K3 or K1 or..? (split)

[Tivios 1]

I'm confused.

Canadian, marrying an American, and am getting a lot of contradictory information.

As I understand it, there are 3 visa options: K1 (fiance, allowing for marriage in the US once visa is issued), K3 (spousal, allowing Canadian spouse to live in the U.S. while awaiting visa), and CR-1 (spousal, must wait in Canada until visa issuance).

I know two other Canadians who are in process, both have, apparently, applied for K3 visas, as they are convinced they'll be able to marry in the States and remain there until visa issuance. I can't find anything formal which says the K3 is being phased out or is obsolete. Can someone provide me with more info or a link?

Thanks.

[chiggins82 87]

I have heard a lot on here that K3 is either phased out or rarely used. I am not totally sure why, but I did see this in the guides:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

You can also go to:

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/family/fiance.html

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

A K-3 is a visa, so no, you can't wait in the US for the visa to be issued. K-3 is rarely issued anymore - people get forced into the CR/IR-1 path. But it was sort of like the K-1 for married people.

Your friends sound like they are getting the K-1. Check the compare section to get an idea of the differences and restrictions for each.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

I'm confused.

Canadian, marrying an American, and am getting a lot of contradictory information.

As I understand it, there are 3 visa options: K1 (fiance, allowing for marriage in the US once visa is issued), K3 (spousal, allowing Canadian spouse to live in the U.S. while awaiting visa), and CR-1 (spousal, must wait in Canada until visa issuance).

I know two other Canadians who are in process, both have, apparently, applied for K3 visas, as they are convinced they'll be able to marry in the States and remain there until visa issuance. I can't find anything formal which says the K3 is being phased out or is obsolete. Can someone provide me with more info or a link?

Thanks.

That's a k1, not a k3

[Tivios 1]

Thanks so much, that was helpful. I was confused about the K3.

From what I can gather, the average timeline for K1 is running 7 months-ish. Seems to me it was about 13 or 14 months last year, so that's an improvement. Here's hoping it doesn't lengthen again.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Thanks so much, that was helpful. I was confused about the K3.

From what I can gather, the average timeline for K1 is running 7 months-ish. Seems to me it was about 13 or 14 months last year, so that's an improvement. Here's hoping it doesn't lengthen again.

It may be a little longer as now only Montreal is handling k1s so personally I'd expect it to slow down