K1 questions about age and sponsorship

[Gatsborg 1]

I have been with my girlfriend for almost a year, she is a US citizen and I live in Ireland. We met online in December 2010 and since then have met multiple times over the last year in both our countries. Wanting to be together, we have looked at our options. It is likely that in the future, possibly near future we will be applying for a K1 in order for me to move to the USA to be with her. We don't want to run into any roadblocks down the line that we could have ironed out in the present so I have some questions.

She is 20 and I am 22. Will our age be a problem? Sometimes we worry that it would be far easier if we were 10 years older as we are both young and look even younger than our age. There is always the fear that our relationship would be dismissed because of this no matter what evidence we provided.

Another thing is that she has never worked and wont be working for at least another few months as she and her family finalise moving to a new state. We would likely use a co-sponsor in one of her parents but even then would she still need to have a history of work or be currently working at the time of the application? Is it possible for the K1 to go through if she has never worked and is unemployed or must we look to getting her working ASAP?

One last thing, do any of my finances matter? Does my income or lack of have any effect on the application. I was on unemployment benefit before, will that be an issue?

Thank you for any replies it would be of great help to us as all the K1 info can be overwhelming and sometimes even contradictory between certain sites.

Edited January 20, 2012 by Gatsborg

[Penguin_ie 6,003]

Your age doesn't matter, as you are both legal to marry, and have a good trackrecord, ie a relationship for over a year with several visits.

As long as you have a co-sponsor who is comfortably over the poverty limit, you should have no trouble getting approved in Ireland, though they may be a bit hesitant if neither of you have employment prospects (no education etc). Your finances don't matter.

[Gatsborg 1]

I have a Bachelor's degree and my girlfriend will be returning to college once she has moved so I think we will be fine there.

Thank you for posting.

[Courtney_Eddie 3]

Hi, there I'm 19 in a week and my fiance is 21. I kind of worried about this too, but everyone said it shouldn't be a problem. I completely get you on thinking it would be so much easier if you guys were 10 years older. Not just for this whole visa process, but for dealing friends and family. Not everyone is supportive and says we're too young so that's kind of a drag. It's worth it, though. I'm pretty sure you two don't want to wait another ten years to be together. This site is so supportive and informative, it'll make the process a lot easier. We only applied about a month ago, but I've already had a bunch of help and support and am pretty confident that if anything goes wrong, it won't be because of our age.

About a co-sponsor, as far as I'm concerned, they just want to make sure you're not going to be a cost to the US government so with a co-sponsor, it should go smoothly.

I really do wish you two the best of luck!

[Gatsborg 1]

Hi, there I'm 19 in a week and my fiance is 21. I kind of worried about this too, but everyone said it shouldn't be a problem. I completely get you on thinking it would be so much easier if you guys were 10 years older. Not just for this whole visa process, but for dealing friends and family. Not everyone is supportive and says we're too young so that's kind of a drag. It's worth it, though. I'm pretty sure you two don't want to wait another ten years to be together. This site is so supportive and informative, it'll make the process a lot easier. We only applied about a month ago, but I've already had a bunch of help and support and am pretty confident that if anything goes wrong, it won't be because of our age.

About a co-sponsor, as far as I'm concerned, they just want to make sure you're not going to be a cost to the US government so with a co-sponsor, it should go smoothly.

I really do wish you two the best of luck!

Dealing with friends and family is a worry for us too. We know at the end of the day it's our life and no one will try stop us and in fact our families will likely be very helpful, but still we dread the day we have to break the news!

Good luck with your application. :]