Fiance Visa or Marriage Visa? Please help!

[JannahC 0]

SA and hello!

I have not even begun the visa process yet, because my fiance and I are unsure of which one to file! We are only engaged at this point, and do not want to go through the struggle that we have seen marriage visa couples go through. We have heard the fiance visa is relatively faster than a marriage visa, but are in fear of possible rejection. We want to know of couples where the woman is from the US and man from Egypt. He is also serving his 1 year of army service and we are also unsure if we can even start the fiance visa now, without some kind of waiver from the army or if it would even affect the K1 filing process.

JAK and Thanks a lot for any tips or knowledge of army issue and probability of success!

[Chealse 0]

I strongly recommend you guys to get married and file for spouse visa. There's no exact time frame for both fiancé(e) and spouse visa processing. I have seen a lot of spouse petition approved before K-1 and there's a huge possibility of get denial for K-1. To me, spouse visa will be the best option. I wish you guys good luck.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Have you met in person? How many times and how often?

Where do you want to get married?

[abkas 2]

if you will apply for k1 there is no problem with the military issue, they will ask him about the military certification only in the interview just make sure that he will finish his military by this time

[sparkles_ 456]

Before M moved to Dubai, we were also looking into each option. Now we are leaning towards marriage just because of the fear of rejection as well; I have petitioned before a long time ago and don't want a red flag messing us up. I would rather add a few months more wait to the time and know the chances of rejection are a lot lower. Since we're both Christian we're now checking out proxy marriage due to how complicated it is for us to marry in UAE.

The benefits of marrying then filing CR1 outweigh the K1 in everything but time, IMO.

[Happytobe 164]

Also, too, is the consideration as to financials. The CR-1 is less expensive and the immigrating spouse can work right away. With the K-1, you must Adjust Status, and wait for the work authorization. If you have enough evidence of a bonifide relationship, either will be ok. And be sure to front-load the petition. If you choose the CR-1, you will have an opportunity to send more evidence with the IV package documents.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Speaking from experience and knowing a group of foreign women married and engaged to Egyptian men serving or have served military duty there I say wait.

If he is serving in the Egyptian military he has to get their permission to marry a foreigner. They will not like it and he will have some problems from them for it. Unless you are somehow Egyptian yourself and have roots and connections in the military there, but even then I've met American born of Egyptian descent women who encountered problems with their marriage to Egyptian men serving their mandatory duty in the Egyptian military.

When they discover your engagement they can extend his service and he may be approached by corrupt officers to pay them bribes in US money around a couple to several grand.

Some people choose to marry without military permission since the military doesn't go looking for it. If they find out about it though he'll be in some real trouble no matter what he says to them.

If you don't want any problems just wait until his formal release date and keep the engagement to yourselves. Then file for US immigration. You could try to file K1 and see what happens if you're in a hurry and you're willing to take the risk.

Edited October 3, 2013 by ॐ

[abkas 2]

there is no problem with k1 visa im sure about that

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

there is no problem with k1 visa im sure about that

You've got to give us something more to go on then just your word on it like what was your experience. Did the Egyptian military know about your foreign fiance? If so when did they know exactly? Do you have advice how to navigate the issue similar to your experience so they won't have problems?

I'm speaking from first hand experience and have several other accounts to go on as we formed a group for support. The foreign women I know that were engaged at the time to their Egyptian fiances found that their SO's each had problems with the Egyptian military because they knew about their relationship. Two of the men got extended service for it by several months to a year. Some were stationed in very remote places under the most miserable circumstances. Many were asked to pay the bribes. Also as a foreign wife/fiance you don't have the same rights as an Egyptian national and their family with visitations to your spouse/fiance in the camps on Fridays. They say it's all for reasons of national security and as far as I know from our sources these things haven't changed regarding this.

I still say that you can file for the K1 visa but keep the relationship quiet to avoid any problems with their military and to get the formal release date on time, but don't get married without their permission and go that route unless you want a most difficult time.

Edited October 4, 2013 by ॐ

[Angel Eyes Yuseef 5]

For a man in the military to have a relationship out side of Egypt is considered treason and possible swapping information's. They are very serious about this. Best to just keep the relationship quiet for now. But even with that said, the military are the ones that track the internet and phones there in Egypt. So I am sure all his activity is very well known. There military is not like ours. And the longer you wait the more solid your visa petition will be.