TRAVEL OVERSEAS WITH SPOUSE WHO ENTERED IN THE UNITED STATES WITH A K1 VISA

[PaxMundi 3]

Hello all,

 I'm Active Duty military  stationed overseas in Asia. My Fiancee received her K1 Visa and she is traveling to the United States soon so we can get married.   I will meet her  in the States. My concerns are now that her K1 Visa will expire   in a few months.  I'm  due to rotate from my current overseas station in about a year.   I have nobody in the States with who  my wife can stay  while I' m outside the Continental United States.  I heard travel outside the U. S . under a K1 visa is not an option. So how do I bring my wife  to join me in Asia with a K1 Visa that will expire in a few months? 

 Any guidance in this matter is much appreciated. Thank you all. 

[Verrou 1,899]

https://www.uscis.gov/military/citizenship-for-military-family-members

 

go down, theres a section for Adjusting Status for Spouses for Service Members ( she still need to be in the US) and try to expedite

 

or she can wait in her home country while u file for spouse visa. might take longer time though

 

note. k1 visa is single use non immigrant visa

Edited July 22, 2022 by Misscloud

[Crazy Cat 39,284]

1 hour ago, PaxMundi said:

Hello all,

 I'm Active Duty military  stationed overseas in Asia. My Fiancee received her K1 Visa and she is traveling to the United States soon so we can get married.   I will meet her  in the States. My concerns are now that her K1 Visa will expire   in a few months.  I'm  due to rotate from my current overseas station in about a year.   I have nobody in the States with who  my wife can stay  while I' m outside the Continental United States.  I heard travel outside the U. S . under a K1 visa is not an option. So how do I bring my wife  to join me in Asia with a K1 Visa that will expire in a few months? 

 Any guidance in this matter is much appreciated. Thank you all. 

Once she enters the US, you will have 90 days to marry...... Her K-1 visa is voided as soon as she enters the US.  If she fails to marry you within 90 days, she will immediately be out of status and subject to removal from the US.  Even after marriage, her authorized stay is only 90 days unless she has submitted a proper I-485. Once you are married, she needs to immediately file for adjustment of status.  If she leaves the US prior to obtaining a valid travel document (which could take many months), she will abandon her adjustment....then she will need a spousal visa or citizenship to re-enter and live in the US.  I would IMMEDIATELY schedule a meeting with my base legal office if I were you.  This could be a real mess since her adjustment of status could easily take 18 months after marriage.  She might need to return to her country and wait out a spousal visa after marriage.

There was a much better way to handle this before starting the K-1 visa process. 

 

The immigration process requires a great deal of proper planning, knowledge, time, patience, and money.   

Edited July 22, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[Letspaintcookies 2,208]

No way she can go with you to Asia any time soon. Her Greencard or at least AP needs to be approved first and then you still need your orders amended in order for her to join you. Which means she'll also have do the EFMP screening to get command sponsored. You can try to expedite as soon as you filed for AOS and have a case number but that still takes time. She can do the interview alone but most likely she has to stay in the US a couple months. 

Don't know if you can try for a compassionate reassignment to get back Conus sooner. I don't really see it happen for that reason but might worth a try.

 

 

[PaxMundi 3]

Thank you all for the guidance. I really appreciate you taking your time to give me more in depth information on immigration process.   I have discussed with the base Legal, and pretty much it is similar to what all of you just wrote to me. But their advise was to ignore the K1 Visa and just restart the process  by completing the process required to bring Fiancee in Japan. After completion, she won't need the Visa  to come to Japan from Her country of Origin. I'm weighing all the options.  Waoo this is more than the stress I'm dealing with on the  daily basis on my Ship.  

But I hope for the best. Thank you very much. 

[Letspaintcookies 2,208]

48 minutes ago, PaxMundi said:

Thank you all for the guidance. I really appreciate you taking your time to give me more in depth information on immigration process.   I have discussed with the base Legal, and pretty much it is similar to what all of you just wrote to me. But their advise was to ignore the K1 Visa and just restart the process  by completing the process required to bring Fiancee in Japan. After completion, she won't need the Visa  to come to Japan from Her country of Origin. I'm weighing all the options.  Waoo this is more than the stress I'm dealing with on the  daily basis on my Ship.  

But I hope for the best. Thank you very much. 

Wait, wait, wait. They advise to file for a Japanese visa? I probably got that wrong cause if you do that she still can't join you to go back to the states. What might be possible is to get married, start the process for the CR-1 US visa and when her I-130 petition by USCIS gets approved that might be good enough for the SOFA stamp so she can join you in Japan and then interview there for the CR-1 visa. Is that what they said? That might work out but could still cut it close depending on when your tour ends. If it ends before she has the visa she would still have to return to her home country and finish the process there.

 

Sorry for asking so much but I heard a couple horror stories where base legal really dropped the ball when it comes to immigration.

[Chancy 6,233]

2 hours ago, Letspaintcookies said:

That might work out but could still cut it close depending on when your tour ends. If it ends before she has the visa she would still have to return to her home country and finish the process there.

 

Assuming the I-130 petition is already approved before his wife arrives in Japan, if OP's deployment will end soon, they could request an expedited interview from the consulate in Naha or Tokyo.  The US consulates in Japan are accommodating of US military members and it seems they hardly have any backlog for immigrant visa cases.

 

[valentinasc 330]

On 7/22/2022 at 10:46 PM, PaxMundi said:

Hello all,

 I'm Active Duty military  stationed overseas in Asia. My Fiancee received her K1 Visa and she is traveling to the United States soon so we can get married.   I will meet her  in the States. My concerns are now that her K1 Visa will expire   in a few months.  I'm  due to rotate from my current overseas station in about a year.   I have nobody in the States with who  my wife can stay  while I' m outside the Continental United States.  I heard travel outside the U. S . under a K1 visa is not an option. So how do I bring my wife  to join me in Asia with a K1 Visa that will expire in a few months? 

 Any guidance in this matter is much appreciated. Thank you all. 

I'm unfamiliar with K1 Visas, but right after you guys get married, go ahead and enroll her in your DEERS. 

Maybe it'd be best if you apply for a Spouse Visa. Right after she gets her Green Card, she can move to Japan with you and legally live there under SOFA, and her time in Japan will still count as residence in the U.S. - AS LONG AS SHE'S IN YOUR ORDERS. She will also have the option to apply for citizenship immediately without waiting 3 years of permanent residency; the only requirement is to go back to the U.S. for an interview and oath.

[Letspaintcookies 2,208]

15 hours ago, valentinasc said:

I'm unfamiliar with K1 Visas, but right after you guys get married, go ahead and enroll her in your DEERS. 

Maybe it'd be best if you apply for a Spouse Visa. Right after she gets her Green Card, she can move to Japan with you and legally live there under SOFA, and her time in Japan will still count as residence in the U.S. - AS LONG AS SHE'S IN YOUR ORDERS. She will also have the option to apply for citizenship immediately without waiting 3 years of permanent residency; the only requirement is to go back to the U.S. for an interview and oath.

OPs problem is that it takes quite a while to get the Greencard when adjusting from the K1 that his fiance already has.

[faeth 2]

Hello. Any update? Thank you