yankeelimer

A visa to let people live together?

Pending engagement or marriage within a year, sure why not. If the relationship just doesn't work out no harm no foul, the foreign partner can return home and there will be no lasting consequences.

Do you know that a USA citizen can only file TWO K1 visa petitions in their lifetime? More pressure.

And I have seen it said if you have ever backed out of a K1 as a foreign partner and returned to your home country without getting married you'll catch hell from the embassy trying to do another. More pressure.

International relationships have WAY more ###### against them from the very beginning compared to a marriage between two nationals, and no one would expect a good outcome putting two same nationals under those kind of restraints. Why expect it to be different for international?

How does the K-1 visa process encourage rushing into marriage? Only the people involved are capable of that.

Because its the only way for the couple to even physically be together in the USA, if the foreign partner is not from a visa waiver country. Now you're locked in, thats never good.

I think some are totally misreading me, I think there should be a pre K1 visa of sorts that would let people live together and get to know each other and decide if they want to live in the USA before having a deadline facing them.

Thats the damn problem that for some countries the K1 or IR1 is the only way you will ever set foot in the USA.

Oh and even if both people are from visa waiver countries, you still face the possible refusal at POE is either of you slips up and mentions you are visiting a boy/girlfriend. Its like the governments expect you to decide whether you're going to commit for life without ever living together even, thats silly.

I honestly think the K1 visa process and immigration could ruin a relationship, it puts way too much pressure on the foreign spouse to immediately give up everything in their life and move to another country after barely knowing someone. Now they are there with nothing to go back to, or onerous process of rebuilding employment/life, and plane tickets are expensive and travel can disrupt the costly and time consuming permanent residency process. Seems like a good way to rush a nascent relationship and spoil it with one spouse feeling like they have no power and are essentially a prisoner in a foreign country. It encourages rushing into marriage as well which is never good, I imagine a lot of these relationships are still in the infatuation stage.

There are people posting about getting the physical meeting out of the way so they can file for K1, what?! That is koo koo cocoapuffs! Hell at least the marriage of convenience and fraud cases both people know what they are diving into so at least no one is going to get hurt.

The one scenario where it does make sense is when two people want to try furthering a relationship, but the foreign partners country is too dangerous or unstable for it to be an option. But even then the pressure to get married is suffocating.

I don't have a good answer, and I have nothing against any couples going through the process, I just think its not a good process for building a marriage and relationship. Perhaps the marriage time limit should be extended or the other demands on the couple removed.

Finally, a lawful permanent resident must actually reside in the US. A green card is not an extended tourist visa. If you don't plan to live in the US then don't pursue an immigrant visa. It will only be revoked as soon as CBP determines he isn't actually residing in the US, and you'll have wasted a lot of time and money.

Well the problem the OP wants to solve and pretty much anyone with a spouse from a country not on the visa waiver list(not that it seems to matter once married) is that its functionally impossible to get a tourist visa for the foreign spouse. If you don't really want to live in the US full time, but you still want to see the country and grandparents etc. you're out of luck. I called and asked the embassy about it, the woman said and I quote "why don't you start the permanent residency process? Why haven't you started it YET?!"

If the US had some option for a spouse visitor visa it would make a lot of sense, yet they seem to think everyone must of course want to immigrate. It even comes up on forms and stuff, people act like you're crazy or weird for not doing it.

I've got you all beat, I had trouble using my US passport as ID for buying cigs/alcohol IN the US! Several places insisted I needed state issued ID and that a passport was not sufficient as it was federally issued, in addition it had to be from the state the store was located in( Texas) and no other state ID would be accepted. Trying to explain to them that a passport was more difficult to obtain than state ID, it never worked.

All places commented on the use of my passport, one woman admitted she had never before seen a passport.

i am us citizen and husband is non but the website says to prove 5 years which the lady did not ask for any proof of that.

the embassy website says we will come to an initial appt drop the papers off and be called later for another like 6-8 weeks late(awful long time) but i was not trusting that the site was updated regularly so was not sure but surely hope it dont get denied because of lack of proof of physical presence because my attempt to get the embassy to reply my email is again seeming futile.

You're right about the five year requirement, the one year of continuous presence was for a child born out of wedlock to a US citizen mother, sorry about that.

Looks like Cairo does the two visit thing too, one to drop off documents and pay and a second visit for the interview. What documents did you have to prove presence? They like school transcripts and tax records, also leases and utility bills basically anything to show you actually resided in the USA. If you can get any additional documents together it might be a good idea to bring them to the second interview just in case they give you a hard time.

I'm going through a similar issue with having trouble getting documents together because I left the US young and before I worked and I had dropped out young. I'm going to use my parents tax returns where they claimed me as a dependent. If you have your first passport with the entry visas take that too.

And just to let you know even if they do deny you, you can always apply for an immediate relative visa and once you physically go to the US with your child they will instantly be a citizen once you file some paper work. The downside compared to the CRBA is its more costly and time consuming and your child will be naturalized and not a natural born citizen. But just letting you know so you won't stress so much.

From here:

http://egypt.usembassy.gov/consular/crb_inst.html

Step 3: The Embassy will call you for an appointment.

Within 6-8 weeks, you will be contacted for the appointment. During the appointment :

1. Both parents and the child must come

2. You will bring the originals of all photocopies you submitted.

3. Pay the passport fee ($105 or the equivalent in Egyptian pounds)

So make sure when you return you take all the submitted documents with you.

They also say this:

If you did not physically live in the U.S. for five years, or if you know that you do not have proof of the required physical presence, please inform us about this in a statement written in English on a white sheet of paper.

But I'd try to get anything you possibly can, even affidavits.

No US citizenship anymore and with no visa equals (simplified) unlawful presence in the US which results in the former US citizen having to leave the US for his home country. However, without a passport and without a home country, that would be a challenge, now, wouldn't it?

Thats exactly what the man whose blog I linked to did, he renounced outside the US but he doesn't currently have any other citizenship. He is doing it for political reasons, he is an anarchist and doesn't believe in states.

I ran across this blog of a US citizen who traveled to Slovakia and successfully renounced his US citizenship, he only had US citizenship and apparently does not even have permanent residency in Slovakia.

http://www.nostate.com/1359/im-officially-stateless/

Its kind of interesting extreme politics aside, I find it interesting for the mess it seems he has created for himself. I thought it was very hard to renounce US citizenship, especially if one was not a dual-citizen? So assuming Slovakia will not allow him to stay what will happen to him? If he is deported to the US what about the renunciation? Would not other countries get angry at the US for allowing citizens to renounce in countries where they only have a tourist visa and no other citizenship, basically stranding themselves?

We are only now financially ready to try and get our son's birth abroad registered. We expect to have to answer questions concerning his situation, but considering we have hidden nothing up to now, we are not too worried. We can, all three of us, go to where the blood work is done, show our proof, and he will finally be accepted as an American. He, although, will never be able to become president.

Actually thats not true, if your son and his USC parent meet the requirements for getting a CRBA he will in fact be a natural born citizen and therefore eligible for the US presidency.

I believe it will be moot whether he currently holds permanent residency or not, if the qualifications are met he is already a natural born citizen and the CRBA is just documentation of that fact.

Hi everyone, i was wondering if anyone knows what the general process is like for filing birth abroad? We went to our appt and submitted our papers, she didn't even ask for proofs just took all of the general requirements, birth certificate, marriage papers, etc. the lady told me to go pay and i went out, my husband went and paid and i was dealing with our baby at the time so he went back in and said some guy was at the window and he took the papers and said we will call you and then closed the curtain on him. really, cairo embassy is truly something, lol.

Each embassy seems to have a different procedure for it, its kind of strange they didn't tell you whether you were or approved or not because most people who have written about their experience are told at the end of the interview.

An oddity with my local US embassy I noticed on their website when investigating filing is that they want the paperwork to be submitted and the fee paid up front at the initial visit with no interview, then if they find that satisfactory they ask both parents and the child to come on a second occasion for the interview. Thats odd because most embassies mention on their websites and people's experiences confirm that its all handled in one visit. I'm guessing its because my local embassy has a reputation for just taking your money and turning you down without much consideration, but who knows.

Are you the mother and the US citizen and your husband the father is a non-US citizen? Because the requirements are much easier in that case, you only need to have spent one continuous year inside the US at some point in your life versus five years of non-continuous residence inside the US if the father is the US citizen.

Immigration seems to take not only drug convictions seriously but also hints of prior drug use, here they denied entry to a Canadian man after the agent googled his name and found a blog post where he talked about taking LSD as part of a medical trial in 1967 when it was legal!

http://animamrecro.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/canadian-professor-denied-us-entry-for-taking-lsd-in-1967/

But then I think about all the writers, actors, and musical artists who write about drug use or have song lyrics talking about drug use or admit to using in an interview. But they don't seem to have problems with immigration.

Whats the deal? Do they simply claim its artistic license or a character they are creating and immigration accepts it? Or is it simply an ignorant agent who doesn't bother to google or investigate? Or is it privilege and wealth allowing exceptions? Because apparently admitting to using legal drugs in a medical setting is enough to be denied entry, what gives?

When going through the process of getting permanent residency in Trinidad I had to go for the every six months visa waiver extension. This is a separate building and department from that which deals with PR and citizenship and interviews, they only deal with visas and extension of stay etc.

After waiting the usual couple of hours with my wife and son, eating breakfast and playing with him and just passing the time. Finally we get called to get the extension stamp, no interview its pretty routine. The officer dealing with us is an older woman in a bad mood it seems, she asks my wife if she would come with her. Very strange as nothing like this has ever happened before, anyway my wife does and shortly they return and when the officer leaves the desk my wife can't wait to tell me she asked her if I was beating her or abusing her?! When my wife was like ####### lady? She said the officer quickly backpedaled and said nevermind and they returned. I got the extension as usual and we left.

We puzzled over that for a long while, no clue where the hell that came from. Besides I tend to think wife beaters would have their wife carry the child, not be the one wearing the baby carrier All we could think was she had some axe to grind to or something, never had anything weird like that happen ever again.

Just to add our address is on all my dealings with Trinidad immigration and my permanent residency certificate, and everything else I have done here of course.

I realized that despite me and my wife being married and living together since 2004 we don't have much in the way of joint accounts or utility bills or anything, I was wondering if anyone had advice for getting that together for a future filing in the next year or two. I'm the US citizen and wanted to prepare now for the future filing.

We live in a house my wife inherited from her mother, she is on the deed along with her two brothers.

As far as bank accounts I have a US bank account and she has a Trinidad bank account, I added her as a beneficiary to my account a long time ago(they insisted on a SS# so I put her NIS#(Trinidad equivalent of SS#) which is the same amount of digits.) She has added me as a beneficiary to her account as well. To have a joint account in the US she would need a SS# which she doesn't have of course. Trying to have a joint Trinidad account with her was a bit of a nightmare, they want WAY more evidence to open a bank account than in the US. Its been a while though since we tried it, they actually told her she might not qualify if she had to apply today, she had opened an account as a child with her mother and apparently they now want way more info.

Utility bills are all in her, her brother, or their deceased mothers name. The power bill is in their deceased mothers name and we don't dare try to change it because the process is arduous and it would involve them cutting it and reconnecting it and then its up to them to approve a new account which could leave use without power for 90 days+(Trinidad in general and this area are backward and slow). Cable bill is in my wife's name, ISP her brother. Would it be advisable to try to sign up for an ISP in my own name? In general this country is not set up for dealing with foreigners that hold permanent residency, they often request citizen specific documents or bizarre things like letters from a childhood teacher or priest in Trinidad. If you can't produce it they just throw up their hands and say oh well, its most likely the area we are in too I assume expat areas are better equipped to deal.

As far as photos and other relationship evidence we have absolutely tons, including our wedding and the birth of our son and all that. I am not worried in this department.

I am on the bill and receipts when my wife was hospitalized and for the birth of our son.

If anyone has some general advice about the evidence of the relationship and intermingled lives I'd appreciate it, if the joint accounts or utility bill issue is important I'd like to get a chance to get that well before I file. Just so we're not caught out and have everything we need.

Thanks!

EDIT:Forgot to add my USA bank account allows me to add secondary ATM card holders, would it be a good idea to get my wife a card in her name? Also I use my parents house in the USA as the address for the account so they just mail me documents that come. Would that show anything good or bad?

Sorry, slander isn't covered in the 1st Amendment!

He didn't say anything about slander, he was talking about people sharing their experiences with bad or incompetent lawyers. The truth cannot be slander, as long as the bad experience is truthful its fine. HOWEVER the first amendment only applies to the US government, a private website can make whatever kind of rules they want.

It's too bad you didn't do some research and find this site before you left the US. You could have married him here and applied for his green card. Leaving the US triggered an avalanche.

Is that true? I was under the impression that if you overstay you are essentially out of status and therefore cannot change status to PR even if you marry.

Just Bob,

your son is a grown man, that means you are a grown man as well.

What that means is that you will have to make a decision: to live with your son in the United States or to live with your fiancé in Spain. It's one of the other, and only you can decide what is more important to you: son or fiancé?

Thanks for the input and yes grown man need to take grown decisions.

Yankeelimer,does she have to wait in her home country for her visa or can she join me once I get my GC and apply for her?

Lots of thanks.

She can join you once you get your green card and apply for a spouse visa Form I-130, this has to be approved and the process can take some time. I am seeing on some sites some kind of cut off period for applying inside the US form I-130 for permanent resident sponsors? Hopefully someone who knows more about it can respond.

Oh and READ READ READ, read as much info as you can. Its complex but once you are familiar with it and wrap your mind around it will start making sense.

Hello Jojo, thanks for your reply so in this situation she won't be able to join me in the US for ate least 3 years or once I apply for her she could go and adjust her status and wait for the process there? How could I live seperate from her for at least 3 years? You say that I shouldn't go in a B1/B2 but I have seen in many others sites people saying that is ok to do it and now I'm really concerned because I'm very much against messing with the wrong doing.

Regards

benuk

There is no possible way for you AND your fiancee to immigrate to the USA together, its not possible period. You will have to immigrate first and then you will petition for her to join you, the first reply pretty much covered it.

This is not immigration advice, its life advice.

If you are 18 and have never even met in person in real life forget about worrying about immigration and all that. Just go and meet your online love first, neither of you need tourist visas but just make sure you state the purpose of your trip as a vacation or visiting a friend and don't carry any love letters or printed emails or photoshopped couples photos .

If you have a car you can drive across, they won't grill you. The point is that getting married and dealing with immigration are big serious life decisions, you will be dealing with immigration for 5-10 years either country you guys live in. I'd seriously advise you to meet in person FIRST and just see how it all goes, is there a rush? You guys really have it easy anyway with no need for tourist visas for either of you, I'd take it slow.

If you could back out anytime what would even be the point of the affidavit of support? Thats the whole point of the thing to move the risk to you personally, you are taking financial responsibility for the sponsored.

If you really want to pursue this, could you get the sponsored individual to admit to the fraud on audio recording(check state laws) or in writing? I guess it depends on how strongly you feel about it.

A foreigner or illegal immigrant in the USA can instantly become a USA citizen by marrying a citizen. Even if you are in deportation proceedings or your deportation is imminent you can prevent it by marrying a USA citizen. Becoming a naturalized citizen is not a long and arduous process, it is instant and easy following marriage.

Having a baby in the USA it becomes an "anchor baby" that instantly grants citizenship to its parents and even other relatives.

Immigration officers will do surprise house visits or spying to determine if a fiancee or spouse immigration case is legit even in routine cases, they will demand the couple kiss or something silly like that and accept it as proof of a legit relationship.

Perhaps the most bizarre example I have ever seen was on an episode of The Drew Carey Show, a British citizen about to be deported enters into a fraudulent gay marriage with Drew and through this he is saved from deportation and is allowed to stay in the US. Its a sitcom so the whole thing is played for laughs, but it was made in the 90s and gay couples are STILL not legally recognized or allowed to petition for their spouses immigrant status. It was so far out of contact with reality it is bizarre.

I would like to SHOW my wife the USA at least, but getting a tourist visa is pretty much impossible. I'll be honest she is not crazy about living in the USA, here in Trinidad we have a house and we're able to get by fairly easily with only food/utility bills. In the USA we'd have to get a mortgage or rent, in some ways our cost of living would be higher and in some lower.

The downsides as I see it to Trinidad:

1.HIGH HIGH food prices, even for food that is not imported. A burger is nearly $5 USD, just simply food prices are outrageous. Other goods are mostly all imported and customs duties are also sky high, I always feel to take a trip to the US just to "smuggle" back in purchases as it would be cheaper in the long run.

2.Connections are EVERYTHING, all of society from jobs to making sure your kid isn't stuck in the shittiest public school is influence based. If you have no connections you're kinda lost on some things.

3.Overt racism from a few bad apples, which is more related to the area we live in than the country as a whole. I can take it I'm an adult but I worry about my son as he will grow up as a very visible lone minority. More racially mixed cosmopolitan areas are way out of our price range, small apartments start at 1-3 million USD. He took after me almost completely, and has even adopted my texas accent somewhat but its hard to say as he's only starting to talk But that makes me worry for him. And my wife has even told me about a mixed race girl harassed to tears by STAFF at her public school when she was a child, things have changed but not that much.

In the end we probably will return to the USA for our son.

No, I submitted supporting documents at interview. Marriage certificate. Daughter's birth certificate, five years tax records, etc....

Of course this is back in 2010. Maybe they no longer process CRBA at consulate.

This is true, they stopped sometime in 2010 I think and now print and issue the CRBA from inside the US, you have to wait to get it. They claim it was due to fraud by US consulate employees.

I found a very interesting article from 2008 about marriage based immigration here:

http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/3595/marrying-for-love

It starts off fairly bland and uninformed, but read the whole thing it has some good info from actual officers. It contains the claim that one third of applicants are rejected as shams, but then it also says a senior immigration officer testified before congress in 1986 that a third of such cases are scams, but then admits his figures were fraudulent.

I'm interested in this because it is given such emphasis, but there doesn't appear to be hard numbers.

When I speak of fraud I mean of the fake marriage variety, with the sponsoring citizen being paid for their cooperation in filing for permanent residency and eventually citizenship. Where there is no relationship and no intent to have one, just a business arrangement.

There is similar fraud in the HB1 employment visa where a "front company" is established that applies for HB1s for unskilled applicants simply to allow them to come to the USA. You can read about one such case here http://ems.gmnews.com/news/2008-06-18/front_page/008.html

Every single case I have read about marriage fraud in the media, and heard about anecdotally involved the citizen doing it MULTIPLE times. Often waiting until the bare minimum time period(2 years for the USA) to get a non-conditional permanent residency and then getting legally divorced and then starting the whole thing over again. This would seem to be obvious as day to notice and pay special attention to, the pattern should speak for itself.

The same for the HB1 fraud, a pattern should quickly establish itself.

I tried to find some solid claims, I found a claim about the HB1 here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B_visa#Fraud_by_Employers_and_Applicants

The U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES "H-1B Benefit Fraud & Compliance Assessment" of September 2008 concluded 21% of H1-B visa granted originate from fraudulent applications or applications with technical violations.[47] Fraud was defined as a willful misrepresentation, falsification, or omission of a material fact. Technical violations, errors, omissions, and failures to comply that are not within the fraud definition were included in the 21% rate. Subsequently, USCIS has made procedural changes to reduce the number of fraud and technical violations on H-1B applications.

But the problem is they lump clerical errors into outright criminal fraud, I'm sure it inflates the numbers greatly. I can find no claims on finance/marriage visa numbers.

I honestly wonder what the true uninflated numbers are, and how much is misconception. I would be cool to see any statements by actual agents or officers on what they have personally experienced.