Fiancée and I run a business together, should we hire an attorney to apply for K-1?

[5280 0]

Hi there, my (soon to be) fiancée and I run an online business together and we met at a job where we were working somewhat illegally in another country (where neither of us are from). I'm wondering how many of those items will be potentially damaging to our success in this process and if we should hire an attorney to help us explain what we need to include in the best light possible?

I'm just starting to fill out the I-129F now.

Specific questions/concerns, any advice greatly appreciated:

1. I'm worried they'll think we're getting married just to do business - is this a valid concern? We've lived together, traveling the world for the past 2 years and are very much NOT doing it for work reasons (as I think the tax implications are worse when we're married anyway!)

2. I don't want to lie on our application about how we met in any way shape or form. So if we met working in another country, will our employment situation be questioned? It was just an unofficial job, nothing against the law for us but the company could get in trouble. But are they concerned about these issues in this process?

3. We've been traveling and working, sometimes on tourist visas (but usually on work visas). Are they concerned about this?

4. I'm having a hard time finding out what police records suffice for where we've lived for longer than 6 months to a year at a time (or more). Anyone have any tips or examples?

[Takeo 6]

Hi there, my (soon to be) fiancée and I run an online business together and we met at a job where we were working somewhat illegally in another country (where neither of us are from). I'm wondering how many of those items will be potentially damaging to our success in this process and if we should hire an attorney to help us explain what we need to include in the best light possible?

I'm just starting to fill out the I-129F now.

Specific questions/concerns, any advice greatly appreciated:

1. I'm worried they'll think we're getting married just to do business - is this a valid concern? We've lived together, traveling the world for the past 2 years and are very much NOT doing it for work reasons (as I think the tax implications are worse when we're married anyway!)

2. I don't want to lie on our application about how we met in any way shape or form. So if we met working in another country, will our employment situation be questioned? It was just an unofficial job, nothing against the law for us but the company could get in trouble. But are they concerned about these issues in this process?

3. We've been traveling and working, sometimes on tourist visas (but usually on work visas). Are they concerned about this?

4. I'm having a hard time finding out what police records suffice for where we've lived for longer than 6 months to a year at a time (or more). Anyone have any tips or examples?

Probably one of the best resources is reading up the threads on this forum. Use the search method, I'm sure someone has had a similar situation. From what I've read from other members, lawyers have been expensive and not better informed than the educated forum member here. There are resources here like checklists, sample forms, even timelines from members to help you gauge how fast things are being processed. Read as much as you can here before you even try to complete your I129F packet.

[5280 0]

Thanks Takeo -

I agree...this site is amazing! I'll try to avoid hiring someone as I've also heard that they don't know all the ins and outs as well as you would expect.

I've looked into the business partner situation and haven't found anything similar...I'm hoping someone has some insight!

[jajaju 33]

Of your working illegally concern, i was in a similar situation working in china legally but being paid in cash, no real way to show how 'official' the situation was.

We were stressed about it too, so enquired with my husband's family accountant and the IRS and as long as we filed back dated returns for the time we were away and paid taxes on the amount, there's absolutely no problem.

**I am not saying I know 1000% that this is your situation but thought I'd share my seemingly similar experience.**

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Why don't you look over all the forms you will fill out and see if you would anticipate problems answering all the questions truthfully--like employment history, countries visited, addresses. K1 forms found here http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1forms

Plus for a London interview, the UK person also does the DS-157. London forms found here on the right http://london.usembassy.gov/iv_15.html

The US person needs tax returns if any money was earned, even out of the US.

Police certificates. Go here http://travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_3272.html

Pick a country then scroll way down until you find the paragraph that will tell how to order one. For some countries, police certificates may be unavailable and it will tell you if that is so. Start ordering those early because some may take a long time.

London, where your visa will be decided says this:

Police Certificates: Police certificates are required for all countries you have lived in for more than 12 months over the age of 16 years. Certificates are also required of military personnel. Police certificates must be obtained from a police authority. A police certificate is also required for each country where an applicant has been arrested for any reason, regardless of how long he/she lived there. Police certificates from certain countries are unavailable or are obtained directly by this office. Detailed country-specific information can also be found at the Department of State's website.

Please note that many countries require fingerprints to process police certificates for immigration purposes (e.g, Australia, Canada, Nigeria). Police certificates completed without the required fingerprints are not valid. In these cases, applicants must not capture their own fingerprints. View the attached PDF file for a list of UK police forces (PDF - 338kb) that offer a fingerprinting service. Applicants should not attempt to to obtain police certificates for the few countries where it is documented that police certificates are not available.

Note: UK police certificates are valid for one (1) year only. All other foreign police certificates are valid indefinitely, unless the applicant has traveled to the country in the last year. Bearing in mind this information, applicants must ensure that a valid police certificate is presented at the time of their appointment.

[5280 0]

Of your working illegally concern, i was in a similar situation working in china legally but being paid in cash, no real way to show how 'official' the situation was.

We were stressed about it too, so enquired with my husband's family accountant and the IRS and as long as we filed back dated returns for the time we were away and paid taxes on the amount, there's absolutely no problem.

**I am not saying I know 1000% that this is your situation but thought I'd share my seemingly similar experience.**

Thanks jajaju - to hear what other people went through with this is exactly what I was looking for!

[jajaju 33]

Thanks jajaju - to hear what other people went through with this is exactly what I was looking for!

My pleasure! I feel your stress!

About the question of police records, you should be able to Google ''How to get police clearance papers for ______________'' and figure it out. I am lucky I did that before leaving China because it was very involved. It is though, very much possible to get the papers without being there. It seems this is a common thing people want to get for many reasons so many agencies exist out there who you can pay a fee and they'll go get the clearance for you. Mine took 4 weeks from when I applied to get, so you should get on it asap.