K1 Why Bother

[TiEy 69]

1 hour ago, theballaam96 said:

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.

Exactly. Same here. Stay strong.

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

9 hours 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 

What’s the point in filing a k1? 

• Foreign fiancé unable to visit the US and American fiancé unable to travel currently to foreign country.
• It is a significant hassle and can take months and a lot of money to get a legitimate marriage certificate in a foreign country.
• Marriage in foreign country may not be in English and the American can’t understand.
• American fiancé wants their family to be present at the marriage.
• Neither spouse wants to live apart AFTER marriage.

[Dashinka 23,271]

56 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

What’s the point in filing a k1? 

• Foreign fiancé unable to visit the US and American fiancé unable to travel currently to foreign country.
• It is a significant hassle and can take months and a lot of money to get a legitimate marriage certificate in a foreign country.
• Marriage in foreign country may not be in English and the American can’t understand.
• American fiancé wants their family to be present at the marriage.
• Neither spouse wants to live apart AFTER marriage.

I would add one other benefit for the K1, same sex couples where one of them lives in a country where that type of marriage is not recognized to an extreme manner.  Many of those couples also fall into the first two bullet points you mentioned.

[payxibka 10,044]

2 hours ago, Luckycuds said:

What’s the point in filing a k1? 

• Foreign fiancé unable to visit the US and American fiancé unable to travel currently to foreign country.
• It is a significant hassle and can take months and a lot of money to get a legitimate marriage certificate in a foreign country.
• Marriage in foreign country may not be in English and the American can’t understand.
• American fiancé wants their family to be present at the marriage.
• Neither spouse wants to live apart AFTER marriage.

Anothet is if the fiance has k2s between 18 and 21

[emma24 161]

2 hours ago, Luckycuds said:

What’s the point in filing a k1? 

• Foreign fiancé unable to visit the US and American fiancé unable to travel currently to foreign country.
• It is a significant hassle and can take months and a lot of money to get a legitimate marriage certificate in a foreign country.
• Marriage in foreign country may not be in English and the American can’t understand.
• American fiancé wants their family to be present at the marriage.
• Neither spouse wants to live apart AFTER marriage.

You hit on the main reason we did K1. I couldn't fathom marrying the love of my life and then having to be apart for 1-2 years. Everyone has their own reasons for the route they take!

[Crazy Cat 39,318]

Life is full of choices and consequences.  Some decisions are short term and  made on emotion......others are made using logic.......but most all decisions have long term consequences........only you can decide which visa is in your best interest.

Edited August 13, 2020 by Lucky Cat

[Sparkle Sparkle 913]

The fact is if your K1 petition was not at least approved as at March 2020...you face a very long wait.

[lucardo3 220]

10 hours ago, walter99 said:

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

Because it is the Nation of Immigrants. We need to remember that and remind everyone who forgets.

[Ash.1101 1,755]

K-1 because we didn't want to marry and then be seperated. Yes, we COULD have done it, as we were in a long distance relationship for years, but we didn't want too.

As for right now, some countries aren't allowing those from the US in, so a USC can't just go get married to someone else in a lot of countries and vice versa. K-1 may have a longer wait, but at least you don't have to figure out how you're going to get to each other countries to get married at the moment for CR-1.

[Foibh 39]

K1 because we didn’t know each other long before getting engaged. My mom really appreciated having an extra 6ish months to digest. She nearly had a heart attack when I first told her. Now everyone loves him and he’s part of the family. 

[yuna628 9,530]

14 hours 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 

Way back when a K1 could take over a year and a spousal could take several so.. it made not much of a difference at the time. But for us, there wasn't any other workable options. Marriage in his country wasn't an option, and we didn't want to be apart from each other when married. We had been without each other for long enough. A K1 gives some advantage in that it gave him plenty of time to keep working and save up funds, while I planned what I could for a functional wedding (something I don't personally recommend). The part we didn't like obviously was the lengthy wait for AOS process. Having an EAD did not actually mean any employers understood what one was or even wanted to hire him.

[Empressdivine 113]

I agree with the above posters I didn't want to be married and in a LDR still so I chose k1. The wait to work didn't make the visa inferior to me because there is so much my fiance could do while waiting in the US. If K1 visas are not resumed by January then I wouldn't see the point in this visa anymore if they aren't processing it at the consulate level.

Edited August 13, 2020 by Empressdivine

[Orangesapples 1,954]

14 hours ago, J&A1234 said:

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 

The K1 bashing is coming from people like me that actually used the K1, that's why we don't recommend it, we're not bigoted against the K1 or anything like that. 

[Orangesapples 1,954]

9 hours 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.

I had a similar experience living in suburban hell... The solution was to move out to a more urban area and to learn how to drive. I still miss real urban life but I didn't have to stay in suburban hell to be with my husband. 

 

And the culture shock is way worse with a K1. Having a job makes things much, much better. 

[Scandi 3,970]

Also seems like some people believe the K-1 visa is a "try before buy" visa.