Is the K-1 really necessary? My boyfriend thinks it's a waste of money...

[NikLR 13,220]

You mentioned deployment, Military member on orders can request expedited service and your visa should fly through the system.

Agreed. If he's being deployed you can submit an expedite request (for all aspects) and be through the system faster than you can shake a stick at it.

[michela21413 7]

If you have the intentions getting married to him before you get here, your already guilty. He can do the k1 or go see you and get married. This forum you made already hurts you hun, hope you get married soon

[Novembro 1,763]

I would be hurt if my fiance said getting me to the States the legal way is a waste of money. You are worth every penny and effort.

Seriously!

[Jessicacallum 14]

Do it the legal way it's safer

[Boiler 43,692]

I wish I had got married in the US on the VWP and then changed my mind and stayed.

Would have saved a LOT of hassle.

[Cathi 5,621]

I encourage you to go the legal route.

However, I have close friends that on a travel visa got married and he was able to remain in the United States. They contacted a lawyer to see what their options were and the lawyer told them to just get married. It is fraud but she told them it's only frowned upon. This was an immigration lawyer from Nebraska.

My fiance' and I chose to go with the K-1 visa because he had a job, home and car he needed to part with before moving to the states to be with me. My friends Fiance' was without all of those as he was a student. We were worried that if we followed their visa path the immigration officers would see that when he visited he had no ties to the UK, that he had intent to immigrate and he would not be let into the country. You need to keep in mind that at any point while traveling if the immigration officer doubts your intentions they can deny your entry into the United States.

My friends got very lucky. I took luck out of the equation because if you do the work (with the help of VisaJourney) you can legally be together in less then a year.

Just because your friend did it and didn't get caught does NOT make it legal. The consequences of doing it this way and being caught is a lifetime ban with no appeal, EVER. It is a lot more than frowned upon, it's fraud and illegal.

[iLoveYouForever 4]

I would be hurt if my fiance said getting me to the States the legal way is a waste of money. You are worth every penny and effort. [/quo

I strongly agree with this post!!!

[VanessaTony 3,567]

My boyfriend and I have talked about getting married a lot and he wants me to come live with him because he can't move to Germany (he is in the military and just got stationed back to the states)

I told him about the K-1 visa and said that we should do it but he thinks it's a waste of money.

He thinks it's easier and better for me to just come visit him without a visa (the normal 90 days) and during the time I'm in Colorado he wants to get married. He said that after we get married I could stay with him.

I just wanna get some information and opinions on what would be the better thing to do. I mean can you get married without having a visa and then just doing all the paperwork? Cause that's what he's been telling me but I'm not sure so yea...

Also, he is getting deployed pretty soon. I read that the K-1 goes through a lot faster if you send them a copy of his orders but anyways that's not really part of my question.

The CR-1 is superior in a lot of ways such as being able to work. It is inferior to the K1 mainly because with the K1 you could file now, as in tomorrow. The CR-1 requires you to be married first.

I'm a little confused by your boyfriend saying you can just "stay with him" after marriage. Do you mean he thinks that you just need to get married and *poof* you have legal status? Or is he suggesting that you file paperwork within the US? In the first instance, no. In the second, it's fraud to do enter with the intent to do that.

When you get married it conveys NO legal status. You would be unable to work or be "normal" until the appropriate paperwork is filed. There are so many negatives to doing that while he is military, especially if he is getting deployed soon. You would be trapped in the US without legal status. What does he expect you to do? You couldn't legally work, drive, move with him...

Personally, given your situation I would go and get married and file the CR-1. I would then return to my home country and wait for the visa to process. If he's deployed at the time your visa is approved, you have 6 months to use it. You can either enter the US and turn right back around and return to Germany to wait until he returns, or if there's enough time, you can play your entry for when he's back in the US.

Personally i wouldn't want to be in the US without my spouse... kinda the whole point of moving over! Moving to a new country is hard enough let alone how lonely I would feel if he were gone from day dot.

Good luck with your decision.

[Daveykins 17]

You definitely should do it the legal way. The consequences are VERY severe as others have said if you don't do it right. Just because other people have said they didn't get caught doesn't mean it's the right way to do it! If you do K-1 or CR-1 I bet since he's in the military you will have the application approved in only a few months, and the interview soon after in Germany. Figure 4-6 months for the whole process from my research in the 12+ months I've been on here.

[Boiler 43,692]

The consequences of doing it this way and being caught is a lifetime ban with no appeal, EVER. It is a lot more than frowned upon, it's fraud and illegal.

I am sure it would hep the OP and other contributors to post some links to threads here where this has happened.

[dodgyJim73 6]

This is an interesting topic.

As someone who chose the 'legal' route and is now sitting in Australia waiting for the NVC to turn the hamster wheel and get our application ticking so I can pack up and move to California. I can't help but think about what my immigration lawyer in the USA told us when we were deciding which path to take.

Her words. "If you come into the country on the 90 day VWP and wait until after 60 days and then get married, it's legal. As soon as you get married you send off the forms because the initial form needs to be processed before the 90 days expires so your status can be changed and you aren't here illegally". Apparently the 60 day thing has something to do with it as she said to have the forms filled out, get married on day 61, send the forms day 62.

My +1 and I both agreed that it felt a little bit dodgy doing it that way and so we opted for the K-1. Personally I think the immigration lawyer is a bit questionable anyway, I'm glad our application is heading to NVC as we can over-ride her and get status updates ourselves. I'm tired of being in the dark about this process.

I'm sticking with most of the other users on here and saying doing it the proper way but good luck in whatever you decide.

[David & Diana R 1,005]

Do it the legal way. Do not come here and get married. Have your boyfriend do a little research. I wish you both the best. Also, remind your boyfirend that if you get caught you might be banned from the United Staes Forever. Not worth it.

Aloha Ke Akua

[Abell 11]

ok, here is a thing, vwp is different then your regular tourist visa, in order to get a tourist visa you need to convince immigration that your intend to visit US is tourism only, so if you gonna get married while on tourist visa (and this is your first visit) you are technicality committing fraud, even though it was done many many times with very little issues. But vwp is different because US immigration allows you to enter US for as long as 3 month (or whatever it is) for tourism or whatever, so technically there is no reason why you can not get married while on vwp, but then again if it is your first visit and you got married very soon after you arrived they can see it as entering with intend to get married (which is similar to you regular tourist visa fraud), so if you come in and wait or have been here before then you shouldn't have any issues getting married.

and your bf is right K visa is waste of time and money, if that was like couple month long process then sure why not but some people wait for like 6-12 month and you could have used that money for something else

[Brit Abroad 166]

Others have pointed out the legal ramifications of getting married and trying to adjust status on VWP, so I won't rehash that, but here's another thought for you:-

You are immigrating to a new country which won't contain your family and your friends, much less your belongings. You know, all those things you've collected since you were born that have meaning to you and would need to be shipped halfway across the world. You're also going to miss all those people you love and spend time with now - even if it's just "hanging out" or going for a coffee.

Do it the right way, give yourself time to say long goodbyes to those you love because chances are it'll be a while before you see them again in any meaningful way. Visit by all means and take all those small, breakable items you want to keep in your hand luggage. Trust me ... something always gets broken or goes missing. Especially in military moves.

Remember that you are marrying into the military (presumably Army as it's Germany) and that you will have a whole new life to learn. The military is full of jargon, traditions and "habits" that you will need to adjust to.

Either get married and apply for CR1, or apply for K1 and wait it out. Spend the time you're waiting learning about your future and preparing for it, and putting your present life into "hold" mode. Teach your aging relatives how to use Skype or some form of video chat program, make sure you have a net-based email address and get everyone using it comfortably.

There are so many things that we take for granted BEFORE we move internationally. It's better to think and plan ahead than regret it afterwards. Take a few words of advice from those of us who didn't quite get it right.

Good luck to you, Ms OP.

[J & L 10]

It's not a waste of money, because it's the only legal way you can enter the US to marry.

Sure, the whole process might look like it takes a lot of time and it's also expensive (especially the AOS) but it is what it is. If you want to move legally to the US and marry then the K1 visa is the only route available to you.
You can go visit as many time as you want, but I'd advise against getting married while you visit. Please educate yourself as much as possible to avoid doing anything illegal that might get you into trouble.