Marrying an Irish citizen... need help with the Green Card process!

[DJ6372 111]

You may have heard what you wanted to hear if you rang 'Government Agencies' whoever they may be.

The simple fact is as people have already stated, you get married and file for CR-1 Visa, this take about 12 months (mine took 15)

During that time your husband remains in Ireland, he is however allowed to visit on the VWP/ESTA but his time is limited to 90 day blocks, and less than 6 months per calendar year

He cannot come over and wait, we all wish that was the case

Yes it sucks and its a long time, but the people on VJ have been or are going throught the same process

Be relieved you are UK/Ireland based, we have a low fraud rate and the process is relatively trouble free

You will find loads of great advice on here

[JFH 12,189]

Welcome to the club of waiters. Stock up on patience because you'll need barrels of it to get through this. This forum wouldn't exist if we could all go and move to the USA to be with our spouses while we wait for our green cards.

[ricnally 258]

Wow! I've talked to so many people on the phone and none of them mentioned this to me. They all mentioned how he'll be able to come over here on a non-immigrant visa and then we'll file the I-485 after he's here.

Have any of you gone this route or is that just what you've heard?

perhaps the people you talked to were referring to the K1 fiance visa. It is a non-immigrant visa, and once he arrives, and you marry, you file the I-485.

[Boiler 43,619]

Your situation is very common so nothing special to ask.

Trying to look into the future is difficult, there seems no reason why a year would not be a reasonable assumption. The big advantage of the K1 is you can file now and it seems to be a bit quicker. So a double benefit.

Maybe look to continue hos studies in the meantime? Or a year studying on the US?

[Avery Cates 1,141]

I've been with my boyfriend for 3 years, and we're getting married in Dublin, Ireland in March. Now it's time to figure out the green card process so that he can come live and work in the US (Connecticut) while I complete my final year of pharmacy school and hopefully a pharmacy residency.

Has anyone been through this process that can help me figure out what to do and a timeline of when I should do it? Has anyone gone through the process in the US embassy in their own country (He's currently living in Ireland finishing his degree)? Do you have any advice for someone going through the process?

I've looked into it and it's very confusing to me. Do I need to submit the I-130 along with the I-864 and the G-325A all at the beginning? Are there any other forms we need to fill out initially to get the ball rolling?

Since I'm in pharmacy school and don't have an income, I need my father to fill out the I-864 also I believe. Would he be a joint sponsor and fill out the I-864, or would he be considered a member of the household and just fill out the I-864A? My father's income is high enough (over 125% FPL) and he lives in the same house as me (the house that my fiance and I will live in). Is a joint sponsor the same thing as this?

Does the I-485 come into play? Will he need to fill out the I-765? Am I missing anything else?

He will be free to come over (hopefully) in the middle of July depending on whether or not he passes his exams. Will he be able to come before he actually gets a green card or will he have to wait? When will he be able to start working?

Any help would be very much appreciated!! We're on a budget so we cannot afford a lawyer and since we're not getting married until March we want to complete this process as quickly as possible so that he can come live with me as soon as possible.

Let me know if there are any other questions I need to answer!

You don't need a lawyer, especially coming from Ireland.

Since you're not married yet, you have 2 options. There's the K-1, which will let him come here as a fiancee with the intent to immigrate and give you 90 days after his arrival to marry. This way is a little more expensive, and he'll have to wait anywhere from 3-6 months, depending on how quickly you get married and file the AOS, before he can work.

Or, you can get married abroad, and then file for a CR-1. The processing currently takes a little longer than the K-1, but it's a little less costly, and he'll be able to work as soon as he arrives in the country.

[Boiler 43,619]

Ohh do you need a visa to Marry in Eire? You do in the UK.

[Avery Cates 1,141]

What do you mean by this? I don't mean I was talking to friends I was calling government agencies and USCIS. USCIS did not tell me a specific visa name to come on, he just mentioned that he would be able to.

Government agencies that aren't USCIS give poor immigration advice.

Government agencies that are USCIS give poor immigration advice.

Nothing they say is binding, matters, and they are wrong 95% of the time. The only thing they're good for is giving an update on your case status if you really want to hear someone tell you rather than looking online, and they're even fairly poor at that.

He cannot legally work in the US until he either has a green card AND an EAD if through a K-1, or until he enters the country on a CR-1 and gets his green card that way.

[lindseyparker12 0]

Thank you guys so much for this advice! It was extremely helpful; I'm not sure what I would have done without it, haha.

We already paid 200 EUR to get married in Ireland but after hearing this I think we might just cut our losses and go the fiance visa route.

Once more question (and I know this information is probably somewhere else on this site but I just joined today so I'm still getting the hang of it): if he comes here on the fiance visa, what type of visa will he be here on in between our marriage and getting a green card. Is it still known as the fiance visa even after we're married? I haven't looked into this route at all because we had been planning on getting married in Ireland.

Thank you so much again!

Edited January 8, 2016 by lindseyparker12

[Avery Cates 1,141]

Thank you guys so much for this advice! It was extremely helpful; I'm not sure what I would have done without it, haha.

We already paid 200 EUR to get married in Ireland but after hearing this I think we might just cut our losses and go the fiance visa route.

Once more question (and I know this information is probably somewhere else on this site but I just joined today so I'm still getting the hang of it): if he comes here on the fiance visa, what type of visa will he be here on in between our marriage and getting a green card. Is it still known as the fiance visa even after we're married? I haven't looked into this route at all because we had been planning on getting married in Ireland.

Thank you so much again!

The K-1 visa will be used once he enters the country, and for 90 days afterwards he'll be considered in status and legally here. If you don't marry in the 90 days, then he'll become out of status and he must leave the country. Once you get married within that 90 days and file for the Adjustment of Status, he'll enter a new period of in status authorized stay until he receives his green card.

Edited January 8, 2016 by Avery Cates

[lindseyparker12 0]

Great! Thank you so much! It all makes a lot more sense!

[irish1 4]

Hi Lindsey,

My name is actually Lindsay as well and my fiance lives outside of Dublin. We've also been together nearly 3 years so your post hit close to home!

I've done extensive research on the visa options... we were first going to pursue the K-1 fiance visa, then decided to go with the spouse visa. I was in Ireland for Christmas and we'd planned to give the 3 month notice but then decided to get married in the U.S. instead because it was less expensive and less of a hassle. I live in Nashville and in TN you can apply for and receive a marriage license on the same day.

I spoke to a lawyer friend for about an hour this evening just to pick her brain on all the options. No matter which route any of us take, the unfortunate truth is that it's just not that easy to move to the U.S., even when you are married or related to someone here. It's a MINIMUM 9 months from when you file for a visa petition to when they get the paperwork confirming they can move to the U.S. This applies to both the fiance visa as well as the spouse.

My advice is to do a lot of research to determine the option best for you BEFORE you get married, whether it's the K-1 fiance visa or the CR-1 spouse visa. If I were you, I'd pursue the K-1 and bring him over as your fiance. It will take anywhere from 6-10 months from when you file the petition for a visa (aka Form I-129F) before he has the visa in hand and is able to move over. Once he gets the visa, he has up to 6 months to move. Since he's still in school, you can begin this NOW and it should be fairly painless. He'll be finishing school while the paperwork is in process.

One crucial thing to remember: once you file the I-129F, your fiance can't visit the U.S. at all (even on tourist visa aka visa waiver program) until he is moving over, visa in hand. Doing so will void the application and you'll have to start all over again with the filing fees and starting at the back of the application queue. You can, however, go visit him. I have a friend whose fiance (now husband) was a Canadian and this is what her lawyer advised.

I highly recommend this book for anyone trying to understand all the options and the red tape of the family visas. I checked it out from my local library more than once, I think it will answer all of your questions. It's a "dummies guide" type book, written by an immigration attorney. http://www.nolo.com/products/fiance-and-marriage-visas-imar.html

As others said on the forum, USCIS is unfortunately not the best resource for questions. Everyone you ask is likely to have a different answer, and they aren't personally liable for the accuracy of the information they provide. Best to do all your homework first, especially if you aren't working through a lawyer (we're not planning to hire one, either).

Good luck with everything, let me know if you have any questions and maybe I can help!

-Lindsay

[Boiler 43,619]

One crucial thing to remember: once you file the I-129F, your fiance can't visit the U.S. at all (even on tourist visa aka visa waiver program) until he is moving over, visa in hand. Doing so will void the application and you'll have to start all over again with the filing fees and starting at the back of the application queue. You can, however, go visit him. I have a friend whose fiance (now husband) was a Canadian and this is what her lawyer advised.

Very wrong as many people have already said.

[lindseyparker12 0]

Hi Lindsey,

My name is actually Lindsay as well and my fiance lives outside of Dublin. We've also been together nearly 3 years so your post hit close to home!

I've done extensive research on the visa options... we were first going to pursue the K-1 fiance visa, then decided to go with the spouse visa. I was in Ireland for Christmas and we'd planned to give the 3 month notice but then decided to get married in the U.S. instead because it was less expensive and less of a hassle. I live in Nashville and in TN you can apply for and receive a marriage license on the same day.

I spoke to a lawyer friend for about an hour this evening just to pick her brain on all the options. No matter which route any of us take, the unfortunate truth is that it's just not that easy to move to the U.S., even when you are married or related to someone here. It's a MINIMUM 9 months from when you file for a visa petition to when they get the paperwork confirming they can move to the U.S. This applies to both the fiance visa as well as the spouse.

My advice is to do a lot of research to determine the option best for you BEFORE you get married, whether it's the K-1 fiance visa or the CR-1 spouse visa. If I were you, I'd pursue the K-1 and bring him over as your fiance. It will take anywhere from 6-10 months from when you file the petition for a visa (aka Form I-129F) before he has the visa in hand and is able to move over. Once he gets the visa, he has up to 6 months to move. Since he's still in school, you can begin this NOW and it should be fairly painless. He'll be finishing school while the paperwork is in process.

One crucial thing to remember: once you file the I-129F, your fiance can't visit the U.S. at all (even on tourist visa aka visa waiver program) until he is moving over, visa in hand. Doing so will void the application and you'll have to start all over again with the filing fees and starting at the back of the application queue. You can, however, go visit him. I have a friend whose fiance (now husband) was a Canadian and this is what her lawyer advised.

I highly recommend this book for anyone trying to understand all the options and the red tape of the family visas. I checked it out from my local library more than once, I think it will answer all of your questions. It's a "dummies guide" type book, written by an immigration attorney. http://www.nolo.com/products/fiance-and-marriage-visas-imar.html

As others said on the forum, USCIS is unfortunately not the best resource for questions. Everyone you ask is likely to have a different answer, and they aren't personally liable for the accuracy of the information they provide. Best to do all your homework first, especially if you aren't working through a lawyer (we're not planning to hire one, either).

Good luck with everything, let me know if you have any questions and maybe I can help!

-Lindsay

Thank you so much!!

I knew he couldn't come over and live here on the VWP but I had no idea that he couldn't even visit for a couple weeks on the VWP after we file the I-129F. I'm definitely going to buy that book. I've only really started to figure things out this week. I've been getting a lot of misinformation so I'm glad I found this website.

We did the 3 month notice thing already but it seems like it's going to be such a long and difficult process bringing him over as a spouse that we decided tonight that it might be better to do the K-1 visa (Not that any route is really easy).

If it's not too personal, why did you decide to go with the spouse visa? Was it just the cost?

Good luck and thanks so much for taking the time to help me!

[dmck 80]

With the spouse I-130 visa, when it is approved, he will arrive with his green card also approved and able to work. But it takes about 1 year to get the visa.

[Boiler 43,619]

I knew he couldn't come over and live here on the VWP but I had no idea that he couldn't even visit for a couple weeks on the VWP after we file the I-129F. I'm definitely going to buy that book. I've only really started to figure things out this week. I've been getting a lot of misinformation so I'm glad I found this website.

You can get misinformation here as well, this is an example. Many people visit during the process on the VWP, I did.