I don't even know where to start

[Mića & Dana 0]

My name is Danijela and I have been engaged since July 15, 2009. I am in the process of getting my US citizenship and should have it by March of 2010.

My questions:

Do I to send a birth certificate? and is it okay if it is not American?

Will there be any problems if my fiance is a Croatian citizen as well as a Serbian citizen (I know that later if he wants American citizenship he will have to remove one of the previous)?

Which is a better and faster way for us to start in order to get him here? Should we go through the fiance visa or the marriage one?

Also I am 100% sure that i will need a cosponsor? What is the procedure for that?

Can I do everything from Serbia? Because I've been thinking of getting married over there and just staying there till all the papers are done and he can come here?

If we decide to do the fiance visa can I be overseas with him while waiting for it?

I am completely lost when it comes to this so I will need a lot of help since Im just getting different stories from everyone that I know that has been through this. Thanx to everyone in advance.

[Nagishkaw 510]

A good place to begin is here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...amp;page=guides

...and welcome to VJ!

[AbbynSheryl 0]

read the guide it has all ur answers

but if u wanna marry her first then file CR1 visa

otherwise if u already met her within the last two years then u can apply for K1 visa

good luck

just check the guide and the link is on the top of each page

abby n sheryl

[Mića & Dana 0]

Thank you everyone. Im actually the female living in US and brining the male i just wanted to make that clear everyone always gets confused

[Nik+Heather 122]

Looks like you have nearly every option on the table right now, and you need to make those decisions yourself.

Anyway, as was mentioned, read the guides. The forums have their own positives, but walking you through the entire process is not one of them. There are a LOT of options, and you need to narrow them down according to your situation, and then if you have specific questions, the forums are a good place to go. Don't sell yourself short by declining to take advantage of all of the resources linked at the top of the page!!

Start by figuring out the priorities you and your fiance have.

Do you want to be together as soon as possible, or does he want to get to the US as soon as possible, or does he want to start working in the US as soon as possible? What about finances? Is the cheapest option preferable over the fastest option? Naturally, the fastest option probably isn't the cheapest!!

You mention that it is a possibility that you could go over there to live for some long period of time. This would be the fastest way to be together - you go over, get married, attain residence status, and go for Direct Consular Filing (DCF). I would favor this option if it was me - how exciting to live in another country for some time!!

If the priority is for him to get to the US as fast as possible, then go the K1 (fiance) visa route. This is the most expensive, and he can NOT work for a few months after you get married. You also have to get married in the US, and wait to travel until after advance parole is received.

If there is no ability for your finances to handle him being out of work for months, then you'll want to go for a CR-1 (marriage) visa. He can work right after he enters. CR-1s are the least expensive option, and have the fewest steps. He gets a green card as soon as he enters the US.

Keep in mind that you could petition for the K1 right away, but any marriage visa necessarily has to start processing after you get married, so in terms of starting to work as soon as possible in the US the K1 and the CR-1 may be a wash.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

People have given you good advise, but please remember that if you are not a citizen, you cannot petition for a fiance; only for a spouse.

[Nik+Heather 122]

People have given you good advise, but please remember that if you are not a citizen, you cannot petition for a fiance; only for a spouse.

Wow! How did I miss that! Sorry.

Is it even worth it to start a marriage visa process before citizenship if she's this close?

[Mića & Dana 0]

I will have my citizenship within a few months but i just want to plan everything ahead and look at our options and have all the proof and documents ready for either one of the applications but out of all of them i am kind of leaning towards the CR-1

[thongd4me 69]

I will have my citizenship within a few months but i just want to plan everything ahead and look at our options and have all the proof and documents ready for either one of the applications but out of all of them i am kind of leaning towards the CR-1

I think the crux of this is your CITIZENSHIP status.

If you are in the process, you won't be naturalized until 2010,

so you can't file an I-129F if you are not a natural or naturalized

citizen when you file it.

There may be another route, but I'm not that knowledgeable about which one.

good luck

[Kathryn41 3,205]

A caution first, you need to be worried about any lengthy stays out of the US prior to getting your citizenship as this will have an impact on when you are eligible to get citizenship. You don't want to lose out on getting your citizenship in March by being out of the country several months prior to that and messing up the residency requirements. My answers to your questions are in colour below:

Do I to send a birth certificate? and is it okay if it is not American? You need to send proof of your American citizenship for a K-1 or K-3 petition or PR status for a CR-1 petition. They want to know on what grounds you are eligible to file the petition.

Will there be any problems if my fiance is a Croatian citizen as well as a Serbian citizen (I know that later if he wants American citizenship he will have to remove one of the previous)? No. There won't be a problem. He will be required to list his 'last' given citizenship if he is a citizen of more than one country. The United States technically doesn't recognize dual or triple citizenship - if he is a US citizen then that is all that they count - but they can't take away any of his other citizenships: that can only be down by the country that gave the citizenship. If either Serbia or Croatia do not recognize dual citizenships (which doesn't sound likely from the information you have given), then he may lose one of those when he accepts another citizenship. It is not through any action the US takes, however.

Which is a better and faster way for us to start in order to get him here? Should we go through the fiance visa or the marriage one? The fastest way likely is for you to get your US citizenship and then to sponsor him for a K-1 visa. Another option, however, is to get married even before you have your citizenship and file for a CR-1 visa as a PR. The waiting period is quite long, but once you get your citizenship you then ask then to update their records by enclosing proof of your citizenship and they will then move the application into a category in which visas are currently available. It probably will take longer than the K-1 visa, though.

Also I am 100% sure that i will need a cosponsor? What is the procedure for that? There is an affidavit of support that needs to be filled out by the sponsor (you ) and co-sponsor. Different ones are used by different consulates at different stages of the process. Basically the co-sponsor needs to make at least 125% of the poverty level for their household plus the sponsored immigrant. They need to submit proof of their ability to do so which includes bank records and tax records.

Can I do everything from Serbia? Because I've been thinking of getting married over there and just staying there till all the papers are done and he can come here? Yes, although you really need to be careful about when you go - you want to have your US citizenship in hand first so you don't jeopardize your own status in the US. You will need to keep a residence or an address in the US because the first part of the process is done in the US and you need to be able to respond to mail. The second part of the process moves to the US Consulate overseas and ends with an interview at the consulate.

If we decide to do the fiance visa can I be overseas with him while waiting for it? Again, you need to have an address in the US where you can receive mail and respond to any inquiries before the file is transferred overseas.

Edited August 8, 2009 by Kathryn41

[Mića & Dana 0]

Kathryn thank you so much. As I had said before I will have the citizenship by march and I am planing to start the papers for him by April. As for the stays overseas I have never stayed over there for more than over a month in the past 10 years so I think I am pretty okay with that.

Again thank you and everyone else that has answered my question. Im sure once i start the real process I will update everyone here.