NineDev

Thanks for all the replies! We were going to send as much as we could, to maximise our chances. We have other, more concrete proofs, like pictures taken together & with family, pictures of our marriage, passports, boarding passes, hotel receipts. We hope that will be enough, as financial co-mingling is pretty much impossible for us until I can move over to the states (past money we've sent each other during out time together, but I heard this can be more harmful than helpful if presented as evidence?)

Hey everyone, After following advice I received last year on these forums, my partner and I got married earlier in January, and have started filling the marriage visa forms. However, two questions have sprung to mind as we’ve looked through everything we need to gather to send with the forms. The first is related to the affidavits testifying of our bona fide relationship: we were considering asking both families and friends if they were willing to help us by writing affidavits of us meeting with them together and what they know of our relationship, but weren’t sure whether these need to be certified by an official working with the government. Do they simply need to be sworn statements, or actually checked or notarized by someone? In the same line of questions, my side (and all my documents) are written in French. I’ve read these need to be translated to English, however I am confused by the term “officially translated”. I used to work as a translator myself (and have a translation degree), so I was thinking of translating everything myself, but I’m not sure if that would be considered official or not. I am assuming the translations need to be done/checked by someone first for them to be considered official?

Oh, it was actually June 2020, that was a typo, sorry!

Thanks guys, those are some really great ideas you've offered us! We'll be sure to take them all into account!

Denmark definitely seems like an interesting option I've been thinking about too! We technically have until June of next year for our eligibility to run out for K-1 (last time we saw each other was June 2019, he came over in March right before everything closed down), but we both agree CR-1 seems like the best course of action after talking to people here.

Oh, I just wanted to make sure, I'm sorry if it came across that way! (I also just got what USC means, so that's my bad for that haha) All the information in this thread has been very helpful, so I'm very grateful!

That is amazing to know, thank you!

So getting married would still allow me to visit him while the CR-1 is in place? Or would I still need to stay somewhere else first? Looking at the list of European countries banned, it's pretty much all the ones I could realistically go to haha I'll look around still, Mexico is still an idea, and I suppose Russia is too, but being in a same-sex relationship does make me anxious about certain countries (not that I wear it on my sleeve, but it's still a worry in my mind).

This is definitely a distinct possibility, but it's also pretty expensive. I'm not sure how comfortable I am with it, given the time and risk it can be if they decide not to let me in for any reasons. I'm seeing people getting married around me, and it's pretty depressing I have to jump through so many hoops just to be able to do something else everyone can do easily.

I hope you'll make the trip fine! The ban seems to be a recommendation, but France has been particularly overzealous in its application of things, so I *am* worried that's what they'll decide to do. Hopefully, it all goes well! French citizen are outright banned from going to the USA (have been since March 2020, and while it was promised to reopen soon, it was instead confirmed it would be indefinite in July). Unless spouse have a special status that are exempt of this ban (in which case, I'd love to know!), I don't think I can go myself.

It's hard to find clear cut info on that, unfortunately. Everywhere I look, it seems to indicate something different, hence why I thought about asking here. I'm hoping someone has had recent experiences with EU to USA travel, or the opposite.

It definitely sounds like the better choice, I agree. It might be wise to do it ASAP for us before the borders close, thought I'm not sure how feasible that can be. Thank you for your advice!

Hey there everyone, I am a French citizen looking to make the move to live with my fiancé in California. Our initial plan was to fill everything needed for the K-1 visa whenever I'd be over there next, and send it once I was back home, as we'd heard they don't always grant tourist visas to people waiting on a K-1 visa. However, as you can imagine, the response to COVID has put a major dent in our plans. It's been a year and a half, and I'm still not allowed in the USA, and as such, we've filled most of our forms remotely. But after doing some research and hearing some nightmares stories about the K-1 visa (and some other advice we've found online and on these forums), we thought about instead filling a CR-1 visa. Our new plan was to get married in France, and then apply for a CR-1 visa. The catch (cause there always seems to be one) is that I've been hearing rumblings about the EU closing their borders indefinitely to US citizens, just like what the US has done to EU citizens. I don't want to jump to conclusions and pull the trigger in a panic, so I thought it best to ask for advice myself here. What would you guys recommend we do? Get married ASAP in France to apply for the CR-1 visa? Or stay the course and send the K-1 visa, and hope for the best? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!