Start visa process in third country

[bherb 0]

I'm struggling to find information for my situation, so if anyone has any pointers, I would really appreciate it. Also, it's my first time here!

TL;DR

Fiance is South Korean, we will be staying in Kenya. Can we start the K-1 process there together?

I've been staying in South Korea on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) on and off for the past year and a half. My company is totally virtual so we have the freedom to work from anywhere we like. I met my fiance here in an attempt to learn Korean, which didn't really go a planned

Koreans are eligible for the VWP to the US, but she was a bit unlucky in that she applied for a tourist visa before the VWP went into affect and was denied for not having enough permanent ties to her home country (she was just out of college, no job, not much money in the bank at the time). Needless to say, she risks being turned away at the border if she makes an attempt to visit the US since she was previously denied a visa.

We've been happily living together for the past year in Seoul. However, we decided to get out of town and we're headed to Kenya (my company HQ) in a couple days. After meeting my parents, I asked her if she wanted to get married two days ago and she said yes. Unfortunately, marriage certificates in Korea take a little longer than the time we have left in the country so we decided not to start that process.

After we are ready to move on from Kenya, I would love to bring her to the US. We will both be staying in Kenya on tourist visas. Is the K-1 visa the best way forward? If so, can we apply for that while we're both in Kenya? Or, is it a simpler process to come back to Korea after Kenya, get married here and then proceed that way?

Finally, I was searching for a visa lawyer but found a couple threads warning against the high costs. I think I'll stick to Visa Journey if I can find all the information I need! Hopefully I can share my experiences with others as well!

[orejiba 1]

hi..your story quite long yeah?anyway you can file k1 or fiancee visa if you are a US citizen....

[bherb 0]

hi..your story quite long yeah?anyway you can file k1 or fiancee visa if you are a US citizen....

Yeah, sorry about that. I was hoping the TL;DR at the top was sufficient for folks wanting to skip all the details.

The boil it down, fiance cannot come to the US on the VWP, I've been a tourist and am not eligible for DCF and neither of us will be in our home countries for quite some time. Is the K-1 even possible from Kenya in this case?

[orejiba 1]

Yeah, sorry about that. I was hoping the TL;DR at the top was sufficient for folks wanting to skip all the details.

The boil it down, fiance cannot come to the US on the VWP, I've been a tourist and am not eligible for DCF and neither of us will be in our home countries for quite some time. Is the K-1 even possible from Kenya in this case?

I dont think so...

[Penguin_ie 6,005]

Two issues:

- Filing. You can file from wherever you want. It may be best to provide a US address of a family member or friend for the paperwork, not sure how reliable Kenyan post is.

- Interviewing. Most US embassies will only do interviews for beneficiaries who legally reside in the country. That means your fiance could not interview in Kenya, she may need to go back to Seoul or that.

[bherb 0]

Two issues:

- Filing. You can file from wherever you want. It may be best to provide a US address of a family member or friend for the paperwork, not sure how reliable Kenyan post is.

- Interviewing. Most US embassies will only do interviews for beneficiaries who legally reside in the country. That means your fiance could not interview in Kenya, she may need to go back to Seoul or that.

Thanks for the reply! It's a relief knowing we can at least get the process started abroad.

[GlobeHopperMama 95]

Yup, definitely possible to start the process from abroad, but no, not likely that interviewing in Kenya is possible from a tourist visa. You can always check directly with the immigrant visa unit at Nairobi, perhaps they would be willing (seriously, I've seen embassies and consulates bend rules on just about everything about filing/interview eligibility). http://nairobi.usembassy.gov/visas/contact-the-consular-section.html

I would do that before making any final assumptions, but it's important to be clear in the communication that you the petitioner are a US citizen, she the beneficiary is a citizen of South Korea, you would both be present on tourist visas and engaged in tourist activities there, and would like to know if she is eligible to conduct a K1 interview there during that time. If not, worst case scenario is that she has to interview in Seoul.