UK to US or US to UK?

Old Nov 10th 2017, 12:17 am
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Question UK to US or US to UK?

Hello all
New member here, recently got engaged to my partner who is based in NY (American Citizen) and I am in London (British Citizen). Both young (29) professionals and currently assessing what options we have in regard to marriage and visas and could certainly do with some advice. Below are a number of scenarios and each scenario I could do with understanding any complexities and issues that you may foresee;

The background is we eventually want to move to the UK to settle and to have a family there. However, my partner is on the edge of completing a promotion to executive level within her company and out of the two of us this is a priority from a career perspective as she has far greater potential than I. I also have side businesses that I can earn from along with my day job. We are planning to marry in June 2018 with location TBC (UK / US). We are open to registering prior to ceremony in order to optimise the timing it will take to authorise visas and being together.


Option 1
I move to US with work permit to support her promotion. What would the process be for acquiring green card status if work permit is granted? Also, is there any complications now that we are an engaged couple if we were to commence the K1 Visa process along with work permits?

Option 2
I quit my job and move to US on a K1 visa (Fiancee) to support her career and promotion. What is the process that would need to be followed? I assume visa needs to be applied for prior to entering country (married within 90 days) and i also understand that i would not be able to work (however i could run my businesses in the UK from the US?) What complications would we face if we wanted to settle in the UK after 1-2 years?

Option 3
We get married on paper. I move to the US going the CR1 route understanding this may take a lot of time apart.


Overall, i'd like to understand the optimal scenario in terms of best place to marry and best route in terms of speed of granting greencard/citizenship/right to work so we could be in the same location together. From what I've read it's typically easier for someone to acquire British citizenship rather than american citizenship - is this true? I just need to understand the barriers and hurdles when it comes to who's career to prioritise. Ideally i'd like to rank the optimal solutions ignoring the career aspects, and then bring career aspects later into the decision making.

Many thanks in advance for your help.
Ryan

Last edited by Jerseygirl; Nov 10th 2017 at 12:45 am.
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 12:30 am
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Default Re: UK to US or US to UK?

Welcome to BE.

You have posted questions regarding marrying and living in both the US and UK. This forum is for US related questions. I will therefore edit your opening post and move the UK related questions over to our UK Immigration forum.

Good luck and congratulations on your forthcoming nuptials.
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 12:37 am
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Default Re: UK to US or US to UK?

Originally Posted by Jerseygirl
Welcome to BE.

You have posted questions regarding marrying and living in both the US and UK. This forum is for US related questions. I will therefore edit your opening post and move the UK related questions over to our UK Immigration forum.

Good luck and congratulations on your forthcoming nuptials.
Hello
I can't find the thread where you have moved it to now.
Can you help.
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 12:41 am
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Default Re: UK to US or US to UK?

Here is the new thread in the UK Imm. Forum. Please keep questions in their respective forums. Thanks.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/citiz...-us-uk-905676/
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 1:29 am
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Default Re: UK to US or US to UK?

If part of the question is whether you'd be better off heading towards the US or the UK, I can easily answer: the US.
I say this as a Brit married to a USC, and having experienced immigration in the UK (for my wife as the non-citizen) and in the US (for me as the non-citizen). The UK system is vastly more expensive, more time-consuming and less efficient than the US equivalent.
I don't have any advice on the intricacies of fiancee visas etc.
Good luck!
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 6:15 am
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Default Re: UK to US or US to UK?

Hi Ryan,

When you say "work permit" do you actually mean "work visa"? If so, I would rule out this path, as marriage is almost always quicker and easier, unless you can transfer to the USA with your current employer.

Between the K-1 and CR-1 options, they both take about the same amount of time to process. You can continue visiting the USA during processing of both. The CR-1 is better, maybe, because you become a US PR upon entry to the USA (no need for additional paperwork and fees to get your green card as with K-1). There is a comparison chart in our Wiki Guide.

So, my advice is to take a VWP trip to the USA, get married, file the I-130, then return to the UK for CR-1 processing.

Rene
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 8:36 am
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Default Re: UK to US or US to UK?

Originally Posted by rydobeefchief
What complications would we face if we wanted to settle in the UK after 1-2 years?
Hello, Ryan!

Congratulations on your engagement!

I don't know anything at all about work visas, or having work in the UK while living abroad, and so I'm reluctant to comment on how your plans/ideals might be affected by any particular route. But speaking as someone who is just now at the tail end of the CR-1 process, I just wanted to pick up on your suggestion that you might prefer to settle in the UK in a very short number of years.

I'm about to move to PA to live with my USC husband. The journey to obtain my CR-1 visa has taken thirteen months and has cost us over £2,000 (a portion of this was from medical expenses, not all of which may apply to you, but you can expect to pay a minimum of £1,000 and should budget for more if you're intending on moving to the U.S.). It has come with a lot of uncertainty and stress, too, which is priceless! All of our journeys are different, of course, and you might be in a perfectly comfortable financial position and maybe the upheaval won't affect you so much, but I just wanted to put another option on the table: maybe don't go through this process twice? If your end goal is to both be in the UK, and you're hoping to reach that point within 2 or 3 years, perhaps concentrate on that route - I, for sure, would take another year of long-distance-relationshipping over relocating twice in such a short space of time.

From my limited understanding of obtaining British citizenship, it is more expensive and there is more red tape than obtaining US citizenship. There were a handful of reasons why my husband and I decided that I should be the one to relocate, not him, and one of those was the greater expense and time it would take for him to move here. But, again, if that is your end goal anyway, that ought to be what you focus on first of all, and then consider the value of you moving to the U.S. in the meantime.

I wish you the very best of luck, whatever you decide to do! There are lots of very knowledgeable people here, who I'm sure will be by to talk to you about the intricacies of the visas and how you could manage each route.
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 9:33 am
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Default Re: UK to US or US to UK?

Go to New York and take the money.
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 9:40 am
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Default Re: UK to US or US to UK?

I think it's important to understand that if you pursue a marriage-based route (K-1 or CR-1) then the outcome will be a "work permit". The end result of the CR-1 immigrant visa is that when you immigrate to the US you become a Green Card holder (Permanent Resident) on arrival and you don't need a "work permit"; your PR status gives you the right to work from day one. If you go the K-1 route you become a PR after a further process (Adjustment of Status) after arrival and marriage and you can get a "work permit" (Employment Authorization Document) while waiting for the AOS to be processed, this (the EAD) takes a few weeks I believe.

You can only get a working visa for the US outwith a marriage-based route if you find an employer to sponsor you for an H-1B or other such visa, and as you've been told that is a much slower route than a marriage-based route. If you have $$$$$$ to hand you could try an investor visa route but why spend so much money if you have a marriage-based route to hand?

Even if you do decide to return to the UK sooner rather than later, I'd really recommend staying long enough to get US citizenship so you can return to the US at a later date with far less hassle. So long as you're still married to and living your US citizen spouse you can file as soon as 90 days from the third anniversary of the date your Green Card says "Resident Since". And likewise if you do bring your future wife to the UK, do get her to get UK citizenship at the earliest possible opportunity! Both countries allow dual citizenship.

Good luck!
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 12:00 pm
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Default Re: UK to US or US to UK?

Originally Posted by rpjs
Even if you do decide to return to the UK sooner rather than later, I'd really recommend staying long enough to get US citizenship so you can return to the US at a later date with far less hassle. So long as you're still married to and living your US citizen spouse you can file as soon as 90 days from the third anniversary of the date your Green Card says "Resident Since". And likewise if you do bring your future wife to the UK, do get her to get UK citizenship at the earliest possible opportunity! Both countries allow dual citizenship.

Good luck!
I strongly support this. We both have dual UK/US citizenship and it gives us the freedom to travel and readily relocate in either country. That becomes important when parents get older and family needs arise.

You can apply for US citizenship after being there for three years, on the basis of marriage to a US citizen.
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Old Nov 10th 2017, 2:36 pm
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Default Re: UK to US or US to UK?

Originally Posted by rydobeefchief
Hello all
New member here, recently got engaged to my partner who is based in NY (American Citizen) and I am in London (British Citizen). Both young (29) professionals and currently assessing what options we have in regard to marriage and visas and could certainly do with some advice. Below are a number of scenarios and each scenario I could do with understanding any complexities and issues that you may foresee;

Option 1
I move to US with work permit to support her promotion. What would the process be for acquiring green card status if work permit is granted? Also, is there any complications now that we are an engaged couple if we were to commence the K1 Visa process along with work permits?
As Noorah asked, what do you mean by a work 'permit'???? There is a work Visa, i.e. L-1, H-1B, etc. but a work permit, which is an employment authorization document (EAD) is granted through adjustment of status and you wouldn't be eligible for that as there would be no foundation to your petition. So, leaving the rest of the questions in that paragraph until you clarify your definition of a work 'permit'.

Option 2
I quit my job and move to US on a K1 visa (Fiancee) to support her career and promotion. What is the process that would need to be followed? I assume visa needs to be applied for prior to entering country (married within 90 days) and i also understand that i would not be able to work (however i could run my businesses in the UK from the US?) What complications would we face if we wanted to settle in the UK after 1-2 years?
Lovely that you are sacrificing your life and your career so that your fiancée can pursue HER career. Since she is the principal earner, I'm sure your emotional and physical support is very welcomed

No, you cannot run your UK business from the US after the validity period of the K-1 (90 days from entry at the POE in the US) until you have your employment authorization in hand.


Option 3
We get married on paper. I move to the US going the CR1 route understanding this may take a lot of time apart.
Why would you only be married on paper? You won't share your lives together? USCIS doesn't care if you don't consummate the marriage, that is your choice, but they will expect that you will make an attempt to commingle your lives socially and financially. For example, she makes you beneficiary (by law in NYS at least) to her 401K plan. You would need to sign off on that if she wanted someone else to get the funds if she dies. Perhaps add you to her lease if she is renting an apartment. Notify the postal service to deliver your mail there (not that you would be getting any unless you mail yourself a letter).

The time apart on the CR-1 and K-1 are nearly the same but with benefits to one that far out reaches the other. I-130 filing in the US with the ultimate CR-1 issued in the UK would be 6 to 10 months. You enter the US as a permanent resident and have the right to live and work in the US immediately upon entry and your green card will be mailed to you within 30 to 90 days. But the I-551 stamp in your passport is the paper version of the green card and that will hold you in its stead until the card is received.

The filing of the I-129 in the States until the issuance of the K-1 in the UK is 6 to 8 months. You come to the US after you get the visa, marry, file for adjustment of status (lots more money), and sit around and wait for an EAD and the advance parole so if you want to leave the US while your adjust is pending you will be let back in. Timeframe for that process is anywhere from 3 months to over a year.

Using common sense, which is better?


Overall, i'd like to understand the optimal scenario in terms of best place to marry and best route in terms of speed of granting greencard/citizenship/right to work so we could be in the same location together. From what I've read it's typically easier for someone to acquire British citizenship rather than american citizenship - is this true? I just need to understand the barriers and hurdles when it comes to who's career to prioritise. Ideally i'd like to rank the optimal solutions ignoring the career aspects, and then bring career aspects later into the decision making.

Many thanks in advance for your help.
Ryan
You are so far off the mark with the US Citizenship assumptions, that I'm not even going to laugh.

Someone marries a USC, gets Permanent Residency, and waits 3 years (less 90 days) from the date they became a PR (or in your case a Conditional Permanent Resident), file the N-400, get an interview after 90 days from filing and then get sworn in sometimes that same day and other times a month or so after the interview/test. Can't think of anything easier than that.
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