galileo1

Thank you very much!  Really appreciated.

Rob

Ooh..So she CAN visit then while the CR-1 process is taking place?  With her current 10-year multiple entry tourist visa?  I thought she wasn't going to be able to until the process completes.  That's good news for sure!!  What would she have to tell the Immigration officer at the airport when she tries to come here after we're married when she wants to visit for a month or so?  Anything specific?

Thanks much! Great news!

LOL!  Thanks for answering...

The twist here is me thinking that she could remain in-country while the process was taking place (with a CR-1 or something similar) instead of going back as you stated.  In other words, I thought why marry "there" and wait a year when we could try and marry "here" and be together while the process was taking place.

But I get it.  It can't be done with a CR-1 or K-1 without having her remain "back home" while the process is taking place.

And "back home" means where she currently lives...As in not in the U.S.

Thanks again.

Hello all,

I'm new to all of this and so I'd appreciate any help you can provide.

I've been reading pretty much all night trying to figure out this Spousal petition thing and although I believe I understand the process of filing an IR-1/CR-1, I have a couple of specific questions I would like some help on.

Before I ask the question, however, here's some background:

I'm a naturalized U.S. citizen living in the U.S. and have been dating my girlfriend whom is a non-US citizen and resides abroad.  We've known each other since kindergarten but lost touch when I left  our native country (in South America) for the U.S. at 17.  We reconnected more than a year ago and have been at this relationship, seriously, for about a year now.  I've visited my native country 3 times in this last year, staying with her a total of 2 1/2 months.  We have now decided to take the next step and want to marry.  We would like to tie the  knot in July of this year if at all possible.

Reading through the many visa options we both figured that the IR-1/CR-1 option is what we want as the K-1 option seems more complex and expensive - if we were to marry "back home."

However, my actual questions on this follow a bit of a different path.  Here they are:

- If she were to come to the U.S. as a tourist in July, could I then marry her and petition for her while she's here in the U.S? 

- Would she HAVE TO leave the country for me to petition for her using the above visa option? 

- Is there another visa option we could use to pursue this inside the U.S.? 

- What normally happens with people who come here as tourists and for one reason or another find the love of their lives and want to marry inside the U.S. without having to leave?

She already has a multiple entry visa that was granted many months ago (she wanted to come sightseeing) but she's never made it.  The thought of having her wait back home for the amount of time it will take to get everything done makes me think of other possibilities.

She's set to come here sometime in April JUST TO VISIT (she HAS to return home and go back to work) but if she were to come again as a tourist and, by chance, get married, what are our choices?  Is this even possible?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Rob