Need help for deciding the best visa option to file

[Franceguz 0]

I hope I could get some help out here. My fiance is currently pregnant and we’re due to have the baby February of 2024. I was about to file a petition for K1 visa but I’m worried about the baby since I might not be able to transmit my citizenship through CRBA for I have only stayed in the U.S for almost 3 years. I am a U.S. citizen since 2010. I’m just worried that they won’t be able to come over here in the U.S. at the same time. Should I file for I-130 for our baby? Is it better to just get married and apply for spousal visa? What would our best option be for this situation? 

[Crazy Cat 39,267]

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

 

 

[Crazy Cat 39,267]

***A duplicate thread has been removed.  Please do not repost this in another forum***

[Boiler 43,450]

Spousal visa has many advantages, hopefully someone will be along to give you a comparison.

Edited October 21, 2023 by Boiler

[Crazy Cat 39,267]

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
  K-1 entrant cannot file for citizenship until after having Green Card for 3 years.
  Once an I-129F has been approved, delaying the case is difficult to impossible if the need arises.

CR-1/IR-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.
  The clock for citizenship filing starts immediately upon entry to the US.
  A CR-1/IR-1 case can be delayed indefinitely at NVC if the need arises. 
   

 

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,079]

Unless processing times change radically and K-1s become much faster to get to the US again, or Utah Zoom marriages go away, there's basically no upside to a K-1 for most people unless you're just really uncomfortable living apart for an extended period while married (there are some exceptions; children aged 18-21 can be derivatives on a K-1 but not on a CR-1/IR-1, and there may be other legal corner cases I'm unaware of).

 

When we did one, K-1s were significantly faster to the US, and the only way to get around the difficulties in legally marrying a foreigner in Russia would have been to get married in a third country that we wouldn't have visited otherwise (surprisingly in a lot of major European tourist destinations, two foreigners cannot legally marry quickly and easily, and I hadn't been aware before I started looking in to this that in a lot of 'destination weddings' the couple legally marries in the US first to get around that). But now you can do a Utah Zoom wedding if your fiancée's home country is difficult to actually legally marry in, and K-1s are not faster in processing time. And even pre-Covid, if you were living with your partner outside the US then a CR-1 usually made more sense unless you could legally marry in the US but not in the country you were living in.