IR1/CR1/K3 what is the difference?

[diane79 14]

Hello.

 

I am asking for a friend. She is planing on getting married but she doesn’t know whether to get married here in the US (coming with a K1 visa) or in her country. 

Can anyone help me telling me the difference between IR1, CR1, K3 visa? 

Also, do you know which one works faster, those kind of visa or the K1? 

She wants to apply for the one that will help her to come faster to the country.

I can only speak for the K1 process but I don’t know anything about the other ones. 

Thank you in advance for your help 

 

 

[LilyJ 1,258]

It will take about the same amount of time for a K1 or a CR1. An IR1 is only for couples who have been married for 2 years or more, if she goes with a spousal visa she will be coming on a CR1 since she will, presumably, have been married for less than 2 years. A K3 is basically an obsolete visa and K3 applications are automatically converted into CR1 visas these days (or so I've heard; pretty sure they are trying to phase out K3 visas because they are irrelevant now, so this is why they are converting them into CR1s). So if she's planning to do a spousal visa instead of the K1 fiance visa she might as well apply for a CR1 instead of a K3 because it will become a CR1 anyways. The process for an IR1 and CR1 is the same however, but she will automatically receive a CR1 if they are married less than 2 years by the time she arrives in the US and will have to remove her conditional residency after she has been in the US for 2 years if she comes on a CR1.
 

Whether she goes with a K1 or a CR1, it will take around 6-8 months for the petition to be approved, and around 12-14 months for the entire process depending on how quickly the petition is approved, how quickly they pay and send NVC documents and fees, and how quickly the NVC case is approved and how long it takes to get an interview where she lives. There is no faster way, they take around the same amount of time.

[SalishSea 16,770]

13 minutes ago, diane79 said:

Hello.

 

I am asking for a friend. She is planing on getting married but she doesn’t know whether to get married here in the US (coming with a K1 visa) or in her country. 

Can anyone help me telling me the difference between IR1, CR1, K3 visa? 

Also, do you know which one works faster, those kind of visa or the K1? 

She wants to apply for the one that will help her to come faster to the country.

I can only speak for the K1 process but I don’t know anything about the other ones. 

Thank you in advance for your help 

 

 

@missilemanhas a really good list of pros and cons for both.  I'm sure he will post it here.

 

Bottom line is that there is nothing "FAST" about any marriage-based visa process.  It is expensive and time consuming.  

 

Also:  K-3 is defunct.

[pushbrk 12,110]

The "friend" would be well advised to do their own due diligence and apply the facts to their own circumstances and priorities.  The process is far more complex than you might imagine at first glance and with third hand information.

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration forum.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

On 2/11/2019 at 4:23 PM, diane79 said:

I am asking for a friend. She is planing on getting married but she doesn’t know whether to get married here in the US (coming with a K1 visa) or in her country. 

Can anyone help me telling me the difference between IR1, CR1, K3 visa? 

Also, do you know which one works faster, those kind of visa or the K1? 

She wants to apply for the one that will help her to come faster to the country.

I can only speak for the K1 process but I don’t know anything about the other ones. 

Thank you in advance for your help 

There's nothing fast when dealing with US visas or immigration. But I'm sure she already knew that when she decided to get into a relationship with a US citizen.