jgcp20

Hi,

In May this year my CR1 visa application was approved and in just a couple of weeks time I will be entering the USA for the first time on this visa. Unfortunately, I have not been able to tidy up all the loose ends on this side of the Atlantic before I travel. I am in the process of sorting a job relocation with my current employers to our US office (which will be sorted by the end of the year at the latest) and still need to sell my apartment here. I will be in the US for about 10 days when I enter in September, and then back again for two weeks at the end of October/November, before finally moving with my job all being well at the end of December/just before Christmas all being well.

I am looking for anyone who has had a similar experience to this and whether this would cause me any issues with regards my PR status in the US? It just didn't seem worthwhile leaving my job to have to start from scratch in the US when my current employers can/would transfer me.

Thanks in advance,

J

Thank you for your comments guys, much appreciated.

Good evening folks! I am in need of some guidance if you could assist. I am extremely pleased/relieved to report that after only a 9 month wait, last week I collected my CR1 visa. According to my visa I have until the end of September this year to enter the USA. To give some context – I currently reside in London and my wife (a US Citizen) in New York – and we’ve been doing the long distance transaltantic thing for almost 3 years now, so we’re both looking forward to finally ending up on the same side of the Pond together soon. I am trying to plan my move Stateside and naturally want things to go as smoothly as possible, ideally without becoming unemployed. At present, I still have my job in London and my boss has said that he is looking to transfer me to our US office at the end of this year – but herein lies my dilemma – I have to enter the USA by 30th September, but might not be transferred until end of Dec… does anyone know how much leniency there is in this process? Ie. If I enter the US before 30th September (I am aware that I have to do this!) can I then return to the UK for a short period (2-3 months) to tidy up loose ends – housing, jobs etc? Otherwise, if I don’t take a transfer with my current employer, and instead I look for a new position in the USA, I may have to fly over for interviews etc. - does this mean I would have to quit my current job and move to the US without a role, or can I stay employed in London (for a short period) while I find something Stateside? Would be great to hear of anyone’s first hand experience of this?

Hi,

I visited the US for 6 months in 2012 as part of the graduate training programme with my current employer, and I traveled there using a B1/B2 visa [i wasn't working, but training!]. During my stay in the US I met my now fiancee – a US Citizen. At the end of my stay in the US in 2012 I returned to the UK to work for my employer. For the last two years we have maintained a long-distance relationship with both of us taking frequent trips across the pond to visit each other (including at Christmas and birthday times). Recently, I had the realisation that it was time to take our relationship to the next level, so I proposed during a recent visit, and I am pleased to say she accepted. We continue to live on opposite sides of the Atlantic, and have been exploring the options for us to land up on the same side of together. However, we seem to have plunged into the minefields of immigration and visas! Unfortunately, owing to my fiancee's qualifications, she is unable to find the same work in the UK as she has in the US (without demotion and a serious pay reduction), while my career is much more easily transferred. Naturally therefore, I will need to move to the US. With this in mind, it is here where things are becoming rather unclear.

I understand that there are broadly two routes that we can take:

File for a K-1 Fiance visa now, wait the necessary time, then resign from my employment in the UK and move to the US. Marry within 90 days of moving and then file for a work permit and travel documents, and in there intervening period, I would be unable to work or leave the US. Evidently this route would leave me with a significant period of unemployment, which could potentially cover an indeterminate period of time – ultimately this would be negative for my career and would mean we would be reliant on a single income for the period concerned.
As a US visa holder (B1/B2) already (I appreciate it is a non-immigrant visa) I could make a trip to the US (for a week) and marry my fiancee there and then return to the UK after. I would remain employed in London and with a lease on an apartment there in the meantime, so it would not be my intention to remain in the US as I would be unable to work and therefore unable to provide for my wife. Once I have returned to the UK, my then wife would file the I-130 petition for a CR-1 visa. Once the visa is granted I would then be able to resign from my employment in London and look to move to the US to be with my wife once I have found employment there.
Furthermore, I understand that it is a requirement to demonstrate that our marriage is bona fide. While this makes sense, I have read many forums/websites which state that this is easily proven by means of joint bank accounts, joint insurance, joint property leases etc. Unfortunately, as we reside on separate sides of the Atlantic, we have not had the opportunity as yet to have our own place together and I would not be willing to enter into such a financial commitment especially given the potential period of unemployment associated with option 1. At the present time my fiancee resides with her parents. While we would be unable to provide the commonly recommended documentary evidence, we have a plentiful supply of photographic evidence, telephone calls, flight tickets etc. and have each other as the beneficiaries in the event of death on both our employers death in service insurance schemes. Would this likely be sufficient? If not, how do I go about opening joint bank accounts without a SSN myself and without a NI number in the UK for my fiancee? And further, what are the taxation implications to us of doing such?

I would be extremely grateful to hear from anyone who has been in a similar situation and for any advice regarding what I understand to be my two options in this situation.

Thanks in advance.

Best,

Joe