What Country to Marry in?

[BarBQJim 0]

1st time in a forum, forgive any ignorance.

I am a Us citizen, and my fiance' is in the Nederlands.

We will be married as soon as we have the best answers to all the difficult questions based on the situations.

We are both in our early 50's. We have chosen to live in the USA because of job status, economy, opportunity, etc.

If something happens to a family member in the Netherlands (ie. her mother of 84 yrs) will she be free to leave the country to attend to her and still return to the USA?

What country is it best for us to marry in?

To make thing's more complicated, her daughter (22 yrs old) is considering coming here as well.

Where is my 1st place to search for answers?

I don't have a problem paying a lawyer but, have heard and experience they tend drag things out , for the $$$, (that's why they in the business).

I heard it might be best to marry in the Nederlands for paperwork reasons is faster.

Any comments or direction to the answers are welcome.

Thank you

my 1st time on a forun of such

Jim

[Andrea&Henry 311]

Hi! Welcome to visa journey! Your choice could be1.- marry her on her home country and you need to go back and file a cr 1 (visa for non us spouse). Usually takes 7-12 month to get it but she ill get her green card as soon as he gets here. The other option is file for k1 visa (foreign fiance of an US citizen) usually takes 5 to 8 month. Once you get here, you need to get marry within 90 days and file for adjustment of status. Usually tkes 3 to 6 month to get her greencard. Both ways are totally legal, but it depends how much time you want to wait. If she get her k1 visa she cant go out of the US without her advance parole or greencard. But if you file for a cr1 the waiting or the gc is less than a month. But takes a lot of time o have this visa. You should read the gudes here in visajourney so you can make the right decision

Edited September 25, 2012 by Andrea&Henry

[Andrea&Henry 311]

Most of us..never hired a lawyer cause if you follow the steps carefully, you wont have any issues...is not that hard at all. You can marry wherever you want but if you are looking for the fiance visa you must get marry here in the US....her daughter can come you can file for her with k2 visa but she needs to be SINGLE

[C-ma'am 684]

Welcome to the forum, Jim.

Here's a comparison chart between the visas Andrea & Henry mentioned to you http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare (disregard the K3 option as it is an obsolete visa).

This is a Do It Yourself forum. We have Step by Step guides and a very knowledgeable community that can help you along the way. We suggest that people consults with lawyers only if their cases have some complications, for example: a beneficiary with criminal past.

Read up, to see which of those visas may best suit your needs.

I'm not an expert on bringing children with a fiance(e) or a spouse, so I'll leave that to others to explain your options.

[Krikit 1,164]

Hello, and welcome to VJ.

I am going to move your topic to the General Immigration discussion forum from K-1 Process until you have made your decision.

If it is important for the beneficiary to leave the country at a moment's notice then the K-1 visa is not a good fit. The CR-1 Visa is definitely superior in those kinds of circumstances. I believe the cut-off date for K-2 visa children is age 21.

Definitely read up on all the guides and threads and feel free to ask questions. Good luck.

[aaron2020 11,651]

1st time in a forum, forgive any ignorance.

I am a Us citizen, and my fiance' is in the Nederlands.

We will be married as soon as we have the best answers to all the difficult questions based on the situations.

We are both in our early 50's. We have chosen to live in the USA because of job status, economy, opportunity, etc.

If something happens to a family member in the Netherlands (ie. her mother of 84 yrs) will she be free to leave the country to attend to her and still return to the USA?

What country is it best for us to marry in?

To make thing's more complicated, her daughter (22 yrs old) is considering coming here as well.

Where is my 1st place to search for answers?

I don't have a problem paying a lawyer but, have heard and experience they tend drag things out , for the $$$, (that's why they in the business).

I heard it might be best to marry in the Nederlands for paperwork reasons is faster.

Any comments or direction to the answers are welcome.

Thank you

my 1st time on a forun of such

Jim

Hey Jim.

You essentially have two choices; 1) file for a k-1 fiancée visa, marry in the US, and file to adjust her status to legal permanent resident (green card holder) or 2) marry outside the US, file for a spousal visa, and automatic green card upon arrival in the US.

With the K-1, there will be a 2-3 months where your wife MUST stay in the US. It takes about 2-3 months to get Advance Parole. If a person leaves withou AP, the person abandons the process. If your wife needs to return home to care for her mother, she would stuck outside the US. You would need to start over with a spousal visa - another 6-12 months if separation.

Also, the K-1 requires adjusting status which means a second process. The entire process cost more than a spousal visa.

I recommend choice 2, the spousal visa. Most people here filing for a spousal visa do it without a lawyer.

Unfortunately, your fiancee's 22 years old daughter will not be able to immigrate to the US. She is over 21 an considered an independent adult. You can never file anything for her. Her mom can file for her after she gets her green card. The wait is 8 years when a green card holder files for an unmarried child over 21.

Best if luck.