Eric-Pris

i understand that for the most part, you were not even stating your opinion…you were giving an explanation as to why the divorce rate is so high in America…you are stating that as if it is fact, and as if you have some authority on the matter.

Yes, statistics are fact. Do you not agree with that? 80%/20% those are facts, as much as you don't want to accept them.

I was giving you my opinion all along, I never stated that it was facts. I never claimed to be an authority on the subject. If you inferred it that way, I can't help that.

If you want my bottom-line opinion, here it is: Most American women are a big pain in the a**, and just not worth the hassle.

how is it possible for american women and foreign men to be in successful couples?

The American women must be in that 20% of who are atypical.

one more thing kid brooklyn -- please define submissive for me if you think that a submissive woman is not a doormat or slave...im curious to know how you define the term to mean something positive.

Somebody who doesn't always have to be in charge, have the last word, or always be right. I'm assuming that's probably the exact opposite of your personality.

As an American woman, you won't allow yourself to understand my explanation in my previous post simply because it does not match your point of view, so it must be wrong.

Btw, my girlfriend says she appreciates your concern.

LOL. Gird your loins, you're about to get what you deserve if the right people happen to be online.

Good. I have plenty more to say about this.

lets further that thought...so if both american women and men are power hungry, then how is it possible for american women and foreign men to be in successful couples? is your thinking that all americans are power hungry and that all people from other countries are submissive??? because that just does not make sense

The fact is that American men are very power hungry (large house, fast car, high position, etc). That's why the divorce rate is so high here, because men and women both want to be the dominant one, so it doesn't often work out. Many American women must always be right and have the last word. They often want to make most of the decisions. Yes, many foreign women are more submissive, and that appeals to American men. That doesn't mean that they are doormats or slaves, but they are raised in a more traditional way. I'm sure somebody will give the "We're equals..." rhetoric, but that only exists in theory.

I read a statistic about Latinos and Americans marriages. I'm not implying this applies to other cultures, strictly Latinos and Americans. The divorce rate for American women & Latino men is like 80% while American men and Latina women are only 20%. Latinos are a very machismo culture. The men are dominant and consider themselves the head of the household when it comes to decisions, finances, etc. Many American women who marry Latinos just can't accept that. And Latino men will not put up with them either. Conversely, Latina women are more submissive by nature, so they are a better match for the typical power-hungry American man.

Not all Americans are power-hungry and not all foreigners are submissive. That's why there are successful relationships with foreigners for both men and women.

CAN WE JUST STOP THIS RIDICULOUS TOPIC... THIS SITE IS MEANT TO BE A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE GO FOR HELP AND SUPPORT NOT TO SEE ANYONE BICKER OVER PERSONAL OPINIONS. I VOTE TO HAVE THIS TOPIC DROPPED ALREADY!!!

Is somebody forcing you to read it? You are free to skip over any threads which don't interest you.

I knew that I was going to get responses from American women on here who took offense. I didn't mean ALL women are like this. I should have said "From my experience, many American women..."

Thanks everybody.

I looked at the flowchart, but I still have a couple of questions:

Now that it goes to the NVC and then the foreign embassy, what are possible problems?

I know the interview is very important, what about the other steps leading up to it? Are there hurdles there or is it pretty much a formality? Can we expect to be contacted before the medical/interview appointment?

Yes, I agree with what you said. I am an American man, and I have a foreign fiancee and we are doing the K-1 visa. I know she feels uncomfortable that people think of her as a gold digger, and that she's using me to come to the US, which couldn't be any further from the truth. Nobody has, or will in the future, disrespect her in front of me, because they know how I'll react, but I know they talk behind our backs.

American women don't like foreign women actually treating a man with respect and being good wives. They put tgem down for it. They don't want men to know what it's like to have an respectful wife. They want to be able to control men and be bitches and have all the power. Pay not attention to it, they're just angry and jealous that an American man would choose a foreigner over them.

I received an email update from USCIS that our K-1 petition has been approved.

This is the NOA2, right? Isn't that the longest step usually?

I sent in the petition to Vermont on Jan 12th. It was approved in 45 days.

I think it goes faster now, right?

Thanks.

Did you apply for the tourist visa after you sent in your K-1 petition?

If so, I assume you answered "NO" to the questions on the k-1 petition that deal with previous visa applications and approvals/denials. Did you know you would be applying for a tourist while doing the k-1?

Thanks.

My fiancee is Costa Rican, so I've been there a lot of times, and there is one thing that ca very quickly speed up the process. $$$$$$ If you have the cash, you could hire another attorney or better yet, simply go down to the Registry office and get a meeting with somebody and with money ($100) visibly in hand, say "Look, I need this done ASAP. Can you help me?"

I have found that a few dollars can speed up any "official" process in Costa Rica.

My girlfriend has an interview May 29th for the tourist visa. I will actually be in Costa Rica that week as it turns out, so I will accompany her to the interview. Even though I don't think they will allow me to enter with her, I will be there for moral support.

Wish us luck.

She was denied for the tourist visa. We have decided that it's probably a waste of time to try again since they don't give them out unless you have a ton of money in the bank, a business, or real estate. Plus, if she gets denied a second time, she can't apply for any type of visa for a year, as far as I understand.

I think we'll get engaged in CR in early September. We will start the K-1 process soon after. She should be here by March/April next year.

I heard that after you receive a K-1, and the foreign fiance arrives in the US and marries the US citizen, he/she cannot leave the US for up to a year?

Has anybody heard anything like this? Is there a set period of time that you can't travel?

TIA

My girlfriend has an interview May 29th for the tourist visa. I will actually be in Costa Rica that week as it turns out, so I will accompany her to the interview. Even though I don't think they will allow me to enter with her, I will be there for moral support.

Wish us luck.

i am sorry

i really dont understand what you are talking about here

so i will try to give you a reply

but if it is not the correct reply

then sorry

i do not think you can just write a letter saying you give your word and that you will be finacially responsible for her when she is here. I am pretty sure it is alot more complicated than that. If not everyone would be using that route. To see their love before waiting for the 6 months or so for the fiance visa. I really dont think this will work. Although I have no problem with it and I wish you the best of luck

I was asking if she should mention at the interview that she is going to visit her boyfriend in the US or not bring that up at all? Should she say that she's going to visit friends?

I know that simply writing a letter isn't enough. I wasn't implying that. The letter would be a supplemental piece of evidence that she'll return to her country.

Thanks

In some small villages there aren't street numbers, and sometimes there aren't even street names.

If you know a name or nickname of the area of the city/ village where she lives in as well as the name of the city and zipcode, then it should be enough. You cannot invent an address that doesn't exist.

My mom's address is like that:

Upper village (not kidding)

Zip, City

Country.

Just put it as acurately as possible.

My girlfriend lives in CR also. I don't know if you know this but they don't use the typical addresses anywhere in the country, including San Jose, it's capital city. It's not village and small towns.

Their addresses reference a landmark and go from there. For example, the hotel I stayed at had an address of:

Hotel

300 meters west and 100 north of National Theatre (or hospital, car dealership, anything)

San Jose, Costa Rica

Last Decemeber, I sent her some photos with a letter, but they haven't arrived yet.

Here are a couple tips/suggestions:

-One trick to increase your chances of mail actually reaching your destination in CR is to include a phone number at the bottom of the address, so the postal people can call and get directions.

John Smith

250 m north of xxx

San Jose, Costa Rica

506-123-4567

-another suggestion is to open an account with a mailbox service. There are a few different ones. THe fees aren't usually too bad, less than $20/month. Some will even deliver the mail to another CR address, if requested. The UPS Store has service in CR:

(http://www.mbecr.com/services/mailbox.htm)

As far as how to fill out the forms.... I know there isn't enough space/lines for "200 m west and 100 m south of xxx". I was thinking about leaving it blank and attaching a supplemental sheet of paper explaining how the addresses aren't the same as here and include the full address incl the phone number. On the forms I'd write "please see supplement info sheet #3".

My other worry is that there are forms and letters that the embassy and consulate will be sending my girlfriend once we start the process. My worry, as is your as well, is that she may not receive them. I don't know what to tell you. The mailbox service may be the way to go.

Good luck

Thanks for all the relies, you muys make some excellent points.

So she shouldn't say that she's going to visit her boyfriend? I was thinking about writing a letter for her to bring to the interview saying how I want her to visit me, and that I will fully support her while she's here, and that she'll have a definte return date.

Would she say... "I'm going to visit a friend"? Any suggestions as far as that goes?

Thanks again.

What is keeping you from making the jump?

Skeeter,

No offense taken, you make some good points. I know it won't be easy, but we'd rather take the chance at a tourist instead of applying for a K-1 and waiting 6 months. I don't think I will ever be able to marry her without a "trial run" for several reasons. I don't know if you know this but people from Latin countries are very family-oriented. She sees her parents and brothers daily. I want to see if she can live far away from her parents and siblings. If she's here and she's miserable, we'll know it's not going to work, right? The other reason, in all honesty, is that I want to make sure she loves me and is not just playing me for a green card. I know you're saying you should know this by now, etc. I thought that too, but yesterday I got a call from a buddy who brought a girl over to live with him in US. 5 days after getting here, she flipped 180 degrees and became a total psycho, accusing him of everything in the world. He was stunned, he never ever would have expected it from her. He then found out that she never went home on the ticket he bought her, but instead went to a different state to be with another guy. She had a sugar daddy in the waiting. As soon as she hit the US, she totally changed. Obviously, a trial run will not protect me from all these things, but I don't want to just rush into something.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Make sure that you take plenty of pictures and keep all travel documents, so if you decide to marry you will have documents of your meeting. Happy Journey!

No worry there. I have visited her 7 times in the past year, I have pics and all boarding passes, itineraries, etc.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Hi.

My girlfriend and I would like her to come here to meet my family and friends and live with me (trial run) for a month or so and to see if she'd like living here. We are probably going to marry eventually, but we are not at that step yet. She's in Costa Rica and I hear that getting a tourist visa there is pretty tough. We were going to file the K-1 just for her to come here to visit and then file it again when we are ready to get married. I have the K-1 package ready to go, I was about to send it before we thought it over and changed our minds. I never sent the K-1 forms. Doing k-1 twice seems like too much waiting. The tourist visa (if approved) takes only 2 weeks to get an interview.

Lately, I've been hearing that getting a tourist visa isn't that diffficult as long as she can establish strong ties to her home country. A kid she'll leave behind (coming solo) should help, has a job, rents a house, pays utilities---are these good ties? Anything else?

Any thoughts about doing the tourist visa first then fiancee visa?

Any suggestions to improve our chances of getting the tourist visa?

Thanks in advance.

Hi.

My girlfriend and I would like her to come here to meet my family and friends and live with me (trial run) for a month or so and to see if she'd like living here. We are probably going to marry eventually, but we are not at that step yet. She's in Costa Rica and I hear that getting a tourist visa there is pretty tough. We were going to file the K-1 just for her to come here to visit and then file it again when we are ready to get married. I have the K-1 package ready to go, I was about to send it before we thought it over and changed our minds. I never sent the K-1 forms. Doing k-1 twice seems like too much waiting. The tourist visa (if approved) takes only 2 weeks to get an interview.

Lately, I've been hearing that getting a tourist visa isn't that diffficult as long as she can establish strong ties to her home country. A kid she'll leave behind (coming solo) should help, has a job, rents a house, pays utilities---are these good ties? Anything else?

Any thoughts about doing the toursit first then fiancee? Any suggestions to improve our chances of getting the tourist visa?

Thanks in advance.

What documents are you talking about?

Her husband died and she has a document (in Spanish) which affirms that. Also her birth certificate, her Letter of Intent to marry me, and emails between us to show ongoing relationship. She doesn't speak enough English to write it in English. Would I have her write it in Spanish, and have it translated here into English?

TIA

Hi.

New member here. Thanks for the info. I've been reading the board but haven't found the exact answer to my question.

I've gathered all the documents needed. The K-1 Step-By-Step guide is AWESOME. Thanks to whoever put that together. Like others have said, it saves $1500 on a lawyer who would just do the same that I could do myself.

Here's my question: My fiancee's documents are in Spanish (from Costa Rica). I have read many of you say that they need to be translated into English. Ok, do I need to have them notarized or certified? By who? Is there a firm that specializes in this type of thing?

Thanks for your help.