emcc

Balls!

Ok, I am currently waiting on my permanent resident card in the mail, should be about a week or two away. This card along with my work authorization card and travel document should allow me to travel abroad right?

Im an irish citizen but my passport runs out on April 28th, im planning to travel April 15th til May 15th. I should have my permanent resident card by then. My question is can i travel without my passport? Im getting all my paperwork ready to ship for a renewal but they need to have the old passport in order to give me the new one.

Im travelling to Belgium from the US. Probably through Canada. I still have an ID card from Belgium and i have a travel document for the US, but will that help me when flying into canada?

Im super confused!

IMO, very risky.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

Why not just file an I-130 without the atty, then you handle all paperwork ?

Thats what we were going to do.

I thought it sounded risky, especially coming from a well respected immigration firm. I'm not sure what to do now, obviously moving straight away is awesome but I'm not sure if its worth the risk. He says he's done it before and it actually works, but I feel really bad considering it as I know this is not the way its supposed to go down.

Quick story, my husband lives in the us, I live in Belgium, almost married 2 years now. We were going to file for a CR 1, almost got the i 130 started and he visited an immigration lawyer today. He just got out of the appointment and called me to say I could come over immediately if I wanted, I dont have all the details yet because he had to be somewhere but it came down to this: I would travel over there on a tourist visa (like we have done several times back and forth) then towards the end of my tourist visa we'd file an i 485 through our lawyer and I would be allowed to stay.

I have NEVER heard of this option, is this normal? Is this normal practice? I'm finding it pretty hard to believe this could be so easy (especially since the CR1 takes 7-12 months).

The lawyer said he's done this a lot and never got denied. Above all its also cheaper than the other options at $3k with lawyer included.

I want to find out the details asap but it just sounds weird.

So whats the secret to doing it so quickly?

Congratulations

Ok CR 1 it is then!

Will I have to fly back to Belgium at any time? Or can everything be done from without the US (with the exception of having to cross a border)?

The visa interview (the last stage of the process) will be in Belgium. You can visit the US but you cannot live in the US until you have the visa after the interview in Belgium.

Your original post makes it clear that you haven't learned yet how long and stupid the process is. Unfortunately, it is a really long and stupid process. It is very important that you don't attempt visa fraud though, because that results in very serious trouble, including being banned from the US. Most of the things you suggested in your post would be illegal.

Is there any possibility of your husband living with you in Belgium for a while? That is the only way to not be separated for several months during the process.

No sadly thats not an option. I think we're just going to get everything started and see what happens.

Also, you mention "crossing a border" - presumably you're talking about going to Canada or Mexico and then back into the US. That doesn't do anything to help. When you visit on the visa wavier programme, you cannot extend your visit past 90 days by visiting Canada or Mexico and then returning to the US.

No that question was based on getting the stamps after the whole process is done. Not to 'renew' a tourist visa.

Ok CR 1 it is then!

Will I have to fly back to Belgium at any time? Or can everything be done from without the US (with the exception of having to cross a border)?

No not having a DL or EAD shouldn't be that big of a problem.

It'll be boring but not as bad as sitting here alone.

Is the CR1 only issues in JFK? Or am I remembering that wrong? Is it something I can just get at any border?

Hi everyone,

I live in Belgium and got married last month to a US citizen. We've known each other for 2 years now and we really want to get this long distance thing over as soon as possible.

We're going to start filing for the K3 visa around the end of November, before we do we have a couple of questions just to be sure about to expect.

My husband is flying over here in a week, he desperately wants to try and go to the US consulate/embassy in Belgium to find out if we can get a visa for me there (supposed to be quicker and cheaper, someone even said they can get it done in 48 hours, is any of this true? I find it very hard to believe). Anyway that's the reason we're waiting on filing the paperwork for the K3 (Is this stupid, should we file before he leaves?)

I was planning on being there by Christmas, just leave on a tourist visa until the paperwork is all good and ready. Is this a bad idea?

I thought that if I just stay there, and file for all the papers, and then at the end I guess you have to cross a border to get your papers stamped? Do you have to be coming from the country you live in. So would I be able to fly to Belgium and when coming back into the us get my papers stamped? Or would simply driving up to Canada and crossing the border there suffice?

I know legally it's not the 'right way' to do it, but it would just make everything so much easier for me (as I don't really have a place to live in Belgium for that much longer). The question is not so much 'is it right?' but 'is it possible?'.

How far into the K3 process (I'd like to measure in months, cause I haven't quite figured out all the paperwork-stuff yet) would I be allowed to work in the US? And what about legally being allowed to live there?

I think those are the only things I wanted to ask for now, if I think of anything else Ill post, if you guys have any tips or thoughts, please share

Thanks