Income requirement question

[WeekendPizzaiolo 47]

8 minutes ago, HaydenCorneau said:

my girlfriend lives at home lol, so me and her would be home together lol. 

I am definintely interested in the cr1 though. Is there a definitive guide on how to get it? My girlfriend has a physical illness that impacts her mobility, and travel may be limited for her.

That's sweet. We all have different personalities and relationship styles but I find it is healthy for my relationship to be apart for part of the day a few days a week. But we're all different. The pandemic and California stay-at-home orders put a lot of friction on some of my friends' marriages. Others handled the quarantining together perfectly.

 

Regarding your question for a guide, they are linked from the front page of VisaJourney with a button "Immigration Guides". Here is the guide for CR1

To go with the CR1 path, you will have to get married before you begin the process. The rules regarding proxy marriages (e.g. Utah Zoom marriages, https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/clerkaud/PassMarr/OnlineMarriage.asp) are arcane and you need to be very careful. See:

A marriage where you are both physically present during the ceremony will be easier to be rendered valid by USCIS and will eliminate a lot of pre-interview anxiety and stress.

[HaydenCorneau 12]

18 minutes ago, DE CS said:

That's sweet. We all have different personalities and relationship styles but I find it is healthy for my relationship to be apart for part of the day a few days a week. But we're all different. The pandemic and California stay-at-home orders put a lot of friction on some of my friends' marriages. Others handled the quarantining together perfectly.

 

Regarding your question for a guide, they are linked from the front page of VisaJourney with a button "Immigration Guides". Here is the guide for CR1

To go with the CR1 path, you will have to get married before you begin the process. The rules regarding proxy marriages (e.g. Utah Zoom marriages, https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/clerkaud/PassMarr/OnlineMarriage.asp) are arcane and you need to be very careful. See:

A marriage where you are both physically present during the ceremony will be easier to be rendered valid by USCIS and will eliminate a lot of pre-interview anxiety and stress.

 

Lol yeah, me and her just spent time inside. I work remotely, so I'm used to being indoors, and she has a knee injury that renders her mobility limited.

We often just play video games together when we're not out or do house work. 

In regards to getting married and the cr1

I'm just gonna ask you directly, as I find it a bit more straightforward. (I apologize for dumb questions)

How would we get married if we are in different countries specifically, for the cr1?

 

 

In relation to the k1 visa work element and staying busy, would there be anything legally preventing me from volunteering or doing community stuff? 

Edited February 8, 2022 by HaydenCorneau

[STO Overland 137]

1 hour ago, HaydenCorneau said:

How would we get married if we are in different countries specifically, for the cr1

https://theamm.org/articles/459-utah-becomes-first-state-to-allow-international-virtual-zoom-wedding-for-partner

 

https://lawandborder.com/is-a-utah-marriage-over-zoom-valid-for-immigration-purposes/

[WeekendPizzaiolo 47]

2 hours ago, HaydenCorneau said:

How would we get married if we are in different countries specifically, for the cr1?

The Zoom/online marriage is outside my area of expertise. We had researched it only enough to determine that it was too high risk for us. In March 2020, the US/Canadian border had closed. Had the borders remained open, we would have definitely filed for a CR-1. My fiancé could not leave Canada for the US without losing the ability to re-enter Canada on his study permit due to an emergency Canadian immigration policy for Canadian academic programs that moved 100% online. We weighed K-1 vs CR-1. We ultimately decided these online types of marriages were not worth the risk given our risk tolerance. So we went with a K-1.

 

Now that the US/Canadian border is fully open, there is little reason to go with a K-1. Given our K-1 visa is already approved, it would be defeating to change course at this point. In fact, had the borders not closed during the pandemic, I would definitely have gone with a CR-1 instead of a K-1. But, it seemed the closure would be indefinite at the time. The Canadian government made no progress on the issue for 17 months and then we were surprised in July 2021 with an announcement that the borders would open to vaccinated Americans in August 2021. I visited on the second day of the borders opening.

 

There may be alternatives to marrying online or her coming to Canada (or any other third country) to marry with you, but I do not know enough about them to comment on them. You may want to do some google searches of blogs written by qualified lawyers on other options. For anything that is not clear cut or has high risk, it may be worth consulting an attorney for advice.

 

20 hours ago, HaydenCorneau said:

 

In relation to the k1 visa work element and staying busy, would there be anything legally preventing me from volunteering or doing community stuff? 

This is a grey area. Here is a post on the issue:

The volunteering must not be for activities in which the non-profit/charity concerned would have otherwise employed someone to do.

 

As a general rule, if you DIY your visa application to save money, I would prepare to do aggressive Google searching and spend a lot more effort than you ordinarily would had you hired a lawyer. You are going to need to do a lot of work yourself. If you want to search past forum topics on VisaJourney, you can add site:visajourney.com to your search term. For example, one can search "volunteering on K-1 site:visajourney.com" and skim responses until you find one that seems credible and germane to your circumstances.

 

If posts for a question you have are particularly old (e.g. answered in 2005-2019), the answers may not be accurate given current law and policy. However, if a topic is fairly new with lots of well-researched posts, it is helpful to get as much as you can from them before posting lots of the same questions. Personally, I try to wait until I have a question that is either unique, pertains to a situation that is changing rapidly (e.g. an upcoming border reopening or temporary suspension of consular activities), or needs a fresh response.

 

HTH  

 

[HaydenCorneau 12]

4 minutes ago, DE CS said:

The Zoom/online marriage is outside my area of expertise. We had researched it only enough to determine that it was too high risk for us. In March 2020, the US/Canadian border had closed. Had the borders remained open, we would have definitely filed for a CR-1. My fiancé could not leave Canada for the US without losing the ability to re-enter Canada on his study permit due to an emergency Canadian immigration policy for Canadian academic programs that moved 100% online. We weighed K-1 vs CR-1. We ultimately decided these online types of marriages were not worth the risk given our risk tolerance. So we went with a K-1.

 

Now that the US/Canadian border is fully open, there is little reason to go with a K-1. Given our K-1 visa is already approved, it would be defeating to change course at this point. In fact, had the borders not closed during the pandemic, I would definitely have gone with a CR-1 instead of a K-1. But, it seemed the closure would be indefinite at the time. The Canadian government made no progress on the issue for 17 months and then we were surprised in July 2021 with an announcement that the borders would open to vaccinated Americans in August 2021. I visited on the second day of the borders opening.

 

There may be alternatives to marrying online or her coming to Canada (or any other third country) to marry with you, but I do not know enough about them to comment on them. You may want to do some google searches of blogs written by qualified lawyers on other options. For anything that is not clear cut or has high risk, it may be worth consulting an attorney for advice.

 

This is a grey area. Here is a post on the issue:

The volunteering must not be for activities in which the non-profit/charity concerned would have otherwise employed someone to do.

 

As a general rule, if you DIY your visa application to save money, I would prepare to do aggressive Google searching and spend a lot more effort than you ordinarily would had you hired a lawyer. You are going to need to do a lot of work yourself. If you want to search past forum topics on VisaJourney, you can add site:visajourney.com to your search term. For example, one can search "volunteering on K-1 site:visajourney.com" and skim responses until you find one that seems credible and germane to your circumstances.

 

If posts for a question you have are particularly old (e.g. answered in 2005-2019), the answers may not be accurate given current law and policy. However, if a topic is fairly new with lots of well-researched posts, it is helpful to get as much as you can from them before posting lots of the same questions. Personally, I try to wait until I have a question that is either unique, pertains to a situation that is changing rapidly (e.g. an upcoming border reopening or temporary suspension of consular activities), or needs a fresh response.

 

HTH  

 

Gotcha, just weighing my options. I've been researching heavily and preparing, despite the fact that my submission is probably 6+ months away lol 

[WeekendPizzaiolo 47]

18 hours ago, HaydenCorneau said:

Gotcha, just weighing my options. I've been researching heavily and preparing, despite the fact that my submission is probably 6+ months away lol 

Very good. It's still early yet, then. It never hurts to start organizing though. My fiancé and I have a Google spreadsheet that keeps track of our trips together (start date, end date, and cities, and total days) as well as a DropBox folder, one folder per trip, of photos of us with friends and family. We also keep a Google sheet of travel outside his home country by start date, end date, and country and another Google sheet logging Zooms, Skypes, and phone calls. By organizing these hard to remember things early, filling out forms and submitting documentation becomes a breeze later.

 

I'm cheering for you and your fiancé.  Best wishes to you.

 

 

[HaydenCorneau 12]

On 2/8/2022 at 5:24 PM, WeekendPizzaiolo said:

The Zoom/online marriage is outside my area of expertise. We had researched it only enough to determine that it was too high risk for us. In March 2020, the US/Canadian border had closed. Had the borders remained open, we would have definitely filed for a CR-1. My fiancé could not leave Canada for the US without losing the ability to re-enter Canada on his study permit due to an emergency Canadian immigration policy for Canadian academic programs that moved 100% online. We weighed K-1 vs CR-1. We ultimately decided these online types of marriages were not worth the risk given our risk tolerance. So we went with a K-1.

 

Now that the US/Canadian border is fully open, there is little reason to go with a K-1. Given our K-1 visa is already approved, it would be defeating to change course at this point. In fact, had the borders not closed during the pandemic, I would definitely have gone with a CR-1 instead of a K-1. But, it seemed the closure would be indefinite at the time. The Canadian government made no progress on the issue for 17 months and then we were surprised in July 2021 with an announcement that the borders would open to vaccinated Americans in August 2021. I visited on the second day of the borders opening.

 

There may be alternatives to marrying online or her coming to Canada (or any other third country) to marry with you, but I do not know enough about them to comment on them. You may want to do some google searches of blogs written by qualified lawyers on other options. For anything that is not clear cut or has high risk, it may be worth consulting an attorney for advice.

 

This is a grey area. Here is a post on the issue:

The volunteering must not be for activities in which the non-profit/charity concerned would have otherwise employed someone to do.

 

As a general rule, if you DIY your visa application to save money, I would prepare to do aggressive Google searching and spend a lot more effort than you ordinarily would had you hired a lawyer. You are going to need to do a lot of work yourself. If you want to search past forum topics on VisaJourney, you can add site:visajourney.com to your search term. For example, one can search "volunteering on K-1 site:visajourney.com" and skim responses until you find one that seems credible and germane to your circumstances.

 

If posts for a question you have are particularly old (e.g. answered in 2005-2019), the answers may not be accurate given current law and policy. However, if a topic is fairly new with lots of well-researched posts, it is helpful to get as much as you can from them before posting lots of the same questions. Personally, I try to wait until I have a question that is either unique, pertains to a situation that is changing rapidly (e.g. an upcoming border reopening or temporary suspension of consular activities), or needs a fresh response.

 

HTH  

 

Hey there, so me and her are getting married in Canada. I'm so excited. This is the first step. I was thinking of flying her out here to visit anyway, so no worries. I really gave what you said some thought and found a way to get her here with minimal hassle. (Thank God for the lifting covid restrictions).

I will be flying to st Louis in September and bringing her back early October. I have money set aside to pay for her flights back as well. 

Edited March 4, 2022 by HaydenCorneau

[WeekendPizzaiolo 47]

1 hour ago, HaydenCorneau said:

Hey there, so me and her are getting married in Canada. I'm so excited. This is the first step. I was thinking of flying her out here to visit anyway, so no worries. I really gave what you said some thought and found a way to get her here with minimal hassle. (Thank God for the lifting covid restrictions).

I will be flying to st Louis in September and bringing her back early October. I have money set aside to pay for her flights back as well. 

Congratulations Hayden! I'm very excited for y'all. Best wishes to you both in reuniting and your marriage.

[Iamornext 29]

I have stuck with this and I hope someone can help educate me. Are income requirement calculated before or after taxes?