PLEASE guide me in the right direction.

[Ryan76 46]

Hello all. I have made a few posts here recently, and a few people have given me some really solid advice. One member told me to become a "Visa geek" before I file the K-1. I took her advice and I've been studying, and I've been preparing and gathering information. I understand about 90% of what i need to do for the K-1, and I was to the point that I just needed to ask a few more questions and I would be ready to send the I-129-F packet. However, my girlfriend/fiance spoke with a friend of her family who is an attorney (in Colombia), and she told my fiance to come to the USA on a tourist visa, and she gave her a DS-156 form (in Spanish). I haven't spoken to my fiance yet but I'm calling her tonight and also writing her a letter, and we need to get this figured out. My spanish is good but not great, and she is still in the early phase of learning English, so communicating about these issues in great detail can be a real problem. I know that we do not want to do a tourist visa. My fiance said something to the attorney about us wanting to get married in Colombia and in the USA, and I'm not sure why she gave my fiance the advice she did. I am going to type up a description of our situation, and please help guide me and/or confirm my beliefs that I'm making the right decision. I will try to be brief.

I met my fiance online about 2 years ago when my Spanish professor suggested we find pen pals. We were pen pals who began to develop feelings for each other. After a year of speaking we decided to meet face to face. I spent 3 weeks in July 2010 in Colombia traveling with her and meeting her family. She was everything I'd dreamed of and more, and she feels the same way as I do. We want to get married and live together in the US. I returned home from Colombia August 2nd, and for the last three months I've been working long hours, I took a second job, and i've been collecting info and preparing to file for the k-1 visa. I'm literally dedicating my life to saving as much money as possible and completing this immigration process. Our plan was/is to file for the K-1, find out the approximate wait time, and then I would plan another vacation to Colombia about halfway through the Visa process, at which time I will take her a wedding ring and officially propose. She wants to get married in her country, which I am fine with, but I assumed we would have a wedding and NOT turn it into the Colombian government. It would be a wedding for social and religious purposes, but not "official" in the eyes of the law. We would then have a wedding in the United States after she arrives on the K-1, to make things official.

But now she has talked to this other attorney, and I'm not exactly sure how their conversation went, but now she's talking about a tourist visa and how hard it can be to get approved for a fiance visa, and how she wants to have the wedding in her country - almost making it sound as if she thinks we can't get the k-1 visa and be married in her country......and now i'm just getting a little confused.

The bottom line is we love each other, and we both want to be together as soon as possible. Is my original plan the best plan? Do I tell her to forget everything the attorney told her and insist the K-1 visa is the best and fastest visa for our situation? Am I correct in thinking we can have a wedding ceremony in Colombia whenever we want, as long as we don't register the marriage with the Colombian Government? And what other advice might you have for me as it pertains to this situation?

I really, really appreciate the feedback.

Thanks,

Ryan

[canadian_wife 1,791]

First of all, tourist visas are for tourists - those who intend to visit the US and return to their home country. The intention of your fiance getting a tourist visa is unclear by your post so I thought I'd clarify that

The K-1 fiance visa is slightly faster (but more expensive) than the spousal visa. However, it requires you to marry in the US. You cannot legally marry outside of the US and often 'religious' ceremonies are mistaken for legal ones and K-1s have been denied for that reason. I'd play it safe if it was me. If you want to marry in Columbia, petition for a Cr1 spoual visa.

A lot of people want the fastest way - as did we. However, the need to work and travel was important to us as was the cheaper cost of the Cr-1

Compare the options here

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

And the K-1 guide here

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

Good luck

PS married is married, I do not believe you can marry in 2 countires legally.

[Rejoui 0]

Hey Ryan,

I had a similar situation with my now husband. From what I understand, in having gone through this process, your plan would work. I have a friend who did the same thing last year with his now wife from Brazil. They had the religious ceremony in Brazil but not legalized ceremony, so in the eyes of the law she was still his fiance. When she arrived in the US they had their legal ceremony and reception for American friends and family.

As for the tourist visa, she can do that also. However, it may make things more complicated. You coould not then file for the K-1 but rather for a spousal visa. I honestly haven't done any research on that and don't know if she would be required to return to her country while the spousal visa is considered. In my opinion, it's better to do the K-1 and just have all of your documentation. If you are then denied, then go the other route.

My experience was surprisingly very smooth. Everything went along very close to the indicated timeline, despite delays with snail-mail and not receiving some notices at all. It is nerve-racking, but definitely doable. I hope you're encouraged, you've already accomplished the hardest thing, finding the person you want to spend the rest of your life with...everything after that is worth it to keep her!

[Ryan76 46]

I do realize the tourist visas are for tourists only, which is why I was confused this attorney told her that. Much of what the attorney told her does not make sense to me, and I'm not sure what angle she was trying to play. I think much of it has to do with my fiance wanting to get married in Colombia. I do believe from what I have learned that we can have a wedding but as long as we don't have it officially reported to the Government it will not be a "legal" marriage. Rejoui's response to my post seems to say the same thing. But yeah, if we got married in Colombia while in the process of the K-1, we would NOT reported and make sure that no one from her church reported it.

I also might talk to my fiance and just to play it safe have a wedding ceremony in Colombia AFTER we've been officially married in the United States.

Thanks for the responses. I'll probably be posting a new topic again in a few days when I try to wrap up the I-129-F packet.

[Used to be broken 143]

But now she has talked to this other attorney, and I'm not exactly sure how their conversation went, but now she's talking about a tourist visa and how hard it can be to get approved for a fiance visa, and how she wants to have the wedding in her country - almost making it sound as if she thinks we can't get the k-1 visa and be married in her country......and now i'm just getting a little confused.

The bottom line is we love each other, and we both want to be together as soon as possible. Is my original plan the best plan? Do I tell her to forget everything the attorney told her and insist the K-1 visa is the best and fastest visa for our situation? Am I correct in thinking we can have a wedding ceremony in Colombia whenever we want, as long as we don't register the marriage with the Colombian Government? And what other advice might you have for me as it pertains to this situation?

I really, really appreciate the feedback.

Thanks,

Ryan

Ryan,

First of all congratulations. The entire process seems rather confusing doesn't it? Only because it is

I am no expert on the Fiance VISA and I have been reading this board on and off for a couple years, but it appears you have somewhat of a grasp of the process. I will echo what the other two posters have said, I have seen many reports of smooth sailing on these boards but the ones that turn into what seems like a major fiasco involve bad advice from people who follow foolish advice from someone that they can do such-and-such because they know someone who did it...yada yada.

The other poster is right, tourist VISA's are for tourists and fiance VISA's are for people coming here to get married, one of the worst things you can do to screw up an otherwise straight forward process is to have her come on a tourist VISA and get stopped by border folks who interview her and find out she is coming here with the intention of getting married and thinking she is going to stick around to adjust status afterward. (this is considered a type of immigration fraud and very serious) You didn't say she would do this, but why complicate it? She will have to leave after you get married and its one more expense you shouldn't have to incur.

As for the Colombian Civil ceremony, same issue pops up seems like every other week, someone who got married in a religious ceremony has an issue with the consulate saying no Fiance VISA you are already married... but they aren't already officially married in the fiances country so they have to start over again and it takes more time and more money.

So, all I am saying is be very careful of the advice you follow and spend some time reading these boards where folks got tripped up and made a huge error which is not easily resolved. I think if you do it the right way, tell the truth to the immigration folks and follow all the instructions you should have no problems. If you are going to do a civil ceremony in Columbia make sure you understand the law there (and this might be what the attorney she is talking to is telling her, they might recognize religious ceremony ) and make sure you make it clear with the consulate going in this is the plan so you don't get tripped up later in the process.

Good luck

Edited October 29, 2010 by brokenfamily

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I do realize the tourist visas are for tourists only, which is why I was confused this attorney told her that. Much of what the attorney told her does not make sense to me, and I'm not sure what angle she was trying to play. I think much of it has to do with my fiance wanting to get married in Colombia. I do believe from what I have learned that we can have a wedding but as long as we don't have it officially reported to the Government it will not be a "legal" marriage. Rejoui's response to my post seems to say the same thing. But yeah, if we got married in Colombia while in the process of the K-1, we would NOT reported and make sure that no one from her church reported it.

I also might talk to my fiance and just to play it safe have a wedding ceremony in Colombia AFTER we've been officially married in the United States.

Thanks for the responses. I'll probably be posting a new topic again in a few days when I try to wrap up the I-129-F packet.

It is illegal to use a non-immigrant visa with the preconceived intention of immigrating. Few get caught. Those who do face severe consequences - a potential lifetime ban from the United States. The risk isn't great, but there is no risk if you pursue the right kind of visa. What the lawyer is suggesting is fraud. Your fiancee should tell him so - to his face!

It doesn't really matter if the marriage is legal by Colombian law. What matters is whether the consulate thinks it's legal. A legal marriage in most countries is a two-step process - the ceremony and the registration. In the US, and other countries, you begin the registration process before the ceremony by getting a license, and complete the registration after the ceremony by signing the license, along with the JP, and submitting it for registration. In some countries the entire registration process can be done after the ceremony. Whichever is the case, if you've completed half of the legal marriage process then the consulate is free to presume you've completed the other half. There have been many VJ members who have been denied K1 visas because they presented photos of a wedding ceremony at the consulate interview. Unless there is something similar to a traditional or cultural engagement ceremony, I would avoid any sort of ceremony at all.

Seriously, don't play games like this. If you want to get married in Colombia then get married and file for a spousal visa. It costs less overall, and your wife will get her green card within a few weeks of arriving in the US.

If you decide to go with the fiancee visa then you MUST be engaged before you send the I-129F petition. This is an absolute prerequisite. You cannot propose after you send the petition. If the consulate finds out about this they will deny the visa and send the petition back to USCIS with a recommendation that the approval be revoked.

[Ryan76 46]

Thanks again for the great responses. I'd like to write a lengthier response, but I'm dead tired and can barely keep my eyes open right now. For the record, I would NEVER lie to the immigration services, and my fiance is the same way...she would not want to lie. It is the attorney that has suggested this and I'm still not exactly sure why.

I think that I will tell my fiance that we will have a ceremony in Colombia AFTER we are officially married in the USA. That way there are no issues. I was under the impression we could simply have a wedding ceremony and not register in Colombia, but if there is even a .0001% chance that will screw something up then I don't want to do it.

Oh, and for the record....we are "engaged" even though I have not gone through the formal process of handing her a ring (if that makes any sense). We have traveled her entire country and gained the approval of all of her family, and my family approves, and we are absolutely planning on getting married. I just didn't have the money at the time of our vacation to buy her a nice ring. But I do now and plan on giving it to her the next time we are face to face. Our intention with the K-1 visa is 100% to get married within 60 days of her arrival, and it will probably be more like 2-3 weeks after her arrival.

Anyway, thanks again..i'm off to bed. Talk to you guys soon.