alistairlp

Hi all, my fiancee and I recently started our application for a K1 visa with the intention of me joining her in the US. We have just received notification that our petition has been approved.

Since we started the application, however, our situation has changed and she will hopefully move to the UK instead. We would still like to get married in the US, is it necessary to continue with the K1 application to be able to do this and do people regularly apply for this visa without the intent to emigrate? Thank you.

RICH

You do not need the K1 or any visa to marry your US Fiancee in US, assuming you are eligible for VWP.

It is not unknown for visas to be applied for and not used, but the whole point of the K1 is the intent to immigrate. Nothing lost but the fee in your case.

Things change, no repercussions here.

That said, there may be advantages in going through with the K1, getting US PR/citizenship and then moving to UK. Lots of If's.

alistairlp

Thanks for the response, Rich. In that case is it ok to essentially abandon the application we've completed up to this point? Would it also be as simple as restarting the process for a spouse visa in a few years should we wish to move to the US?

ian-mstm

Yes. You don't need to do anything.


It's a different process so you'd be starting from scratch, but yes.

Ian

Pulaski

Marrying on the VWP is perfectly OK. In deed there is no US visa for marrying and leaving the US again, and that is exactly what I did myself, with my wife joining me in the UK afterwards.

alistairlp

Brilliant, thank you all for the info.

Pulaski

You're welcome.

alistairlp

Apologies for digging up this old thread, but I had another question relating to it.

A few months ago, I made an application for a K-1 visa to marry my fiancée in the US and then live there. Our circumstances changed and we are now intending for her to the move to the UK instead. I therefore abandoned my application at the point where our petition had been approved.

In the last couple of days I have received a letter from the embassy asking for an update on the application even just to let them know if we're ceasing progress with it. I intend to phone up to let them know we are abandoning it but I was wondering if it is common for the embassy to pro-actively ask for an update on an application that has gone stale?

ian-mstm

Don't bother - reply by mail... much less frustrating! Regardless, whether you respond or not, the petition will die a natural death after one year.


Not usually, except perhaps for a K-1 visa. In a nutshell, the I-129F petition that was approved is valid for only 4 months - but most people have usually submitted the K-1 application by then and, if necessary, the Consular Officer will extend that timeline at the interview. In your case, no visa application was made... so that likely triggered the inquiry.

Ian