Girlfriend not citizen yet - File marriage-based visa or wait and file fiance visa?

[S Mehdi 5]

I'm in Pakistan and my girlfriend is in the United States. We are not married or engaged yet, but we can get either married or engaged in June 2015 if there are no other options. She got her green card under the Violence Against Women Act (She was previously force-married to a horrible, abusive US citizen) and can apply for citizenship in December 2015.

My questions are:

• When she applies for her Citizenship in Dec 2015, how long before she receives her citizenship and be able to file for me?
• If we get married in June 2015 and apply for a marriage-based visa, is it going to be any faster than applying for the same after her citizenship?
• Will it be faster to wait for her to get citizenship and file a fiance visa for me? If we plan for this, we won't marry in June but just have an engagement instead.
• What if I apply for a student visa before we are married or engaged and get denied? Will the denied visa affect our ability to obtain a spouse or fiance visa? Is it even legal to apply for a student visa if your girlfriend is in the US?

I'm really confused here and your help can save us months! Would be really grateful if someone can guide me here.

[whitetiger 0]

Fiancé visa K1 can be applied only if the petitioner is USC. Some experienced folks will answer your questions.

[NikLR 13,220]

I'm in Pakistan and my girlfriend is in the United States. We are not married or engaged yet, but we can get either married or engaged in June 2015 if there are no other options. She got her green card under the Violence Against Women Act (She was previously force-married to a horrible, abusive US citizen) and can apply for citizenship in December 2015.

My questions are:

• When she applies for her Citizenship in Dec 2015, how long before she receives her citizenship and be able to file for me? - Not sure
• If we get married in June 2015 and apply for a marriage-based visa, is it going to be any faster than applying for the same after her citizenship? -It's slower to bring a spouse of an LPR to the USA than a spouse of a USC. However she can upgrade the casefile once citizenship is obtained if she files before citizenship. That is the route I recommend if you're already married.
• Will it be faster to wait for her to get citizenship and file a fiance visa for me? If we plan for this, we won't marry in June but just have an engagement instead. -Generally it's faster to get the visa after initial petition filing for a fiance than for a spouse but there are pros and cons for each visa type and you should look them over. Not being able to work for 90 days or more after filing for your AOS (after marriage) may make you feel useless if you're used to working.
• What if I apply for a student visa before we are married or engaged and get denied? Will the denied visa affect our ability to obtain a spouse or fiance visa? Is it even legal to apply for a student visa if your girlfriend is in the US? -Yes it's legal and you can try if you are accepted at a US university or college. What is illegal is to use the student visa for the purpose of coming here to stay. Having a denied visa of another type (student or tourist for example) doesn't affect the current visa type but must be declared.

I'm really confused here and your help can save us months! Would be really grateful if someone can guide me here.

Answers in red.

[S Mehdi 5]

Thank you both .. And especially proudly Canadian for your detailed response. Very helpful.

I think the main points remain that if we get married in June 2015 and file for the spouse visa and later upgrade to citizen when she gets her citizenship ... Is that going to be any faster than waiting for her to become a USC and then filing a fiance visa?

[NikLR 13,220]

Thank you both .. And especially proudly Canadian for your detailed response. Very helpful.

I think the main points remain that if we get married in June 2015 and file for the spouse visa and later upgrade to citizen when she gets her citizenship ... Is that going to be any faster than waiting for her to become a USC and then filing a fiance visa?

I don't know so hopefully someone who has naturalized can tell you that.

IMHO, it's less about "which is faster" and more about "which is better for us."

For instance I know that the fiance visa is the faster route but my husband and I chose the CR1 route because it was better. I needed to be able to travel right away and wanted to be able to work.

Also most Pakistani males are put into a period of administrative processing. You may want to check out the Waivers and AP forum for the threads related to that.

[Boiler 43,430]

Have you met?

[S Mehdi 5]

Have you met?

Yes, last met March 2014 and would probably meet again in June/July 2015.

[Sohailkhan 11]

Being a pakistani and marrying a divorced pakistani is a red flag and surely will put u in Ap for months even years. So do lots of research...

[S Mehdi 5]

Being a pakistani and marrying a divorced pakistani is a red flag and surely will put u in Ap for months even years. So do lots of research...

What is Ap? Would be glad if you could give a starting point ... As far as I understand, what should matter here is the visa interview. Could there be other delays as well?

[Redlove76 28]

AP, is Administrative Processing further more processing in a case, and when someone goes into AP there is no timing it can be days, weeks, months and even years. The delay itself is the AP.

[NikLR 13,220]

Administrative processing normally happens after an interview. They may not give you an answer or say you're approved, but then you still end up in AP. They do name checks, background checks, on you, your family, etc...

[zuluweta 250]

Being a pakistani and marrying a divorced pakistani is a red flag and surely will put u in Ap for months even years. So do lots of research...

The GF obtaining her green card through VAWA and marriage to another US citizen then petitioning for a foreign spouse is another red flag.