Should we get married in her country first or in america first!!

[Crazy Cat 39,258]

3 minutes ago, Ion Paladii said:

Why not apply for a K1 visa instead? You have to get married in the US first, but you have to wait less to be with your spouse.

More expensive, more paperwork, new spouse can not work, drive, leave the US for about 6 months,and usually longer to green card.

Edited March 30, 2019 by missileman

[Cryssiekins 976]

14 minutes ago, missileman said:

More expensive, more paperwork, new spouse can not work, drive, leave the US for about 6 months,and usually longer to green card.

All true! 

 

For me and my husband, our priority was being together, so K1 was the right route for us AFTER we did research to plan for the higher fees and period of waiting for AoS.  This was at the end of 2016 though, where the i129F was approved in less than 3 months, and another 3 for NVC and Embassy processing.  My wait for a green card was an additional 6 months.  Those times have significantly increased since then, and if I was doing it now, I would definitely get married first (ASAP) and file for the spousal visa.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

6 hours ago, Commando said:

Hi, I have a serious question and I need help please..

 

I am an American citizen and I will marry to non-US citizen but we will marry in her country to celebrate our marriage with her family. The question now can I marry her again in american court if she visit me in usa and then I will apply for her GC while she are living with me in america or we have to marry in america first in order to apply for GC while she is with me in america?

Note: I don't want her to wait for me in a different country since the process for I-130 application will take forever.

Also I have a friend told that if we married in america first then the GC will be issued for her in month (is that true)?

Thanks

You can marry where you like, in her country, or if she has an appropriate US visa, she could marry you in the US and return home. 

 

What country is she from? 

 

Immigration is not a short or easy process. She has to wait for the CR1 visa in her home country, about a 12-14 month process. 

[millefleur 5,035]

**Moved from IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures to What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration to be among similar threads**

[carmel34 3,531]

Either way, K-1 or CR-1, you will be living apart for a year, maybe longer, it's a long time to be away from the person you love.  In addition to all the pros/cons of each, for me and my husband, we decided it would be better to wait all that time as married, to have the additional security of knowing we had made that commitment to each other.  Just looking at my wedding ring every day is a big comfort.  Framed honeymoon photos are all over the walls.  Being married reduces the doubts and fears that something could happen, that someone could steal him away from me.  Sure, to some it may be symbolic, just a legal ceremony, a piece of paper, but for us it means a lot and gives us a little extra measure of loyalty, determination, commitment to be true and faithful to each other despite the long distance separating us.  My husband also wanted to work right away after arriving in the US, so the K-1 with its long 6 months after arrival before being able to work or travel outside the US was another reason we went with CR-1.  The K-1 wait is getting longer and longer every month, now it's almost as long as a CR-1.

[accumbyte 148]

4 hours ago, USS_Voyager said:

There is an exception for dual-intent visa classifications such as H and L. With those, you are allowed to have immigration intent and can adjust status within the US.

Expanded list of Non Immigrant Visas that allow dual intent; https://citizenpath.com/dual-intent-visas/:

• E visa types: Treary investors, traders, etc
• H visa types: Specialty occupations
• K visa types: Fiances (and their children) of U.S. citizens
• L visa types: Intra-company transferees
• O visa types: Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement
• P visa types: Individual or Team Athlete, or Member of an Entertainment Group, etc
• etc

[TCastillo118 0]

The visa for a finance to come here tends to take a lot less time and then you can get married here in a court house within 90 days and then take as long as you want to schedule your real wedding. OR if you marry there first, you can do the K3 visa and she can come here and wait for the GC. The K3 visa is the spouse version of the fiance visa and its generally faster. My friend just did this visa for her finance and it took only 4 months for approval and I have been waiting for approval for 8 months for my husband and I probably have at least another month or so to wait. 

[bakphx1 785]

Ah reminds me of two days ago.  Someone posted who was married in their home country and again in the US on a K1 visa.

 

Approved, married 15 years and got citizenship.  

 

Later got divorced in home country and the naturalized citizen wants to remarry and move to the US and petition new spouse.

 

Problem: the person is showing as married in the USA and therefore can’t file much of anything without the original K1 being a fraud discovered, potentially resulting in the revocation of citizenship.  The divorce decree references the first marriage place and date.

 

Moral:  marriage and visas are serious legal documents that are preserved forever and any skirting of the law will catch up to you in an ugly way.

 

As far as the wait for the visa while being separated, 90% of us did that.  So we’ll tell you to suck it up because it’s not supposed to be as easy as a driver’s license.

[Sarah G 166]

9 hours ago, TCastillo118 said:

The visa for a finance to come here tends to take a lot less time and then you can get married here in a court house within 90 days and then take as long as you want to schedule your real wedding. OR if you marry there first, you can do the K3 visa and she can come here and wait for the GC. The K3 visa is the spouse version of the fiance visa and its generally faster. My friend just did this visa for her finance and it took only 4 months for approval and I have been waiting for approval for 8 months for my husband and I probably have at least another month or so to wait. 

Fiancé visa takes roughly three months less than spousal (CR1). And then, as others have said, there is a lot of waiting around before the green card comes and the foreign spouse is able to work or leave the US. The K3 visa is now defunct. There is absolutely no point in applying for K3 at this point, it is no faster than CR1 and has the same issues as the K1 as it requires adjustment of status. I believe only a handful of K3 were issued last year. 

 

As many have said, the options for OP are either K1 or CR1. Both involve plenty of waiting in separate countries unless OP can move to their partners country while waiting out the process. 

[nastra30 1,984]

11 hours ago, TCastillo118 said:

The visa for a finance to come here tends to take a lot less time and then you can get married here in a court house within 90 days and then take as long as you want to schedule your real wedding. OR if you marry there first, you can do the K3 visa and she can come here and wait for the GC. The K3 visa is the spouse version of the fiance visa and its generally faster. My friend just did this visa for her finance and it took only 4 months for approval and I have been waiting for approval for 8 months for my husband and I probably have at least another month or so to wait. 

Forget K-3; that's just a waste of time and paper as USCIS hardly hardly approves those anymore. Only options are K1 and CR1.

[accumbyte 148]

17 hours ago, TCastillo118 said:

OR if you marry there first, you can do the K3 visa and she can come here and wait for the GC. The K3 visa is the spouse version of the fiance visa and its generally faster.

Although the K-3 is still mentioned in current US law, it's basically obsolete. Below are the number of K-3 visas issued worldwide per fiscal year; https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2018AnnualReport/FY18AnnualReport - TableXVIB.pdf:

• 2018: 6 visas
• 2017: 15 visas
• 2016: 102 visas
• 2015: 182 visas
• 2014: 392 visas
• 2013: 144 visas

Probably near 0 K-3 visas will be issued in fiscal year 2019.