Fiancee Visa or Spousal Visa?

[CaliforniaGirl 0]

I'm American, he's Spanish. I live in the USA and he lives in Spain. We're not married yet. We want to live in Calif.

Should we do the fiancee visa or the spousal visa?

Since he is Spanish, he can come here on just his passport, so we have been back and forth to see each other many times. We are flexible, so we could get married first and then apply for the spousal visa or could apply for the fiancee visa and then get married.

Should we get married in the USA or Spain or does it matter?

I have read the state dept web site visa info and can't make sense of it. Help!

[Justine+David 218]

...depends on what you want to do!

Fiance visa is the quickest way, about 6-8 months, but also more expensive. You can only get married in the U.S. for this route.

CR1 visa is longer by a few more months, although the advantage is that he can work right away and you don't have to go through the adjustment of status to get a green card. You can get married wherever you want if you go this route.

Best of luck deciding and going through your journey!

[CaliforniaGirl 0]

Thanks, Justine & David for your quick reply!

I forgot to mention about work... he won't be working (he will be retired; we're a bit older, he's 55, I'm 42). But he does want to study at the university, so maybe a spousal visa will be better...

Also, while the visa is pending, can he travel to/from the US?

What is the change of status? Is it difficult to do?

[Qiix 0]

Thanks, Justine & David for your quick reply!

I forgot to mention about work... he won't be working (he will be retired; we're a bit older, he's 55, I'm 42). But he does want to study at the university, so maybe a spousal visa will be better...

Also, while the visa is pending, can he travel to/from the US?

What is the change of status? Is it difficult to do?

Our CR/1 Visa only took 7 months, and two of those months were a delay caused by us with our paperwork. Probably would have been under 6 months if we were more prepared

[Justine+David 218]

Qiix, congrats on the fast visa! I was under the impression that CR-1 took longer in most cases as compared to a K1 visa.

Also, while the visa is pending, can he travel to/from the US?

What is the change of status? Is it difficult to do?

Since he's from Spain, there shouldn't be any problems as he can use the visa waiver program, although it is discretionary to every officer at the US border. If he stayed 89 of the 90 days, went home for a week, and wanted to stay another 89 days, that would look kinda fishy.

If you do the K1 visa, once he arrives and you get married, you do what's called an adjustment of status, which means he can get a 2 year conditional green card. After two years, he can apply for a 10 year green card or wait until he's had a green card for 3 years and become a U.S. citizen (dual is permissable in Spain, I think...)

If you do CR-1, you don't need to go through that process once he gets here since you'll go through it with this visa.

My best recommendation to you is to read the "Guides" which are located at the top of visajourney.com Most of the common questions you might have can be answered there.

[JimVaPhuong 4,865]

What is the change of status? Is it difficult to do?

Adjustment Of Status, or AOS. "Status" means immigration status. "Adjustment" refers to changing the immigration status from non-immigrant to immigrant. This involves sending paperwork to USCIS, along with a fat check for $1010, to apply for a green card. "K" visa holders arrive in the US as non-immigrants, and apply for their green card after arrival. CR1/IR1 visa holders arrive in the US as immigrants, having had their green card applications already approved. This is why those visas generally take a little longer to get, and also why the fees are lower.

For some people there is are distinct advantages to one type of visa over the other. With the K1, for example, you can marry your fiance in the US and they can stay here while they wait for their green card to be approved - there's no forced period of separation after marriage. On the the downside, they won't be able to work, and may not be able to go to school or drive a car for several months. With the CR1/IR1 (CR1 if married less than 2 years) you can get married wherever you want, but the immigrant spouse has to be in their home country to apply for the visa. It may not be practical for the US citizen spouse to wait in the immigrant spouse's home country for the visa approval, which means a period of separation after marriage.

There is also a tactical advantage to the K1 for people (like me) with a fiancee from a high fraud country. If the visa is ultimately denied (which is a strong possibility) they can get married and apply for a CR1 while they wait for the lengthy appeals process on the fiancee visa.

It sounds like you guys are really flexible, and none of the above really applies to you. Choose whichever is the most convenient for you. Good luck!