Confounded

[ThomVIII 3]

Never in all my wildest imagination would I ever have thought getting married to a foreigner would be so maddeningly complicated. Intuition would mandate that marriage is sacred and the very state of being married would guarantee certain inalienable rights. Not so with this insanely intricate process. The more I read, here and on the USCIS site and other sites, the more confused and confounded I become as to where to even start.

My girlfriend lives in Mexico. I am a natural U.S. citizen living in Texas. She has one child, a daughter who is 9 years old. We met on a faith-based web-site and fell in love after using email, phone, and other video-chat services to regularly communicate.

She is a widow and receives a pension, which I understand will cease when she leaves Mexico. She has a home from which she can collect rent when she leaves Mexico to live here with me in Texas. I have put all my money and effort into rennovating and sustaining a Studio/Gallery for my Artwork in the hopes of getting it opened as a sideline to being a lead maintenance man for a small property corporation. We are wanting her to work in the Gallery while I continue to hold down my maintenance job and create art after hours and on weekends.

Because of the investment in the Gallery, which began before we met, I have absolutely no money to go visit her once or even twice before we marry with a Fiance Visa. By the same token, going to Mexico to marry her is prohibitively expensive as well.

Thinking about applying for a Work Visa for her makes me nervous that we would be charged with fraud if we marry while she is here working in my Gallery.

It appears like there is no solution at all to me, and I have no idea where to start. Have I given enough details about our situation for any vets here to offer some beneficial advice?

Thanks so much for any help you can offer!

[Marco&Bettina 502]

How many times have you seen each other & if once or more, how long ago?

Edited April 25, 2014 by Marco&Bettina

[DJ&L 83]

So, you haven't met in person and you're asking how to get your girlfriend here, so you can marry her, without meeting the requirements of a K1 visa? (Just so I understand)

If that's the case....

Your excuses for not having the time and money to visit are all well and good but the good ol' USCIS doesn't care. You need to have met once prior to filing for a K1. Period. End of discussion. Your gallery and such are not material to the discussion.

It's too expensive to get married in Mexico (and you don't have the time to meet her) so you can't file for a CR-1.

You know all this...which is why you're considering visa fraud and bringing her here on a work visa. I'd advise against that.

Just to put it plain....you're in Texas. She's in Mexico. It's not like she's halfway around the world. It's a three hour plane flight or less probably. Go meet her.

Don't complain about the system when you clearly have no respect for it.

Edited April 25, 2014 by DJ&L

[ThomVIII 3]

How many times have you seen each other & if once or more, how long ago?

Hi, thanks for responding. As mentioned in my post = "Because of the investment in the Gallery, which began before we met, I have absolutely no money to go visit her once or even twice before we marry"

So thusfar = "We ...fell in love after using email, phone, and other video-chat services to regularly communicate."

[DJ&L 83]

If you haven't met her...then there's really nothing to talk about. Go meet her.

If you intend to bring her here as your fiance/wife and you intend to work within the rules, then you need to have met.

[ThomVIII 3]

So, you haven't met in person and you're asking how to get your girlfriend here, so you can marry her, without meeting the requirements of a K1 visa? (Just so I understand)

If that's the case....

Your excuses for not having the time and money to visit are all well and good but the good ol' USCIS doesn't care. You need to have met once prior to filing for a K1. Period. End of discussion. Your gallery and such are not material to the discussion.

It's too expensive to get married in Mexico (and you don't have the time to meet her) so you can't file for a CR-1.

You know all this...which is why you're considering visa fraud and bringing her here on a work visa. I'd advise against that.

Just to put it plain....you're in Texas. She's in Mexico. It's not like she's halfway around the world. It's a three hour plane flight or less probably. Go meet her.

Don't complain about the system when you clearly have no respect for it.

Well, even heavy handed, aggressive advice coupled with denigrating insults can be helpful I suppose, even if it is laced with false accusations (i.e. having no respect). Thank you for your 'back-handed' advice, I will consider it along with any other less mean spirited advice I receive.

If you haven't met her...then there's really nothing to talk about. Go meet her.

If you intend to bring her here as your fiance/wife and you intend to work within the rules, then you need to have met.

Thanks again for re-iterating your blunt advice.

[DJ&L 83]

Haha! I'm not trying to be denigrating!

It's clear you already know all this! You just need someone to reinforce it for you. You have to meet your girlfriend.

Edited April 25, 2014 by DJ&L

[Marco&Bettina 502]

Haha! I'm not trying to be denigrating!

It's clear you already know all this! You just need someone to reinforce it for you. You have to meet your girlfriend.

It is true. But also it should be a scary thought to contemplate marrying someone you've never seen physically. Internet romances can only be full romances when physical contact has been added into it.

Edit: Tis a natural progression step in the relationship.

Edited April 25, 2014 by Marco&Bettina

[ThomVIII 3]

Haha! I'm not trying to be denigrating!

It's clear you already know all this! You just need someone to reinforce it for you. You have to meet your girlfriend.

Thank you again for your interest.

[Zee Zee 23]

Hi, thanks for responding. As mentioned in my post = "Because of the investment in the Gallery, which began before we met, I have absolutely no money to go visit her once or even twice before we marry"

So thusfar = "We ...fell in love after using email, phone, and other video-chat services to regularly communicate."

It looks like she has close ties with her country - can she come and visit on a visitor visa? That will also give you some time to get to know each other...later on, you can proceed with fiance visa. Just curious, if you have no money to go to visit your future wife, can you actually prove to NVC that you have enough money to sponsor her and her child?

Z

[ThomVIII 3]

It is true. But also it should be a scary thought to contemplate marrying someone you've never seen physically. Internet romances can only be full romances when physical contact has been added into it.

Edit: Tis a natural progression step in the relationship.

Thanks. Yes I agree that physicality is a part of the human experience and make up, otherwise I would not be so smitten by her looks as I am, and her with mine as she says. But also have faith in love incubated in spirituality that transcends the temporary bonds of flesh. Loving the persons as a whole should always trump loving their body only.

( My Girlfriend and I both love the account in the Bible where Rebecca journeyed hundreds of miles to be married to Isaac, whom she had not met, seen, or heard. )

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Hi, thanks for responding. As mentioned in my post = "Because of the investment in the Gallery, which began before we met, I have absolutely no money to go visit her once or even twice before we marry"

So thusfar = "We ...fell in love after using email, phone, and other video-chat services to regularly communicate."

There is no getting around it -- you MUST meet in person before you can apply for a K1 visa. It's not just good common sense, it is an actual requirement by USCIS. You're going to have to find some way to put aside money to fund a trip to see her, or vice versa (if she can get a tourist visa). Getting a work visa to work in your gallery is probably going to be impossible -- why can't you hire someone within the US who is already work authorised? Also, your real intent is to get her in the country so you can marry her -- her working in your gallery is incidental. You're setting yourself up for a material misrepresentation claim.

Put a little aside every month, even if it takes months to save up. She's worth it, right?

[RobBell 32]

Hi, thanks for responding. As mentioned in my post = "Because of the investment in the Gallery, which began before we met, I have absolutely no money to go visit her once or even twice before we marry"

So thusfar = "We ...fell in love after using email, phone, and other video-chat services to regularly communicate."

The cost of visiting Mexico isn't expensive in comparison to most other countries. If you can't afford to visit even once, how can you afford to pay for the visa process and to pay for her to travel here to the U.S.?

Step aside from your emotions and use your intellect. Meeting in person and spending time together is the most rational thing to do, even if it wasn't a requirement for the visa.

[Marco&Bettina 502]

Thanks. Yes I agree that physicality is a part of the human experience and make up, otherwise I would not be so smitten by her looks as I am, and her with mine as she says. But also have faith in love incubated in spirituality that transcends the temporary bonds of flesh. Loving the persons as a whole should always trump loving their body only.

( My Girlfriend and I both love the account in the Bible where Rebecca journeyed hundreds of miles to be married to Isaac, whom she had not met, seen, or heard. )

I hear you about the bible account. That said, this is the year 2014 & your body happens to reside in the United States of America, where there are rules. And if you want to marry someone who is not already legally inside the United States of America, then you must play their game. And rule #1 for K-1 is must have met in person. It's fine if your faith transcends bonds of flesh. But your own flesh is bound by law to meet certain requirements. No one in the forum can change that. We just speak from experience.

[ThomVIII 3]

It looks like she has close ties with her country - can she come and visit on a visitor visa? That will also give you some time to get to know each other...later on, you can proceed with fiance visa. Just curious, if you have no money to go to visit your future wife, can you actually prove to NVC that you have enough money to sponsor her and her child?

Z

Thank you for your interest. She and I have discussed the option of her coming on a tourist visa and may pursue it. We also discussed marrying in Mexico and her living with me for 6 months during the waiting period on a tourist visa. Then back to Mexico until the green card comes. But then as these options unfold so does the money needed for all of that pile up.

As far as being able to sponsor, I think my regular job will slide in under the wire having looked at the charts on the USCIS web-site. I do not know how the Gallery will perform as to income nor whether the USCIS will even consider it as a liability or an asset. Also don't know if they will consider her rent income from Mexico.

Not meaning any disrespect as another vet has accused me of, but the whole process does not seem to favor the poor. By it's very nature it appears to be discriminatory towards people with less income. Whereas adjustments and simplifications to the entire process ( note* these are aspirations for betterment, not complaining for the sake of being disrespectful) would certainly be more equitable, and certainly more congruent with the spirit of the U.S. Constitution.