K-1 Co-sponsor and obligated wedding?

[DutchGuy 40]

4 minutes ago, Ash.1101 said:

After you get married on a K-1, you have to do your adjustment of status. This is what gives you your green card, your work authorization, and your ability to come back into the country if you leave. During this time, from entering the country on a K-1 to when you get your work authorization, you can't work. When you apply to adjust your status, you also apply to work and come back into the country if you leave, it generally takes 90 days to get your authorization to work.
Your green card that you would get from adjustment of status, is only good for two years, before your green card expires, you will do an ROC, removal of conditions.

There's a lot more immigration process to the K-1 visa than just coming in and marrying. Coming in and marrying is just the beginning really, as if you don't adjust your status you will not stay legal in the country. The AOS process if very simular to the K-1 process, just done within the US. But it's another financial contract with a cosponsor, it's more papers that can cause problems, it can be a lot of stress, and when you're countries away from your family you'll want her family on your side.

So with AOS comes another cosponsorship? Okay. This all becomes more complicated. Can you use the same sponsor? 

[Ash.1101 1,755]

Just now, DutchGuy said:

So with AOS comes another cosponsorship? Okay. This all becomes more complicated. Can you use the same sponsor? 

You can use the same one. The cosponsorship for the AOS is legally binding though. Your fiance's friend would be agreeing to sponsor you until became a citizen, worked here for 40 quarters (10 complete years of working), or died. While we haven't seen it done, the cosponsor forms your fiances friend would fill out make it so if you received ANY means based benefits such as welfare or medicaid (federal insurance), that the government could sue your fiance's friend for the money back.

 

[DutchGuy 40]

11 minutes ago, Ash.1101 said:

You can use the same one. The cosponsorship for the AOS is legally binding though. Your fiance's friend would be agreeing to sponsor you until became a citizen, worked here for 40 quarters (10 complete years of working), or died. While we haven't seen it done, the cosponsor forms your fiances friend would fill out make it so if you received ANY means based benefits such as welfare or medicaid (federal insurance), that the government could sue your fiance's friend for the money back.

 

So what exactly is the co-sponsor responsible for? If I drive into someones car and get sued but can't pay the bill is she responsible? Like, how can I explain her responsibilities for me the best?

[SparklePony 238]

Like Ash said, if you receive any means tested benefits, such as welfare, the government can sue the sponsor for compensation of the moneys given to you. In case the sponsor can't pay it back, they will then sue the co-sponsor for that amount. This is valid until you become a citizen.

 

You can, and should, read up on all the guides here, flowcharts, comparisons, etc, heck, even sample forms, to get an idea of what you're in for. You can also do the same at the USCIS website and look at the forms, and the form instructions. And read threads on here, even if you don't reply, including the stickies - there is such a wealth of knowledge in the posts on VJ. It may seem daunting at first, and that there are so many detail;s to figure out, but tons and tons of members have successfully gone through the journey from visa to naturalization on their own, with no recourse to lawyers, just with the help they have gotten on here. It's totally doable as DYI.

[caliliving 606]

28 minutes ago, DutchGuy said:

So what exactly is the co-sponsor responsible for? If I drive into someones car and get sued but can't pay the bill is she responsible? Like, how can I explain her responsibilities for me the best?

no, honestly it just means u cant get welfare or medicade.. basicaly federal government stuff.. as long as u know ur ging to get a job here, u will be fine.  also, the requirements for a sponsor is only 27k so it isnt even THAT much money... but yeah, she wont be on the hook for 'alimony' or anything like that if something goes wrong.. basically u cant get welfare.  lots of people get cosponsors all the time a nd i have not heard of anyhthing going badly.  

[nightingalejules 678]

30 minutes ago, DutchGuy said:

So what exactly is the co-sponsor responsible for? If I drive into someones car and get sued but can't pay the bill is she responsible? Like, how can I explain her responsibilities for me the best?

No. Keep in mind that you don't actually qualify for "means tested benefits" until you are a citizen (this includes social security (food stamps and welfare), medicaid in some states (but NOT ACA - you qualify for that)). So basically this means that your sponsor and joint sponsor are responsible to keep you from being a "burden on the state" - that you will not fraudulently accept government benefits. There is some expected responsibility to "support you,"  but in reality it basically means that your new wife will have to be financially responsible for you while you are unable to work until your employment authorization (or green card) arrives, and that you won't apply for welfare. You aren't going to do that... presumably as soon as you are legally allowed to work, you will get a job and support yourself. By the time you apply to remove conditions on your green card (after 2 years), you will be supporting yourself. 

And if you are still married at the end of 3 years, you can apply for citizenship, thus removing any responsibility that the joint sponsor might have. It's part of why my husband and I are planning for me to apply for citizenship as soon as we can... his mother was a joint sponsor for us, and I want to make sure that she is "off the hook" as soon as possible.

And as far as your final question, you don't need to wait. If she has a contract or job agreement, and some paystubs to prove her income, your gf's friend can fill out her I-864 right now using her current income.

Good luck to you!

[USC1961 251]

To the OP:  It's good that you are asking the right questions and getting a feel for how it will all work.  But may I suggest that you consider the option of waiting until your fiancee is financially stable before making such a big decision?  You are putting a big burden on her and her friend while you and your fiancee haven't even graduated college.  And it sounds like her parents aren't 100% on board either.  What does this all mean?  It means if things go wrong there will be no one to back you up.    

 

It's difficult enough to start a marriage on the right foot.  And the #1 reason couples get divorced in the USA is because of money issues. There is the possibility a CO may take this and your situation into account when you apply for the K-1.  Waiting a year or two would make things much easier.  If I had to guess her parents would be much more in favor of the whole situation knowing you two are stable financially.  And it would also allow you to have a much nicer wedding with family etc.    Good Luck!!

Edited March 27, 2017 by Cruise77

[DutchGuy 40]

35 minutes ago, Cruise77 said:

To the OP:  It's good that you are asking the right questions and getting a feel for how it will all work.  But may I suggest that you consider the option of waiting until your fiancee is financially stable before making such a big decision?  You are putting a big burden on her and her friend while you and your fiancee haven't even graduated college.  And it sounds like her parents aren't 100% on board either.  What does this all mean?  It means if things go wrong there will be no one to back you up.    

 

It's difficult enough to start a marriage on the right foot.  And the #1 reason couples get divorced in the USA is because of money issues. There is the possibility a CO may take this and your situation into account when you apply for the K-1.  Waiting a year or two would make things much easier.  If I had to guess her parents would be much more in favor of the whole situation knowing you two are stable financially.  And it would also allow you to have a much nicer wedding with family etc.    Good Luck!!

Thank you for your concerns. Having to wait for her to sponsor me would take another 2 years. (1 more year in college and then 1 year of work?) The field she is in gets will land you a job 90% of the time straight out of college. Would we have to wait for her to work a full calendar year or could you file like after her working for 2 months? As for me, I do have my degree but am currently enrolled in another school which I don't necessarily need to finish. If we'd really go through with all this we were thinking of starting the process like the end of this year? So I can get a job for the time being to create that buffer, since costs can be a burden like you stated.

Also, who would have to pay for the fee's and process? Will they look upon that as well? 

As for the rest of the answer from you folks, thank you! I will come back later today to ask a few more questions to your replies, but have to get my day started now! lol 

[shayden10 78]

I think a lot of people who go the K1 route opt for a courthouse wedding, because it is easier to do within the 90 day period than arrange a full blown wedding. Not only is it not as expensive, but you don't know when the visa will be approved and delivered to you - mine was approved and I moved within four months, some people have a much much longer wait, and there really is no way to tell if you'll be one of the fast or slow ones. You typically need two people to witness for a courthouse wedding in the US, who can be family or friends. 

 

My husband and I met while he was playing hockey in Canada, we dated and lived together there for six months and then were long distance for two years. He visited me five times in Canada and I visited him ten times during our long distance period. I got turned away once at the border which made visiting a pain (still do-able) but pressured us to close the distance. My husband and I got married toward the end of January and filed our Adjustment of Status (as well as Employment Authorization and Advance Parole paperwork) the beginning of February. For now, I can't work or travel outside the country. It's hard to be newly married and living off one income. It's boring sitting at home all the time because I am no longer allowed to drive (sometimes I do anyway... I have a valid foreign license but am not supposed to drive on it anymore, I have to wait for my work authorization to get a license). I'm expecting my EAD/AP in May (fingers crossed) but there's no guarantee for that. 

 

The fiancé visa cost us around $2500 for: USCIS filing fees, passport photos, application for police checks/birth registration, travel to consulate for interview, Visa fee, and medical. I was lucky that my consulate was a six hour drive away, and we got a cheap hotel for the night. After the expenses of moving and the courthouse wedding (ours cost $225 for the license, ceremony and copies of our marriage certificate) you have to adjust your status. The adjustment of status costs $1225 when you initially apply for filing and biometrics fees. I am early in this stage still so I haven't had any other expenses, but two years after I get my green card I will have to remove my conditions to stay and three years after that I can consider becoming a citizen. All of these things have fees.

 

For the interview, your sponsor only needs to meet 100% of the poverty guideline and will fill out I-134 to show this. The instructions list documents you must present as proof. If they do not meet the guidelines or you don't have those documents, you can look into the embassy where you will have the interview to see if they allow joint sponsors (some don't). When you submit your AOS application, your sponsor will fill out the I-864 and must meet 125% of the poverty guideline. You can have a joint sponsor. For this step you must have tax returns from last year, or submit proof of why you weren't able to file. If that's the case then gather recent pay stubs for the past 6 months and a letter from their employer stating how much they make and the type of position (if it's permanent). However, that isn't always enough and I have seen some people get requests for initial evidence for tax returns. 

 

If you are serious about the K1 I would talk to your girlfriend about it and what comes with it - including the filing fees, travel and other expenses, and the inability to work. In addition, the sponsorship for I-864 for the sponsor and joint sponsors is a serious form, even if you guys divorce the sponsors are still held accountable should you become a public charge and may be sought for repayment or sued if you go on certain forms of assistance. 

 

It does take time to fill everything out, it's a huge waiting game with USCIS once you do, it is expensive and when you get here it may be quite stressful. Not to mention leaving your family and friends at home isn't easy. But I promise you that if your serious about your love, every single second of the process, and every single second apart, is definitely worth it when you get to be together. 

[SamWasi 15]

3 hours ago, DutchGuy said:

Thank you for your concerns. Having to wait for her to sponsor me would take another 2 years. (1 more year in college and then 1 year of work?) The field she is in gets will land you a job 90% of the time straight out of college. Would we have to wait for her to work a full calendar year or could you file like after her working for 2 months? As for me, I do have my degree but am currently enrolled in another school which I don't necessarily need to finish. If we'd really go through with all this we were thinking of starting the process like the end of this year? So I can get a job for the time being to create that buffer, since costs can be a burden like you stated.

Also, who would have to pay for the fee's and process? Will they look upon that as well? 

As for the rest of the answer from you folks, thank you! I will come back later today to ask a few more questions to your replies, but have to get my day started now! lol 

Why don't you take the CR-1 route? get married, start the CR-1 process, which takes 1-1.5 year. BUT, once you get your visa, you will be able to work in the states from day 1. 

[Leafsfan 54]

5 minutes ago, SamWasi said:

Why don't you take the CR-1 route? get married, start the CR-1 process, which takes 1-1.5 year. BUT, once you get your visa, you will be able to work in the states from day 1. 

Reading through all this, I just wanted to give this a +1. Going off shaden10's experience I would even say it's a little bit less money wise, as you will not have to adjust status once you're in the USA, only file to remove conditions after ~18 months.

 

Don't hide a wedding or intent to marry from her or your parents. This is a huge, life altering decision that will make the two of you family in the eyes of the law and whatever else you may believe in. It definitely would be getting things off on the wrong foot, so to speak.

[DutchGuy 40]

11 minutes ago, Leafsfan said:

Reading through all this, I just wanted to give this a +1. Going off shaden10's experience I would even say it's a little bit less money wise, as you will not have to adjust status once you're in the USA, only file to remove conditions after ~18 months.

 

Don't hide a wedding or intent to marry from her or your parents. This is a huge, life altering decision that will make the two of you family in the eyes of the law and whatever else you may believe in. It definitely would be getting things off on the wrong foot, so to speak.

Thank you both for giving me different perspectives and options to look into. To get back to the whole "hiding" thing, it was never my intention to hide it. To clarify a few things I was just curious to how this whole process has to go. I think that everyone can understand that a dream scenario would be to have a full-blow out wedding, that every couple deserves. With all her friends and family, and mine. Unfortunately that is not possible at this very moment yet, financially and logistically. 

Both my parents know it is my intent to marry her, and I actually told her I was going to ask for her hand with her father before we would even file anything. I truly do want his blessing, I think this was taken out of proportion, or I might have worded it wrong, I was just looking into possible scenario's. You have all made very clear that this is something serious, which we both agree on. We are still willing to go through this all and I completely agree to not "hide" things, again, it was more for me to see what the possibilities were, cause it is indeed a pretty huge thing, especially for a fathers first born.

We both agreed that, even if we don't get his blessing, it won't stop our unconditional love for each other, and that this is something we both want. 

I hope this clarifies this subject and that there are some more tips and/or information you guys having about my other concerns. 



Some additional questions: (I know some are answerable by doing some research, just maybe some of these answer are different for my case)

- How much money would be suggested for this whole process? Think about fee's, living without a job for a few months etc etc. 
- How can you best explain to a co-sponsor what he/she is signing for?
- How much would the entire process take time-wise?
- Would it be advised to get a lawyer?

- Can someone explain the sponsoring in ELI5 form. It is very confusing for me right now. 

Thank you!
 

 

 

[Leafsfan 54]

2 minutes ago, DutchGuy said:

Thank you both for giving me different perspectives and options to look into. To get back to the whole "hiding" thing, it was never my intention to hide it. To clarify a few things I was just curious to how this whole process has to go. I think that everyone can understand that a dream scenario would be to have a full-blow out wedding, that every couple deserves. With all her friends and family, and mine. Unfortunately that is not possible at this very moment yet, financially and logistically. 

Both my parents know it is my intent to marry her, and I actually told her I was going to ask for her hand with her father before we would even file anything. I truly do want his blessing, I think this was taken out of proportion, or I might have worded it wrong, I was just looking into possible scenario's. You have all made very clear that this is something serious, which we both agree on. We are still willing to go through this all and I completely agree to not "hide" things, again, it was more for me to see what the possibilities were, cause it is indeed a pretty huge thing, especially for a fathers first born.

We both agreed that, even if we don't get his blessing, it won't stop our unconditional love for each other, and that this is something we both want. 

I hope this clarifies this subject and that there are some more tips and/or information you guys having about my other concerns. 



Some additional questions: (I know some are answerable by doing some research, just maybe some of these answer are different for my case)

- How much money would be suggested for this whole process? Think about fee's, living without a job for a few months etc etc. 
- How can you best explain to a co-sponsor what he/she is signing for?
- How much would the entire process take time-wise?
- Would it be advised to get a lawyer?

- Can someone explain the sponsoring in ELI5 form. It is very confusing for me right now. 

Thank you!
 

 

 

I'll do my best to answer some of your questions, as I'm someone who went the CR1 route rather then the K visa route.

 

Money. For me it was about $2500 USD. This includes the filing fees, fees for documents I needed to acquire (police check, etc), medical exam, and travel. (My interviewing consulate was 3300km away, Canada problems). I did not have an adjustment of status to file which another user said was about $1225. So far as living expenses, that depends on the city you're going to be in and a lot of other factors.. finding employment has proven more difficult then I thought it would be. Not every employer is eager to accept your foreign credentials.

 

Co-sponsor. Have them read the form and understand it. They're signing a document that requires them to essentially financially support you for a determinate period of time. Make sure it's someone serious, because if they retract their sponsorship it could jeopardize your status.

 

Time. For me, coming from Canada was 6 months. Many European users on here cite about a year.

 

Lawyer. We used one and it was a waste of money. Everything you need for forms is online, and this site (which I found later) is a great wealth of information.

[SamWasi 15]

52 minutes ago, DutchGuy said:

Thank you both for giving me different perspectives and options to look into. To get back to the whole "hiding" thing, it was never my intention to hide it. To clarify a few things I was just curious to how this whole process has to go. I think that everyone can understand that a dream scenario would be to have a full-blow out wedding, that every couple deserves. With all her friends and family, and mine. Unfortunately that is not possible at this very moment yet, financially and logistically. 

Both my parents know it is my intent to marry her, and I actually told her I was going to ask for her hand with her father before we would even file anything. I truly do want his blessing, I think this was taken out of proportion, or I might have worded it wrong, I was just looking into possible scenario's. You have all made very clear that this is something serious, which we both agree on. We are still willing to go through this all and I completely agree to not "hide" things, again, it was more for me to see what the possibilities were, cause it is indeed a pretty huge thing, especially for a fathers first born.

We both agreed that, even if we don't get his blessing, it won't stop our unconditional love for each other, and that this is something we both want. 

I hope this clarifies this subject and that there are some more tips and/or information you guys having about my other concerns. 



Some additional questions: (I know some are answerable by doing some research, just maybe some of these answer are different for my case)

- How much money would be suggested for this whole process? Think about fee's, living without a job for a few months etc etc. 
- How can you best explain to a co-sponsor what he/she is signing for?
- How much would the entire process take time-wise?
- Would it be advised to get a lawyer?

- Can someone explain the sponsoring in ELI5 form. It is very confusing for me right now. 

Thank you!
 

 

 

Leafsfan answered most of your questions. But since we both are from the Netherlands, here is my input.

 

- How much money would be suggested for this whole process? Think about fee's, living without a job for a few months etc etc. 

for K-1 visa, the fee for I-129F form is $535 (this can change, check official USCIS website before filing) and add another 250 euro on top for medical check, police report (VOG vraag je aan bij je gemeente) etc. Once you are in usa, you have to apply for adjustment of status, which costs 1250. so the K-1 route is going to costs you $2000 roughly on administration costs. Luckily for us in the Netherlands, the U.S. consulate is pretty centrally located (Amsterdam) and thus relatively close. Now you have find the other costs yourself, such as flight ticket, living costs in the city you want to live in etc.

 

- How much would the entire process take time-wise?

Once K-1 petition is send, it takes 3 months for USCIS to approve (or deny). It takes another 4-6 weeks for Visa center, and then another 2 months for the U.S. consulate in Amsterdam to issue the visa. So all in, roughly 6 months if everything goes well.

 

If you decide on your route K-1 or CR-1. Please read the guides on VJ carefully. Do not hire a lawyer, it is really a waste of money, unless you have any criminal record or had issue with U.S. visa/entry before.

 

 

 

[mallafri76 1,012]

Since your fiancé is in college, you being able to work and support the both of you sounds pretty important so with that said, why don't you look into the spousal visa?!  You can have a quick courthouse wedding after which you apply for the spousal visa. You have to wait in your country during the process but you get a green card and will be allowed to work the second you set foot in America. The spousal visa takes about a year and you can visit each other during the process. It's also lees fees and forms.