K1 aplicant now married!!!HELP!

[maimu 0]

Hi there,

i really hope i can find an answer for myself. We did apply for K1 visa back in May but looks that will take forever and we have this plan but we dont want to ruin everything.

We are planing to get married here and then he will come with me to teh embassy to ask for an immigration visa. We have friends that did it and was smooth with no problems. Our only question is ... we are in a K1 process ... is this going to be a bad thing? Do you think they will know about the K1 application? I called the embassy and the lady said " we don't ask you to cancel your K1 process in order to apply for an immigration visa" and that is true but they might deny our aplication because of it. And we are worryed cos we will loose this K1 and I really want to be there with my fience and the rest of my family.

I hope I was clear enough. Thanks alot in advance!

[gwenneh 7]

Hi there,

i really hope i can find an answer for myself. We did apply for K1 visa back in May but looks that will take forever and we have this plan but we dont want to ruin everything.

We are planing to get married here and then he will come with me to teh embassy to ask for an immigration visa. We have friends that did it and was smooth with no problems. Our only question is ... we are in a K1 process ... is this going to be a bad thing? Do you think they will know about the K1 application? I called the embassy and the lady said " we don't ask you to cancel your K1 process in order to apply for an immigration visa" and that is true but they might deny our aplication because of it. And we are worryed cos we will loose this K1 and I really want to be there with my fience and the rest of my family.

I hope I was clear enough. Thanks alot in advance!

If you are married, you are ineligble for the K-1. You will invalidate the process. You cannot enter the country on a K-1 if you are married. The K-1 is the FIANCE visa and if a person is no longer your fiance they cannot use it. You will not be able to adjust status from it should you enter, and you may find yourself charged with fraud. If you marry before receiving the K-1 you will have to file for a different visa (K-3 or DCF if you're eligible) and start again from the beginning.

YES, they will know, and YES, it will be a bad thing.

[maimu 0]

we're just going to cancel our K1 petition then ... it's so confusing ... so complicated ...

But thats alot and good luck everybody!

[twellspeak 1]

When you say "We are planing to get married here ", do you mean the US or Romania?

[dwar49 0]

If you are married in Romania, you will have to apply for the spousal visa. You can not just go into the embassy and receive a visa because you are married. Currently the spousal visa waiting time is almost the same as a fiancee visa. Your decision but if you are part way thru the process for K-1 visa already you might want to rethink your idea of getting married now and wait out the fiancee visa. The other posts are correct you can not enter the country on a fiancee visa if already married.

There are exceptions to this but it is a chancy thing and if the marriage is a legally binding, you will be refused entry or charged with visa fraud.

Think this thru carefully and read up on the spousal visa process before deciding. Dont take word of mouth advice. Look it up and read the rules.

[vartan 0]

Think this thru carefully and read up on the spousal visa process before deciding. Dont take word of mouth advice. Look it up and read the rules.

Im with dwar on this one.. as it has been stated many times immigration is a very very serious thing.. Lies can bring you bans, and everything has rules and regs.. its not a matter to play with .. I have seen horror stories of people not bringing all their proof of a relationship and being denied.. people overstaying and being banned, etc, etc... While the US is happy to have immigrants come over then have rules setup and want them followed.. or else.. also right now it is more strict then ever with all the talk about illegal immigrants in the US currently.. just be really careful is all I ask ..

[Jaci 0]

Hi Maimu

If you have a very solid case (few or no red flags, evidence of a long ongoing relationship, man is USC)

you might have a really good experience with DCF in Bucharest.

We tried it but were not successful, due to complications in our case. I can tell you however, that an email to the embassy with your wedding date and an extremely polite request ought to get you an invite for filing I-130 directly. Try <visasbucharest@state..gov>. If it doesn't work you'll have to file an I-130 from scratch with your service center. The K-1 shoulnd't be an impediment unless of course you DO have red flags, etc..

Here's what they told me:

> American citizens may file immigrant visa (I-130) petitions on behalf

of

> their spouses at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest under certain

conditions,

> as an exception to the normal process of filing the petition with the

U.S.

> Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) in the United States. We

will

> accept a petition filing in Bucharest if the beneficiary has no

> immigration problems in his past, if we have no concerns about the

bona

> fide nature of the marriage, if all the documents are in order, and

if the

> petitioner is present in Romania long enough to file the petition.

Noroc!

Jaci

[dwar49 0]

Jaci is correct, under certain circumstances you can file consular direct I-130s however that does not preclude the same processing requirements nor to my knowledge shorten the time required. It just means you file your petition at a different location (i.e. consular rather than service center)

[Jaci 0]

Jaci is correct, under certain circumstances you can file consular direct I-130s however that does not preclude the same processing requirements nor to my knowledge shorten the time required. It just means you file your petition at a different location (i.e. consular rather than service center)

Dwar,

Had the DCF worked for us we could have had the visa in as little as 2 days, perhaps as much as 1 month. I do know of another VJer who successfully did this after a failed visitor visa attempt. It was too tempting not to try when they emailed me back with an interview time. I suppose it took about 10 days from the time I wrote them to get their response.

Jaci

Edit to add: other VJer had visa in about a week, if I recall correctly.

Edited July 15, 2006 by Jaci

[kofuku 0]

Jaci's advice is golden. Contact the embassy before you make any decision with your plans to marry. They will reply in a timely manner and most likely will get you in for an appointment to file at the embassy. There DCF process is one of the fastest. It took us 16 days for my husband to get his visa there.

Bafta,

Christine

Edited July 15, 2006 by kofuku

[dwar49 0]

Okay I understand you can file at the embassy, but what you are telling me is that you can receive a spousal visa in a few days or month by doing that yet it takes months to get approval by doing it in the states. Not sure about this, as I have never seen that. Would love some solid documented proof because if that is the case why are we all waiting for K-1 visa, if we could do that, we would all just go to their country, get married and file that way and have spouse home in month or so?

Guess I need to research this as it doesnt make sense!!!

Okay Kofuka,

sounds like it works, new one on me, I stand corrected.

[Jaci 0]

Jaci's advice is golden. Contact the embassy before you make any decision with your plans to marry. They will reply in a timely manner and most likely will get you in for an appointment to file at the embassy.

Bafta,

Christine

If I was toast right now I'd be burnt not golden.. but I don't think this couple has anything to lose by trying if everything is in order. BTW It wasn't you I was referring to above but didn't you guys do this also ? Eeek. See what I mean? It's so long ago now I almost forget

[kofuku 0]

Would love some solid documented proof because if that is the case why are we all waiting for K-1 visa, if we could do that, we would all just go to their country, get married and file that way and have spouse home in month or so?

Dwar,

Each country has its own rules on who can file DCF. In Romania, to date, USC do not need to be residents of the country to file DCF for their Romanian spouses. However, the USC does need to be in attendance at the first interview appointment when the I-130 is submitted. That is why it is important for Maimu to contact the embassy stating her plans to marry with a specific date so that they can get her an appointment while her husband is still in country.

Christine

[Jaci 0]

Okay I understand you can file at the embassy, but what you are telling me is that you can receive a spousal visa in a few days or month by doing that yet it takes months to get approval by doing it in the states. Not sure about this, as I have never seen that. Would love some solid documented proof because if that is the case why are we all waiting for K-1 visa, if we could do that, we would all just go to their country, get married and file that way and have spouse home in month or so?

Guess I need to research this as it doesnt make sense!!!

Okay Kofuka,

sounds like it works, new one on me, I stand corrected.

Dwar,

I'm no expert on anything, but I think maybe you might not have heard of this because the consulate in england doesn't do it unless a US citizen is residing in the UK. Why not check out the DCF forum anyway?

Maybe it doesn't seem fair, but on the other hand I've never heard of a genuine couple being denied through UK, so I guess there are tradeoffs.

The idea is if you actually live in a foreign country and happen to marry while abroad, you aren't required to come back to the US and file for your spouse here, leaving him/her behind. Sometimes exceptions are made as per my post quoting the consulate in BU.

Wishing you the best,

Jaci

[dwar49 0]

Oh I knew that you could file overseas if you resided there and married, that wasnt the issue. I just didnt realize that it cut months off the waiting time as figured it went thru the same process that it would if I filed here. That was what surprised me, that by doing that it seemed to go around the normal processing time.

Anyone that can legally cut the waiting time down is okay by me, good for them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!