Want to get my Danish girlfriend into the US, completely lost

[p-ana 933]

Being here on a k1 and waiting around for adjustment of status has been a challenging experience. Never have I felt this helpless, dependent and unwelcomed.

i would recommend for everyone to just go the extra mile and set everything in place to go through the cr1 proce

The time you "lose" waiting for it will be nothing compared to being able to work and living life right when entering the USA

Edited July 19, 2016 by p-ana

[DHLP 0]

First of all, I'm sorry if this is the wrong subforum. This is my first attempt to figure anything out, and there's an overwhelming pile of Visa Spaghetti on my screen right now.

I -- a US citizen -- am in a roughly 1.5-year long distance relationship with a Dane. I've made several trips there, stayed for up to a month. She's made several trips here, staying for up to three months. At this point, I think it's probably time to figure out how to get her into the US permanently.

Reading over the comparison (http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare) it sounds like the fastest and cheapest way to do this is with an IR-1/CR-1 via the "direct consular filing" method. I'll be in Denmark later this year, so I could conceivably stop by the consulate in person... however, I'm not a Danish resident myself, so this might not work.

Spoke with a lawyer and he suggested some kind of "get spontaneously married, then ask forgiveness afterward" approach, since it would result in her staying here in the US with me while paperwork is resolved. That sounds fishy to me, but I like that it's fast. Unfortunately he wants to be paid several thousand dollars for his help in navigating said paperwork. Ouch.

I really have no clue where to start. I'm going to do more reading on this site, so please tell me if I'm wasting everyone's time, but I hoped to just throw a question out there. Is DCF an option? Is it the best option?

K1 would be best for you. Just make a checklist of the full instructions of the process to make sure you won't miss any information. Ours got approved in less than 3 months. As long as you fill out everything correctly. We also didnt have to get a lawyer. Just ask here and you will get a lot of help that's for sure!

[jm302music 25]

I would echo other comments here and say that you don't need to hire an attorney to get the K-1 done. The step-by-step process descriptions on this site are extremely helpful, and the other members are even more helpful!

Just read the steps carefully, ask questions here when you get stuck, and just keep putting one foot in front of the other. You'll get there! Good luck to you both in your journey!

Joel

[Scandi 3,977]

Oh no, definitely DO NOT hire a lawyer no matter which visa you decide to go for, unless you have a difficult case (with criminal backgrounds or such). It might take a little while to gather all the info needed for the package but it's soooo easy when you follow the guides on here and you have a whole forum to ask in case something's confusing to you.

Good luck!

[americanboy 3]

Wow, this is pretty overwhelming! Thanks to everyone for all the helpful tips.

Basically, dealing with USCIS is a lottery.

Wow, great!

Add me to the list of k1s who wish I would have done cr1. ... If I could do it over, I would weigh the options more and rely on emotion less.

It sounds like there's a (potentially) long wait going either route, K-1 or CR-1. With K-1, the wait is in the US. With CR-1, it's abroad. But with CR-1, since you're automatically a legal permanent resident upon arriving in the US, you never have to sit around unemployed/uninsured/unlicensed in either country. Would you say that's roughly correct?

I am glad my wife and I chose the CR1 route, but beware of some of these estimates. 12 months is optimistic. ... Conceivably, tomorrow you can submit the K-1 package. But again, I'm glad we went the CR1 route so she was an immediate permanent resident upon landing in the US. No AOS. And a little less expensive.

It's almost an even split between K-1 and CR-1. I should put up a straw poll.

Same for me. We chose K1 for your same reasons, but now I wish we would've just done CR1. Planning a destination wedding in JA would've been much better than rushing around trying to figure out something within 90 days is too much. Plus the added cost and drama of AOS. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20. Im grateful he's here now!

Finally, a light in the darkness; we have no plans for a fancy wedding. Having to rush and get married in the 90-day window for a K-1 is no hardship for us.

Being here on a k1 and waiting around for adjustment of status has been a challenging experience. Never have I felt this helpless, dependent and unwelcomed.

That's really terrible, I'm sorry to hear it. And I wouldn't want to force anyone to go through it. Ugh.

[Scandi 3,977]

Finally, a light in the darkness; we have no plans for a fancy wedding. Having to rush and get married in the 90-day window for a K-1 is no hardship for us.

Same thing for us, so that's always a good thing. I'd happily do the Vegas drive thru-wedding if my fiancé would've agreed to it. It helps a lot not having to plan around a certain date or a specific place and so on. It can be very romantic either way. Well, maybe not the drive thru-wedding, but still.. Haha

[Lingon 9]

Just a "warning", the K-1 might not be faster than the CR-1 at all. It most likely won't be for us. Had we known it'd take this long we would definitely have went for the CR-1 instead, that would've saved us some money, we would've been done with the AOS part when I enter the US and the process would've been just as fast.

I totally regret the K-1 but at this point it has gone so far so we can't really change our minds.

There is no way of telling which visa will be the fastest way than to look at statistics. I wanted to get married in Sweden with my family and friends around me as we were going to live in the U.S.A, so that's what we did and therefore we applied for CR-1. We ended up in backlogs and RFEs we already sent them several times and after 1,5 years after we got married, I almost gave up on us and we started to discuss if we should just get at divorce and move on with our lives separately. Instead I quit my job and traveled to stay with my husband on the ESTA visa for three months and by the end of my visit the embassy in Stockholm gave me an appointment for the interview. Only good thing that came out of it was that I received LPR instead of CR..... But if I had known it would take that long I would have applied for the K1 instead.

Sorry to hear that you too Scandi regret your choice of visa even if your experience is the opposite from mine. Cross my fingers for your visa journey to speed up now!

Americanboy, you and your Danish girlfriend just have to read through the options and make up your mind about what route is the best for you two whatever advice you receive from here or anywhere else. Good Luck to you, whatever you choose!

[Georgia16 2,858]

K-1 vs. CR-1 is an ongoing battle

I think for some couples are K-1 better and for other are the CR-1 the better choice.

Whatever you choose you can do this by yourself you do not need an lawyer!

The Scandinavian forum in here has a great support (You dane has to do interview in Sweden, but medical can be done in CPH.)

The support in the whole forum is amazing and you can always get help if you feel lost. There are groups for every month people file a petition so therefore you can follow people there are in the same place in the process as you guys.

Get her in here too and make her read so you both can do this process and know what is coming!

Any questions then feel free to write!

Wish you good luck!

[Wooderz 314]

It's luck of the draw as far as timing goes - either way you can't control it. Processing times for both can change on a dime drastically.

You should make your decision weighing the pros and cons of both. That's something I didn't do. Think logically and not just about wanting to be together the quickest. That is a factor but it's not the only factor.

Choose whichever one fits your situation, your relationship and your financials better.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

There is no way of telling which visa will be the fastest way than to look at statistics. I wanted to get married in Sweden with my family and friends around me as we were going to live in the U.S.A, so that's what we did and therefore we applied for CR-1. We ended up in backlogs and RFEs we already sent them several times and after 1,5 years after we got married, I almost gave up on us and we started to discuss if we should just get at divorce and move on with our lives separately. Instead I quit my job and traveled to stay with my husband on the ESTA visa for three months and by the end of my visit the embassy in Stockholm gave me an appointment for the interview. Only good thing that came out of it was that I received LPR instead of CR..... But if I had known it would take that long I would have applied for the K1 instead.

Sorry to hear that you too Scandi regret your choice of visa even if your experience is the opposite from mine. Cross my fingers for your visa journey to speed up now!

Americanboy, you and your Danish girlfriend just have to read through the options and make up your mind about what route is the best for you two whatever advice you receive from here or anywhere else. Good Luck to you, whatever you choose!

I think it is misleading to look at another option and think "shoulda, coulda, woulda," without knowing how it would go. Factually, CR1s better protect immigrants, that can't be disputed. Everything else is a your mileage might vary situation. For us, we married in Denmark before the I-129F was approved and I am glad for it. My husband was happy to get a job several days after POE and despite him saying he wouldn't want to live apart after we got married, now knowing him for a long time, I can say it would have really depressed him to sit at home those months without any real rights. Other people might really enjoy that, who knows? I know I didn't enjoy my long, legal, but yet without full rights stay in his country....

[Pennycat 880]

Not to disagree with those who see/regret taking the downsides of the K1 (and there are downsides for sure), but we're still happy with our route. It's been frustrating, especially lately (which is largely our own fault because we applied for AOS months after we could have), but it's just what worked for us and our relationship and family situations at the time.

It's hard to put into words without sounding romantic or giving into feelings too much but basically, from a practical standpoint, we were ready to move on with our relationship and live together but I didn't "feel right" getting married without a period of engagement, or getting married without my family there, or getting married before my family met him etc. Maybe it's different for people whose SO has visited the US, or who are in longer term relationships than we were (we got engaged after being together just under 2 years) or any host of things that make all individuals and relationships unique. But for us it was the way to get to be together faster, without rushing into a step that we weren't ready for yet. Which is weird to say because of COURSE you don't get engaged if you're not ready to get married--- but just not right then and there, in Costa Rica January of 2015.

Anyway, there are ways to mitigate the downsides and we've done fairly well with them. We live in a downtown area and don't own a car anyway, so no driver's licence is no problem. He needed English classes anyway, and so enrolled in some community classes 3 days/week (this is allowed on the K1 visa-- it's not degree-seeking) and volunteers at the local animal shelter two days/ week (volunteer work also allowed). He'd never traveled to the US before (or out of Central America before, or ever on an airplane) and culture shock is real so it's not like if he was able to work on Day 1 we'd have done so. I'd have planned for a long adjustment period either way, so may as well get to the adjustment period faster. We also wanted to but never made happen due to logistics, to purchase an older run down vehicle and have him fix it up and possibly sell, or to keep, or whatever (also permitted, you can engage in a hobby and he's a mechanic by trade and for fun). Could have been income producing too but (1) I'm not 100% on the legality of that (not employed so... I guess?) and (2) the point was more staying occupied. Funny end to that story is that his employment authorization is approved, we're just waiting on the card and just today he purchased a motorcycle older than he is (!) to start tinkering with. Great.

So, again, so highly dependent on you and your situation. But the downsides can be dealt with.

[mindthegap 2,543]

No, it CANNOT be done. Entering the US with the VWP or with a tourist visa with the intent to marry, stay and adjust status is immigration fraud. Period.

As you quoted my reply, that is clearly aimed at me... so please tell me how exactly does that differ to the information contained in my reply?

Fraudulent or not, some people do come on the VWP with prior intent to marry and stay/adjust, and they do indeed get away with it, so yes it CAN be and IS done.

I stated that it would be fraud in this case due to the prior intent. What I did not do is condone it, recommend it, or say it it not fraudulent both generally and in this specific example.

The OP specifically - and wisely - asked about it after advice from a shady attorney, and I presented the facts so he can make an informed decision.

Edited July 19, 2016 by mindthegap

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

**** Thread re-opened after review. AOS from tourist visa/ VWP is not a legal possibility here, and not one the Op is now considering, so let's drop that subject please.*****

Edited July 19, 2016 by Penguin_ie

[wagner17 24]

But with CR-1, since you're automatically a legal permanent resident upon arriving in the US, you never have to sit around unemployed/uninsured/unlicensed in either country. Would you say that's roughly correct?

I think it depends on your situation. You can "sit around unemployed/uninsured" with a CR-1.

Also people have posted that you can expedite an EAD if you have a job offer.

Edited July 20, 2016 by wagner17

[yuna628 9,541]

OP: Here's a breakdown on a K1. Across the board a marriage visa vs a fiancé visa is going to take longer because they go through an entirely different process. You'll have a waiting period either way, one will be longer than the other.

From a person who went through the K1 process that started in 2014... my husband finally received his Green Card just recently.

For the K1, it used to be that applications sent out were directed to two different service centers. The fast one and the slow one. We went to the slow one, which accounts for the considerable length of time it took to complete our process up to the point of marriage. The adjustment of status process after marriage in the US, also takes a good deal of time for some, and not so much for others. Unfortunately here, we also were unlucky.

A change was made to the K1 process a while back, where the slow service center was eliminated. That meant only one service center (the fast one) has to handle every single K1 case coming in. For a time, they handled it quite well (and mostly do seem to handle it within the projected 6 month time frame). After the San Bernardino attacks (of which the couple used a K1 from that service center), it has most likely come under higher scrutiny with longer checking. 6 months is still a decent predictable time for an average uncomplicated application (without any hiccups) but it is always possible for it to be longer. Remember that once she has obtained a K1 visa, she has six months from the date of her medical to enter the US. So if you need additional time to make plans, save up money on her part, or settle up property.. a K1 can be useful in that regard. While most people don't mind rushing to the courthouse or having a do-over later, we actually did manage to have one full non-courthouse wedding.. but such planning isn't for the faint of heart.

The adjustment of status process allows that you can also apply for an EAD (for free), which arrives about 90 days after filing (or you may request an expedite). So while there may be a period of sitting around not doing much. She could look at it as a way of getting adjusted to life in the US, and seeing what potential prospects are available. As for being uninsured, an immigrant may not be rejected for insurance. If you have insurance via your workplace you may add her upon marriage. If she is to apply for Obamacare or state exchange, she will need proof of her status - so the first notice of action that her adjustment application has been received is enough, an EAD is also more than enough as well. You can also obtain private insurance and we did so on the basis of marriage. They requested none of his legal status information either. So going without insurance is not as massive of a concern so long as you have the funds to pay for it.

So whether you want to go with a K1 or a spousal visa really depends on:

Time you want to wait.

Money you have saved to spend on the fees (sponsorship rules are the same so you also need to make sure you meet the financial rules).

Whether the prospect of waiting a bit before working is a problem vs working right away.

A lawyer is not needed. Reading, writing, and a lot of checking and double checking. As long as you follow the guides it's straightforward to accomplish.

Edited July 20, 2016 by yuna628