CR1/IR1 to bring her from India

[mydream2012 0]

I need your expert help with my visa questions. been reading the forum for a few days but still really confused.

I keep going back and forth between the two visa options: K1 and CR1/IR1.

I am a US citizen and she is in India.the priest told our families that religious wedding can be done in november and if we go that route and then file papers,it may take two years from now till she comes here and this is killing us both.

i am trying to find if there is a faster way of getting her to usa or if you can provide any other suggestions.

here are some questions that i need help with.

K1:

Can we get married(religious hindu wedding) at any point with this visa?

her family was told that after we get the visa, we can do the religious wedding ceremony before she comes to USA. is this true? is there such an option?

If we get married either before or after she gets a K1, what will happen to the K1 application, does it gets converted to CR1 saving us time or does the process starts all over again?

CR1/IR1:

Can i go over for a week and we do a court marriage in india and file for CR1 based on that? i cant find any info on court marriage in india, from all the info her family gathered, there is no such thing as a court marriage and only a registration of marriage after the religious wedding ceremony.

will doing a court marriage now, and then a religious marriage in november work out well with the whole process? i don't want our case to be denied because of this.

which visa has a better option of getting approved or in other words, which one is more risky of the two visas?

can you please help me?

Edited March 23, 2012 by mydream2012

[Tony_on_a_mission 0]

The quickest way to bring her here is by doing the K1 visa. And you would have to marry her here within 90 days of entry to the US. Good luck!

[rkk1 34]

I was in your place some time ago and was considering both options. I had originally applied for the K1 visa, but then my fiance (now husband) decided that he wanted his family to be at the wedding in India. If we had gotten married in the US, they wouldn't have been able to come as it is very hard for Indians to get US visas (while my family members in the US already had Indian visas). So we decided to have the wedding in India instead. Although some people might keep the K1 visa while still secretly getting married in India, we did not want to take the chance of being dishonest and getting caught (as it would be a huge problem if you guy caught in a lie). So we got married in India instead, and as soon as I got back home, I cancelled the K1 application to apply for the CR1 visa instead. I hated having to cancel the K1 as it delayed us being together for many months, but we wanted to do things the right way and not get in trouble for lying about not being married when we actually were. It has delayed us being together for another 7-9 months. I had to start all over with the process and the USCIS does not rush your case just because you previous applied and decided to change. I also did not get the $340 back that I had lost from originally applying for the K1. But there isn't anything I can do about all this.

In India we had the religious ceremony (not court marriage), and went afterwards to the marriage registrar in my husband's city to register the marriage. Before the marriage, I had also gotten the 'No objection' letter from the New Delhi embassy as that was needed by the marriage registrar in my husband's city.

It may depend also whether you are of Indian origin or not. I'm an American of Indian origin (my parents had immigrated to the US over 35 years ago). So in my case, it wasn't any problem to get married under the Hindu Marriage Act, as I am a brown-skinned person with a Hindu name. They never asked me if I am Hindu (technically I'm more spiritual than religious, but don't have an issue categorizing myself as Hindu if obliged to, since my parents are Hindu. My husband is also Hindu). But if you are white or non-Indian, they'd likely be skeptical of you being a Hindu, and it might be simpler to go the K1 route, as otherwise you'd most likely have to go the Special Marriage route in India which can cause difficulty if you are not living there for some months to sign all the paperwork, 30 day notice etc.

In my case, I was only in India for about 10 days for my trip for the wedding. I could not stay longer as I'm a full-time student in a professional degree program. We had the Hindu wedding ceremony with our families present, and then afterwards got married under the HIndu Marriage Act. Although it should have been very low cost to get our wedding certificate issued, the people at the court wouldn't do it without a bribe. So my husband unfortunately had to give them a 25,000 rupee bribe or else they wouldn't do our work (which they were legally obligated to do). But if we fought with them in the court over this, our case would have taken years and we wouldn't have been able to marry. So if you are unwilling to settle for paying bribes (which I hate as well), then just get married in the US.

Another idea is that you can also get the K1 visa here in the US, get a court marriage in the US after she comes here, and then both of you can fly back to India and have the real Indian wedding in India. One of my Indian friends did that with her husband (though she is on a US work visa). They had their US court marriage in July, and went back to India the following January to have their Indian ceremony with family there. By having the Indian wedding in India after the US marriage, you wouldn't have to worry about lying to the US government and getting caught about your marital status. Of course, you'd have to remember that for US legal purposes, your wedding date would be the earlier US court date, not your Indian wedding in India.

I need your expert help with my visa questions. been reading the forum for a few days but still really confused.

I keep going back and forth between the two visa options: K1 and CR1/IR1.

I am a US citizen and she is in India.the priest told our families that religious wedding can be done in november and if we go that route and then file papers,it may take two years from now till she comes here and this is killing us both.

i am trying to find if there is a faster way of getting her to usa or if you can provide any other suggestions.

here are some questions that i need help with.

K1:

Can we get married(religious hindu wedding) at any point with this visa?

her family was told that after we get the visa, we can do the religious wedding ceremony before she comes to USA. is this true? is there such an option?

If we get married either before or after she gets a K1, what will happen to the K1 application, does it gets converted to CR1 saving us time or does the process starts all over again?

CR1/IR1:

Can i go over for a week and we do a court marriage in india and file for CR1 based on that? i cant find any info on court marriage in india, from all the info her family gathered, there is no such thing as a court marriage and only a registration of marriage after the religious wedding ceremony.

will doing a court marriage now, and then a religious marriage in november work out well with the whole process? i don't want our case to be denied because of this.

which visa has a better option of getting approved or in other words, which one is more risky of the two visas?

can you please help me?

Edited March 23, 2012 by rkk1

[mydream2012 0]

The quickest way to bring her here is by doing the K1 visa. And you would have to marry her here within 90 days of entry to the US. Good luck!

her parents want to do a religious wedding before she leaves the country, so i am not sure what the options are.

[rkk1 34]

her parents want to do a religious wedding before she leaves the country, so i am not sure what the options are.

Then you simply get married in India and go the CR1 route.

[mydream2012 0]

Then you simply get married in India and go the CR1 route.

so if we go that route, do we still need to worry about anything that might be a reason for the embassy people to give us grief or cause delays in our application?

can they still deny the application after we are married?

[aaron2020 11,651]

her parents want to do a religious wedding before she leaves the country, so i am not sure what the options are.

Do the CR-1. Go to India, marry her, and then file the I-130. When she comes to the US, she automatically becomes a legal permanent resident (green card holder). She can immediately go to work, go to school, and travel outside the US.

I think this is better than the K-1. The CR-1 may take a few months longer than a K-1, but she would not be able to work, go to school, or travel outside the US for several months with a K-1. Months where she will be bored. Boredom can lead to a host of arguments.

[aaron2020 11,651]

so if we go that route, do we still need to worry about anything that might be a reason for the embassy people to give us grief or cause delays in our application? No. Why would the US care that you want to choose to go to India, get marry, and file the I-130 rather than pursue a K-1 now? The US doesn't care which route you take - that's why the US offer both choices.

can they still deny the application after we are married? Yes if they think that your marriage is solely for a green card. You will need to prove that you have a real relationship, and not a fake marriage for a green card.

Edited March 23, 2012 by aaron2020

[mydream2012 0]

well, we are both in love. so not worried about the fake part.

but i am just not sure what are the proofs that we have to have, to show that ours is a real marriage and a real relationship.

[aaron2020 11,651]

well, we are both in love. so not worried about the fake part.

but i am just not sure what are the proofs that we have to have, to show that ours is a real marriage and a real relationship.

E-mails. Pictures. Statements on how you met and fell in love. Letters. Joint ownership of property. Listing her as your beneficiary on bank accounts, life insurance, etc.

[mydream2012 0]

E-mails. Pictures. Statements on how you met and fell in love. Letters. Joint ownership of property. Listing her as your beneficiary on bank accounts, life insurance, etc.

thanks. is there a huge list of all these things somewhere? so i can see how much of it i can obtain easily.

[aaron2020 11,651]

thanks. is there a huge list of all these things somewhere? so i can see how much of it i can obtain easily.

Google "bona fide immigration" to find articles on how to show your relationship is real and not a fake one for a green card.

[Divs 35]

I need your expert help with my visa questions. been reading the forum for a few days but still really confused.

I keep going back and forth between the two visa options: K1 and CR1/IR1.

I am a US citizen and she is in India.the priest told our families that religious wedding can be done in november and if we go that route and then file papers,it may take two years from now till she comes here and this is killing us both.

Why would it take two years for her to get there? My husband filed my CR1 in August, and today I'm waiting for an interview date. We're at 7 months since the day we applied.

i am trying to find if there is a faster way of getting her to usa or if you can provide any other suggestions.

here are some questions that i need help with.

K1:

Can we get married(religious hindu wedding) at any point with this visa?

There are some people I personally know of who've done it, but I wouldn't advise it. For she becomes your wife from that moment, and if either of you slip up at the interview, you're doomed. Moreover, if you get married and still go for a K1, it's visa fraud.

her family was told that after we get the visa, we can do the religious wedding ceremony before she comes to USA. is this true? is there such an option?

If we get married either before or after she gets a K1, what will happen to the K1 application, does it gets converted to CR1 saving us time or does the process starts all over again?

If you get married, K1 doesn't switch to CR1. You'll just have to start the process all over again.

CR1/IR1:

Can i go over for a week and we do a court marriage in india and file for CR1 based on that?

That's totally up to you.

i cant find any info on court marriage in india, from all the info her family gathered, there is no such thing as a court marriage and only a registration of marriage after the religious wedding ceremony.

will doing a court marriage now, and then a religious marriage in november work out well with the whole process? i don't want our case to be denied because of this.

There are two routes you could take. If you're both Hindus, you can get married via the Hindu marriage act, which would be a religious ceremony followed by getting it registered with the registrar of marriages.

If either one of you is not a Hindu, then you get married via the Special Marriage Act. For this, you, the USC, will have to come to India and first approach the consulate for a No Objection Certificate. Once you've obtained the NOC, both of you'll need to approach the Registrar of Marriages and apply. Mind you, there's a waiting period of 30 days if you take this route. At the end of 30 days, you can get your marriage registered. Bear in mind that the USC will have to be physically present both at the time of applying as well as at the time of registering.

which visa has a better option of getting approved or in other words, which one is more risky of the two visas?

I would any day vouch for a CR1 as opposed to a K1. If you're going thru the New Delhi consulate, you have more than a fair chance of getting denied a K1 visa petition.

In either case, you'll need extensive evidence as proof of a bonafide relationship. This could include, chats/emails/phone logs, money transfers, joint property, joint bank a/c, getting her added on to your health insurance, pictures of wedding (if you choose CR1), pictures of engagement (if you choose K1), pictures with family, pics of holidays taken together, affidavit of relationship from family members.

For a K1, you should have visited her within the past two years at the time of filing the petition. I'd suggest you read extensively on both the visa types before you make up your mind. It's a long and stressful journey, but well worth it!

can you please help me?

[Deep2009 18]

mydream2012

go with CR1 after getting married, like other poster are telling.... K1 visa through Delhi embassy can be denied or you will get 221g and it will be expired. And also her family want to be part of the wedding ...

All the supporting documents can be done easily - phone bills, chat, emails, cards.... (from now to weddings, then weddings to interview, it will prove on-going relationships between both of you...that is the main thing.... on-going relationship between both of you)

CR1 will be best option you have now... Good luck

[TimeTravel 78]

can they still deny the application after we are married?

Getting married and go with CR-1 route doesn't give guarantee for visa. It is up to your case, so many factors and whatever you have situation to ensure that marriage is genuine.

Since fellow VJ friends have given you alot of good advice in this thread, please follow the advice and make your case stronger.