Fiance/Spouse. Which is better for Peruvians?

[MTMR0420 0]

Hey everyone, me and my fiance have been needing some help deciding how we want to do our marriage and her visa for our future. We have read a lot about both a fiance visa (K-1) and a spouse visa. I'm American and she is Peruvian. We understand that the process for both does take time and depends on the embassy of Perú. We are looking for advice from anyone from peru thay knows how the embassy is currently functioning with fiance or spouse visas at the moment. We understand covid has put some delays on a lot of visa approvals but I beleive that they are still processing the spousal and fiance visas. We've come to understand that the spouse visa will probably take a minimum of 2-3 years however she will receive her green card and be able to work in the US and move in with me immediately after receiving the approval. The other options with the fiance is to wait a little less time, around a year, for her approval and get married in the US within 90 days of the approval. She would then have to wait 3-6 months ish for a status adjustment and receive, I beleive, her green card as well. During that period she can't work or leave the US is what we understand. The other thing we've read is I need to meet a certain income requirement. As I'm a student right now this might be hard depending on how high it is but not impossible. Does anyone know anything about the income requirement? I live in Oregon currently. In terms of how much is required and if they check house hold income or personal income? Do they check this through taxes from the previous year?

Here's where we run into trouble trying to decide. We're both currently in school right now. I'm working on my bachelor's with about 3 years left and she is working on starting her PhD or masters. We are trying to plan in a way that we can be able to live together as soon as possible which means we are looking into options for her schooling and mine to align.

Does anyone know if she can study while on the probation with the fiance visa at a US school? Or can she receive a student visa while waiting for either visa approval?

The other option we were considering is the spouse visa in which I would finish my degree online and she would attend a post graduate program. I am also attempting to maintain an online job as an English teacher with TEFL certification. Does anyone know if it would be problematical legality wise to work out of the country with an online job? (tax laws etc.) 

Does anyone have any insight to our situation? On any part of it would be helpful. We've been debating what to do with constant research for 3 months now and haven't been able to make a decision so any help is appreciated. We have also looked at immigration lawyers as an option. If anyone knows if this is worth it and if so good references would be helpful.

Thank you! 

[randy32 165]

With the current backlogs, I think spousal is better. USCIS processing time is about the same in most cases and lots of embassies are giving less priority to k1 visas.

3 months researching is 3 months extra that you guys are burning.

you need to make a decision and file.

[Just Paul 4,591]

On 4/16/2021 at 9:49 PM, MTMR0420 said:

Does anyone know if it would be problematical legality wise to work out of the country with an online job? (tax laws etc.) 

If you wish to work right away the only option is the spousal visa.

 

[Boiler 43,401]

Another vote for the spousal option

[SalishSea 16,748]

On 4/16/2021 at 9:49 PM, MTMR0420 said:

She would then have to wait 3-6 months ish for a status adjustment and receive, I beleive, her green card as well.

There is no way she would have a green card, or even a temporary work authorization (EAD) that quickly.  EAD/AP processing is currently around 8 months.

 

Current processing times for AOS at the Portland, OR field office is 12.5-19.5 months.  That means: time it takes to obtain a green card interview.