Help

[ToTheUSA 0]

Hi,

I have a worry about the K-3 visa I was hoping somebody could help with, espeically if you have been through the process in a similar situation.

My wife and I where pen pals for 7 years before she moved to the UK, whilst her we struck up a relationship. After her visa expired she moved back to the US. We where by this point engaged and decided to make the move to the US due to job prospects. I was offered the chance to work in Canada whilst we decided what we where going to do so moved up close to the border with the US so I could travel down once a month to visit her. We married this year in Canada and have decided to file for the K-3 visa. After we recieved the marriage certificate I decided to move back to the UK to start the immigration process as my work permit in Canada would be running out and it seemed a bad idea to start the process then have to move countries half way through.

We visited our lawyer in the US and prepared our forms ready to be submitted. I then flew back to find a job near London ready for the interview and form filling. I noticed when I started doing some research for the visa back home that apparently you shouldn't enter the US on the VWP if you have been arrested regardless of a conviction. On my previous visits to the US I used the VWP totally unaware that I was possibly uneligible. When I had travelled from Canada I was only ever given a green form asking if I had commited a crime of Moral Turpitude which I haven't. I don't have a criminal record as I was arrested for being drunk when I was a Uni student at 18 and then let go a few hours later having sobered up and giving a ticking off by the desk seargent.

My lawyers says this should be fine and to declare it to the US immigration when I file my forms for the interview in London. I have obtained a copy of my police record in the past from the PNC and it is blank.

I'm just worried I will be refused my spouse visa for entering on the VWP in the past

The process is already taxing and worrying enough without the added stress, has anybody else been in a similar situation ?

Thanks for the help

ToTheUSA

[Yodrak 7]

ToTheUSA,

I was going to write that you should listen to your lawyer, but then I wondered - have you told your lawyer that you plan to apply for your K3 visa in the UK?

And if so, what was the response?

Yodrak

Hi,

I have a worry about the K-3 visa I was hoping somebody could help with, espeically if you have been through the process in a similar situation.

My wife and I where pen pals for 7 years before she moved to the UK, whilst her we struck up a relationship. After her visa expired she moved back to the US. We where by this point engaged and decided to make the move to the US due to job prospects. I was offered the chance to work in Canada whilst we decided what we where going to do so moved up close to the border with the US so I could travel down once a month to visit her. We married this year in Canada and have decided to file for the K-3 visa. After we recieved the marriage certificate I decided to move back to the UK to start the immigration process as my work permit in Canada would be running out and it seemed a bad idea to start the process then have to move countries half way through.

We visited our lawyer in the US and prepared our forms ready to be submitted. I then flew back to find a job near London ready for the interview and form filling. I noticed when I started doing some research for the visa back home that apparently you shouldn't enter the US on the VWP if you have been arrested regardless of a conviction. On my previous visits to the US I used the VWP totally unaware that I was possibly uneligible. When I had travelled from Canada I was only ever given a green form asking if I had commited a crime of Moral Turpitude which I haven't. I don't have a criminal record as I was arrested for being drunk when I was a Uni student at 18 and then let go a few hours later having sobered up and giving a ticking off by the desk seargent.

My lawyers says this should be fine and to declare it to the US immigration when I file my forms for the interview in London. I have obtained a copy of my police record in the past from the PNC and it is blank.

I'm just worried I will be refused my spouse visa for entering on the VWP in the past

The process is already taxing and worrying enough without the added stress, has anybody else been in a similar situation ?

Thanks for the help

ToTheUSA

[ToTheUSA 0]

Thanks for the response.

She is aware that I am in the UK and going to be filling from there. She asked me to send her a copy of the PNC certificate which I am doing. She then told me that the single incerdent does not make me inelligible for entry to the US and that I shouldn't worry about the previous entries to the US under the visa waiver scheme.

Will I need tofill out one of the other kind of waiver forms I've seen people talk about on this forum and a letter of hardship?

What do you think ?

Thanks

ToTheUSA

ToTheUSA,

I was going to write that you should listen to your lawyer, but then I wondered - have you told your lawyer that you plan to apply for your K3 visa in the UK?

And if so, what was the response?

Yodrak

Hi,

I have a worry about the K-3 visa I was hoping somebody could help with, espeically if you have been through the process in a similar situation.

My wife and I where pen pals for 7 years before she moved to the UK, whilst her we struck up a relationship. After her visa expired she moved back to the US. We where by this point engaged and decided to make the move to the US due to job prospects. I was offered the chance to work in Canada whilst we decided what we where going to do so moved up close to the border with the US so I could travel down once a month to visit her. We married this year in Canada and have decided to file for the K-3 visa. After we recieved the marriage certificate I decided to move back to the UK to start the immigration process as my work permit in Canada would be running out and it seemed a bad idea to start the process then have to move countries half way through.

We visited our lawyer in the US and prepared our forms ready to be submitted. I then flew back to find a job near London ready for the interview and form filling. I noticed when I started doing some research for the visa back home that apparently you shouldn't enter the US on the VWP if you have been arrested regardless of a conviction. On my previous visits to the US I used the VWP totally unaware that I was possibly uneligible. When I had travelled from Canada I was only ever given a green form asking if I had commited a crime of Moral Turpitude which I haven't. I don't have a criminal record as I was arrested for being drunk when I was a Uni student at 18 and then let go a few hours later having sobered up and giving a ticking off by the desk seargent.

My lawyers says this should be fine and to declare it to the US immigration when I file my forms for the interview in London. I have obtained a copy of my police record in the past from the PNC and it is blank.

I'm just worried I will be refused my spouse visa for entering on the VWP in the past

The process is already taxing and worrying enough without the added stress, has anybody else been in a similar situation ?

Thanks for the help

ToTheUSA

[Yodrak 7]

ToTheUSA,

I think you should ask your lawyer why she didn't tell you that you will be applying for your K3 visa in Canada, not in the UK.

Yodrak

Thanks for the response.

She is aware that I am in the UK and going to be filling from there. She asked me to send her a copy of the PNC certificate which I am doing. She then told me that the single incerdent does not make me inelligible for entry to the US and that I shouldn't worry about the previous entries to the US under the visa waiver scheme.

Will I need tofill out one of the other kind of waiver forms I've seen people talk about on this forum and a letter of hardship?

What do you think ?

Thanks

ToTheUSA

ToTheUSA,

I was going to write that you should listen to your lawyer, but then I wondered - have you told your lawyer that you plan to apply for your K3 visa in the UK?

And if so, what was the response?

Yodrak

Hi,

I have a worry about the K-3 visa I was hoping somebody could help with, espeically if you have been through the process in a similar situation.

... We married this year in Canada and have decided to file for the K-3 visa. After we recieved the marriage certificate I decided to move back to the UK to start the immigration process as my work permit in Canada would be running out and it seemed a bad idea to start the process then have to move countries half way through.

......

My lawyers says this should be fine and to declare it to the US immigration when I file my forms for the interview in London. ....

ToTheUSA

[ToTheUSA 0]

Wow.....

Bombshell ! Could you please explain more, I'm totally lost here now ? Should I be filling from Canada even though I am a UK citizen and live in the UK now ? She seemed to think it was fine to interview in London ?

If not I'll need to know as I will need to try and find another job in Canada I guess ?

Thanks for the info.

ToTheUSA

ToTheUSA,

I think you should ask your lawyer why she didn't tell you that you will be applying for your K3 visa in Canada, not in the UK.

Yodrak

Thanks for the response.

She is aware that I am in the UK and going to be filling from there. She asked me to send her a copy of the PNC certificate which I am doing. She then told me that the single incerdent does not make me inelligible for entry to the US and that I shouldn't worry about the previous entries to the US under the visa waiver scheme.

Will I need tofill out one of the other kind of waiver forms I've seen people talk about on this forum and a letter of hardship?

What do you think ?

Thanks

ToTheUSA

ToTheUSA,

I was going to write that you should listen to your lawyer, but then I wondered - have you told your lawyer that you plan to apply for your K3 visa in the UK?

And if so, what was the response?

Yodrak

Hi,

I have a worry about the K-3 visa I was hoping somebody could help with, espeically if you have been through the process in a similar situation.

... We married this year in Canada and have decided to file for the K-3 visa. After we recieved the marriage certificate I decided to move back to the UK to start the immigration process as my work permit in Canada would be running out and it seemed a bad idea to start the process then have to move countries half way through.

......

My lawyers says this should be fine and to declare it to the US immigration when I file my forms for the interview in London. ....

ToTheUSA

[riblet 0]

The interview for a K3 is held in the country of marriage - I don't see how that affects whether or not you are able to wait and work in England.

[Yodrak 7]

ToTheUSA,

If you were applying for an immigrant visa you would apply in the country where you are resident. As riblet writes, a K3 visa must be applied for in the country where the marriage took place (with a couple of exceptions that do not apply to you).

What else might your lawyer be out of touch with? (rhetorical question for you to ask yourself) Or perhaps just a bit on mis-communication between you and her, both sides thinking that something was understood when it was not.

Yodrak

Wow.....

Bombshell ! Could you please explain more, I'm totally lost here now ? Should I be filling from Canada even though I am a UK citizen and live in the UK now ? She seemed to think it was fine to interview in London ?

If not I'll need to know as I will need to try and find another job in Canada I guess ?

Thanks for the info.

ToTheUSA

[Buttons 0]

one question I was interviewed in Canada but we were married in the US. If the interview is to held in the country of marriage then why did I have mine in Canada???

[ToTheUSA 0]

Thanks for the response guys most appreciated.

First of all, does anybody know if my original question would be a problem, or is the lawyer correct on this at least ?

As for the lawyer, she was totally aware that I live in the UK now as I saw her writing down on a piece of paper she gave us that we could have the interview in London

If this isn't the case I'm going to be really damn angry as I gave up the chance of another really good contract job in Canada that I could have worked at until an interview etc. was sorted in Vancouver .

If somebody could point me in the direction of a website that details where the forms should be sent to I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks again for the responses.

ToTheUSA

ToTheUSA,

If you were applying for an immigrant visa you would apply in the country where you are resident. As riblet writes, a K3 visa must be applied for in the country where the marriage took place (with a couple of exceptions that do not apply to you).

What else might your lawyer be out of touch with? (rhetorical question for you to ask yourself) Or perhaps just a bit on mis-communication between you and her, both sides thinking that something was understood when it was not.

Yodrak

Wow.....

Bombshell ! Could you please explain more, I'm totally lost here now ? Should I be filling from Canada even though I am a UK citizen and live in the UK now ? She seemed to think it was fine to interview in London ?

If not I'll need to know as I will need to try and find another job in Canada I guess ?

Thanks for the info.

ToTheUSA

[riblet 0]

Your question regarding the criminal record? It doesn't seem like something that would be a problem, as long as you are honest about it!

[ToTheUSA 0]

Riblet,

Thanks, I certainly hope so and I intend to be totally honest about it !

The issue with our lawyer has certainly raised some eyebrows though. I wonder how people used to get through it all before the web ????

Thanks again

ToTheUSA

Your question regarding the criminal record? It doesn't seem like something that would be a problem, as long as you are honest about it!

[Reba 2]

one question I was interviewed in Canada but we were married in the US. If the interview is to held in the country of marriage then why did I have mine in Canada???

Because if you married in the US, then your interview is in your country of residence. They don't do K3 interviews in the States. However, if like the OP you are from one country, and marry in a different country, you have to return to the country where the marriage took place for your K3 interview.

Or, you can just forget about the K3 altogether and go for CR1 and have the interview in the UK.

As for the criminal record, I don't think you have one. If there's nothing on your record when you received it, then they didn't process you. Just held you in the tank until you sobered up. Did they take fingerprints, photograph you etc etc ?

The instructions on where to send the forms are on the forms themselves. You can download them all from the USCIS website.

And you may want to consider ditching the lawyer.

[Yodrak 7]

Buttons,

One of the exceptions that I alluded to, an exception that Reba has explained in her post.

Yodrak

one question I was interviewed in Canada but we were married in the US. If the interview is to held in the country of marriage then why did I have mine in Canada???

Edited December 7, 2006 by Yodrak

[Buttons 0]

Thanks for the clarification !!!!!!!!!!!

[ToTheUSA 0]

So in theory I will have to fly to British Colombia now for the interview if we continue with the K3 ? What happens with regards to the passport ? I believe they take it from you at the embassy and then send it back via courier to you if approved ? Since I won't be resident there does this mean they will have to send it to my hotel ?

I can see this may be very confusing being based in London and trying to sort this out from here ? Especially if I am given an interview date and then have to arrange to fly etc.

If I was to try the other method, does anybody know how long this takes on average in the UK ?

Many thanks

ToTheUSA

Thanks for the clarification !!!!!!!!!!!