BigBoss1984

First of all, I'm new here so hey everyone!

Secondly - I need a little bit of help with VISA questions, I've been doing my own research but my head is all over the place with it.

I'm currently residing and living in the UK as a UK citizen, my girlfriend is a U.S citizen and we've been together for almost three years. We've met up a ton of times and just got back from a vacation in Orlando, FL recently. We decided that to take the relationship further, one of us should move to the others country - and I've always wanted to move to the USA so it made sense that I make the move. We plan to get married in November, so my first question around this is - is this allowed on an ESTA visa? The intention was that we'd get married when I visit in November, then I'd return to the United Kingdom and then we'd start the Spouse VISA application - is this allowed?

My next question is, I have a job in the UK and it's likely (I'd get confirmation before obviously) that the job would allow me to work remotely from the United States - if this is allowed, would my income (It currently would meet the poverty requirements) in the UK be allowed on the affidavit of support - as the work is continuing once I reach the United States?

My third question (Sorry guys!) if I'm successful for a spouse visa - do I have to live with my spouse? I only ask because she currently has a lease for 2 years on an apartment, and I'd be moving in with one of my buddies over there until that lease is over.

Thanks for your time,

Any advice would be fantastic!

Thanks

zzrmark

#1) You can get married in the US whilst visiting on the VWP (unlike the UK where your fiancé would need to obtain a visa). Noted that your intention is to return to the UK before your 90 day stay expires.

#2) Your ability to support yourself is not the issue, it is for someone in the US to vouch for you.

#3) Immigration would probably take a dim view of your attempt to obtain a visa and not live with your spouse upon arrival. There is, however, a few steps to be taken between now and your receiving a visa....
...My CR-1 application is now 5 days short of one year since USCIS acknowledged receipt of the I-130, the London embassy is apparently struggling to process the current numbers approved by NVC and is far behind the usual timelines for scheduling interviews, so at the moment I'm looking at 14 months from start to finish.
You can easily delay steps along the process to string out the time taken to receive a visa (remembering that there are no guarantees for any applicant to finally receive one!) although if you hit USCIS or NVC just as they have a meltdown you may not need to.
Rejigging a lease is a fairly small issue in the grand scheme of things and may not cost very much depending upon the landlord.

BigBoss1984

Thanks alot for your help - as for your second point, I read somewhere that the US government would take continuing incoming into consideration during the affidavit of support application if you can prove the income will continue from the same company after the visa has been issued - not sure if you know anything about this?

Thanks

zzrmark

The US brigade will be rousing their sleepy heads shortly, , and should be able to give you a more detailed answer, it's not something I've needed to get too deep into as my wife meets the requirements.
Good luck

BigBoss1984

Thanks man - much appreciated

BigBoss1984

Just a little more info on this guys, the reason we won't be able to live together right away is because she's got a lease on a college apartment whilst she finishes up her degree and you have to attend the college to get on the lease.

That being said, we have a lot of evidence the relationship is real - we have maybe 10 or 12 plane tickets going back and forth, countless Skype phone calls, countless letters we've wrote to each other, birthday cards, Christmas gifts, we've got hundreds of photos of us together ranging from the UK, to Philadelphia (where she lives) to Florida, my family has met her family so we have pictures of us all together etc - stuff like that

ian-mstm

Yes.


Yes. Once you're married, your income is considered joint for purposes of the I-864. If your income will continue from the source and it meets the 125% poverty requirement, then it should be allowed.


No. The US has no interest in your living arrangements when you first enter the US. It'll be much more important in 2 years' time when it comes time for you to remove the conditions on your status.


Wouldn't it be easier if she simply broke the lease?


Ah... so she's in school elsewhere! Never mind then, it's not an issue!


Your marriage certificate will prove you're married... and there's no requirement to demonstrate an ongoing relationship.

Ian

rpjs

That's not quite true. If income is continuing from the same source, then yes, the visa applicant can be a contributing household member with their sponsor (fiancée / spouse). For instance when we did the IR-1 route, I was able to transfer my employment from the London to the NYC office of my company, and the ConOff accepted that for the affidavit of support.

I can foresee a couple of complicating issues for the OP though:

1) If he goes down the K-1 route, there may be times when he won't have work authorization in the US (waiting for an EAD for instance), so the CR-1 route might work better as he'll be work authorized from the day he arrives.

2) Payment of US payroll taxes and with-holding of US income tax. His company may be set up to do that if they have a presence in the US, but this may be very tricky if not.

ian-mstm

I believe this is the plan.


Yes, all true... but it's not a visa issue!

Ian

Noorah101

Regarding not living together: My fiance came to the USA on the K-1 visa. We married 1 week later and turned in the AOS package. We were living together in Arizona, but just 3 weeks later he went to work in Los Angeles. He would stay and work 3 weeks and then come home for a long weekend. That was meant to be temporary, but turned out to be long term. That was back in 2004, and we still have this arrangement today. My husband was able to get his green card, remove conditions, and become a USC, all under this living arrangement. So you living apart at first should not be an issue.

Rene

Pulaski

It is allowed, and it is what I did.

RICH

I don't see any problems in your plans or circumstances Mr BigBoss, so I will be the one to mention VISA is a credit card, you will be applying for a CR-1 Visa.

I hope your immigration goes as smoothly as it sounds it should.