Uklander

I am a USG contractor that does not reside in the US. If I marry my GF (Moldovan) on a K-1 visa she will have to reside in the States without me until she receives Advance Parole or Adjustment of Status correct? I work in the Balkans. If she gets Advance Parole, how long will it be good for...for one or two years or only for a month or two? It takes about six months for advance parole, correct? Essentially, I am a US citizen that wants to marry a Moldovan but does not wish to reside in the US but do not want my future wife to have to abandon her status.

In my case, should I get a fiancee visa and marry her at home, marry her abroad, or just wait to marry her until I return back to the us for good? Obviously, I want to maximize our time together during the process. Thanks for your help.

DD

Hi,

If you are planning to stay in Moldova for the next few months (or say a year at least), then you might be better getting married in Moldova, and then you can petition her to get a Conditional Residency Visa (CR-1) which takes about 9-12 months. She then gets a Green Card 2-3 weeks after entry into the US. Conditional residency is when you have been married for less than 2 years (at 2 years you show you are still married and the conditions are lifted - she would then get a rolling 10 year Green Card). I am not too sure how this works for you living in Moldova at present (I think that should still be fine for the petitioning bit starting with the I-130 once you are already married). There is also the K-3 visa that is/was meant to take 6 months after you have got married. This gives you the right to live together in the US and then complete the Green Card process in the US called Adjustment of Status. BUT:

1) The K-3 visa is totally backlogged (we went for that and the CR-1 was quicker which I got 2 weeks ago after 11 months).

2) And Adjustment of status costs $1000 in the US or so.

As you are both already in Moldova, get married there (as long as you are not coming back to the US very soon to live there).

Advance Parole sounds a messy business and as you will be in Moldova alot more than the US, there is not much point leaving her stranded in the US!! That's why we went for the CR-1/K-3 and not the K-1. Though we still had a wedding party in the US! I hope that helps.

Just been reading the Slingbox site. Am I right in thinking you're remotely controlling the (say) Sky box, so you'd be picking what channel it's on? I could leave a slingbox connected to my sister's Sky setup but I'm not sure she'd be too enthused about me actually selecting what it decodes

Yes, I can sit in Texas and control a Sky Box. Talking to fiance' now and trying to understand the technical bits and since I don't begin to understand Sky, freeview, etc...it's a challenge. Ok, here's what I comprehended. He has a Slingbox Classic which he said is probably only available now on eBay. He said models currently for sale are either far less capable or far too capable ($$$) than his Slingbox Classic. So what I'm telling about is the Slingbox Classic.

It has a built in freeview tuner. So if person in UK is watching freeview, person is US can watch something different because they are using different tuners. You can have three things. He has (1) built in Slingbox freeview; (2) NTL cable tv; (3) the LG brand DVR machine that has the hardrive, player, burner. From my computer I can pick any of those. I see the viewing screen and beside it a remote control. If I'm on NTL, the remote looks exactly like his real remote...blue I think and I can click the buttons with my mouse to do anything I want with the cable TV. If I switch to freeview, the remote is more generic and black. Let's say I'm watching Britains Got Talent on ITV1 (Ch 3). When it's over I want to see ITV3 More Britains Got Talent on Ch 6. On the remote I click the 6 and "enter" with my mouse and it changes channels. Or I could just click through the channel up button.

On cable or Sky box, you would be changing what the person in UK was watching if you changed those channels because you would be sharing the same box, tuner, whatever...don't understand all that. If they are watching Sky box, you could watch freeview or recorder without disturbing their show. I asked him to record BGT finals on Saturday because I needed to do something but his mum was visiting and he was recording Nancy or something for her, so there are limitations at times.

It obviously works better with the Slingbox in the UK because of the time difference. I watched BGT while having lunch or the finals around 3 in the afternoon. If he wanted to watch American Idol on a US Slingbox, he would have to be awake at 1-3 AM. But with the ability to connect to a DVR or Tivo in the US, it could be recorded. I figure most of the people on here are moving to the US, so the interest is in British TV not the other way around.

There, all done and not very technical, but maybe what I said is something you can relate to.

I have set up Slingbox in the UK ready for my pernament move to the states (got my interview in t weeks). Ive tested the following set up while in the US and it works brilliently.

1) You must get a good upload connection in the UK (NOT download). Depending on where your UK router is in the UK (like not in the Welsh hills!), you should get a good speed (I'm with UK online and get 768kb upload. This works well. O2 and Be there go higher. Don't go for Tiscali, Sky, BT, Virgin otherwise the slingbox broadband demand will push you well over their own small usage limits and you will get cut off.

2) If you are fine with Freeview, I suggest getting a Humax PVR (from 170 pounds from Currys). It comes with 40 hours or more of recording. And digital radio. Note that not many PVRs are compatible with the Slingbox Infrared control device that hangs over the IR area on the video recorder. Sky plus works as well. BUT as someone said, if your UK person is watching the Sky box as well, it will change their channels. So a Humax device would get around the time difference and controlling issues.

3) The Slingplayer software works great. Your video quality is only limited by your UPLOAD speed from the UK place (assuming you have a half decent connection in the US i.e. not dial up!!). I have a slingbox classic and that is all you need until the web hits upload speeds of 5meg plus.

4) You can connect your laptop or PC to your US TV (e.g. S Video connection that is standard with all newer laptops).

5) So you can sit on your couch controlling your tv, get a Gyration media centre and pc universal remote control. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gyration-centre-un...6819&sr=8-2

They are a lot cheaper in the states. This can control all the main functions on your Humax or Sky box via the slingplayer and slingbox.

6) Make sure your UK router is half decent. Avoid Belkin. D Link works well.

7) Test it in the UK before heading over (remote viewing - at friends or coffee shops).

8) Sling tech support are really helpful in installation if you need help.

9) Enjoy!