to be based in Italy for 2 to 3 years. It seemed to us the best to handle it would have been to get married in Italy and then stay in Italy on an Italian spousal visa. About a year before we had to return to the states we would then have filed for an American spousal visa for me to enter the US. So we would have been filed nothing with American imigration untill about a year before we would be returning to the US. (Hopefully finshing the visa process, but not having the visa expire before we needed to return to the US)

For us the main thing was being together, not me to get citizenship. We were happy to only apply for my citizenship at a later time.

Hope that helps.

Benika

Ps: His ex-wife refused to sign to allow the kids (who live with him) to get passports, so we unfortunatly missed out on being able to live in Italy. And now we are stuck doing the K1 visa and we are not able to be together untill we get that. But in the end we will still be together and all the hassle is worth it just for that.

[Benika 1]

Sorry - my computer is acting crazy

Edited September 29, 2008 by Benika

[maadams2004 0]

I have a unique situation (I think) and wanted to solicit details from the knowledgable folks here.

Some background:

I’m a government civilian employee. I’ll be taking an assignment to Germany on orders from the Department of Defense in late November. I have a fiancee who is a citizen of and lives in Santiago, Dominican Republic. She has two minor children. I’ll likely be in Germany for two to three years.

I’ve done some researching here on the site on the K1 and K3 process and can’t quite find a situation in the forums like mine. I guess I’m trying to determine the best course of action to take towards my end goal of marriage and having my fiancee and her daughters with me.

I understand that if I go the K1 route, my fiancee recieves the visa, she can come to the U.S. and we have 90 days to get married, file for change of status, and wait for….her green card? But she can’t leave the U.S. until this process is complete. The problem is I can’t leave my assignment in Germany to come back home and wait this process out. The one option is of course to leave my wife there in the U.S. while I continue my duties overseas. But I don’t want to. I’m not going to bring my new bride to the states just to dump her there – in a foreign culture – and go back off to Germany. And I have no one she can stay with until the process runs its course.

The K3 route seems to be the same except we’re getting married outside the U.S. Doesn’t she still have to wait in the states until she receives her green card?

Can anyone give me any advice as to how to proceed? I want my fiancee, once we’re married, to be able to travel to Germany with me on my assignment. I’m going to call the USCIS Monday to ask some direct questions, but I was hoping some of you folks may be able to assist

I would suggest getting married and filing just an I-130 petition (with supporting documentation) for a CR1 visa. Once the visa is in hand and used, she enters the US with LPR status. The actual green card will arrive at the US address you have on file within a few weeks but the I-551 stamp in her passport will allow her to accompany you to Germany immediately.

You would want to check on whether DOD civilians on assignment are treated the same as actual military as to their overseas assignments. If military, your wife being in Germany with you on assignment would be considered the same as if she were in the States, with respect to maintaining permanent resident status. I'm not sure DOD civilian employees' spouses get the same treatment.

From what I've read regarding INA 319.B, DoD Civilians are treated the same as military members.

[pushbrk 12,149]

I have a unique situation (I think) and wanted to solicit details from the knowledgable folks here.

Some background:

I’m a government civilian employee. I’ll be taking an assignment to Germany on orders from the Department of Defense in late November. I have a fiancee who is a citizen of and lives in Santiago, Dominican Republic. She has two minor children. I’ll likely be in Germany for two to three years.

I’ve done some researching here on the site on the K1 and K3 process and can’t quite find a situation in the forums like mine. I guess I’m trying to determine the best course of action to take towards my end goal of marriage and having my fiancee and her daughters with me.

I understand that if I go the K1 route, my fiancee recieves the visa, she can come to the U.S. and we have 90 days to get married, file for change of status, and wait for….her green card? But she can’t leave the U.S. until this process is complete. The problem is I can’t leave my assignment in Germany to come back home and wait this process out. The one option is of course to leave my wife there in the U.S. while I continue my duties overseas. But I don’t want to. I’m not going to bring my new bride to the states just to dump her there – in a foreign culture – and go back off to Germany. And I have no one she can stay with until the process runs its course.

The K3 route seems to be the same except we’re getting married outside the U.S. Doesn’t she still have to wait in the states until she receives her green card?

Can anyone give me any advice as to how to proceed? I want my fiancee, once we’re married, to be able to travel to Germany with me on my assignment. I’m going to call the USCIS Monday to ask some direct questions, but I was hoping some of you folks may be able to assist

I would suggest getting married and filing just an I-130 petition (with supporting documentation) for a CR1 visa. Once the visa is in hand and used, she enters the US with LPR status. The actual green card will arrive at the US address you have on file within a few weeks but the I-551 stamp in her passport will allow her to accompany you to Germany immediately.

You would want to check on whether DOD civilians on assignment are treated the same as actual military as to their overseas assignments. If military, your wife being in Germany with you on assignment would be considered the same as if she were in the States, with respect to maintaining permanent resident status. I'm not sure DOD civilian employees' spouses get the same treatment.

From what I've read regarding INA 319.B, DoD Civilians are treated the same as military members.

Good. Somebody else suggested getting her a visa to Germany and marrying there, then filing the I-130 directly with the Consulate in Frankfort a few months before you wish to return to the States. In theory, this is equally viable as an option but in practice, getting the visa from the DR to Germany may not be viable. Further, the timing is uncertain. You could end up needing to leave her behind in Germany or stay past the end of your job with no income to wait for her visa. I think you'd probably be more comfortable getting on with life as it is now in whichever country you each need to be for the next few months, then reunite one time with all issues dealt with. Your call.

[maadams2004 0]

I have a unique situation (I think) and wanted to solicit details from the knowledgable folks here.

Some background:

I’m a government civilian employee. I’ll be taking an assignment to Germany on orders from the Department of Defense in late November. I have a fiancee who is a citizen of and lives in Santiago, Dominican Republic. She has two minor children. I’ll likely be in Germany for two to three years.

I’ve done some researching here on the site on the K1 and K3 process and can’t quite find a situation in the forums like mine. I guess I’m trying to determine the best course of action to take towards my end goal of marriage and having my fiancee and her daughters with me.

I understand that if I go the K1 route, my fiancee recieves the visa, she can come to the U.S. and we have 90 days to get married, file for change of status, and wait for….her green card? But she can’t leave the U.S. until this process is complete. The problem is I can’t leave my assignment in Germany to come back home and wait this process out. The one option is of course to leave my wife there in the U.S. while I continue my duties overseas. But I don’t want to. I’m not going to bring my new bride to the states just to dump her there – in a foreign culture – and go back off to Germany. And I have no one she can stay with until the process runs its course.

The K3 route seems to be the same except we’re getting married outside the U.S. Doesn’t she still have to wait in the states until she receives her green card?

Can anyone give me any advice as to how to proceed? I want my fiancee, once we’re married, to be able to travel to Germany with me on my assignment. I’m going to call the USCIS Monday to ask some direct questions, but I was hoping some of you folks may be able to assist

I would suggest getting married and filing just an I-130 petition (with supporting documentation) for a CR1 visa. Once the visa is in hand and used, she enters the US with LPR status. The actual green card will arrive at the US address you have on file within a few weeks but the I-551 stamp in her passport will allow her to accompany you to Germany immediately.

You would want to check on whether DOD civilians on assignment are treated the same as actual military as to their overseas assignments. If military, your wife being in Germany with you on assignment would be considered the same as if she were in the States, with respect to maintaining permanent resident status. I'm not sure DOD civilian employees' spouses get the same treatment.

From what I've read regarding INA 319.B, DoD Civilians are treated the same as military members.

Good. Somebody else suggested getting her a visa to Germany and marrying there, then filing the I-130 directly with the Consulate in Frankfort a few months before you wish to return to the States. In theory, this is equally viable as an option but in practice, getting the visa from the DR to Germany may not be viable. Further, the timing is uncertain. You could end up needing to leave her behind in Germany or stay past the end of your job with no income to wait for her visa. I think you'd probably be more comfortable getting on with life as it is now in whichever country you each need to be for the next few months, then reunite one time with all issues dealt with. Your call.

I've been doing a lot of reading, and it seems the best option for me is to get married in the Dominican Republic and then file my I-130 and go the CR-1 route. That way when the approval comes through I won't have to worry about adjustment of status, and then bring her on over to Germany. Once I get married and file the I-130 I'll talk to the USCIS about expediting the case. However, I really don't won't my case expedited to be honest. My fiancee is taking indepth english classes on the island and I would like her to finish the curriculum.