Should I get a fiancee or spouse visa (new couple looking for help)?

[VirginiaYasin 0]

Hi dear community, if anyone can advise us for our journey i will be grateful. i pray that you can take time to answer.

I know my questions may not be new, but i already did research to find answers but still wondering your honest advise, thank you for taking time.

 

i am engaged to my fiance. we met in the USA last year during her student visa. She already returned to home country but she still has valid student f1 visa. She is not in the usa right now, she is working in her country. i try to visit her once a while. i visited her multiple times in last year. i work in the usa, and can't visit her more than once a year now. my parents are sick and need my help in the usa.

 

We plan to get married (not married yet) because we want to start life/having kids because of our age. our priority is to start life together as soon as possible. but we are not sure if we should apply for k1(fiance) or cr1(marriage).

i know this question was asked, but please read our circumstance for helping us.

 

I am dual citizen(also citizen of same country with her and us citizen). Our options are

1 - start k1 process right now while she is in her country.

2 - get married and start cr1 process in 3 months. we cannot get married because of my work and her work in next 2-3 months. so we have to wait if we decide to choose marriage route.

 

with fiance visa, I know she will apply for work/travel visa after she arrives USA, but we are ok with this if K1(fiance) visa is taking short. We cannot get married and be ready for cr1 in 3 months so we don't want to wait and waste these 3 months. we are okay with her waiting in the usa for work and travel permit for a while.

 

My questions:

1 - I am afraid, we may regret not getting married for cr1 visa because i heard fiance(k1) visa is taking 2 years, is this right? 

2 - I am afraid, uscis doesn't care about k1 visa and may ignore it or let it wait, is this true?

3 - do most people regret choosing k1, i heard mixed reviews. what would you do if you were in our sitatuion(please review our option 1 and option 2)

4- is it ok if we have a cultural/religious ceremony(not official marriage) after we applied k1 visa? We will only be engaged but have a small ceremony.

5- what would you do if you were in our situation? wait 3 months and apply for cr1 or start k1 right away(our goal is to be together in the usa, as soon as possible)

 

I am praying you can help me with my 4 questions.. because i trust people's experiences more than google here. sorry for long message.

THANK YOU!

 

[Crazy Cat 39,336]

CR-1 is my vote!

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 39,336]

******Moved to What Visa Do I Need?***************

[Crazy Cat 39,336]

1 hour ago, VirginiaYasin said:

My questions:

1 - I am afraid, we may regret not getting married for cr1 visa because i heard fiance(k1) visa is taking 2 years, is this right? 

2 - I am afraid, uscis doesn't care about k1 visa and may ignore it or let it wait, is this true?

3 - do most people regret choosing k1, i heard mixed reviews. what would you do if you were in our sitatuion(please review our option 1 and option 2)

4- is it ok if we have a cultural/religious ceremony(not official marriage) after we applied k1 visa? We will only be engaged but have a small ceremony.

5- what would you do if you were in our situation? wait 3 months and apply for cr1 or start k1 right away(our goal is to be together in the usa, as soon as possible)

1.  Yes.  Both the K-1 and CR-1 will take about 18-24 months.

2.  Not true.  But, it will take 3 years or more to get a Green card if you choose a K-1..

3.  Many people regret they applied for a K-1.  I have not seen a single person who regretted a CR-1. 

4.  NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That could be a big issue.

5.  I would absolutely marry and start the spousal visa (CR-1) process.  You could marry via a Utah online marriage, meet, then start the CR-1 process.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[beloved_dingo 1,934]

We went through the K-1 route in 2018 and I also would recommend CR-1 instead. Back when we did the K-1, processing times weren't too bad, so it still made some sense to pursue a K-1 if being together faster was a priority. Now, K-1 processing times are long and take a similar amount of time as the CR-1. 

 

Considering that, if you go through the K-1 route you also have to deal with the AOS process to get the green card, which is expensive and also takes awhile. 

 

Basically, it's worth waiting 3 months to marry and apply for a CR-1, rather than apply for a K-1 now. 

 

I don't think "most people" regret going the K-1 route, but there are A LOT of people who did the K-1 that recommend the CR-1 over it now (like us). K-1s can also be trickier to get in higher fraud countries - you didn't mention where your wife is from so just making you aware of that aspect as well. 

 

Lastly, if you decide to do the K-1 anyway, DO NOT do a religious ceremony! K-1s have been denied for this because USCIS can view it as being married, regardless of it not being "official". 

[VirginiaYasin 0]

13 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

1.  Yes.  Both the K-1 and CR-1 will take about 18-24 months.

2.  Not true.  But, it will take 3 years or more to get a Green card if you choose a K-1..

3.  Many people regret they applied for a K-1.  I have not seen a single person who regretted a CR-1. 

4.  NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

5.  I would absolutely marry and start the spousal visa (CR-1) process.  You could marry via a Utah online marriage, meet, then start the CR-1 process.

thank you for replies. i only have 1 follow up question for number 4. when we engaged, my fiance's father literally put engagement rings on our finger at a restaurant we reserved and we took photos and we went to a bar with friends and family(about 50 people) to have food and drinks. i can't imagine how is this a problem. sorry for my ignorance but i'm trying to learn. can you explain or did i confuse you with getting married by accident? this was nothing more than a dinner reserved with our families and friends and we just put engagement rings on our fingers. in our country, this ceremony is NOT legally binding. it is not a marriage. it is just celebration of our engagement at a restaurant with people we know. i am sorry again, but i don't understand how is this illegal for k1? if you can explain.. thanks

[Crazy Cat 39,336]

1 minute ago, VirginiaYasin said:

i can't imagine how is this a problem. sorry for my ignorance but i'm trying to learn. can you explain or did i confuse you with getting married by accident?

This could EASILY be seen as a marriage by the consulate.....It has caused numerous denials in the past. I would definitely marry and file for a spousal visa. 

[VirginiaYasin 0]

2 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

This could EASILY be seen as a marriage by the consulate.....It has caused numerous denials in the past. I would definitely marry and file for a spousal visa. 

so just because people applied k1 visa, they can't have dinner with engagement rings on our finger, announce people they are engaged on social media, and invite our families and friends to our home party (or restaurant with other customers dining) and this is an easy denial? 

why are we supposed to keep it secret? 

sorry my reacting is not to you but i can't believe this is EASY denail.

we are talking about inviting friends and family to our home to have dinner and drinks OR a restaurant to have dinner and drinks and post photos to social media. 

i just repeated multiple times only because i don't want to mislead because it is hard how this is EASY denial. it is not a legal marriage, it is just celebration of engagement, only other thing i can image is, we just keep it as secret and not mention it to anybody, why would immigration want this?

[Boiler 43,543]

Put me down for the CR1

[Crazy Cat 39,336]

14 minutes ago, VirginiaYasin said:

so just because people applied k1 visa, they can't have dinner with engagement rings on our finger, announce people they are engaged on social media, and invite our families and friends to our home party (or restaurant with other customers dining) and this is an easy denial? 

why are we supposed to keep it secret? 

sorry my reacting is not to you but i can't believe this is EASY denail.

we are talking about inviting friends and family to our home to have dinner and drinks OR a restaurant to have dinner and drinks and post photos to social media. 

i just repeated multiple times only because i don't want to mislead because it is hard how this is EASY denial. it is not a legal marriage, it is just celebration of engagement, only other thing i can image is, we just keep it as secret and not mention it to anybody, why would immigration want this?

I can't say what your consulate officer will do.  I have told you the danger of having a ceremony before entering the US via a K-1. You can do whatever you want.  Your choice.  

 

I said it could easily be seen as a marriage...It has happened to some....not to all.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[VirginiaYasin 0]

1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

I can't say what your consulate officer will do.  I have told you the danger of having a ceremony before entering the US via a K-1. You can do whatever you want.  Your choice.  

 

thank you

[beloved_dingo 1,934]

You do not have to keep the engagement secret. Dinner at a restaurant to celebrate an engagement is not generally a problem, but the issue I see from what you described is having photos of rings put on your fingers. USCIS does not know if that is an engagement ring or a wedding ring and there is NO way to prove you aren't married. I would absolutely not include photos that involve rings, period. 

 

Having a casual dinner to celebrate getting engaged is not the issue, announcing the engagement isn't the issue. It's doing things that can LOOK like a marriage or make it sound like you are already married (referring to each other as husband/wife, etc.). Here are threads with these kind of denials:

 

[Mike E 11,723]

Get married online. This starts a 2 year clock.  Meet up. File I-130. Time NVC process so that the medical exam will be no sooner than the 19 months after marriage. Enter U.S. on or after 2 years of marriage to avoid I-751.

[Caboose29 172]

As someone who’s already been through the process as a K1, AND received the green card in less than 12 months, I would still strongly recommend going the CR1 route.  I think the overall timeline will be very similar, but will be much less stressful on the back end with the CR1. 
 

I’m surprised no has mentioned the tax benefit of going CR1 as well. It’s my understanding that as soon as you are married you can claim her on you taxes, even before she arrives stateside, thus possibly reducing your expenses even more. 

[Mike E 11,723]

3 minutes ago, Caboose29 said:

you can claim her on you taxes, even before she arrives stateside

If she gets an ITIN and if she agrees to let the IRS tax her world wide income. Given U.S. does not double tax, it is likely a net benefit  to the couple.