A few Questions / Concerns

[Stephen87 0]

Hello everyone.

Well firstly i am recentaly engaged and my fiancee (a US citizen) has had aproval to file the 1st forms to get me into the usa on a k-1 visa....

Reading over the outline of the process and forms and everything we have a few questions and concerns about this whole process....

The main one is about planning a wedding around the timeframe that it gives us to get married once the visa is approved... without knowing the dates to be able to book it in ( she is looking at a place she has her heart set on but cant book until we know dates and stuff and it books fast )... along with that her parents say they wont book anything until the visa is approved... sigh... lol

Anyway now onto the questions we have... oh btw i live in Australia if that helps

1. What is the General timeframe for approval

2. Can we get married while the visa is getting approval or will that make us have to restart the visa proccess or apply for a different visa?

3. is their other legal ways where i can get married to her and then live and work in the usa after the getting married (like stay there after the wedding?)

4. how does the living and working situation work on this visa? am i able to work / look for work in the initial 90 days ( get married within here sometime) i have once i get into the usa before i get married or do i have to waid until after the wedding and file some more forms.

I have more questions i can't think of right now but when they come to mind i will ask....

Just a stressful time trying to get the starting of planning for a wedding and a big move within the next year and a half as many of you know so any info or help and advice would greatly help

Thank you everyone

- Stephen

[Rhiannercakes 14]

1. It's different per country. Some countries get alot of applications put into Additional Processing. You may want to take a look at the recent Australian timelines, they'll give you an idea.

2. No. Marrying will void the application. You can get a non-legal ceremony done, but you have to be careful with those. If you wish to do that, you'll probably need to do some research.

3. No. Doing so is illegal. You need the proper visa.

4. You can't work until you file for EAD. It's filed along with AOS or afterward. You can probably look for jobs, but you may not accept any of them, since you can not work legally.

If you're concerned about working right away, you should probably get married and file for CR-1. It takes a few extra months but you'll enter the US with a green card and you'll be able to work right away. Not to mention, it takes the guess work out of trying to plan a wedding around a pending K-1 application.

Do some research and see what's best for you two.

Edited January 16, 2010 by Rhiannercakes

[Stephen87 0]

thank you for that

also reading up on some of the other posts about work status

at this current time i have not got a job, would this hinder anything at all and what things would i need to do if i submit the forms while having no work and get a job later?

[az110965 252]

Hello everyone.

Well firstly i am recentaly engaged and my fiancee (a US citizen) has had aproval to file the 1st forms to get me into the usa on a k-1 visa....

Reading over the outline of the process and forms and everything we have a few questions and concerns about this whole process....

The main one is about planning a wedding around the timeframe that it gives us to get married once the visa is approved... without knowing the dates to be able to book it in ( she is looking at a place she has her heart set on but cant book until we know dates and stuff and it books fast )... along with that her parents say they wont book anything until the visa is approved... sigh... lol

Anyway now onto the questions we have... oh btw i live in Australia if that helps

1. What is the General timeframe for approval

2. Can we get married while the visa is getting approval or will that make us have to restart the visa proccess or apply for a different visa?

3. is their other legal ways where i can get married to her and then live and work in the usa after the getting married (like stay there after the wedding?)

4. how does the living and working situation work on this visa? am i able to work / look for work in the initial 90 days ( get married within here sometime) i have once i get into the usa before i get married or do i have to waid until after the wedding and file some more forms.

I have more questions i can't think of right now but when they come to mind i will ask....

Just a stressful time trying to get the starting of planning for a wedding and a big move within the next year and a half as many of you know so any info or help and advice would greatly help

Thank you everyone

- Stephen

Hi Stephen...

Regarding answers to your questions - I highly recommend you read the sections in the forum pertaining to K-1 visas. That having been said:

1)General time frame... Varies GREATLY with many variables. First variable is you and your fiancee. If you follow the directions in the K-1 Visa guidelines and complete all of your paperwork properly you can cut the processing time by avoiding RFE's (Request For Evidence). These are generally due to incomplete petitions or missing information. So rule #1 is to provide ALL required information and forms.

Also - numerous background and name checks are performed so your case can fall into an AP at any time if either you or your fiancee has a name that is similar to somone else's who has a criminal history. AP can take from 1 week to 8 weeks to clear and sometimes more.

The processing center timelines also vary from CSC to VSC - the center processing your petition is determined by where the USC resides. Currently VSC (Vermont Service Center) appears to be running a bit faster that CSC, but this can change at any time.

NVC processing can also hold up your petition. If there are no AP's at the NVC stage, then your petition is processed fairly quickly 1-2 weeks and is sent on to the Consulate where the beneficiary lives. Availability and scheduling of Consulate interview appointments varies greatly, some take 1-2 weeks to schedule interviews, some others take 2+ months.

So, overall, if EVERYTHING goes smoothly some folks have gone from filing to receiving their K-1 visas in as little as 5 months, some have taken well over a year.

2. You CAN NOT get married while K-1 petition is being processed. K-1 is a one time entry visa for fiancees, where you must either marry in 90 days from your entry or leave the country. If you marry while under I-129F K-1 petition your visa will automatically be denied and you will have to start from the beginning by filing either K-3 or CR-1 Visa. DO NOT GET MARRIED WHILE FILING FOR A K-1!!!

Someone else want to chime in for questions 3-4.

Al

[Rhiannercakes 14]

thank you for that

also reading up on some of the other posts about work status

at this current time i have not got a job, would this hinder anything at all and what things would i need to do if i submit the forms while having no work and get a job later?

The USC doesn't need to prove support until the interview.

If the USC doesn't make enough money, they need a co-sponsor. It can be a friend, or family I believe. I didn't have to use one, so you'll probably have to do some reading up on it.

As it is though, you can file for the K-1 right now and worry about the support part afterward.

[msu17 0]

thank you for that

also reading up on some of the other posts about work status

at this current time i have not got a job, would this hinder anything at all and what things would i need to do if i submit the forms while having no work and get a job later?

Your income doesn't matter, it's just hers that matters since she is petitioning for you. The USC is financially responsible for bringing over their SO.

Regarding your fiance wanting to plan the wedding, keep in mind you have 6 months from the date you get the visa in which you can use it and then you have 90 days after you enter to get married in. This gives you a total of 9 months in which to play with, a totally do-able timeframe for wedding planning. My husband and I planned our wedding (typical US wedding) in about 2-3 months. I looked ahead and talked with the vendors I liked and explained the situation. Once we got his interview date I put downpayments on the places we liked as long as we could move the date within a year (still a risk but one we were willing to take at that point). He moved over about a month after he got the visa and we got married a month after he moved. We got married on a Thursday and everything was open then plus we got lots of discounts! Don't be limited or tempted to break the law based on the time constraints. Another option a lot of people do is to have a courthouse/legal marriage shortly after arriving, file AOS in time and plan the big wedding for later that year or the next year.

[Stephen87 0]

Your income doesn't matter, it's just hers that matters since she is petitioning for you. The USC is financially responsible for bringing over their SO.

Regarding your fiance wanting to plan the wedding, keep in mind you have 6 months from the date you get the visa in which you can use it and then you have 90 days after you enter to get married in. This gives you a total of 9 months in which to play with, a totally do-able timeframe for wedding planning. My husband and I planned our wedding (typical US wedding) in about 2-3 months. I looked ahead and talked with the vendors I liked and explained the situation. Once we got his interview date I put downpayments on the places we liked as long as we could move the date within a year (still a risk but one we were willing to take at that point). He moved over about a month after he got the visa and we got married a month after he moved. We got married on a Thursday and everything was open then plus we got lots of discounts! Don't be limited or tempted to break the law based on the time constraints. Another option a lot of people do is to have a courthouse/legal marriage shortly after arriving, file AOS in time and plan the big wedding for later that year or the next year.

i was looking into the courthouse/legal marrahe idea but we are unsure about that at this time... we will work everything out, just in the begining stages right now so will see how it goes...

thanks for help

[Filipina Lover 1]

You are looking at 3 to 3 1/2 months of waiting until they approve it, then you do the medical exam and interview and get your visa, that could take a month.

You can work when you get here after you get the SS#, but get married as soon as possible and file for the EAD card, or else if you are working and they don't approve your EAD before your 90 days is up, then you have to stop working until you get that EAD work permit.

Last time I did this we were lucky and she got the EAD after about 1 month, but I hear that it can take over 90 days, so get married and get that paperwork sent in as soon as possible.

Las Vegas is the best because you can get married the same day and it's all done, get your certficate the next day, but you probably aren't doing it that way, so for you, maybe 3 or 4 weeks to get your certificate after you arrive.

Just say where you are and enjoy, but if you have a visa to the USA or if your Passport is acceptable, then you can come here for a while but have to go back to do your immigration stuff and you can't work here until you come here officially as a K1 fiance.

If you are required to have a visa to come here and you don't have one already, then don't try to get one, just wait for the K1 visa.

nobody seems to realize that you can work here with the I94 card and the SS# for 90 days after you arrive. https://s044a90.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx...33;opendocument

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I advise you look here:

- LAND DOWNUNDER, Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=183541

- Australian Beneficiaries - Packet 3 to Interview date: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=206016

- AOS, EAD & AP from K1 - the Aussie way (doc list included): http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=235331

The should be able to give you some good answers.

To answer your questions directly now though:

1. What is the General timeframe for approval - as long as your case is simple, and your documents complete (i.e. no RFE's), you're looking at around 6 months.

2. Can we get married while the visa is getting approval or will that make us have to restart the visa proccess or apply for a different visa? - Well you CAN get married if you like but it voids the application because it's for fiance's, not spouses. If you get married first you can apply for the CR-1 visa and wait in Australia the same BUT you can work immediately on your entry to the US

3. is their other legal ways where i can get married to her and then live and work in the usa after the getting married (like stay there after the wedding?) - there is no LEGAL way for you to get married and stay there except via the k1. If you get married immediately (say court house) and then file AOS, EAD and AP, you should be working in 3 months.

4. how does the living and working situation work on this visa? am i able to work / look for work in the initial 90 days ( get married within here sometime) i have once i get into the usa before i get married or do i have to waid until after the wedding and file some more forms. - Some POE's put an EAD stamp in your passport but I hear that's getting rarer and rarer, otherwise you can LOOK for work but you cannot LEGALLY work until you have received your EAD or GC and you only receive those after applying for AOS and it'll take about 3 months from then