When Should I propose and start K1 visa???

[Just Paul 4,591]

Proposal is not a requirement of a K1 or CR1 visa.   For a K1 VISA both parties need to be free to marry.   For a CR1 you just need to be married.

 

Time isn't necessarily your friend.   Laws change, waiting times change, file the paperwork when you are ready.

[HRQX 4,145]

6 hours ago, MarvinStumpwater1 said:

If I "propose" in October,

If she's up for it, you can marry during her US visit in October:

And then she returns to Germany.

6 hours ago, MarvinStumpwater1 said:

I will travel in summer of 2020 to be with her in Berlin for at least a month. Should we then plan to marry there legally?

Might encounter some German bureaucracy. Alternatives include getting married in:

• Denmark: https://familieretshuset.dk/en/your-life-situation/your-life-situation/international-marriages/if-you-wish-to-get-married-in-denmark
• Iceland: https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/getting-married-in-iceland
• Gibraltar: http://www.visitgibraltar.gi/getting-married

[Hank_ 9,172]

6 hours ago, MarvinStumpwater1 said:

Thanks everyone for the advice! I am very new to this and, if you cannot tell, it is stressful on my end to make sure I choose the right option for her, myself, and both of us as a couple. 

 

Many of you are saying the CR1 route is the best. 

 

So, let me pose this question. 

 

If I "propose" in October, and her and I keep it private between us and immediate family... no FB posts. What would be the best way to pursue the CR1 visa?

 

She comes back in December for Christmas with me in the states. Next, I will travel in summer of 2020 to be with her in Berlin for at least a month. Should we then plan to marry there legally? So, I would then come back from Germany, file for a CR1 visa.... and then, expect that process would be done roughly about the time she is done with Grad School in March of 2021?

 

Side question... if we do this. Would she not be allowed back into the US between us marrying in Germany in the summer of 2020 and her finishing grad school in March 2021?

 

I am basically looking for the best answer that lets the following happen:

 

1. Very romantic and intimate proposal.

 

2. Best options for us to still visit one another before she finishes Grad School in March 2021. 

 

3. Since she is dropping her life to come to be with me in the US, I want the best option for her to make her adjustment here easy and effective. 

 

 

Thanks everyone for the help. It means more to me than you know to have complete strangers take time to help me get my one true love to the states to be with me for good. 

 

I appreciate any and all advice!!

1.  non-issue .. that is between you two.

 

2.   Either visa .. choice is yours

 

3.  Easiest adjustment - CR-1 visa

 

 

Things to think about - If going the CR-1 visa route once married your wife would want to get her passport renewed in her married name so that you would file the I-130 petition in her married name, so that she would receive her green card in her married name.  

 

Once married will she be allowed to travel to the USA for visits?   Don't know.  Once the I-130 petition is filed things could change in that area, this is totally at the discretion of the CBP agent at POE.  IMHO

 

Your plan for 2020 - 2021 seems like a good timeline.