Multi cultural

[censu 0]

Good evening everyone,

Tonight is my first visit to this site, it comes highly recommended from one of you existing members. I have questions about bring my g/f to live here in the US.

A little background about me. I am male, from the UK, lived in Canada for a number of years and been in the US for 15 years. I hold a British and Canadian passport, I have had my Green card for 8 years and last year filed for i400 (I think that was it) for my citizenship. I suspect I will have my citizenship late this year.

I've been dating a woman in Uzbekistan and we are engaged to be married. But I'm not sure the best way to go about this. In my mind there are 3 possible ways of doing this, it may actually be less or more. But here are the 3 ways I see.

1, I marry her there on my British passport (they are friendlier to Brits than Canadians), then sponsor her to come live here. Initially sponsor her on my GC but then change it to sponsoring on my citizenship when it comes through. I imagine this route could take 2-6 years.

2, I wait till my US citizenship comes thru, then sponsor/file for a K1 to bring her here to marry her. I have no idea how long this will take as there's the unknown for the citizenship and then the filing of the K1.

3, I marry her there, don't register it here and don't have her change her name. Then still do the K1 route. I suspect this is not the best way of doing things but would allow us to marry sooner, which is preferable to both of us as we want to start a family sooner rather than later.

Do you think I have other options? Which above are the best? Which is realistically the quickest way for us to be together? Then I have a ton more questions regarding starting the family, moving here etc, visas, fees etc, but not sure where to post them.

Thank you.

C

[together4evr 360]

Welcome to VJ

I do not have answers for you

I have a request to help you

Please edit your timeline in your profile to show BENEFICIARYS COUNTRY

then your question will flow to her country and you will get the best answers

By the way if you marry her there and lie to US government you will get her banned for life from the usa

do not lie to gevernment--they will find out

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Choice C is illegal and she will not be eligible for fiance visa. The embassy will most likely find out that you are lying and defrauding the government. They do EXTENSIVE background checks on people. If she slips by somehow there is no statute for fraud and she can be banned for life. There is a story of a US/Japanese couple on here who did what you are suggesting, got caught after a few years and the wife is banned for life. Once you get citizenship, K-1 or spousal visa are roughly the same timeline 9 or 10 months, give or take. K-1 might be a month less.

[censu 0]

I didn't realize choice C would be illegal, I thought maybe it might not be recognized in much the same way US Immigration didn't recognize one of my degrees from the UK. But if it could harm her and our chances of being together, it's a non starter.

I've tried putting in a time line, but at the moment no visa's have been done. I'm still trying to determine which would be faster.

Go over in April (she's in Uzbekistan) and marry her there on my British passport and sponsor her to come here on my Green card. Or wait till later this year for my US citizenship and then get a K1 visa (I think it's the K1 I want but not sure) for her to come here for 90 days so we can get married here.

Lets assume for a moment I will have my US citizenship by September this year. Which way would be fastest to get her here and what time line are we realistically looking at?

Thanks.

C

[GVMack 9]

Wait till your USC then do the K1, I heard that's faster.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

If you filed for citizenship last year, you should be a citizen before September. Take a look at the VJ Citizenship forum for timeline estimates. The K-1 fiance visa takes about 8-10 months. Spousal visa only takes about a month more, and she triggers her permanent resident status on entry. With the K-1 she has to adjust her status, and pay more money. There is a comparison chart at the top of the site. Ignore references to K-3 visa on this link ( K-3 basically unobtainable). http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

And to follow up your question: USA recognizes all marriages performed abroad.

Good luck.

Edited February 12, 2012 by Harpa Timsah

[censu 0]

This is very useful information, thank you. I'll be calling tomorrow to get my finger prints rescheduled and get on top of this. According to the time lines it should be faster than I thought so even with the delay I've caused it still won't be to bad.

Question, once she comes over on a K1 and gets married, how soon till she and I can visit her home country again? We'd need to have a second wedding there for her family and friends.

Thanks

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

After you get married on a K-1, then you apply for Adjustment of Status (Greencard application). WIth that application, there are two stop-gap measures, a work permit, and travel permission, that you can apply for, with that package, for free. These stop-gap measures will take about 3 months to be approved. Once you have that travel permission (called Advance Parole), she can travel freely. The Greencard will be approved a few months after that and then she won't need the special travel permission anymore - the GC give her the right to work and travel by itself. You shouldn't plan to travel for lengthy periods of time on that Advance Parole in case you get called for an interview in the US.

So, she'll have to stay in the US for a few months. You can minimize this time by marrying quickly upon arrival and applying for Adjustment of Status soon thereafter.

Also, there is another member considering a K-1 visa from Uzbekistan, I think his name is Turveydrop. Maybe you should say hi.