Hello! I am an American living in Japan with my Japanese girlfriend. We intend to move to the US, but we are considering our visa options. The most important thing for us is that we can keep any time apart to an absolute minimum.
Because of that, I would ideally like to avoid going to the US months or even years ahead of time and securing a job there. I have a family member willing to be a joint sponsor, who could also write a letter saying they will house us for the early period of our stay. I do have active US voter registration along with credit cards and a bank account as well. My plan would be to start job hunting in the US as soon as I arrive with my girlfriend (fiance/spouse at that point) living off savings and family help in the initial period.
We are open to either the fiance visa or spouse visa. Recently we were more interested in the fiance visa because it seemed quicker and simpler, until I saw that joint sponsors are not technically accepted (though I’ve seen many cases online where they were.)
I plan on contacting the embassy on Monday for details, but I thought I’d come on here and ask for advice in the meantime.
How likely is using a joint sponsor on a K1?
What path will minimize our time apart?
How worried should I be about proving my “domicile” in the US if I don’t want to move back before my girlfriend?
Anything would be helpful and thank you in advance.
