Step 1 of Guide (American hoping to marry Honduran)

[guitardaniel 0]

I spent a wonderful 2 months with my girlfriend from Honduras in Maryland.

 

I am hoping to propose in April during my week long trip to Honduras.

 

How do we prove our time together thus far?

 

Looking back what would you do differently if you are where I am right now?

Should I save hotel receipts, take pictures of the two of us together with timestamp camera in front of well known tourist areas? 

Save airplane tickets? How do they know we got engaged he my proposal is a success?

We are both free to marry.. In the research I have done I know there is the K-1 visa route, or the get married and figure it out later route. I am 50, she is 40

 

Any advice?

Regarding step 1. Should I gather all the vital documents for both her and I? Any tips in communicating with each other to jump through all of these hoops? ( I suppose I just take charge and get it done .. but I dunno for sure )
I may be jumping the gun on step 1 if the real first step is of course proposing. I pretty much know she will say yes.
 

Thanks everyone.

Step 1.

U.S. Petitioner gathers various documents

U.S. Petitioner gathers various documents (birth certificate etc) to send with I-129F

[SalishSea 16,718]

12 minutes ago, guitardaniel said:

I spent a wonderful 2 months with my girlfriend from Honduras in Maryland.

 

I am hoping to propose in April during my week long trip to Honduras.

 

How do we prove our time together thus far?

 

Looking back what would you do differently if you are where I am right now?

Should I save hotel receipts, take pictures of the two of us together with timestamp camera in front of well known tourist areas? 

Save airplane tickets? How do they know we got engaged he my proposal is a success?

We are both free to marry.. In the research I have done I know there is the K-1 visa route, or the get married and figure it out later route. I am 50, she is 40

 

Any advice?

Regarding step 1. Should I gather all the vital documents for both her and I? Any tips in communicating with each other to jump through all of these hoops? ( I suppose I just take charge and get it done .. but I dunno for sure )
I may be jumping the gun on step 1 if the real first step is of course proposing. I pretty much know she will say yes.
 

Thanks everyone.

Step 1.

U.S. Petitioner gathers various documents

U.S. Petitioner gathers various documents (birth certificate etc) to send with I-129F

Have you looked into a CR-1 instead?  @missileman has a great comparison of the two.  The primary drawback of a K-1 is the lengthy time for the beneficiary to be able to work, be readmitted to the USA if they leave, and in some states, to drive.  It is also more expensive.

 

That said, you can gather certified copies of divorce decrees and birth certificates.    Since "engaged" is not a legal status, you do not need to worry about any evidence for that.  If you do go with the K-1, you will both write letters stating that you are free to marry, and intending to marry each other within 90 days of her admission on a K-1 visa.  Those letters are submitted with the petition, so no need to do them now.

 

Passport stamps of trips, and boarding passes are considered the best primary evidence for the requirement of the one visit for the K-1.

[Crazy Cat 39,138]

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation.

K-1
    Slightly faster arrival in the US   
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)    
    Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 5-6 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 5-6 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.

  

CR-1
    Slightly slower arrival in the US 

    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.

    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
  �

 

[guitardaniel 0]

I had not considered or knew about the CR-1.

It sounds like that is the way to go, since if I can get her back here in April (follow up post on this, she wants to return sooner than June) we might just get married.

Thereby nullifying the need for the K-1.

 

I am going to Honduras in April, but I think it would be wiser to get married here in the United States.

I am asking her if she still has it to save a copy of her boarding pass when she was here in December/January. Plus on top of that I will retain mine when I travel to Honduras in April (so we will both have Passport stamps etc)

 

I am asking her to bring a copy of birth certificate, divorce decree etc. But will follow up with my local jurisdiction on what is required for a foreigner and I to marry.

Thank you both for your responses they were extremely helpful.

[Just Paul 4,591]

30 minutes ago, guitardaniel said:

I am going to Honduras in April, but I think it would be wiser to get married here in the United States.

You can get married anywhere.  We met in Philippines, married in Hong Kong, lived in Mexico while doing our CR-1.  Just get extra copies of the Marriage Certificate.

[SmallTownPA 71]

On 2/7/2020 at 9:38 PM, missileman said:

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation.

K-1
    Slightly faster arrival in the US   
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)    
    Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 5-6 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 5-6 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.

  

CR-1
    Slightly slower arrival in the US 

    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.

    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
  �

 

I think if you dig around the actual numbers (time, not money) they both are fairly equal.  The main issue is the cost.  When I filed a I-131/AOS (we married in the US) it was still less than 8 months until GC in hand.  Even with a K1, if you look up current timelines its still less than a year until GC is in hand.

 

An IR-1/CR-1 seems to be at least a year.

 

The problem is that VJ's timelines and graphs don't really weigh the numbers properly and a few outliers will skew the numbers (using pure averages is never a really good metric, you need a curve to eliminate outliers).

 

 

Edited February 15, 2020 by SmallTownPA

[Crazy Cat 39,138]

21 minutes ago, SmallTownPA said:

I think if you dig around the actual numbers (time, not money) they both are fairly equal.  The main issue is the cost.  When I filed a I-131/AOS (we married in the US) it was still less than 8 months until GC in hand.  Even with a K1, if you look up current timelines its still less than a year until GC is in hand.

 

An IR-1/CR-1 seems to be at least a year.

 

 

Agree that cost is the big difference....along with the "limbo" time between arriving and receiving the Green Card for K-1s....  Looking at the VJ averages, a K-1 takes approx 224 days from filing to interview...and average time for Adjustment of Status is an added 238 days from filing to interview.......so about 462 total.  Of course, local office workload can affect the AOS timeline....VJ reported average time for a CR-1 is about 500 days...

 

 

Edited February 15, 2020 by missileman

[SmallTownPA 71]

26 minutes ago, missileman said:

Agree that cost is the big difference....along with the "limbo" time between arriving and receiving the Green Card for K-1s....  Looking at the VJ averages, a K-1 takes approx 224 days from filing to interview...and average time for Adjustment of Status is an added 238 days from filing to interview.......so about 462 total.  Of course, local office workload can affect the AOS timeline....VJ reported average time for a CR-1 is about 500 days...

 

 

The real consideration is that under the K1 they are with you much, much sooner.  238 days 'on average'... that's pretty close to  a year sooner.   The possibility of a 'hassle' with SSN/license/work is a minor consideration in reality.  I would think that a few months of simply 'acclimating' is more important.   It may not be a popular opinion, but if you cannot support a family on your one income and you need your spouse to work immediatly then they are a much higher risk of becoming a public charge or falling into poverty and should not be allowed to sponsor an foreigner into the country.  

 

With Trumps new 'Public Charge' immigration changes hopefully the I-134 will go away and K1 visa applicants will need the same asset/income requirments as all the other visa classes.

 

 

[JonSeattle 201]

The easy question is that the USCIS will know the proposal was a success when you submit the I-129F with the signed letters of intent to marry each other.

 

The evidence of meeting in my application consisted of a bunch of ordinary couple type photos of us in random locations, all printed on one page, and a photocopy of a pair of airplane boarding passes that showed we were on the same flight together. I would have included a second pair, but the ink had faded and was no longer legible, so make copies soon.

 

The K-1 was an easy choice for me because the procedure for a foreigner marrying in the Philippines seems very difficult all on its own. The most import thing to me was being together as soon as possible. The difference is filing fees is insignificant. The delay in getting a green card is not a problem as my state allows applying for a drivers licenses right away, and I live in a city with plenty of public transportation in any case, so she can start attending classes right away also.