Nicola1234

Hi all,

I am totally new to all this so please excuse me if I ask a lot of questions
My fiancé is a USC and live in NYC and I am an UKC. We want to get married this year and I would move into his apartment. We are unsure of what route to take visa wise. We have been reading the documents on government websites but it’s confusing! We were looking at K-1 and then get married over in the states.
We both work full time and I want to work as soon as possible after my move.
Also what is the poverty line limit I keep seeing?

Thanks in advance



Nicola

tom169

If you want to work ASAP after your move then K-1 won't be good for you.

You're looking at around 100+ days from getting married and filing to adjust status til you get an EAD (employment authorization document).

If you want to work right away I suggest going across, getting married, and then filing for a CR-1.

You will need to leave the US in the meantime, but when you come back you will enter the US using the visa and instantly become a permanent resident (read: green card).

For poverty information see I-864P.

Nicola1234

Hi Tom thank you for getting back to me. So I can fly to NYC and just marry him then fly back to the UK and we can do the paperwork? We have lots of evidence of of relationship over the past 2 years so have no worries with that.

scrubbedexpat099

Basically that is it, if you get a move on you would be moving circa Easter 2019.

Nothing can happen until you get married.

Nicola1234

Wow Is it that long!?

Noorah101

Yes. Either way you go (K-1 or CR-1), the total process time is running right around a year. The CR-1 process can't be started until you're legally married, so have to factor in time and cost for that.

Rene

StuBear65

Unfortunately yes, my wife and I started the IR1/CR1 process last June and have only just reached the NVC stage. I'm not expecting to have my visa until June this year.

Keoman

Hi, just to let you know, I’m in a similar boat and can give you an idea of what to expect. I went to the states on a ESTA and married over there and then returned back to the uk, no special visas needed to do that. We then submitted our I-130 May 17 for our IR1 visa (as we have been married longer than 2 years, you will be applying for a CR1 visa as married less than 2 years). There’s then bacisally 3 stages in the process, USCIS/NVC/Medical and interview. Our application has been in for 8 months now and still waiting to get through USCIS stage! So be warned it’s not a quick process and frustrating. But you can still visit your partner while you wait and also he can visit here.

Might not be what you want to hear but it is what it is, I’m hoping we get our NOA2 soon!

Nicola1234

Wow we were told for the k-1 it would be 6-8 months so maybe we should just take that route?

Keoman

My PD is 15 May 17, and still waiting for NOA2!

Keoman

We were told that the IR1 would be 8-10 months, but there has been a huge increase in applications since Trump took office so all timelines are out the window. My advice would be to take the CR1 route, I’m sure others on here can advise better than me but when we looked at the various options the IR/CR1 route made more sense.

christmasoompa

That's only for one part of it thought, it's a two step process - both the K-1 and the CR-1 take about the same amount of time overall usually. The difference is that as others have said above, with the CR-1 you can work immediately, so if you don't want another few months waiting to be able to work as you indicated in your first post, that will probably be a better choice for you.

Noorah101

Who told you that?

Processing times fluctuate over the years. Currently it's taking that long just for the I-129F petition approval. Then there is the visa application which takes several more months, making the total processing time closer to 12 - 14 months now. Same applies to the CR-1 visa.

Rene

Nicola1234

We spoke to a visa agency who would do all the paperwork for us. Really wasn’t expecting to hear that it would that long - really heartbreaking

Keoman

Don’t waste money on a visa agency unless you have complications! It’s a long process but fairly simple with plenty of support here for any questions you have.