K1 Why Bother

[tanman22 14]

Hi, just a question but for everyone just filling for the k1 what would be the point? The backlog is growing longer everyday and for those that filled since May many of these people are going to be lucky to get an interview this year. Just my two cents 

Edited August 13, 2020 by tanman22

[Crazy Cat 39,206]

11 minutes ago, tanman22 said:

Hi, just a question but for everyone just filling for the k1 what would be the point? The backlog is growing longer everyday and for those that filled since May many of these people are going to be lucky to get an interview this year. Just my two cents 

That is the answer to your question.  If you are asking why a K-1 instead of a CR-1, then that is a different animal....😃

[J&A1234 181]

I mean different people have different circumstances..... I get the CR1 has big advantages, especially during the pandemic, but the amount of K1 bashing I see on this site can be discouraging 

[ThomasNC1988 762]

One size does not fit all. You never know when you file how long your case will take cr1 or k1. Not everyone is in a hellfire hurry either. Maybe I'm not married yet an won't be able to travel to my spouses country for a year or something. Who knows. I know one of the main reasons we did K1 is because I could file right away and wouldn't be going back to Thailand for at least 6 months.

[TBoneTX 43,038]

We all faced hills during our own times of travail.  Everyone else in my monthly filing group had been approved, as well as many who had filed in later months.  I was going "aysheep," as Mrs. T-B.-to-be observed.  Little did I know that my anguish over USCIS's petition-processing slowness would be dwarfed by the unspeakable monkeyshines at an evil, grossly mismanaged consulate.

 

This coronavirus and the government's response to it completely suck, but at least you know that everyone is in your same boat.  One boon is that you can use this time to become a student of the entire immigration process, and make plans for the beneficiary to hit the ground running after moving here.

 

See this thread for some perspective:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/410945-k-1-journey-completed/

[tahm 19]

What else can you do?  it's so frustrating and discouraging. The CR1 queues are also growing longer because they're not processing at the same speed as before.

Edited August 13, 2020 by tahm

[walter99 40]

With the social problems rising like never before, why would they want new immigrants... spouses or not...

[SoSol 27]

The path of gaining immigrant intent entry and stay with the K1 used to be quicker. Ours should have arrived in 8 months but everything is turned upside down in COVID environment. We took a look at the CR1 timeline and estimated it was 14 - 18 months in best conditions so we went with the K1.

[Scandi 3,970]

The path of K-1 to greencard is a lot longer, pricier and more difficult than the CR-1 to greencard path. 

[XenophiliusPNW 32]

I, too, am discouraged with the backlog and the state of Immigration/the World right now. In my case, however, we chose the K-1 because while my fiancé and I have been together for three years, he's never been to the United States, we have never lived together, and frankly haven't spent that much time in each other's company. We are going to make the lack of an EAD for a while work... he's going to be going to school, anyway. We think that, for our situation, it is better to have that up-to-90-days (planning on around 60) to spend time together, introduce him to the United States, culturally acclimate a bit before being in a marriage that after all of that simply may not work. We think that's the right thing for us.  

 

It would be a lot easier if we would just get married, await the CR-1, and have a more assured immigration process. We were planning on spending a lot more time together during the processing time, but then a pandemic had to happen. Even though it looks like it will be a prolonged engagement, I'm still thankful that we've decided to be, for us, intentional in choosing which path to take based on our own needs. 

 

All you K-1 applicants and I-129F filers, keep your head up! We'll get there, through uncertainty and pandemic/pandemonium. And the joys of marital feuds will come. One day at a time. Somehow or another, tomorrow always seems to come. 

[SteveInBostonI130 3,319]

K1 has many disadvantages over a CR1, except in one crucial aspect - visa restrictions.

 

There are certain countries where it is very difficult to get a tourist visa to the US, especially for single adults with US boyfirends/girlfriends.   For them, the K1 is a good option, especially if the marriage process in their home countries are long and/or complicated and therefore the US citizen can't realistically go over to marry in the beneficiary's country.

 

Also, it is always helpful for the beneficiary to have a chance to visit and live with their US citizen partner to see if things will work out.  Culture shock and language barrier can be too harsh for some couples to overcome, and it is better to find out about that before marriage. 

 

I know someone who brought is fiance over to his nice, large suburban home in Texas.  By US standards, it was a great house and a nice neighborhood.  His fiance found it unbearable.  She didn't drive and it was like a plush prison. No friends, couldn't walk outside and down the street to a local grocery store or cafe, or catch the metro to the city center...none of the things she was used to at home was available there.  They decided to call things off and not get married, and she returned home.

 

People who are from a VWP country or can get a tourist visa have the opportunity to visit the US, live with their partner and see if it will work out, before committing to marriage.  For others, the K1 visa is the only alternative.

[JacobP 185]

22 minutes ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

K1 has many disadvantages over a CR1, except in one crucial aspect - visa restrictions.

 

There are certain countries where it is very difficult to get a tourist visa to the US, especially for single adults with US boyfirends/girlfriends.   For them, the K1 is a good option, especially if the marriage process in their home countries are long and/or complicated and therefore the US citizen can't realistically go over to marry in the beneficiary's country.

 

Also, it is always helpful for the beneficiary to have a chance to visit and live with their US citizen partner to see if things will work out.  Culture shock and language barrier can be too harsh for some couples to overcome, and it is better to find out about that before marriage. 

 

I know someone who brought is fiance over to his nice, large suburban home in Texas.  By US standards, it was a great house and a nice neighborhood.  His fiance found it unbearable.  She didn't drive and it was like a plush prison. No friends, couldn't walk outside and down the street to a local grocery store or cafe, or catch the metro to the city center...none of the things she was used to at home was available there.  They decided to call things off and not get married, and she returned home.

 

People who are from a VWP country or can get a tourist visa have the opportunity to visit the US, live with their partner and see if it will work out, before committing to marriage.  For others, the K1 visa is the only alternative.

In similar vain, I've seen cases such as same-sex couples where getting married before-hand moving might either be impossible or puts them at high risk of being socially ostracized or even persecuted, and the K-1 gave them the easiest and fastest way out.

 

We don't really regret filing the K-1, if we did spousal we'd probably be stuck way further back in the queue. Canada has already been well backlogged with CR/IR cases compared to other countries, you can find a number of posts complaining about the fact beforehand. With COVID, AOS/EAD/AP fee increases, and other USCIS drama flooding the year, I'd have a harder time recommending it now, and probably wouldn't pick it if I were doing this today instead of back in September. We can handle the K-1 downsides in our circumstances, even though they're being amplified, but I don't think a lot of the people who would be heading into the process of moving in with their significant other today are going to find it to be worthwhile.

Edited August 13, 2020 by JacobP

[Scandi 3,970]

The embassy in Sweden is processing CR-1 visas right now, but not K-1s as they're not considered immediate family.  This approach is likely not only happening in Sweden, but at several other embassies too. So even during covid CR-1 is still the better and now likely faster route. So many K-1s are just sitting there waiting to schedule an interview while many CR-1s are proceeding like normal. 

Edited August 13, 2020 by Scandi

[SoSol 27]

1 hour ago, Scandi said:

The path of K-1 to greencard is a lot longer, pricier and more difficult than the CR-1 to greencard path. 

When we made our decision for the K1 it was around the same time frame. 

K1 8-9 months arrival + 7 - 9 month AOS for green card. 

CR1 14-18 months arrival with Green Card.

We took the quickest path of arrival. 

 

[theballaam96 49]

K-1 meant I got to see the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with sooner rather than later and just suited what we wanted to do with our lives more.
Even if it's a harder overall timeline, the most important thing for us was seeing each other sooner rather than later. None of us could have predicted a global pandemic that could have affected timelines this severely last November when we filed.