Should I switch to K1 from IR1/C1?

[mrhazey 4]

Hello,

 

I am pretty new at this and both my fiancee have done some research. She currently lives in Vietnam and we have been dating for almost 11 months now. I met her initially through a friend while we (my friend and I) were traveling in Vietnam in June 2019. We showed some interest in each other and officially started dating in Sept 2019 and I came back in Dec 2019 to see her and we traveled together to Singapore (also flew to another city in Vietnam) during that same visit. We kept all of our physical and digital travel documents (Flight stubs and etc) as evidence. We had planned (my flight was purchased) to get married in Vietnam back in May 2020 to start the paperwork process until Covid hit. We text and facetime everyday while also having photos of us being together from Dec 2019 and the initial meet in June 2019. We wanted to go through the K1 route while even though it would take longer, it was a safer approach. Unknown as to when I would be able to travel back there or if we could travel anywhere together at this point in time, is there any sense of changing to use the IR1/C1 method at this point? Considering who knows how long until I am able to travel back there again so that we can get married and have a ceremony, does the Covid situation and the US immigration ban have any impact if we did IR1/C1?

 

I can certainly provide more info it it may help.

 

Adding some more supplementary info:

• I do have screenshots of our parents talking together to each other.
• She does have her engagement ring and we both have our wedding rings

 

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by mrhazey

[JFH 12,189]

Ultimately it will be your choice. Can you both travel somewhere now to get married? That would be the biggest hurdle, I imagine. The CR-1 is by far the superior visa and under regular circumstances I would definitely recommend it. However, unless you can get married imminently there’s not much point from a time perspective. By the time you can travel again, the K-1 could be almost complete. The CR-1 does, however, carry many benefits for the immigrant that the K-1 does not. It’s your choice whether it’s worth waiting until you can travel again to get married. 

[JFH 12,189]

*~*~*moved from “K-1 fiancé visa process and procedures” to “what visa do I need?” as OP is still considering the options*~*~*

[mrhazey 4]

We can probably travel somewhere to get it done, but we opted not to due to Covid and we don't want to pose that risk to other people surrounding us. Just for my understanding when you said 'unless I can get married imminently', can you elaborate on that? It was my understanding that the marriage would have to happen in her country if we did the CR-1 or within 90 days in the US if it was K1.

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

Can you clarify a bit; have you applied anything at this point?

 

It is completely up to you guys if you want to go the k1 - assuming you are not yet married. If you go the k1 you can file now. If you go the Cr1 you have to meet up and get married before you can file. I am not sure of the requirements to get married in Vietnam; do you have to stay there for a certain amount of days before you can marry, etc. Are Americans allowed in Vietnam currently? Or is your only concern exposing yourself and others to COVID (which is very valid in my opinion)? If that is your concern- there is no time frame you can put on when it will be safe to travel.

 

I want to point out You do not need a ceremony for a marriage; you basically just need the marriage certificate signed and then you can start applying for the CR1. Completely understand if you want a ceremony though. 

 

There are benefits to both visas so it really comes down to what you two are comfortable with; as far as timeline- no one can really give you an estimate on what would be "faster" due to the uncertainty in the entire world. 

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

 

You can't switch from a K1 to a CR-1.  You would have to start over.

 

For the K-1, she must arrive in the US as a single woman and you must marry in the US.  Then, she can adjust her status for a green card.  Once she files to adjust, there will be a period of 6-8 months where she can not work or travel outside the US.  You can start this now by filing the I-129F.

 

For the CR-1 spousal visa, you must be married when you file the I-130.  Doesn't matter where you get marry.  She would arrive in the US and immediately get a green card which authorizes her to work and she can freely travel internationally.

 

Please look up the pros and cons of the K-1 and CR-1.  

 

 

[mrhazey 4]

Just now, Luckycuds said:

Can you clarify a bit; have you applied anything at this point?

 

It is completely up to you guys if you want to go the k1 - assuming you are not yet married. If you go the k1 you can file now. If you go the Cr1 you have to meet up and get married before you can file. I am not sure of the requirements to get married in Vietnam; do you have to stay there for a certain amount of days before you can marry, etc. Are Americans allowed in Vietnam currently? Or is your only concern exposing yourself and others to COVID (which is very valid in my opinion)? If that is your concern- there is no time frame you can put on when it will be safe to travel.

 

I want to point out You do not need a ceremony for a marriage; you basically just need the marriage certificate signed and then you can start applying for the CR1. Completely understand if you want a ceremony though. 

 

There are benefits to both visas so it really comes down to what you two are comfortable with; as far as timeline- no one can really give you an estimate on what would be "faster" due to the uncertainty in the entire world. 

We have not filed for anything yet. The only documents I have are official records confirming that I am not married and am single.

 

As of now only nationals, diplomats and etc are allowed to enter into Vietnam with a two week mandatory quarantine in a hospital. There is no set date as to when they will begin opening up their borders again for foreign travelers. You can get married any time when you enter Vietnam. No foreign travelers are allowed to enter Vietnam until the restriction has been lifted. The ceremony was not required but we wanted to do it for our family members + obtain more evidence of the relationship.

 

We had planned to get married legally in Vietnam back in May 2020, but as you know Covid happened   Which to my question was with Covid and the immigration ban, is K1 still valid and would that still work? I would prefer to go the CR-1 route as well but due to the uncertainty of Covid timelines I am not sure on which direction. Despite us both wanting it to happen, even if travel restrictions were lifted she doesn't want me to fly immediately for Covid reasons.

 

[mrhazey 4]

3 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

Hi,

 

You can't switch from a K1 to a CR-1.  You would have to start over.

 

For the K-1, she must arrive in the US as a single woman and you must marry in the US.  Then, she can adjust her status for a green card.  Once she files to adjust, there will be a period of 6-8 months where she can not work or travel outside the US.  You can start this now by filing the I-129F.

 

For the CR-1 spousal visa, you must be married when you file the I-130.  Doesn't matter where you get marry.  She would arrive in the US and immediately get a green card which authorizes her to work and she can freely travel internationally.

 

Please look up the pros and cons of the K-1 and CR-1.  

 

 

We have not filed anything yet. I have looked up the pros and cons between the two but I wasn't sure if Covid or the immigration bans have any affect on K-1.

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

27 minutes ago, mrhazey said:

We have not filed for anything yet. The only documents I have are official records confirming that I am not married and am single.

 

As of now only nationals, diplomats and etc are allowed to enter into Vietnam with a two week mandatory quarantine in a hospital. There is no set date as to when they will begin opening up their borders again for foreign travelers. You can get married any time when you enter Vietnam. No foreign travelers are allowed to enter Vietnam until the restriction has been lifted. The ceremony was not required but we wanted to do it for our family members + obtain more evidence of the relationship.

 

We had planned to get married legally in Vietnam back in May 2020, but as you know Covid happened   Which to my question was with Covid and the immigration ban, is K1 still valid and would that still work? I would prefer to go the CR-1 route as well but due to the uncertainty of Covid timelines I am not sure on which direction. Despite us both wanting it to happen, even if travel restrictions were lifted she doesn't want me to fly immediately for Covid reasons.

 

Thank you for clarifying; it was helpful. As of today both K1 and CR 1 are both valid options. There is speculation that once embassies open they may only process what is deemed "mission critical" visas; in which CR1 falls into but K1 does not. Therefore; it is thought that K1's will be put on hold and CR1s will be processed. So again, it is up to you which ever visa you choose; as the information I provided is speculation AND can change (heck, change multiple times). Unfortunately you (along with a whole bunch of others) are in a tough situation as to which to chose  

[mrhazey 4]

3 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

Thank you for clarifying; it was helpful. As of today both K1 and CR 1 are both valid options. There is speculation that once embassies open they may only process what is deemed "mission critical" visas; in which CR1 falls into but K1 does not. Therefore; it is thought that K1's will be put on hold and CR1s will be processed. So again, it is up to you which ever visa you choose; as the information I provided is speculation AND can change (heck, change multiple times). Unfortunately you (along with a whole bunch of others) are in a tough situation as to which to chose  

Thank you! That information about the embassies was definitely helpful to know about. I'm going to discuss it with my partner but so far I think I may lean towards K1 as of now unless Vietnam opens up in September as rumored. I can only guess that even if CR1s will be processed first, with the amount of time until I am allowed to enter Vietnam again, get married and start filing for CR1 the embassies will probably have sufficient time to get to K1 processing  that's only wishful thinking but who knows!

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

3 minutes ago, mrhazey said:

Thank you! That information about the embassies was definitely helpful to know about. I'm going to discuss it with my partner but so far I think I may lean towards K1 as of now unless Vietnam opens up in September as rumored. I can only guess that even if CR1s will be processed first, with the amount of time until I am allowed to enter Vietnam again, get married and start filing for CR1 the embassies will probably have sufficient time to get to K1 processing  that's only wishful thinking but who knows!

Hi - so I just googled Vietnam and saw that they ARE processing mission critical visas at this time (not all embassies have announced this) As of July 15, the United States Embassy in Hanoi and Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City have resumed certain nonimmigrant visa services, including: F, M certain J (alien physician, government visitor, international visitor professor, research scholar, short-term research scholar, specialist, secondary school student and college/university student), C1/D, E, I, O, and P visas, and certain immigrant visas including IR1, IR2, CR1, and CR2.  While we aim to process cases as soon as practicable, there is likely to be increased wait times for completing such services due to substantial backlogs.   https://www.ustraveldocs.com/vn/ Unsure if this will sway you as you still have to get married but I'd suggest to book mark this website and check it every so often for updates.

[mrhazey 4]

4 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

Hi - so I just googled Vietnam and saw that they ARE processing mission critical visas at this time (not all embassies have announced this) As of July 15, the United States Embassy in Hanoi and Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City have resumed certain nonimmigrant visa services, including: F, M certain J (alien physician, government visitor, international visitor professor, research scholar, short-term research scholar, specialist, secondary school student and college/university student), C1/D, E, I, O, and P visas, and certain immigrant visas including IR1, IR2, CR1, and CR2.  While we aim to process cases as soon as practicable, there is likely to be increased wait times for completing such services due to substantial backlogs.   https://www.ustraveldocs.com/vn/ Unsure if this will sway you as you still have to get married but I'd suggest to book mark this website and check it every so often for updates.

Funny I was just looking that up at the same time as I got your reply. I'll discuss it with my fiancee but I think if we'll both agree that if in September Vietnam still will not open up their borders, we may file for K1 instead. You were correct in them prioritizing critical visas and my guess is they will eventually get to the non-critical ones such as K1 in due time. Unfortunately I do not have high hopes for Covid calming down until next year and the already extended time frames for getting everyone's visas processed, I think going K1 will still take a shorter time frame over CR-1 currently for my situation.

 

Side question; With the information that I posted in my original comment, even though after our initial meet I did travel back to see her one time and we also traveled together, with photos and travel documentation evidence, text history and etc; in your opinion do you think that would be sufficient to get approved? I have not read the other topics that were posted yet so I don't really have anything to compare against as far as our interactions and evidencing.

[aaron2020 11,651]

25 minutes ago, mrhazey said:

Thank you! That information about the embassies was definitely helpful to know about. I'm going to discuss it with my partner but so far I think I may lean towards K1 as of now unless Vietnam opens up in September as rumored. I can only guess that even if CR1s will be processed first, with the amount of time until I am allowed to enter Vietnam again, get married and start filing for CR1 the embassies will probably have sufficient time to get to K1 processing  that's only wishful thinking but who knows!

The US Consulate in HCMC is processing K-1 visas.  

After 99 days without any cases of community transmission, Danang has had 15 cases of community transmission in the last 3 days.  Tourists are ban from the city and non-essential businesses have been ordered closed.

 

It's extremely unlikely that US citizens will be able to enter in September.  Vietnam is considering opening up only to countries without raging Covid-19 outbreaks in September.  The US will not be on that list.  IMHO, the earliest that US tourists will be able to enter Vietnam is Summer 2021; if not until 2022.  

File for the K-1 if you want to be together by end of 2021.  If you wait for Vietnam to open up to US citizens in 2021 or 2022 so you can get marry there, you are looking at the end of 2022 or 2023 for her to immigrate to the US.  

Edited July 27, 2020 by aaron2020

[aaron2020 11,651]

3 minutes ago, mrhazey said:

Funny I was just looking that up at the same time as I got your reply. I'll discuss it with my fiancee but I think if we'll both agree that if in September Vietnam still will not open up their borders, we may file for K1 instead. You were correct in them prioritizing critical visas and my guess is they will eventually get to the non-critical ones such as K1 in due time. Unfortunately I do not have high hopes for Covid calming down until next year and the already extended time frames for getting everyone's visas processed, I think going K1 will still take a shorter time frame over CR-1 currently for my situation.

 

Side question; With the information that I posted in my original comment, even though after our initial meet I did travel back to see her one time and we also traveled together, with photos and travel documentation evidence, text history and etc; in your opinion do you think that would be sufficient to get approved? I have not read the other topics that were posted yet so I don't really have anything to compare against as far as our interactions and evidencing.

With the initial trip where you met her and the subsequent visit, you have enough to get the K-1 visa.

[mrhazey 4]

3 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

The US Consulate in HCMC is processing K-1 visas.  

After 99 days without any cases of community transmission, Danang has had 15 cases of community transmission in the last 3 days.  Tourists are ban from the city and non-essential businesses have been ordered closed.

 

It's extremely unlikely that US citizens will be able to enter in September.  Vietnam is considering opening up only to countries without raging Covid-19 outbreaks.  IMHO, the earliest that US tourists will be able to enter Vietnam is Summer 2021; if not until 2022.  

File for the K-1 if you want to be together by end of 2021.  If you wait for Vietnam to open up to US citizens in 2021 or 2022 so you can get marry there, you are looking at the end of 2022 or 2023 for her to immigrate to the US.  

Is there a link anywhere that states the US Consulate in HCMC is processing K-1 visas? The link provided by Luckycuds above shows that they were only processing CR1s at this current time.