K1 Why Bother

[TBoneTX 43,513]

An offensive post, along with a quote of it, has been removed, and administrative action applied.

[joe.b 33]

3 hours ago, geowrian said:

Why wouldn't you be able to get married in another country (ignoring current travel conditions)? The US doesn't care if it's illegal in your home country...only that it's legal where it occurs.

"Ignoring current travel conditions" is a pretty major caveat on its own. Who knows how many months that would add to the process. (And yes, I know the K1 process itself is currently taking an unknown amount of time, but at least we can nominally get the process started now.) Plus, it's not really feasible for us now, either financially or in terms of ability to take time off from jobs, to travel to some other country to get married. And to add one more reason, even outside current travel restrictions, it's often harder for Indian citizens to get visas to other countries (particularly the countries that allow same-sex marriage). Yes, I wish there was a faster way than K1, but with so little in our control, this is the best we can do!

[LibbyG99 65]

On 8/13/2020 at 3:13 AM, JacobP said:

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.

We chose k-1 because of the limitations with our countries to co-owning all the things needed for the CR1. For example for us to co-sign for a bank account I would need to move to Ethiopia and give up my American citizenship to become an Ethiopia citizen. Same for owning a house or any property together. There are so many things CR1 wants to see that you merged. And vice-versa, I can't put his name on my bank account here in the US since he's not here. We would have preferred CR1 but I didn't see how it was possible.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

29 minutes ago, LibbyG99 said:

We chose k-1 because of the limitations with our countries to co-owning all the things needed for the CR1. For example for us to co-sign for a bank account I would need to move to Ethiopia and give up my American citizenship to become an Ethiopia citizen. Same for owning a house or any property together. There are so many things CR1 wants to see that you merged. And vice-versa, I can't put his name on my bank account here in the US since he's not here. We would have preferred CR1 but I didn't see how it was possible.

Aren't embassies familiar with the local laws and customs? 

[LibbyG99 65]

13 minutes ago, Orangesapples said:

Aren't embassies familiar with the local laws and customs? 

Ya but I don't think we would have made it through USCIS. I would have had to become an Ethiopian citizen to put my name on leases, bank accounts, utility bills, etc. and Ethiopia doesn't allow for dual citizenship so I would have had to give up American citizenship.

[geowrian 22,336]

1 hour ago, LibbyG99 said:

We chose k-1 because of the limitations with our countries to co-owning all the things needed for the CR1. For example for us to co-sign for a bank account I would need to move to Ethiopia and give up my American citizenship to become an Ethiopia citizen. Same for owning a house or any property together. There are so many things CR1 wants to see that you merged. And vice-versa, I can't put his name on my bank account here in the US since he's not here. We would have preferred CR1 but I didn't see how it was possible.

Those types of things are not needed for, and are not expected of, a spouse who is living abroad.

Edited August 17, 2020 by geowrian

[Orangesapples 1,954]

55 minutes ago, LibbyG99 said:

Ya but I don't think we would have made it through USCIS. I would have had to become an Ethiopian citizen to put my name on leases, bank accounts, utility bills, etc. and Ethiopia doesn't allow for dual citizenship so I would have had to give up American citizenship.

I really doubt it would have been a problem. 

[Vivibabylol 0]

We filed for K-1 cause it seemed to us that it was the visa that best fits our circumstances. We got engaged and we wanted to meet each other and get married. Simple and easy. With or without the pandemic, I think we would make the same decision. 

[PostalDuchess 30]

I went through a lot of back and forth trying to decide as well but I am ultimately going to go the K1 route. I think that that many of the people in this group are extremely knowledgeable and they are trying to provide the best possible insight. In many instances some of the people here may be older and wiser (I don't mean that in a rude or bad way in any way). What I am getting at is that in some cases they have the forethought about things that don't necessarily occur to us as a younger generation and I'm 35 and saying that. One of those things has to do with the adjustment of status, EAD etc. on the back end of a K1. They are trying to convey some of the difficulties of having your partner arrive in the country and not be able to work or travel internationally etc. This means that the USC becomes the sole provider and they are trying to make sure that other understand that and understand the length of time it could take for your partner to be able to start working. One of the reasons that I am still planning on going with a K1 is that I was already planning on being the main provider/sole provider and have a well establish job and career so him not being able to work right away isn't as problematic. Now if I lost my job that would cause issues. Additionally, as a woman wanting children I have to think about how to support the family if he isn't working. This means that I would need to shorten the period of time I take off for maternity leave and then go back to work ASAP to ensure that the family continues to be supported.

 

While I shared your thoughts that people seemed a little against K1's initially it has become much more apparent the kinds of things they are working so hard to inform us about. Honestly, it didn't fully click until my mom asked me how I would deal with supporting the family if I became pregnant, then it clicked. Knowing that, I need to make sure my timing is spot on.

 

Hope that helps. I also hope I didn't offend anyone in the process.

[FKEdwards 23]

Same sex couple currently living in the Middle East. My partner is Kenyan so traveling to a country that permits gay marriage and allows tourists to legally marry is not an easy task due to limitations on her ability to obtain a visa. The K1 is not ideal but it’s the option we have.