SHANE (USA)

Totally right. I wish I could go back and do the spouse visa. Unfortunately we couldn’t get married at the time and had to go with the K1 visa. Best of luck to everyone going through this heartache.

Yes before filing for the K1 I researched tons of ways to just get married but it would cost way too much and be overly complicated if trying to do it in a third country. And doing it in his country would either require me to quit my job and stay there for a month and a half or make two back to back expensive trips. We aren't all so lucky to be able to just get married and for it to be easy. So it would be nice to see more positivity on the process even if right now things look bleak.  

I agree No one knew that we’d be in a pandemic and sometimes marriage cost another trip and you have to stay in the country for a certain amount of time which many of us do not have the time off of work and other responsibilitiesNo one knew that we’d be in a pandemic and sometimes marriage cost another trip and you have to stay in the country for a certain amount of time which many of us do not have the time off of work and other responsibilities

If people don't really have a choice to get married though then you shouldn't be so negative. You don't know what the circumstances will be for sure in six months. No one knows 

This exact reason has me wishing we went for the spousal visa instead. Who knows how long this pandemic is going to back things up for. I feel like we could be facing delays for years at this point. Sigh. 😔

As we always say, everyone’s situation is different. Some people want to move through this at break-neck speed and start filing their K-1 after 1 visit. Others take their time. I visited my husband around 25 times before we married and over 40 times in total before I immigrated. It’s partly a cultural thing too - one-visit engagements with I-129Fs filed almost before the bags have even been unpacked tend to be the norm for the Philippines, for example. But highly unusual for Europeans. Likewise not being able to work for months is not something I could have tolerated under any circumstances. A few extra months of waiting for a CR-1 didn’t kill me. 

Everyone’s situation is different. For those of us Unable to travel to the majority of the world without a visa (that costs time and money and not a guarantee) as well as dealing with countries that are backwards in their paperwork (or you bribe someone to get it done) the k1 makes sense.

If your fiancé is unable to travel as well as yourself your only option is to file the k1.  The longer you wait the longer you will receive the visa- there’s no point in not waiting thinking things will speed up eventually... they still have to process everyone that filed before you...

Exactly. And I think it would be more money trying to plan a destination wedding for both of our flights and hotel stay than it is for adjustment of status. 

Yeah it's like we would have to apply, then I'd have to go back later and then we get married and then we file and it takes another year to get approved, and I can't go to Russia until December when I have enough vacation and hopefully flights will even be running by then. So I figured I'll file now and by December or January it will at least maybe be approved and then we are just waiting on an interview at that point which sounds better to me...

Yeah; even back in normal times, dealing with Russian bureaucracy is not fun.
 
That's mostly why we did a K-1; I couldn't reasonably spend more than a week or so in Russia or take multiple trips on short notice, and setting up a third-country meeting somewhere two foreigners could marry quickly would have taken another couple months minimum if we didn't want to spend a fortune.

In italy same, they told me it takes about a month to get married and that's something impossible for him. What a terrible situation, months ago I thought it would get over by summer  

I just decided to go with K1 since I can't go marry my fiance right now and with work its much harder trying to line up vacation time during all of this and find a place that will marry us.(In Russia we would have to apply and then wait 30 days to even be able to pick a date!) I figured as long as he can come here by sometime next year then at least we will be together even if we have to wait longer on some things to process.

I was in the US with him in March, then Europe started closing borders and I had to rush back home, at least we got to meet  
 

As long as you're okay with living with the restrictions of the K-1 once you get here, that's kind of why I'd say go ahead and file if you've already done enough that approval is likely.
If you can't meet (but already have), you might as well let USCIS do as much processing as they can while you're waiting.

While I understand this sentiment, immigration attorneys are not employed by USCIS. It is their interpretation of the laws. Any lawyer I have spoken to in the past has given different information. One said red. One said blue. One said yellow. One said 3. One said you can’t visit while you have a k1 in process. They don’t have access to extra information, they see the same EO that we do...only perhaps they deal with different people and have different statistics.
 
it is not written anywhere that you cannot void your k1 and do an AOS (once it was not your intention at CPD) Yes, CR1 would be the best option but alas, here we all are. others who were in the same situation as OP and myself have said that they voided their k1 and did this process without any problems, it was not even questioned at their interviews. 
 
just my two cents on the topic. Some people feel safer using a lawyer and giving someone 6,000$ to transfer their information to paper, some people prefer to do it themselves....

"Although referred to by DOS as a “rule” in its Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), the 90-day rule is not a regulation. It is DOS guidance to its officers, and as such, the 90-day rule is not binding on USCIS officers." https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-j-chapter-3

I believe it's more of an informal understanding.  This came from a reputable immigration attorney.
*edit...OP should talk to his own attorney rather than take me at my word on this.  But I personally wish I had jumped ship on the CR-1 and gone for the 485 process.

I didn't read the whole thread so sorry if I missed something...
Get married and start the 485 process!  I wish I had done that.  My wife and I were right at the end (so we thought) of the CR-1 process, she was here in the U.S., and her 6-month tourist stay was expiring.  We decided to send her back because we were close but I wish I could do it over again.  I would have forked over that $1200 in a heartbeat and we'd still be together instead of waiting for the consulates to start operating again....months from now.....
 
I spoke to a couple immigration lawyers at the beginning of this year and they told me the 485 AOS process is taking about 6 months right now.  They also told me about the 90 day rule.  Once she's been here 90 days USCIS will give you the benefit of the doubt that she didn't come here with the intent to immigrate, i.e. it was a decision that you came to honestly after the fact and nothing was done in bad faith.  Once you send her back, who knows when you'll see her again?

I voided my k1 and filed for AOS. Sent the packet away at the start of the month. Frustrating to not have all my stuff with me but it was either that or go home and await our embassy to open (my case had been in transit for 3 months and the embassy hasn’t opened to this date)
 
very happy to have done it in the end. The $ spent on the k1 is wasted but alas....we are not separated right now  

Here is what I learned working in the PI over the last decade and maybe (or maybe not) where some confusion lies.  When you ask if K1s can leave the PI, sometimes that will be interpreted as of now, like immediately the situation on that date you ask.  However if you ask can K1s leave on a certain date in June, you may get a different answer.  I know there is a change on June 15th for flights domestically, so its possible the BI is saying yes in one instance cause they are thinking of the June 15th date and another is saying no cause they are thinking about now, today.
 
I saw this type of confusion at work and it all depended on how I asked the question what answer I would get.  Its possible there is still a ban as the PI seems to be a bit behind other countries on opening up, Thailand is in the same situation, but just be extremely specific in your question, maybe it will help, may not. haha  Just make sure you have a refundable ticket or a ticket you can change the date on for free   
 
We are just trying to get to Manila to do the medical and interview and that in itself is a nightmare.  This is just one of the reason I decided to leave.  Being able to ask questions and get the answers you need is a skilled art form there   I failed miserably until I got my management to sit with me on Filipino communication styles. 

Thanks for all the responses. PAL is leaving Manila to San Francisco, next Wednesday, Friday and Mondays, So far they have not cancel their flights as they did for the first week of June after June 1st flight. Cebu is allowing access to the airport now. She just applied for her travel pass from the Barangay and health certificate to present at the airport.  We have to remember this is the Philippines and nothing is easy and simple in the Philippines. It takes just one person ( corrupt or power tripper) to harass the Filipino citizen. I'll post an update when she arrives here in the USA to help any other members. 

I am the K1 visa holder. I have scheduled flight w/in this month. The list of exempted outbound Filipinos were the ones they posted on their FB acct. Their reply to my query: 
 US K1 visa holders are included in the mentioned exempted outbound Filipino passengers. Kindly present your valid visa together with the Commission of Filipino Overseas (CFO) sticker/CFO Online Registration Certificate upon departure. 
 
Oh, by the way I called the Bureau of Immigration and emailed them too and got the same answers. 

Hi! Yes, your fiancee can depart the country with K1 visa. I am in the same situation and I inquired directly with the Bureau of Immigration cus I was also unsure with their travel restrictions posted on their FB acct.

Get a copy of the I-864 as your guideline. We can only advise on what we have seen and what has been reported by others. You may want to move over to the Philippine sub-forum for additional help.
 
https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/129-philippines/