K1 and/or Tourist visa?

[home_visit 2]

14 hours ago, Boiler said:

K1 would seem an odd choice, why not go CR1

CR1 would require us to get married abroad right?

 

The main issue would be getting to a third country like Hong Kong or Singapore to do the wedding, before I have to depart to go to the US.

[home_visit 2]

13 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

What is your fiancee's home country?  Was she granted only a single-entry B1/B2 visa?  Knowing her country is also helpful for getting more accurate advice here, as there are country-specific quirks for K1.  For example, it is more difficult to get a K1 visa in MENA countries than, say, the Philippines.

 

Most tourist visas issued by the US embassy in my country are multiple entry and valid for 10 years.  However, the allowed duration of each stay in the US is decided by the CBP officer at the point of entry.  By default, the allowed duration is 6 months, but it can be as short as 1 day.  Or the CBP officer may decide to deny entry to the visitor and send them on the next flight back to their country.  CBP has discretion to allow entry, regardless of where the tourist visa was issued.

 

Than you for your response, and the information you provided!  As mentioned, my partner is from a poor east Asian country.  Her previous tourist visa had 6 months validity I believe, and two entries.  She doesn't have a tourist visa currently, but has already applied and is looking to get a new interview in lieu of an interview that was canceled in March due to Covid.

[payxibka 10,048]

5 minutes ago, home_visit said:

CR1 would require us to get married abroad right?

 

The main issue would be getting to a third country like Hong Kong or Singapore to do the wedding, before I have to depart to go to the US.

Hong Kong has no minimum residence requirements.   

[home_visit 2]

6 hours ago, XenophiliusPNW said:

Looking over your questions, it seems like you want to get married at some point along this journey. If that's the case, the best thing seems to be to get married ASAP and applying for a CR-1 instead of messing with the fiancé visa. It's significantly cheaper now (much more than it used to be, relative to the K-1 which has just basically doubled in cost) and allows your partner to stay as long as she would like, can work immediately upon arrival, etc.  Also, the embassy is likely to prioritize spousal visas over fiancé... so that is something to take into consideration with the huge COVID backlog and USCIS austerity measures. 

Thanks that is very good advice!  I wasn't aware that there is a significant cost difference.  And I was also not aware that the CR-1 visa would allow my partner to work as well!  That's a real benefit.  

 

Re the Embassy prioritizing it, that is really a good point and something that I couldn't grasp yet.  There are so many diffierent visa types and its hard to understand what the Embassy is really doing at this point during the Covid crisis.  How did you know that USCIS is prioritizing spousal visas over fiance visas?

 

Thanks again... 

[home_visit 2]

1 minute ago, payxibka said:

Hong Kong has no minimum residence requirements.   

Yes, but I thought that they have a 14 day quarantine period.  But I will check it out.  

[Orangesapples 1,954]

1 hour ago, home_visit said:

Hello Paul & Mary,

 

Thank you for your time and your helpful information.  Without revealing my identity I can just say that my partner is from a poor east Asian country.  When she did receive her tourist visa, it was just a double entry with six months validity I believe.  It seems that they are not issuing the 10 year tourist visas for most people of this country.

 

We had already applied for another tourist and then the pandemic hit and her visa appointment was canceled.  The Embassy website now says they have reopened it but she has not been able to register for another appointment yet.

 

So a green card takes 12-18 months!   That is a long time.  So 6-9 months for the fiance visa and another 12-18 months for the green card, would be way beyond the time that I'm likely to be in the US.

 

A spouse visa may be better (need to investigate that one), but that would require us to get married abroad, correct?  To summarize, getting married in my partner's home country is undesirable because of corruption, and unreasonable administrative hurdles that are created in order to facilitate corruption.  Believe me, this is not a pleasant option.  So a person may opt to get married, for example, in Hong Kong.  But that's also going to be difficult due to the Covid crisis.  

 

Please let me know if you have any further thoughts about this...

You can get married in the US for a spousal visa. 

[Just Paul 4,596]

1 hour ago, payxibka said:

Hong Kong has no minimum residence requirements.   

You file the marriage notice 3 weeks before you want to get married.  Show up 3 days before and leave.  If the spouse's countries involved require something to be filed, like the Philippine's Report of Marriage, you stay an extra day or two.

 

COVID quarantine is a whole different issue.

 

There is no benefit to getting a fiance or spousal visa if the intent is not to immigrate to the US.  Immigrant visas are for immigration.

 

[Boiler 48,214]

Why can you not marry where you are?

[Just Paul 4,596]

On 9/16/2020 at 3:31 AM, home_visit said:

 

Tourist visas are valid for six months I believe, so that would eat up a lot of the time that I will have to be in the US. 

The length of stay issued on a tourist visa does not mean that amount of time is allowed at the port of entry.   Think of it as an up to 180 days.  People have been admitted for much shorter times.   It is all up to the immigration officer.

[home_visit 2]

3 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

You file the marriage notice 3 weeks before you want to get married.  Show up 3 days before and leave.  If the spouse's countries involved require something to be filed, like the Philippine's Report of Marriage, you stay an extra day or two.

 

COVID quarantine is a whole different issue.

 

There is no benefit to getting a fiance or spousal visa if the intent is not to immigrate to the US.  Immigrant visas are for immigration.

 

I was wrong... it's not only a quarantine issue with Hong Kong, there are not even allowing anyone entry:  https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_US/covid-19/hong-kong-travel-restrictions.html

 

Setting aside the issue of immigration for a moment, what other types of visa  are there except for tourist visa (that would work in our situation)?  There's also medical visa... I guess a student visa could be possible...

Edited September 17, 2020 by home_visit

[home_visit 2]

3 hours ago, Boiler said:

Why can you not marry where you are?

The government has basically created a set of policies that make it impossible to do without making "informal payments".  It's a hassle, it's expensive, time consuming, and emotionally draining.  We just don't really want to be a part of it.

[Just Paul 4,596]

4 minutes ago, home_visit said:

Setting aside the issue of immigration for a moment, what other types of visa are there except for tourist visa?  There's also medical visa... I guess a student visa could be possible...

It is just the tourist visas.  There are not any other real options for fiances or spouses for the US.  Getting a B2 for the purpose of visiting for a fiance or new spouse is extremely hard.  If you have residency in this southeast asia locale and have been married for a few years the odds of getting a B2 is a bit better.

[home_visit 2]

4 hours ago, Orangesapples said:

You can get married in the US for a spousal visa. 

Hi Orangesapples, I assume you mean that my partner would come on a tourist visa or some other similar visa and get married?  How else would we get married in the US in order to get a spousal visa?

[HRQX 4,146]

On 9/16/2020 at 8:20 AM, Paul & Mary said:

I don't see the country you are talking about listed

Maybe Cambodia per OP's other thread:

 

[HRQX 4,146]

1 hour ago, home_visit said:

that my partner would come on a tourist visa or some other similar visa and get married?

Yes, she can get married in the US with tourist visa:

You can also submit I-130 during her US visit after the marriage: "The beneficiary will not apply for adjustment of status in the United States, but he or she will apply for an immigrant visa abroad at the U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate in"

Edited September 17, 2020 by HRQX