Worried about our chances of being together. K1 visa

[fukita89 0]

I am worried that our K1 visa might get denied.

I am a Japanese citizen 29, my fiance USC is 27. we are long time friends from college when I was an exchange student in USA 8 years ago. we have always been good friends, and while he was going through a divorce last year we reconnected and began growing feeling for each other. after his divorce was finalized in January this year, I decided to visit him in April, we decided to start our relationship. I visited him September again, we got engaged. due to my work schedule I could not stay more than one week at a time. Japan was still closed cos covid so he couldn't visit me.

we are about to file our K1 visa and our immigration lawyer says our case is an easy case since we have known each other for very long time, but I am still very worried because of his past and the timeline. I have never been married before and no criminal record. His previous marriage was with a foreigner now USC ( she was in usa on student visa then they got married) and they have a kid together.

anyone who was in a similar situation was me and visa granted ?

I cannot picture a life without him so Im getting worried as time goes by....

[Rocio0010 5,570]

As long as I understood your story correctly, I don't see an issues here. If you mean that you're worried about him having sponsored someone else in the past and being red- flagged, that is not an issue in and of itself. 

 

One thing is, though, have you considered getting married and filing for a CR1 instead? In the past, K1s used to be faster but now they are processed at about the same time. I am going to page @Crazy Cat for advantages and disadvantages of each, but the CR1 is superior in my opinion.

[Crazy Cat 39,375]

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation.

K-1        
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)    
    Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 6-8 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 6-8 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.
    A K-1 might be a better choice when 18-21 year old children are immigrating also
    In some situations, marriage can affect certain Home country benefits, making a K-1 a better choice   
    A denied K-1 is sent back to USCIS to expire
    

CR-1
    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.
    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
   

 

[Crazy Cat 39,375]

1 hour ago, fukita89 said:

I am worried that our K1 visa might get denied.

Nothing in your post indicates a problem.

[Lynxyonok 316]

15 hours ago, fukita89 said:

I am worried that our K1 visa might get denied.

I am a Japanese citizen 29, my fiance USC is 27. we are long time friends from college when I was an exchange student in USA 8 years ago. we have always been good friends, and while he was going through a divorce last year we reconnected and began growing feeling for each other. after his divorce was finalized in January this year, I decided to visit him in April, we decided to start our relationship. I visited him September again, we got engaged. due to my work schedule I could not stay more than one week at a time. Japan was still closed cos covid so he couldn't visit me.

we are about to file our K1 visa and our immigration lawyer says our case is an easy case since we have known each other for very long time, but I am still very worried because of his past and the timeline. I have never been married before and no criminal record. His previous marriage was with a foreigner now USC ( she was in usa on student visa then they got married) and they have a kid together.

anyone who was in a similar situation was me and visa granted ?

I cannot picture a life without him so Im getting worried as time goes by....

He married a foreigner who is now a USC.

Now he is filing a I-129F for you.

 

Now, I don't have questions, love is love.

 

USCIS will.

 

P.S. You did meet in the past two years, right? 

Edited October 11, 2022 by Lynxyonok

[fukita89 0]

2 hours ago, Lynxyonok said:

He married a foreigner who is now a USC.

Now he is filing a I-129F for you.

 

Now, I don't have questions, love is love.

 

USCIS will.

 

P.S. You did meet in the past two years, right? 

thanks you for your reply. 

Yes we have met in person. we met in April and September just 2 weeks ago. 

[fukita89 0]

Thank you. 

[fukita89 0]

16 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

As long as I understood your story correctly, I don't see an issues here. If you mean that you're worried about him having sponsored someone else in the past and being red- flagged, that is not an issue in and of itself. 

 

One thing is, though, have you considered getting married and filing for a CR1 instead? In the past, K1s used to be faster but now they are processed at about the same time. I am going to page @Crazy Cat for advantages and disadvantages of each, but the CR1 is superior in my opinion.

thank you. we are thinking of CR1 but if we were to go for that route, we need to wait until next time to meet to get married and then change name and paperwork etc for me. so thats another 5~6 months, so we are trying to file K1 for now. thank you. 

[Rocio0010 5,570]

--

Edited October 11, 2022 by Rocio0010
answered in another comment

[Rocio0010 5,570]

9 hours ago, fukita89 said:

we need to wait until next time to meet to get married

Not true. You can actually marry online through Utah marriage. Perfectly valid.

 

9 hours ago, fukita89 said:

then change name

You don't have to do that now. It is not a requirement.

 

9 hours ago, fukita89 said:

paperwork

You'd still do paperwork for the K1. In fact, with the K1 you'll have to do AOS so that's even more fees and paperwork.

[Chancy 6,233]

35 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

Not true. You can actually marry online through Utah marriage. Perfectly valid.

 

Even if they marry now through Utah zoom wedding, they would still need to meet in person after the wedding before they can start the CR1 process.

 

That said, I think that getting a CR1 visa at the end is very much worth the few months delay in being able to file a petition.  Even with the petition filing delay, the overall timeline to green card is almost certain to be much shorter through the CR1 process.

 

[Rocio0010 5,570]

1 minute ago, Chancy said:

Even if they marry now through Utah zoom wedding, they would still need to meet in person after the wedding before they can start the CR1 process.

Good catch. But they can marry now and plan for a meeting later in the next few months and then get the process started, with the added advantage of not having to do AOS...

[Kayl&Natch 7]

I just filed  for a K-1 today, but now I am worried about the timeline because even in the last 3 months the K-1 timeline has extended substantially and I don't know why. Are you able to change the filing type if you end up getting married to CR-1 after filing a K-1?