JoannaV

Were they doing a credit check as part of the background checks? I've had minor issues with companies telling me I don't exist and that even months and months after immigrating.
Any reasonable employer should be able to work this out. If it's too much of a problem for them then they would probably have turned out to be the kind of employer that caused you problems later. Hope it works out ok for you :-)

So are you both currently living in London?
It is fine for your fiance to enter on the Visa Waiver Program to get married, and then return abroad. He may not need to tell them about his plans, but if asked he will have to tell the truth about marrying and so should be prepared to prove that he does just intend to get married and then return abroad. So proof of his job, proof of a lease, etc., may come in handy.
K-3 is designed to be applied for alongside CR-1, and is for when the CR-1 process takes a long time. But nowadays generally both petitions are approved in the same time-frame, and they just ignore the K-3 application and process the CR-1. So that is the route you will go.
If your fiance has savings of over $55,000 then that should do for the support requirement. Otherwise, you will need to find a friend/family member in the US willing to co-sponsor. Alternatively, you will have to return to the US and find a job.

So are you both currently living in London?
It is fine for your fiance to enter on the Visa Waiver Program to get married, and then return abroad. He may not need to tell them about his plans, but if asked he will have to tell the truth about marrying and so should be prepared to prove that he does just intend to get married and then return abroad. So proof of his job, proof of a lease, etc., may come in handy.
K-3 is designed to be applied for alongside CR-1, and is for when the CR-1 process takes a long time. But nowadays generally both petitions are approved in the same time-frame, and they just ignore the K-3 application and process the CR-1. So that is the route you will go.
If your fiance has savings of over $55,000 then that should do for the support requirement. Otherwise, you will need to find a friend/family member in the US willing to co-sponsor. Alternatively, you will have to return to the US and find a job.

I don't know, but it looks like you just need to be legally able to marry. Although by the time he gets his visa you will be 18, you will be 17 when you apply so (assuming your state has some kind of parental consent requirement for minors) ensure you include proof that you have the required permission. Find out (probably can do this online) what your state's requirements are and make sure you include proof you can comply with those requirements. You will not see mention of this in the guides on this website or in people's stories as this does not apply to most people.
The age difference itself shouldn't be a problem. Your current age may be a little unusual, but I'm sure there are many many cases of a similar age difference with similar ages. For example, during our visa process I was 20 and my husband was 27/28.
Brief estimate of fees:
I-129F petition: $340
Medical for your fiance in the Dom Rep: $180
K1 visa application: $350
Adjustment of Status: $1070
Read the K1 Guide on this site to get an idea of the process.
Whilst you are visiting in December make sure you acquire proof of your meeting.
As far as timing goes, suffice it to say you will be 18 when you marry.
I would check with other people who have applied to see if co-sponsors are allowed for fiance visas in your fiance's country.

If you have liquid assets worth over the 5x125% poverty level then you really have nothing to worry about.
Especially as you will only have to prove 3x when sponsoring a spouse. Also, you will actually only have to prove that you have assets worth 3x the difference between your income and the required income...so if your lowest income was $17,000 then you'd only need to prove about $6000 in cash.
Of course, it's also true that by the time you need to file the Affidavit of Support you will probably have filed your 2011 taxes and so be able to prove a higher income anyway.
You may want to update your profile so it shows what country your fiancee is from, as this can affect the answers to your questions.

Any sponsor must meet the 125% poverty level for their household plus the immigrant(s). Their income cannot be combined with your spouse's.

If you in any way can. but a seat. I have travelled with three kids (well, two to start off with), and it makes travel so much more comfortable. If you cannot afford it, try to get a plane with a three steater row, and reserve the inside and outside seat, leaving the middle one free. Unless the plane is full, it will likely remain free an d you can use it for the baby- if the plane does sell out, the passenger in the middle seat will be happy to trade seats with one of you.
If your wife, can, breastfeed the baby. It will calm the child, and also help with pressure differential during take-off and landing (and is better than having to taste formula during security checks).
Get a baby carrier; a Mei Tai, ring-sling or whatever you and your wife like. These are easier to get through security, and you don't have to go find a lift as you can easily climb stairs, plus you can run for a connecting flight if necessary.

Tom being the foreign citizen, it does not matter at all. His financial situation is irrelevant.

Tom being the foreign citizen, it does not matter at all. His financial situation is irrelevant.

On August 15th Embassies stopped processing I-130s unless they have a USCIS field office. London has a USCIS field office. So nothing's changed. Or rather, it seems the only thing that's changed is that they seem to be saying you can choose where to file; ie even if you're a longterm resident of the UK you can now chose to file via Chicago.
Processing times vary. You may even apply a few days after someone else and have completely different wait times. My impression is that DCF is generally quicker, so I would go that route as it is available to you. But that is no guarantee that you won't end up with some random delay whilst your friend who applied via the US on the same day is approved in a record time.
It also makes sense to avoid having to mail everything across the Atlantic, so that's another positive of DCF.

So are the millionaires not needing to pay taxes because they've had humongous medical bills? *scratches head*

How this works in practice is going to vary from country to country. If they have already received all the paperwork from the NVC then they can look through it before the interview, and as they've seen all the evidence already they may already have made their decision...but of course if, for example, you turned up stoned then they would most certainly re-evaluate the situation haha.

It's a hard one. I can't imagine living my entire life without legal status. But nor can I imagine leaving my children for 12-18 months. And yet the hardship of leaving the children will be what gets her the waiver, whereas if she waits till they're grown+gone she won't be able to prove that hardship. Generally I uphold total adherence to immigration law. And I still do. But no way am I going to tell anyone to their face that they should leave their children.

American idiot marries German idiot. Entering the U.S. without a visa and the intent to adjust status: fraud! Trying to reenter despite having triggered the 3-year bar. Caught! Only paroled but not admitted, but then worked without authorization. Caught again.
Being smart includes realizing when the God-given capacity isn't going to cut it. They didn't. At some point they will have to live with the consequences of their actions. I call that natural selection, and it has worked for thousands of years.

Personally I would just wait the 3 years. Apply again in 3 years including this time all the information as to exactly what the incident entailed, and you should be approved. Appealing now may be an option, but it will take a lot of time and energy and stress AND $650 plus lawyer fees. Personally it just doesn't seem worth it. But maybe you have a specific reason why you really want to be naturalized right now, maybe you have the opportunity to get a job that only citizens can do, I don't know.

Marriage certificate is only proof of legal marriage. It does not prove a "real" relationship

I have a question for the OP: do you only want to see the process made harder for the K1 or for the marriages too? If it's only the K1, then your proposal has a major flaw. Everyone would just skip the K1 and get married to avoid the harsher requirements. If you mean the marriage visas too, well, that's just silly. These people are ALREADY married...why would you make it harder for people who are already married? That could result in a higher divorce rate due to stress. Additionally, you could be placing undue financial stress as possibly two households now have to be maintained. And what about married couples who are starting or have started families? You really want to keep parents away from their children? BUT, if you were only referring to the K1 visa applicants, well, then I'll just get married, thank you very much.
It is not the government's job to make sure we've gotten to know our beloveds well enough for a lasting marriage. It is the government's job to make sure we are legally able to marry or are legally married, that we pose no threat to each other's personal safety or to the safety of the US and that our intentions are to be married or to stay married. Each couple is different, I knew within two weeks that my fiance was the man I'd been waiting my whole life for. I know other couples who've dated for 10 years and still don't know. It's up to each person to take accountability for their relationship to make sure it lasts.
I think you also forget that talking to your loved one is the most important tool to having a successful relationship. And communication can occur anywhere! I skype with my fiance for an hour each day, and we talk on the phone once a day and we are able to IM while at work every day. I talk to him more than the person who sits next to me for 50+ hours each week. Communication is the foundation for a solid relationship.
If you really want to make the process harder so that there are fewer divorces, then how about mandating a few pre-marriage/marriage counseling sessions or group therapy sessions for how to successfully mix two cultures? I, by the way, am not in favor of this as I believe each couple should seek assistance when and if they feel they need it. I am merely suggesting a more practical and productive way that the process could be made more difficult.
To the person with the "rich white person" comment - doesn't help at all in Indian consulates!
To the person who said "i think the income requirements should be higher to marry because this is not a cheap process. " These fees are a one-time occurring cost. You shouldn't be required to have high income to cover a one-time cost. Now, if you had to pay that fee every year of marriage, then obviously you would need to make above poverty + the fee. However, the process is not and should not be concerned with your ability to pay the fees but rather your ability to adequately support your beneficiary. Additionally, income does not determine ability to pay the fee. The fee could be covered by savings or by family as a wedding gift or could come from the wedding fund if the couple is lucky enough to have one or a short-term part-time job just to earn the fees. None of those sources are necessarily sustainable but all accomplish covering the fee.

No. Just no. Yes to giving us more time to plan a wedding but thats about it. Not everyone has an awesome job that makes lots of $$$ but we still deserve to get married to the one we love and have them live with us. Especially since he will be saving up money in Australia while its processing, and getting a job as soon as his AOS is done. Did the people saying raise the income requirement ever think that the beneficiary is a man sometimes? When we have kids I'm going to be the housewife and he will be working, so how much I'm making by myself doesn't matter in the long run (except to the US govt. for me sponsoring him and for helping him support us before we have children). This is what we want for our relationship and we both agree to it.
My man has a college degree and can get a better job than me. I couldn't afford to go to college after high school (though I haven't given up on going). Should I have to be punished for this, when there are ways of living a decent comfortable life on 125% of the poverty line? We have roommates, we'll have savings, and between his savings and my job we will be able to pay our bills and live decently until he gets the ability to work in this country. And its all doable on just ~$18000/yr.
Its not like I'm his welfare check, if someone really loves someone enough to marry them they won't want to be a burden on them. There is no doubt in my mind that the govt's requirement for me to sponsor him is unfounded. I know that they don't know everyone who comes here and want to make sure they don't bleed the system, and I accept that and am willing to comply. But its a bit offensive for people to say there is no way to live a decent life on $18000 a year, when AMERICAN couples do it all the time, and especially since I myself have never taken welfare or unemployment and my life is just fine.
Anyway...rant over Basically don't judge unless you've walked it, because nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough

It's a hard one. I can't imagine living my entire life without legal status. But nor can I imagine leaving my children for 12-18 months. And yet the hardship of leaving the children will be what gets her the waiver, whereas if she waits till they're grown+gone she won't be able to prove that hardship. Generally I uphold total adherence to immigration law. And I still do. But no way am I going to tell anyone to their face that they should leave their children.

Hello everyone, I used to participate on this forum regularly back a few years ago. My husband and I got married in May of 2007, but he didn't arrive here until December of 2008. It was a long journey filled with the angst I'm sure many of you are going through now. He was Iraqi and and a refugee. He couldn't go back to his country and wasn't very welcome in Syria or Jordan, where he stayed for a couple years before finally coming to the United States. We never did get his spouse visa in those eighteen months. The whole process dragged and was completely frustrating. We got lucky that the US approved him for a refugee visa, so he came here on that. It saved us some money in the long run though I spent a lot already trying the other route.
Anyway, I know many people hear horror stories about MENA marriages. Part of me worried about it myself, but I believed I was the exception to the rule. We were open and honest with each other and around the same age. Thankfully, my marriage was among the small percentage that make it. He hasn't needed me since the day he arrived in the country, due to the US government sponsored his coming here rather than me. Yet it will be three years in December since he arrived and our relationship is stronger than ever. We still don't have any children, but we hope some day it will happen (God willing). Due to the economy going bad right before he got here, it took eight months for him to get his first job. The first two he found paid less than four hundred a month since they were part time. The third job, at a gas station, gave him full time work but barely above minimum wage. It wasn't until seven months ago that he got a job through Walmart's distribution center that he finally got something making about $15 an hour. We live in a cheaper state so this is okay. It is labor intensive and not what his degree is in, but we are thankful that it at least pays the bills. I have been able to go back to school and finish my degree as well, which has been great.
I have to say, the first year was the worst. Those that may have told you this are not lying or exaggerating. It is awful and takes tremendous patience. Not everyone can survive it because it requires both spouses to really try. The MENA spouse will need help with every tiny thing. You will go to the grocery store and they will want to know why there are one hundred kinds of salad dressing, ketchup, cheese, vinegar, etc. You have to explain about credit cards, banking, pumping gas, fast food drive-thrus, and the list goes on. My husband didn't even understand why we had to pay the electric every month since they only paid it quarterly or something. It all sounds amusing now, but I swear the endless questions and acts of helplessness were enough to drive me insane. We definitely fought and occasionally thought our marriage wouldn't last. Yet, we still remembered that we loved each other. How could we go through all those eighteen months of pain and troubles to get him here just to give up? So we rode it out. I compromised on some things, he compromised on others. We learned what subjects were safe to talk about and which ones were best left alone. He learned to fend for himself and get around without me helping him. I forced him to become independent and he hated it, but he learned and is quite happy now to be self-sufficient. Don't get me wrong, the man still will not cook or clean, lol. Yet he will work, occasionally take the trash out, buy groceries, and other small things. He has mastered the credit card quite well (which can be a bad thing but he hates debt so not too bad). The check book is still a mystery to him no matter how many times I explain and even show how he can copy the previous entries through the carbon copies. I think he just doesn't want to write the rent check out himself. He will walk it down to the office though!
The other day I was on the phone with a service company about something and I had to ask my husband a couple questions for the lady on the line. We got to joking and laughing and she asked if we were newly weds! I told her no, we had been married for over four years. She was shocked. We often laugh now like we did when we first met. Keeping a sense of humor and lightheartedness has helped tremendously. Remembering to say "I love you" and maintaining affection help as well. What amazes me most is how hard my husband still tries to make me happy, even when I'm being the less than pleasant one. He still cares a lot and it always touches me.
So, I just wanted you all to know that there is hope. Not all MENA relationships fail. Some do work. I think occasionally one of the older crew pops in to let you know, but thought I would add to the list. For everyone waiting, keep your faith and hope alive. I wish you a short journey to reuniting with your spouses and much happiness.

The sooner you get over there the sooner you can marry and the sooner he can list you as his spouse in DEERS, meaning if he does deploy you will be a spouse and get everything that military spouses get, including help whilst he is gone. Also make sure you apply for your SSN as soon as you arrive, whilst on K1, as it will come in handy.
If you don't get over there then your visa will expire and you will have to reapply...

The sooner you get over there the sooner you can marry and the sooner he can list you as his spouse in DEERS, meaning if he does deploy you will be a spouse and get everything that military spouses get, including help whilst he is gone. Also make sure you apply for your SSN as soon as you arrive, whilst on K1, as it will come in handy.
If you don't get over there then your visa will expire and you will have to reapply...

Giving a date can help, in that London do seem to try to accommodate when possible (although not to the extent of letting you totally jump the queue) and conversely if you tell them you are getting married next year then that can cause them to give you a later interview date, lol. But there are no guarantees, and you certainly don't want to plan on anything. :-)

For London you can have a co-sponsor. If it makes you feel better then by all means get his parents to complete an I-134 and provide their tax returns. But you may not need to submit that paperwork at the interview: you need only hand it over if they question the sufficiency of your fiance's income. Even if it just gives you peace of mind it's worth it :-)

Every airport is different. Just read the signs and follow them. Some put all US residents together, others separate out US citizens from green card holders.