where do we start!

[reggie79 0]

I am currently a serving member of the British Armed Forces, after being sent to the US for work I met my girlfriend. It's a beautiful story and we are deeply in love. We have decided we wish to get married and are speaking about next May as the date, I am being sent back out to the US for a few months for work again as of Jan. Due to my service commitments I will not be rushing into emigration, I cannot until as such times as I can leave the military which will not be for at least a year from now, up to a maximum of 2 years.

We have spoke about living in both countries and dealing with the time apart until I can leave my job.

Ultimately, we are hoping to be able to live together and reside in the US with me being able to work. I'm not necessarily looking for citizenship, just for us to be able to be together, be able to live together and me to earn a living legitimately, be able to return home to the UK to visit, then return back to the States.

I/we have no idea where to start with this, I understand it's a lengthy process but at the moment we have time on our side, so, decided to do our research as to how we get the ball rolling, where and when to start.

Also.... we are planning on getting married in the Bahamas, will this matter? Or will we have to do it on US soil.

Secondly, after a moment of stupidity I have a criminal conviction from 8 years ago after getting involved in a fight. In the UK this is now considered 'spent' and I do not even have to declare it anymore, but, I'm guessing US authorities will want to know about it and I'm wondering if it will affect any visa application?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, many thanks!

[stefan y karen 23]

I am currently a serving member of the British Armed Forces, after being sent to the US for work I met my girlfriend. It's a beautiful story and we are deeply in love. We have decided we wish to get married and are speaking about next May as the date, I am being sent back out to the US for a few months for work again as of Jan. Due to my service commitments I will not be rushing into emigration, I cannot until as such times as I can leave the military which will not be for at least a year from now, up to a maximum of 2 years.

We have spoke about living in both countries and dealing with the time apart until I can leave my job.

Ultimately, we are hoping to be able to live together and reside in the US with me being able to work. I'm not necessarily looking for citizenship, just for us to be able to be together, be able to live together and me to earn a living legitimately, be able to return home to the UK to visit, then return back to the States.

I/we have no idea where to start with this, I understand it's a lengthy process but at the moment we have time on our side, so, decided to do our research as to how we get the ball rolling, where and when to start.

Also.... we are planning on getting married in the Bahamas, will this matter? Or will we have to do it on US soil.

Secondly, after a moment of stupidity I have a criminal conviction from 8 years ago after getting involved in a fight. In the UK this is now considered 'spent' and I do not even have to declare it anymore, but, I'm guessing US authorities will want to know about it and I'm wondering if it will affect any visa application?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, many thanks!

First off, ALWAYS declare the fight. Even if it is spent in the UK, if they find it on their background check and you didn't report it, it will look like you were trying to hide it and that could end up preventing you getting a Visa.

Used to be that Brits could travel to the US without a Visa, but I understand that with the new biometrics issue, this may change soon and Brits may need a Visa too!

Your best bet may be to get a tourist Visa until such time that you decide to marry. Then you will need to choose where you want to marry and how long you want to be apart. I think everyone on here would say that if you choose to get married, PLAN IN ADVANCE because K1 visas (for fiances) or K3 Visas (for spouses) have significant lead times.

Good luck & God Bless!

[Nicoco 26]

I am currently a serving member of the British Armed Forces, after being sent to the US for work I met my girlfriend. It's a beautiful story and we are deeply in love. We have decided we wish to get married and are speaking about next May as the date, I am being sent back out to the US for a few months for work again as of Jan. Due to my service commitments I will not be rushing into emigration, I cannot until as such times as I can leave the military which will not be for at least a year from now, up to a maximum of 2 years.

We have spoke about living in both countries and dealing with the time apart until I can leave my job.

Ultimately, we are hoping to be able to live together and reside in the US with me being able to work. I'm not necessarily looking for citizenship, just for us to be able to be together, be able to live together and me to earn a living legitimately, be able to return home to the UK to visit, then return back to the States.

I/we have no idea where to start with this, I understand it's a lengthy process but at the moment we have time on our side, so, decided to do our research as to how we get the ball rolling, where and when to start.

Also.... we are planning on getting married in the Bahamas, will this matter? Or will we have to do it on US soil.

Secondly, after a moment of stupidity I have a criminal conviction from 8 years ago after getting involved in a fight. In the UK this is now considered 'spent' and I do not even have to declare it anymore, but, I'm guessing US authorities will want to know about it and I'm wondering if it will affect any visa application?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, many thanks!

Like Stefan y Karen said, use tourist visas to visit and be with eachother until you decide whether to marry right away or do a K-1 visa. You mentioned you want to get married outside of the US. That would mean you cannot do a K-1 visa, because a K-1 requires that you stay in the US until after you have gotten married and adjusted your status to a green card. You might want to do a marriage visa.

However, one of the big reasons why we didn't do a marriage visa is because it takes longer than a K-1 in most cases.

And like Stefan y Karen said, be completely open/honest about the fight.

Good luck to you two!

[Barbara J 115]

I am currently a serving member of the British Armed Forces, after being sent to the US for work I met my girlfriend. It's a beautiful story and we are deeply in love. We have decided we wish to get married and are speaking about next May as the date, I am being sent back out to the US for a few months for work again as of Jan. Due to my service commitments I will not be rushing into emigration, I cannot until as such times as I can leave the military which will not be for at least a year from now, up to a maximum of 2 years.

We have spoke about living in both countries and dealing with the time apart until I can leave my job.

Ultimately, we are hoping to be able to live together and reside in the US with me being able to work. I'm not necessarily looking for citizenship, just for us to be able to be together, be able to live together and me to earn a living legitimately, be able to return home to the UK to visit, then return back to the States.

I/we have no idea where to start with this, I understand it's a lengthy process but at the moment we have time on our side, so, decided to do our research as to how we get the ball rolling, where and when to start.

Also.... we are planning on getting married in the Bahamas, will this matter? Or will we have to do it on US soil.

Secondly, after a moment of stupidity I have a criminal conviction from 8 years ago after getting involved in a fight. In the UK this is now considered 'spent' and I do not even have to declare it anymore, but, I'm guessing US authorities will want to know about it and I'm wondering if it will affect any visa application?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, many thanks!

Whatever visa you choose you will have a police check so this will have to be upfront anyways. You can marry anywhere you like but then your USC wife would then file a CR1 spousal visa for you which in real terms takes the same as 129f fiance visa 5-9 months for approval. You can come to visit the US on VWP i think from the UK or she can visit you there during this whole time.

Ultimately the choice is up to you as you said you don't want to be a citizen and that's cool me neither but you will get GC status if you doe CR1 on arrival so no adjusting of status there and then you can go and visit UK when you like.

Edited November 6, 2011 by Barbara J

[cmoore25 4]

One of my friends from the UK went the marriage/CR1 route - and they were approved in 7 months...also, when you go the marriage route, you will receive your right to work right away with the visa. If I could go back and do it all over again - we would have chosen the marriage route vs the fiance route. The best advice I can give: research both and make the best decision for your situation. It sounds like you have plenty of time - due to being in the military - so even if the spousal visa took longer - you'd be okay. Good luck!

[Boiler 48,239]

Generally if you are eligible to use the VWP your chances of a tourist visa are very slim.

My first thought is how have you been entering the US so far? Did you declare your conviction?

[hikergirl 277]

One thing to add though, I'm fairly certain that you can't be on a NATO Visa and adjust status. This is where you marry and then stay on, so you will need to do the CR-1 route where you interview from the UK. There are guides at the top of the regular forums (not on mobile which is what I'm on) that explain the different types of Visas and the length of time and cost of each. Best wishes in your journey.

[Nicoco 26]

One of my friends from the UK went the marriage/CR1 route - and they were approved in 7 months...also, when you go the marriage route, you will receive your right to work right away with the visa. If I could go back and do it all over again - we would have chosen the marriage route vs the fiance route. The best advice I can give: research both and make the best decision for your situation. It sounds like you have plenty of time - due to being in the military - so even if the spousal visa took longer - you'd be okay. Good luck!

I always wondered about that...I heard so many stories about how K-1 was faster and CR-1 took about a year, but lately it seems like it's not always the case because depending on which country your SO is from, it may take just as long with a K-1 Overall, I still think K-1 is faster for most tho.

[Dan & Jenni 457]

you want to marry and then move to the US to be with your wife at a later date - research CR-1 visa.

no matter which visa you decide to go for, citizenship is entirely up to you and not something you need to think about right now.

criminal convictions - the US does not recognise the UK's rehabilitation of offenders act so all convictions, whether spent or not, and all cautions etc etc need to be declared when applying for any type of visa. so long as your honest then it shouldnt affect your application.

good luck

[Boiler 48,239]

If it was a CIMT, he may well have an issue.

[Dan & Jenni 457]

yeah a CIMT would more than likely affect it. i was assuming that when the OP said he got involved in a fight that is was just a minor public order offence

[reggie79 0]

thanks guys, very helpful, my time in the US so far has been NATO travel orders and invitational travel orders from the US military as it was with work, the times I've been back since has been ESTA.

What's a CIMT? My conviction was for ABH (actual bodily harm), I received a fine for this. Also I was cautioned a couple of times as a kid (before 18), I do not believe these are even held on record anymore in the UK so would I need to declare this too? Don't think I can even remember what they were for to be honest! I have nothing to hide though and wish to do things properly so I would declare them but not sure how I'd go about finding out what they were for! Especially if they're not held on record!

We were planning on getting married next May, however as said before I wouldn't be wanting to live full time in the US for a year or 2 at least.

[reggie79 0]

Oh, and I didn't declare the conviction on the ESTA as I didn't believe it fell into the bracket of what they were asking ie CIMT, I've not had 2 convictions, I served no prison sentence, it was nothing to do with drugs

[Dan & Jenni 457]

im not sure whether ABH will make a difference or not but when the time comes you will need an 'ACPO police certificate' (which everyone applying for a visa from the UK needs), a 'subject access request' which will list offences and dates (check your local police force website for details), and a 'memorandum of conviction' which is basically a court report and can be obtained from the clerk of court at the court you attended. the subject access request will list all information held about you by the police so if the crimes committed before you was 18 are still held then they will show up on that. anything that does show up needs to be declared.

i think the CR-1 visa is what you will need to apply for.

[Boiler 48,239]

GBH I am pretty sure would be a CIMT.

ABH, may depend on he circumstances how it translates.