goobies

Please, I am already fully aware of the requirements for both of the mentioned visas.

However, I do not know which one is best for our case.

We have lived together for a little over a year, in Uganda. I am the USC, and I have been living in Uganda since 2012.

As of now, we are not married. However, I have read on other threads that co-habing in an African country can be considered being married. On rent receipts and contracts, we are listed under one family name. Also on medical bills....my first name with his family name. We have called each other husband and wife on facebook and in phone calls (I came to the US specifically to apply for a visa and work to save up some money).

Now, I am worried that the CO may accuse us of being married, and so we have been discussing getting married in Uganda, and then applying for the CR-1. CR-1 seems a lot more intimidating than the K-1, and I am wondering if we are more likely to be denied a marriage visa than a fiancee visa. Keep in mind that I have been living in Uganda, and therefore not making much money at all. In fact, I have not had an income, but have been doing internships where I get free housing and food, as well as a small living expenses allowance. Over the past 4 years, I have not even made $2,000 in total from the allowances. I have come back to the US to work three times, for about 3 months each time. So I do have that money on my tax returns. Still, It is not anywhere enough to fullfill the Affidavit of Support requirements. I also do not have any domicile requirements fullfilled. I have no bills in the USA, no property apart from a broken down VW Beetle, and no assets there.

All of those things I don't have for the CR-1 visa are scaring me that we may not qualify.

Keep in mind, we have not actually gotten married yet!

So, from the info I have provided, is there anyone who can advise us on the best route to take?

With much humbled thanks,

The Goofy Goobers

Hi you guys,

Thank you for the great post. Sadly, we have already made many of these mistakes because we didn't know to not do them.

I am now wondering if we should instead get married in Uganda and then apply for the CR-1 visa.

Here is our story:

I (American Citizen) have been living in Uganda since 2012. I was married to another Ugandan for two years, then we separated. I lived alone from 2013 to 2015. In 2015, I met my now fiancee who was working in the same building as me. We ended up working on a project together and fell in love. Because of financial constraints, I was still not divorced from my former husband. We are finally divorced, and now I want to apply for a K-1 visa for my fiancee. Well, we have been living together since May of 2015, and his whole family and even most of our village knows that we are going to be married. We do call each other husband and wife on facebook, and to each other on the phone, because it feels shallow to say fiancee. SO I totally get that we are considered "married" by some standards. But we have not actually had a wedding yet, and we have not signed any legal documents.

Now that I have read this post, I am thinking that maybe we should apply for the CR-1 instead.

Any advice? We want to do the "right" thing the first time round.

I appreciate all the responses. We are not trying to lie, and that is not our intention. The concern was if the marriage is considered legal in the US, and if we proceed with a divorce nisi.

6 months seems like a very long time since we have not been separated for more than 1 week since we began living together in May of last year. I just arrived in the US on Monday to begin this process, so finding out that we must wait 6 months before even starting has been a HUGE shock to us.

The registrar in Uganda told us that the divorce is now final. It is only through reading things on this website that I got the idea that there is anything other than a Nisi.

Thank you for the kind responses.

For the people who replied in less-than-kind ways, perhaps proceed without judgement and if you are frustrated by someone's question, do not answer. Leave it to someone who would like to offer true help and advice. Know that getting correct information from certain countries is not easy. The registrar of Uganda herself advised us to go forward and not even mention the marriage on our papers.

I have noticed a lot of heated responses on this website. I thought we are all here to learn and then help once we have learned.

So my understanding now is that we MUST wait for the 6 month period to pass.

I did not get clarification for the tax issue...If I file as married, I must provide ex's TIN which he does not have. Have any of you dealt with this before?

I am an American citizen from Texas and was married in Uganda in 2012. After one year of living together, we separated, and lived apart without any communication or contact. HE is the one who requested we separate. I never filed the marriage in the US or registered it with the county clerk, or anything like that at all.

Anyway, I have just filed a divorce and was issued a divorce Nisi in Uganda. It takes 6 months to become a divorce absolute. That will be in August.

I have been dating a wonderful person for the past 10 months, and we have decided we want to apply for the K-1 fiance visa.

Now, since I never did anything to make the previous marriage known in the US, is it recognized? Will USCIS have a way to know that I was married before? If so, considering that I have already filed the divorce and been issued a Nisi, can I begin the K-1 Visa process?

If the marriage is indeed recognized and can be found out by USCIS, then would it be possible to get a divorce in Texas that would be absolute sooner than 6 months?

I am trying to find the best and quickest way to begin filing the K-1 Visa. To wait 6 months will be hell!

Hopefully USCIS will not even have record of the previous marriage since I never took any steps to have it registered in the US...

Also, I want to file taxes, and this is hindering me because I do not want to file as married. The form says if I was "married" during December 2015 I must tick that box....hopefully, again, USCIS will not know that I was married in Uganda.

In the case it is known, please tell me if I can get a divorce absolute quicker by applying for divorce in Texas.

I do hope this made sense and was easy to follow.

Please ask for any clarifications or further information to better assist me.

I do appreciate your time in reading this.

Hello everyone.

We hope you are all having a nice week so far.

I should share my history so that people can get some perspective....

So in 2012 I was living in Uganda and got married to a Ugandan citizen. We were married for one year before he decided he no longer wanted to be married...well, we separated but did not have money for the divorce process, so we stayed separated for over three years.

I began a relationship with someone else last year, around May, and now we are planning to do the K-1 visa. My divorce nisi was issued last week.

After reading about divorce and k-1 visa processes, I saw that USCIS requires the Divorce Agreement which must be signed by a judge...so now I am totally confused.

In Uganda, the court registrar is the one who deals with divorce. She is the one who mediates and then witnesses and stamps/seals that the divorce has been signed by both parties. There is no judge involved. We must wait 6 months before the Divorce Absolute is issued....however, I asked the registrar if the Divorce Nisi is a legal divorce, as in, am I legally allowed to list myself as now single and eligible to marry, and she said yes.

So our questions are as follows:

1). Can I begin the petition for k-1 and state that I am divorced?

2). Will it be an issue that Ugandan divorces are not signed by a judge?

3). Is the Divorce Nisi valid as making me eligible to remarry or must I wait for the Divorce Absolute?

Thank you for your responses. We appreciate it.

I do not know if the Ugandan embassy allows co-sponsors. How can I find out?

No one answered about having a co-sponsor. Is this ok? What are the chances?

Thanks Dave.

I appreciate the information.

Greetings all!

I have been living and volunteering in Uganda for the past 4 years, getting only what is called an allowance, which has been just enough to get by on.

Therefore, I have not filed taxes since 2011.

My fiance and I have been living together here for almost a full year, so we totally meet and surpass the face-to-face requirements, we have more than enough photos together, he is a CISCO Certified Network Associate and is still studying to become a CCNP, so he will be more than enough able to support himself once in the US.

Our only worry is that my financial situation is not good. However, my mother has agreed to help co-sponsor him.

So my question is will the fact that I have not filed taxes and haven't been "working" affect our ability to get a K-1 visa approved?

Extra info :(I will be returning to the US soon to go back to school and work)