Travel While Applying for Permanent Residency

[tarentel 0]

Hi there,

I've just had my I-129f petition approved so am now able to apply for a K-1 visa at the American consulate in London. But things aren't simple...

We applied in May. In the interim I have accepted a 10 month fixed term job in London. This runs from September until the end of June. Should I get the visa, there are a few problems. I will need to be in the US for a conference in January. The first question is, if I get my visa prior to that (and I ought to as the I-797 NOA expires in mid-December), can I choose when I travel on the fiance visa i.e. can I enter on a normal ESTA visa in January and choose when to activate the fiance one, or is it assumed that, once the visa is in your passport, it's binding? In other words, should we plan to be married in late December / January time or is the visa more flexible?

Once we marry I intend to apply for permanent resident status in the U.S., with a view to moving at the end of my contract in June. If we have to marry in January when I need to be in the U.S., am I able to apply for permanent residence status immediately, then leave the country so I can complete my work? Or would leaving after entering mean that we would have to start the whole process from scratch with regards to getting permanent residency? Would having a fiance visa in this case aid the process at all, or would it all have been a waste of time? So basically, the situation would be, we marry in January and I have to leave to finish working--what is the best road to take at that point to secure permanent residency, what would I need to do?

The next question is linked--if I can't apply for permanent residency while completing my contract in London, what would I need to do when I arrive in the U.S. at the end of June? Would the stuff that I've done for the fiance visa help me at all? For instance, on landing in June, if I am already married to my fiance, having entered on a fiance visa in January, could I apply for the dispensation to start working immediately?

Sorry if these questions are a bit muddled. I've been trying to disentangle the situation this afternoon and haven't been able to figure it out. The complication has arisen from me taking this job while the I-129 has been processing.

[Sirdaniel42 86]

Once we marry I intend to apply for permanent resident status in the U.S., with a view to moving at the end of my contract in June. If we have to marry in January when I need to be in the U.S., am I able to apply for permanent residence status immediately, then leave the country so I can complete my work? Or would leaving after entering mean that we would have to start the whole process from scratch with regards to getting permanent residency? Would having a fiance visa in this case aid the process at all, or would it all have been a waste of time? So basically, the situation would be, we marry in January and I have to leave to finish working--what is the best road to take at that point to secure permanent residency, what would I need to do?

The next question is linked--if I can't apply for permanent residency while completing my contract in London, what would I need to do when I arrive in the U.S. at the end of June? Would the stuff that I've done for the fiance visa help me at all? For instance, on landing in June, if I am already married to my fiance, having entered on a fiance visa in January, could I apply for the dispensation to start working immediately?

You CAN NOT enter the country on a K-1 when you are married, the K-1 visa will be glued into your passport and as far as I know you use it the next time that you enter the US.

When you enter on a K-1 get married and AOS you also need to apply for an AP which can take up to 3 months to get approved, if you leave without you can not reenter.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Sirdaniel42

[lost_at_sea 995]

So, once you get the K1, as the poster above says, it's like a visa sticker in your passport. The CBP officer will see it, and need to stamp it etc. and that's it used up. You stay and AOS, or you leave and blow the whole thing and have to start over. I've heard of people suggest you can enter on the VWP and not have your K1 endorsed, but I think that's quite risky and up to the officer. It's probably not recommended and you should probably just plan your time better for apply for the K1 after I-129f petition approval.

You cannot enter the the USA on a K1 already married. That'll void your K1. If you did do that (get married) you'd have to start all over again with the I-130 petition for CR-1 visa (this takes about a year to get, all in all, and will also need to be done while you keep living in the UK).

What you should probably do is look at the average processing times for the I-129f/K1 and understand when things are most likely to happen. You can probably make a better judgement once your I-129f is processed and then you'll be on the London side of things, though.

If you need to, you could simply slow down the processing of the K1 in London so that you eventually interview *after* January, and therefore don't get the visa until after then and you're ready to go for good. You can see how it's starting to play out later in the year. Your K1 visa will be valid for 6 months from the date on which you have your medical examination, for a one time entry only.

You probably need to also understand that when you enter the US on your K1 and marry, you won't be able to leave the USA or work until you've applied for and done the Adjustment of Status (about 5 months) or also applied for and received your EAD (work permit) and AP (advanced parole - it allows you to work) - EAD and AP take about 3 months to receive. If you leave the USA before getting AOS done or AP, you'll again have to start over with the I-130 for CR-1 visa from the UK again. When you eventually get your K1, you should plan for the next trip you make to the US to be your actual move, basically.

My reply is a little all over the place - please do ask if something I've said doesn't make sense / needs more detail.

EDIT: Sorry, I just re-read your post and see that your I-129f has already been approved. Erg! That somewhat makes slowing it down more difficult. You can probably slow it down enough, though, so you receive after January (5 months away?). It's going to take a bit of time for your case to go through the NVC to London.

Please complete your timeline with the dates you had approval etc. so folks can help advise: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=166759

Edited August 18, 2013 by lost_at_sea

[christeen 966]

Since you would have to leave the country immediately, I do not think that the K1 is for you... My 2 cents and a different idea is to do a civil marriage now or in the near future and file for CR1 .. It will take about 10-12 months, you can travel to the USA for your work on VWP, and then finish working... They, by next July or so, your all ok to move to the USA. Upon this entry, you will have your green card, no AOS necessary and travel as you need to... Just a thought...

[lost_at_sea 995]

Since you would have to leave the country immediately, I do not think that the K1 is for you... My 2 cents and a different idea is to do a civil marriage now or in the near future and file for CR1 .. It will take about 10-12 months, you can travel to the USA for your work on VWP, and then finish working... They, by next July or so, your all ok to move to the USA. Upon this entry, you will have your green card, no AOS necessary and travel as you need to... Just a thought...

+1 This may be a better route, especially since the OP seems to not want to move permanently until this time next year.

[tarentel 0]

These are really useful comments.

I have a couple more questions though.

With regards to delaying getting a k-1 visa, how possible is this? My NOA form is only valid until mid-December. How accommodating are they with regards to the dates you can come into the consulate etc. if I can delay it until Feb/March time then there is less of a problem. For once the process moving swiftly hasn't worked to our advantage!

With regards to a civil ceremony--I'm currently in the u.s. seeing my fiancé before I start the job. I arrived on a vwp. Isn't there a risk that if we get married now, that would constitute visa fraud, as I would have entered on false pretenses, even though we were not intending on getting married while I was over this time. Or would the ceremony have to take place in the u.k.?

Also, were we to withdraw the application now, would this complicate the whole process when we do get married? I.e. she would have petitioned beforehand, and I seem to remember that you have to declare stuff like this.

Thanks again for your replies, they are clarifying things for me.

[lost_at_sea 995]

These are really useful comments.

I have a couple more questions though.

With regards to delaying getting a k-1 visa, how possible is this? My NOA form is only valid until mid-December. How accommodating are they with regards to the dates you can come into the consulate etc. if I can delay it until Feb/March time then there is less of a problem. For once the process moving swiftly hasn't worked to our advantage!

With regards to a civil ceremony--I'm currently in the u.s. seeing my fiancé before I start the job. I arrived on a vwp. Isn't there a risk that if we get married now, that would constitute visa fraud, as I would have entered on false pretenses, even though we were not intending on getting married while I was over this time. Or would the ceremony have to take place in the u.k.?

Also, were we to withdraw the application now, would this complicate the whole process when we do get married? I.e. she would have petitioned beforehand, and I seem to remember that you have to declare stuff like this.

Thanks again for your replies, they are clarifying things for me.

You can extend the validity of the petition. You'll need to have your fianceé send a new notorized letter of intent to marry you if you go beyond the validity (search the forums a bit, you'll find plenty of people asking what to do as their petition expiry date approaches - it's not uncommon to extend and London makes it easy). You'll need to keep in contact with the embassy and make sure they know you're going ahead with the visa, of course.

Civil ceremony - You can marry in the US right this second if you like. That's not visa fraud. What would be considered visa fraud is entering the US as a tourist with intent to marry AND THEN STAY. You have no intentions of staying. The K1 makes that seem confusing because why have a visa for fiancees if you can just marry? Well, that's because the K1 is a visa that allows folks to marry AND THEN STAY, legally and easily.

Withdrawing an application is fine and should cause no problems (we did, in fact, and as you can see, I'm in the US now). You will declare the old petition on the new form, no worries.

I think the real question you need to think about is when do you want to move to the US permanently - January or June (or later)? How much do you really want to take the work contract? If you carry on with your K1 process at regular speed, you could easily be permanently moved to the US by this Christmas and settle.

Edited August 18, 2013 by lost_at_sea

[lost_at_sea 995]

For what it's worth, I think you can probably pad the K1 process out all the way until June. I think you get a year before they'll give up on you. Hopefully, someone who's done that will pipe up shortly and confirm that.

[tarentel 0]

Great, thanks--this has definitely clarified some things.

Looking into it, both of these options look good--extending the petition seems to be relatively easy, and can be done quite quickly by the consulate if there is a valid reason. I'm definitely planning to move in June time. The civil ceremony route might work as well. Will give it a think.

With regards to taking the job in London--I'm an early career academic and it's a great opportunity for me--jobs are scarce!

One thing that struck me as I wrote this last sentence though: in the area that I work in, all the jobs in the US get filled in January to March--what would happen if I were offered a U.S. job in this window, and the institution would sponsor my work permit? I'd still want to marry my fiance next summer, would the two processes interfere with one another? Perhaps this is a quandary for another thread.

What a mess!

[bigdog 376]

Good Luck, it tough being a career academic. Figure out what's more important and maybe find a stable job to support your spouse.

[lost_at_sea 995]

I think if you're set on June move, stick with your K1 and pad it out. You're half way done, seems a shame to abandon it.

If you marry now and file, you're more likely to find you can't move until closer to August next year (or beyond).

Edited August 18, 2013 by lost_at_sea