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Ellie__

K1 Visa... to file or not?

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Canada
Timeline

Hi, K1 filer here. I definitely wish we did the CR-1 filing instead, and we were under "normal circumstances". It was already excruciating waiting for an EAD for 8-ish months back in 2016, I couldn't fathom it now.

03-19-2021: Officially an American Citizen 🇺🇸 Entire journey from initial K-1 Visa filing to Naturalization took 5 years, 8 days.

You can see my complete timeline by clicking here.

 

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Germany
Timeline
3 hours ago, Chilisquid said:

Ain't got no choice, she's in Thailand and I'm in the US

What I meant in essence is don't do K1 when you can marry and file for CR1. Except in cases when it's not feasible to marry first. Spousal visa are superior to fiance visas and are priority to adjudicating consulates. 

Speak the truth even if your voice shakes

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I honestly haven’t read all 96 comments but would like to share what I saw at the airport. 

I flew to the US to activate my green card and a guy got denied boarding cause of a K-1 visa. At the moment you HAVE to be married to even be allowed to enter the US. So a K-1 wouldn’t make sense. 

 

Im a mil spouse myself and would recommend you to get married somewhere else which sadly isnt currently easy. I’ve heard (!! Don’t know if it’s true) that some foreign born spouses did proxy weddings with their mil spouse even not being mil to mil, maybe an option to look into in this current time. 

Edited by LauraLozano
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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Taiwan
Timeline
15 minutes ago, LauraLozano said:

At the moment you HAVE to be married to even be allowed to enter the US.

That is not true........there are K-1 holders and others entering the US from non-Covid banned countries.  I'm sure there were other factors in the case you mentioned.  

 

Edited by Lucky Cat

"The US immigration process requires a great deal of knowledge, planning, time, patience, and a significant amount of money.  It is quite a journey!"

- Some old child of the 50's & 60's on his laptop 

 

Senior Master Sergeant, US Air Force- Retired (after 20+ years)- Missile Systems Maintenance & Titan 2 ICBM Launch Crew Duty (200+ Alert tours)

Registered Nurse- Retired- I practiced in the areas of Labor & Delivery, Home Health, Adolescent Psych, & Adult Psych.

IT Professional- Retired- Web Site Design, Hardware Maintenance, Compound Pharmacy Software Trainer, On-site go live support, Database Manager, App Designer.

______________________________________

August 7, 2022: Wife filed N-400 Online under 5 year rule.

November 10, 2022: Received "Interview is scheduled" letter.

December 12, 2022:  Received email from Dallas office informing me (spouse) to be there for combo interview.

December 14, 2022: Combo Interview for I-751 and N-400 Conducted.

January 26, 2023: Wife's Oath Ceremony completed at the Plano Event Center, Plano, Texas!!!😁

February 6, 2023: Wife's Passport Application submitted in Dallas, Texas.

March 21, 2023:   Wife's Passport Delivered!!!!

May 15, 2023 (about):  Naturalization Certificate returned from Passport agency!!

 

In summary, it took 13 months for approval of the CR-1.  It took 44 months for approval of the I-751.  It took 4 months for approval of the N-400.   It took 172 days from N-400 application to Oath Ceremony.   It took 6 weeks for Passport, then 7 additional weeks for return of wife's Naturalization Certificate.. 
 

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11 minutes ago, LauraLozano said:

I flew to the US to activate my green card and a guy got denied boarding cause of a K-1 visa. At the moment you HAVE to be married to even be allowed to enter the US. So a K-1 wouldn’t make sense. 

It's hard to opine on the reason for not boarding a K-1 visa holder. There are many factors, too numerous to list here, why someone is denied boarding. I suspect in this case it could have been another issue but since I don't know the facts, I will reserve the "rest of the story" until I know more. K-1's are being allowed into the US. If they are from the Schengen area then it's best to travel to a non-Schengen area, wait 14 days and then fly to the US. Flights cannot fly through a Schengen airport to arrive at the US. Just updating you on what we are seeing. Many threads on this topic throughout VJ.

Spoiler

Adjustment of Status

AOS March 5, 2014 Submitted AOS with EAD/AP package to Chicago USICS

Delivered March 8, 2014 AOS packaged delivered to USCIS drop box

Accepted March 19, 2014 Text message with receipt numbers

Biometrics April 16, 2014 Biometrics completed

EAD May 23, 2014 Employment Authorization Document approved and went to card production

TD May 23, 2014 Travel Document approved and went for card production

Receipt EAD/AP May 30, 2014 Received combo card EAD/AP

Green Card Approved July 11, 2014 Approved, no interview. Went to card production.

Green Card received July 17, 2014 GC received without interview

Removal of Conditions

Mailed I-751 Dec 16, 2015 Submitted ROC (removal of conditions)

Received Dec 18, 2015 USPS notification of successful delivery

Check Cashed Dec 21, 2015 Check was cashed

NOA-1 Issued Dec 21, 2015 NOA-1 for ROC issued

NOA-1 Issued Dec 26, 2015 NOA-1 Received

Biometrics Appt. Jan 29, 2016 Biometrics Appointment Scheduled [Completed]

 

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10 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

That is not true........there are K-1 holders and others entering the US from non-Covid banned countries.  I'm sure there were other factors in the case you mentioned.  

 

Yea I’m sorry I Understood that she’s European like me so for us we have to be married 🙈. Forgot to add this. 

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2 minutes ago, Greenbaum said:

It's hard to opine on the reason for not boarding a K-1 visa holder. There are many factors, too numerous to list here, why someone is denied boarding. I suspect in this case it could have been another issue but since I don't know the facts, I will reserve the "rest of the story" until I know more. K-1's are being allowed into the US. If they are from the Schengen area then it's best to travel to a non-Schengen area, wait 14 days and then fly to the US. Flights cannot fly through a Schengen airport to arrive at the US. Just updating you on what we are seeing. Many threads on this topic throughout VJ.

I forgot to add it’s from a Schengen airport and a Schengen resident since I remembered to have read the original question was from Europe. Going to edit it to avoid more confusion 

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Taiwan
Timeline
Just now, LauraLozano said:

Yea I’m sorry I Understood that she’s European like me so for us we have to be married 🙈. Forgot to add this. 

That would be the reason.......She would have to spend 14 days in a non-Covid banned country before being allowed to enter........thanks for clarifying.

"The US immigration process requires a great deal of knowledge, planning, time, patience, and a significant amount of money.  It is quite a journey!"

- Some old child of the 50's & 60's on his laptop 

 

Senior Master Sergeant, US Air Force- Retired (after 20+ years)- Missile Systems Maintenance & Titan 2 ICBM Launch Crew Duty (200+ Alert tours)

Registered Nurse- Retired- I practiced in the areas of Labor & Delivery, Home Health, Adolescent Psych, & Adult Psych.

IT Professional- Retired- Web Site Design, Hardware Maintenance, Compound Pharmacy Software Trainer, On-site go live support, Database Manager, App Designer.

______________________________________

August 7, 2022: Wife filed N-400 Online under 5 year rule.

November 10, 2022: Received "Interview is scheduled" letter.

December 12, 2022:  Received email from Dallas office informing me (spouse) to be there for combo interview.

December 14, 2022: Combo Interview for I-751 and N-400 Conducted.

January 26, 2023: Wife's Oath Ceremony completed at the Plano Event Center, Plano, Texas!!!😁

February 6, 2023: Wife's Passport Application submitted in Dallas, Texas.

March 21, 2023:   Wife's Passport Delivered!!!!

May 15, 2023 (about):  Naturalization Certificate returned from Passport agency!!

 

In summary, it took 13 months for approval of the CR-1.  It took 44 months for approval of the I-751.  It took 4 months for approval of the N-400.   It took 172 days from N-400 application to Oath Ceremony.   It took 6 weeks for Passport, then 7 additional weeks for return of wife's Naturalization Certificate.. 
 

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20 minutes ago, LauraLozano said:

I honestly haven’t read all 96 comments but would like to share what I saw at the airport. 

I flew to the US to activate my green card and a guy got denied boarding cause of a K-1 visa. At the moment you HAVE to be married to even be allowed to enter the US. So a K-1 wouldn’t make sense. 

 

Im a mil spouse myself and would recommend you to get married somewhere else which sadly isnt currently easy. I’ve heard (!! Don’t know if it’s true) that some foreign born spouses did proxy weddings with their mil spouse even not being mil to mil, maybe an option to look into in this current time. 

Edit:  it’s all from Schengen area and under the travel ban like I remember to have read 

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6 hours ago, LauraLozano said:

so for us we have to be married 🙈. Forgot to add this. 

Spouse of US citizen is 1 exemption to the Schengen Area proclamation. A few K-1 holders meet the following exemption: "(iii) any alien who is the parent or legal guardian of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, provided that the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident is unmarried and under the age of 21"

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Canada
Timeline

~~Moved to What Visa do I Need, form K1 Progress Report. - The OP has not filed anything yet.~~

Spoiler

Met Playing Everquest in 2005
Engaged 9-15-2006
K-1 & 4 K-2'S
Filed 05-09-07
Interview 03-12-08
Visa received 04-21-08
Entry 05-06-08
Married 06-21-08
AOS X5
Filed 07-08-08
Cards Received01-22-09
Roc X5
Filed 10-17-10
Cards Received02-22-11
Citizenship
Filed 10-17-11
Interview 01-12-12
Oath 06-29-12

Citizenship for older 2 boys

Filed 03/08/2014

NOA/fee waiver 03/19/2014

Biometrics 04/15/14

Interview 05/29/14

In line for Oath 06/20/14

Oath 09/19/2014 We are all done! All USC no more USCIS

 

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On 8/12/2020 at 2:50 PM, LauraLozano said:

I honestly haven’t read all 96 comments but would like to share what I saw at the airport. 

I flew to the US to activate my green card and a guy got denied boarding cause of a K-1 visa. At the moment you HAVE to be married to even be allowed to enter the US. So a K-1 wouldn’t make sense. 

 

Im a mil spouse myself and would recommend you to get married somewhere else which sadly isnt currently easy. I’ve heard (!! Don’t know if it’s true) that some foreign born spouses did proxy weddings with their mil spouse even not being mil to mil, maybe an option to look into in this current time. 

Thank you ! I will try to get more info about that proxy wedding, I did not read many good thing about it... 



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On 8/12/2020 at 5:50 AM, LauraLozano said:

I’ve heard (!! Don’t know if it’s true) that some foreign born spouses did proxy weddings with their mil spouse even not being mil to mil, maybe an option to look into in this current time. 

Only if they consummate the marriage after the marriage occurs. Cannot file before proxy marriage is consummated. See INA 101(a)(35): "The term "spouse", "wife", or "husband" do not include a spouse, wife, or husband by reason of any marriage ceremony where the contracting parties thereto are not physically present in the presence of each other, unless the marriage shall have been consummated."

4 hours ago, Ellie__ said:

Thank you ! I will try to get more info about that proxy wedding, I did not read many good thing about it... 

See above info of proxy marriage from the Immigration and Nationality Act.

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16 hours ago, HRQX said:

Only if they consummate the marriage after the marriage occurs. Cannot file before proxy marriage is consummated. See INA 101(a)(35): "The term "spouse", "wife", or "husband" do not include a spouse, wife, or husband by reason of any marriage ceremony where the contracting parties thereto are not physically present in the presence of each other, unless the marriage shall have been consummated."

See above info of proxy marriage from the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Oh thank you! So with proxy I am allowed to travel from a Schengen country, we just need to "consummate" the marriage once together.

 



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