Living outside of the USA, and applying for visa from outside of the USA

[pfcnr 25]

Hello everyone,

Me and my girl friend are both living in Turkey. My girl friend is US Citizen and I am a Turkish Citizen. We want to get married and live in the USA in the summer of 2017.

I thought it would be an easy procedure but it seems it is a little bit hard and long journey.

My questions are;

1) Can we apply for K-1 from Turkey?

2) We can only be leaving Turkey in the summer of 2017 due to work. What if I get my visa before that? Does it expire?

3) Is K-1 a right choice? Since we both living in Turkey.

Thanks in advance.

[JFH 12,189]

1. Yes but the affidavit of support would be a concern. Does the USC have assets or savings? Or someone willing to sponsor?

2. The visa is valid for 6 months from the date of the medical. You are unlikely to get it much before the summer if you apply now. The process is around 5 or 6 months on a good day. It could be longer.

3. The K-1 is one of 2 choices. The other is CR-1. For that you need to get married first (in Turkey or any other country of your choosing). The difference between arriving on a fiancé visa and arriving on a spouse visa is that a spouse visa gets you a green card immediately upon arrival and you can start work right away. Arriving on a fiance visa means you will not be able to work until around 3 months after you get married. So you will be several months without work. Can you afford that? Do you even want to live like that? For me the decision was very easy. The CR-1 takes longer so if you get married now and start the process immediately you will have your visa in around 10 or 12 months from now.

Edited December 28, 2016 by JFH

[pfcnr 25]

Hello JFH,

Thanks for your super quick response.

1) She doesn't have any assets but her family has plenty. I believe they can sponsor us. But we will be having savings around 20k I'm not sure if that helps alone.

2) 6 months is pretty long time though but since we want to leave in summer of 2017 that's okay.

3) Being able to work immediately sounds amazing, however i'm not willing to wait for 12 months... Let's assume we got married in Turkey and applied for CR-1, can I live in the States with my wife, while our application takes place or do I have to be in Turkey? I actually don't mind staying home for 3 months since I'm a software programmer I can work anywhere.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

There is also the issue of the USC domicile. She will probably need to prove US domicile if she is currently living in Turkey.

The CR1 is also cheaper..

and the K1 visa is valid for the one time entry 6 months after the date it's issued

[MarkPerry 488]

See if DCF is availabe in Turkey, It is usually very fast.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

Hello JFH,

Thanks for your super quick response.

1) She doesn't have any assets but her family has plenty. I believe they can sponsor us. But we will be having savings around 20k I'm not sure if that helps alone.

2) 6 months is pretty long time though but since we want to leave in summer of 2017 that's okay.

3) Being able to work immediately sounds amazing, however i'm not willing to wait for 12 months... Let's assume we got married in Turkey and applied for CR-1, can I live in the States with my wife, while our application takes place or do I have to be in Turkey? I actually don't mind staying home for 3 months since I'm a software programmer I can work anywhere.

You can then apply for a K3 visa I believe. To be allowed to enter to be together while CR1 is processed.

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/family/spouse-citizen.html

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

You can then apply for a K3 visa I believe. To be allowed to enter to be together while CR1 is processed.

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/family/spouse-citizen.html

Wrong. The K3 used to be an option when the CR1 took years. They are rarely issued anymore ( about 1% of married couple are K3 ) and they are no faster than the CR1 and do NOT allow you to get to the US faster.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

Wrong. The K3 used to be an option when the CR1 took years. They are rarely issued anymore ( about 1% of married couple are K3 ) and they are no faster than the CR1 and do NOT allow you to get to the US faster.

Thank you for updating and correcting me. I recently saw a K3 case and was not aware of this

[pfcnr 25]

See if DCF is availabe in Turkey, It is usually very fast.

Well I am not sure if International Immigration Office is the same with DCF. If they are the same according to this: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices there is none

[geowrian 22,335]

3) Being able to work immediately sounds amazing, however i'm not willing to wait for 12 months... Let's assume we got married in Turkey and applied for CR-1, can I live in the States with my wife, while our application takes place or do I have to be in Turkey? I actually don't mind staying home for 3 months since I'm a software programmer I can work anywhere.

No, CR-1 is to obtain a visa to enter the US. You will not be able to enter the US while waiting for a decision. As for timing...expect 12-18 months. Usually it's closer to 12 months, but plan for it to take longer just in case it does.

Edit: I'm not sure what is meant by the 3 months. Working from home isn't the issue - working while on US soil w/o an EAD would be the issue.

Edited December 28, 2016 by geowrian

[pfcnr 25]

No, CR-1 is to obtain a visa to enter the US. You will not be able to enter the US while waiting for a decision. As for timing...expect 12-18 months. Usually it's closer to 12 months, but plan for it to take longer just in case it does.

Edit: I'm not sure what is meant by the 3 months. Working from home isn't the issue - working while on US soil w/o an EAD would be the issue.

Neither me or my girl friend wants to wait that long. 12 -18 months is just a crazy talk

Well then K-1 seems to be most rationalist move in my situation.

One more question, where do we send the K-1 file?

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

https://www.uscis.gov/i-129f

see "where to file" drop tab

Edited December 28, 2016 by Suss&Camm

[geowrian 22,335]

Neither me or my girl friend wants to wait that long. 12 -18 months is just a crazy talk

Well then K-1 seems to be most rationalist move in my situation.

One more question, where do we send the K-1 file?

We're all pretty crazy here. Just saying... XD Immigration is not a quick process.

K1 is certainly a valid course of action. That's what I'm doing. Good luck!

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

We're all pretty crazy here. Just saying... XD Immigration is not a quick process.

K1 is certainly a valid course of action. That's what I'm doing. Good luck!

crazy??! who's crazy? speak for yourself!

[pfcnr 25]

https://www.uscis.gov/i-129f

see "where to file" drop tab

Thank you so much!

Haha this process is crazy not you people

Now I gotta find out what to file. Sigh, so much things to do.