agrabs

Tried watching that Darcy and Stacy show, but I can't even do it anymore.  They are such dimwits, so over the hill desperate for 20-something guys that it's cliche.  Darcy's biggest gripe is some girl left a fire emoji on her married boyfriend's social media page.  They are like 50 year old teenagers.
 

They can use a valid ESTA or a valid B-2.  They would need to show ties/plans for returning since the I-130 petition will establish immigrant intent.
 
You may also want to look into how you plan to pay for their health care, since they won't be eligible for medicare.

Yes, the temporary GC expires Jan 10, 2021. I applied earlier due to pressure caused by covid 19

This is not legal.  This is what you cannot do on a B visa, and it is precisely the reason behind the horror stories you cite.
 
If you eventually decide you both want to live here, you will need to petition her for a spousal visa, and get into the queue like everyone else.

So you are going to ask your girlfriend’s mother to take on a massive financial responsibility, one that could see her being sued by the government in the worst case, yet you don’t think you owe her the courtesy of being honest with her? I’m sure the mother isn’t stupid. She will read the forms and know exactly what’s going on. I’m sure she’d rather hear it from you two than by reading it on a government form that you got married. 
 
If you’re old enough to get married, you’re old enough to tell the truth to her mother. And if she doesn’t like what she hears and refuses to act as joint sponsor then you’ll have to act like adults and deal with your own mess even if that means being apart (it won’t kill you - all of us here are living proof of that) whilst your girlfriend returns to the US and gets a job that makes enough that you don’t need a joint sponsor. 

I'm sorry but you are asking your partner's mother to take on an enormous financial contract for you guys that involves the American federal government. I would hope that just as a basic courtesy, you will be honest about the reasons behind why you are asking her to sign the I-864. Additionally, what would stop your partner's mother from Googling around and immediately discovering what the I-864 is for and putting 2 and 2 together? Lastly, separation time is to be expected if you are an international couple. If you don't want separation time, then your only option is to stay put in your current country. Or find someone local to date (which I know you're not actually wanting to do). In any case, you're both adults who decided to be together and to pursue legal immigration, so that means accepting the setbacks and consequences that come along with your decisions and this process.

Per INA 214, K-1 is non-immigrant visa. That is why I-485 approval date is what matters.

K1 is an odd choice for Lagos.

Can I share somethings with you that I learned long ago about this process?

    • "the man with the gold makes the rules"
    • it will take as long as it will take 
    • no one with any certainty can tell you when some process will be completed
    • Your sense of urgency will never be equaled to what USCIS, NVC or your embassy demonstrates
    • Your journey is not going to mirror someone else's experience - yours and theirs are not the same
    • They only promised you a YES or NO answer. Never an exact time that their decision would be completed
    • Lowering your expectations will make you a much more relaxed individual
 
We have a constitution with a bill of rights. In that document everything President Trump is doing is law of the Constitution Country of ours. There have been other Presidents who have exercised their due diligence to help protect the American public and they too have abided by that same set of laws. 
 
There is a discussion on historical wait times for the K-1 visa with current projections. You'll find that discussion here:
https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/740988-k1-visa-i-129f-processing-at-csc-now-at-150-days-total-k1-timeline-now-9-months/
 
 
Adding facts to the conversation, in the first 11 months of FY2019, USCIS adjudicated 7.5 million requests for immigration benefits, naturalized 833,000 new citizens, granted lawful permanent residence to 582,000 individuals, processed more than 2.1 million employment authorization applications, verified more than forty million new hires through E-Verify, the Asylum Division received more than 105,000 credible fear cases, and USCIS met the 30,000-refugee admissions ceiling for FY 2019. I don't see where they are the embassies are demonstrating a "disregard for your time" See the extended version here:
 
Cuccinelli Announces USCIS’ FY 2019 Accomplishments and Efforts to Implement President Trump’s Goals
USCIS, like other Federal Agencies, does a tremendous amount of work, is seldom appreciated, or praised, and the scale of work they do is several orders of magnitude larger than private companies but we as the world outside, and the consultants who often have worked on small to middling projects seem to be obsessed with private enterprise as a model to emulate!
Sometimes the tallest building seems small when shrouded in clouds.  
 
The destruction of reason has seen the triumph of ignorance.  

No, I don't "get that feeling".  Everything is ALWAYS Trump's fault??.......For your information, the world is in the midst of a PANDEMIC...which originated outside the US!!!!!    

Does anyone else get the feeling that Trump secretly stopped all immigration until the election was over? These processing times and quite frankly the embassies blatant disregard for people’s time just doesn’t add up to me. People are working at these embassies but are literally doing nothing. I don’t know...just seems like something he would do. Maybe I’m reaching, but we all know how he feels about immigration. 

It happens to many spouses and other family members of USCs. All I can say is, you can “thank” her fellow country folk who also presented evidence of why they need to return home to the visa officer but then, as you are well aware, these reasons “evaporated” and they subsequently overstayed or even adjusted status. 
 
There is a school of thought that suggests applying for an immigrant visa (although this does require multiple hoops to be jumped through) and then entering the US and returning the green card that is issued to the embassy with the remarks that she “had the opportunity to immigrate legally but still came home to Thailand”. Would I recommend that? Not necessarily but other people have done it.

We just found out literally yesterday the Biden is the President Elect. There is absolutely no way anyone could even venture to guess what will happen after he's sworn in.

Never lie on immigration paperwork.  Never lie to an immigration officer.  Either one can result in severe penalties.

You were working illegally, you have to disclose that.

Always tell the truth

It really does a disservice to those from their country that really do just want to visit for a normal vacation duration.  OP's situation will become part of the statistics that inform consular policy for B applicants....

If they were not eligible to fly 7 months, and assuming you would use the same excuse for another extension(which they won't get), you are going to have them fly home and then say they aren't aren't suitable to fly now? Ummmmmmmm.....you are really grasping at straws here. I'm wondering why they haven't left the country yet, considering at this very moment they are in overstay. Are you going to wait until day 179 to send them on their way? 

And others wonder why they have such a difficult time obtaining visitor visas to our country. This is a perfect example.

Legally binding or not, do not have any sort of ceremony that could be construed as a marriage prior to entering the US on the K-1 visa. This is cause for refusal of the visa, or denial at POE, if discovered. They don't need to "prove" you did marry. They only need a reason to suspect that you may no longer be free to marry to refuse the visa or deny entry.

Then you haven't heard of too married for a K1 and not married enough for a CR1.
 
DO NOT HAVE A CEREMONY

OP can do whatever required ceremony in the US to get the certificate. The abroad ceremony is essentially just a party, not legally binding. Plenty of couples have one ceremony in the US and one in the country the other person is from, or in the country they decide to take a vacation to, without getting legally married in each of those countries.

Even with a service or an attorney, you will still have to do all the leg work of gathering documents and providing information.  Services and attorneys only fill in blank forms using information you have provided by filling in their blank forms.  They then send the documents to USCIS and NVC.

You're taking a big chance in a couple of ways. Not having health insurance will be a "heavily weighted" negative against you. I would also caution you that putting "a little money aside every month" is not going to help you much if something serious or catastrophic happens. The costs can be astronomical. Most bankruptcies happen because of health care costs. Not being insured puts you at risk of becoming a public charge, which is the reason it's a negative.

See INA 214(b) to obtain a tourist visa, or INA 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) at POE for entering as an intending immigrant without an immigrant visa (or visa that allows immigrant intent like a K-1 visa).
Also see the expedited removals some people have received as a result of trying this. Just Google it and you'll see plenty of it.

When you enter the US please tell the officer you plan to adjust status while on your trip.You will see what will happen real fast.
This website does not condone fraudulent or illegal activity.