ali1000

I need some help please by boyfriend is in the military and a USC he has asked me to marry him and i could do with some advice regarding entry to the US I am a British citizen,we hope to marry in the States as he is about to be posted back there, Im a complete newbie at this so could really do with some help please, thanks

meauxna

Congratulations on your engagement!

There are three marriage-based visa options:

1 for fiances, called a K-1.

2 for spouses, an immigrant visa and a K-3 visa.


This article describes the differences:http://www.familybasedimmigration.co...read.php?t=417
Since they each have different pros and cons, you will need to do some research to make your decision, or hire a professional to help you evaluate and choose.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

An idle thought because I don't know the answer -- there are instances where military dependents are paroled into the United States. That was the situation in Bona v Gonzales, which I litigated in 2005. Of course, that was an unusual situation because she was living on base which was in the process of being shut down to the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.

Richardowen

I just completed the K3 route after 2 years. My advice here is to apply for K1 so you can come to US and get married --- you don't need K1 visa to get married in US but if you have this you can change to Permanent Resident much easier straight after the wedding. Otherwise you'll need to go via K3 route.

For K3:

If you get married in UK it will take a long time to get marriage licence and cost you over 500 pounds.

If you come to US on visa-waiver as a tourist and get married here it will cost you $100 and you'll have to wait 72 hours.

Either way you will then need to apply for Permanent Residency by filing an I-130, once this application is accepted you can then apply for K3 visa which will take no less than 6 months ( K3 is meant to be a temporary visa to allow you to enter the US whilst you wait for the I-130 to be processed as it can take a long time --- 2 years in my case ),

Once you move to the USA you will then need to apply for EAD if you wish to work here, which will take 3 months and you can't legally work before you get that. Once your I-130 is approved, no-less than 12 months, you need to apply for Adjustment of Status to become a Permanent resident.

The official purpose for these Visa's is -- 1) if you can live with being apart from your partner for 3-6 months while you wait to get a K1 visa then you should do this as you can then change to Permanent Resident much easier however 2) if you feel like this would be too much you can apply for I-130 and then K3 so you can wait in the US while your Permanent Residency is processed as a K3 Alien.

The problem here is that it can take longer to get K3 than K1 so it really defeats the purpose unless you need to get married NOW so that the US partner can work in the UK... which was our situation but is obviously not yours... Secondly it will end up costing you a lot less to go via K1 route. All in all the K3 visa cost about $1300 in fees to do it yourself.


In any case you should read all the information about all your options and make your own judgement, come back here and ask as many stupid questions you need to till you have it clear in your own head or hire a professional immigration attorney to help you. I would also ask your fiance to do a lot of research from within the Military as there are a number of concessions and special treatments given to US Service persons and you may be able to get around a lot of this immigration crap this way.

You may also want to look at getting married on a US Army base in the UK. Not the most romantic options for sure but this may help you out visa wise.

One piece of advice is to forget any preconceived idea that the US government immigration workers have more than 3 brain cells between them! They do not... they also do not care about you, that only care about ticking box A on form C etc etc, expect to fill in the same form over and over again, get the wrong information from the help line and be told conflicting things by different departments.. this is the norm so don't worry.

Just remember whatever you do, you are entitled to the visa as long as you are marrying for love and don't have any serious criminal convictions. Good luck !

R./

Elvira

"need to" ???

What about the Immigrant Visa route...

From what I hear a much better option than the K3.

Noorah101

The OP wouldn't NEED to do the K-3 route. In fact the K-3 is not really the best option anymore for immigrating to the USA. The I-130 process towards an Immigrant Visa takes no longer than the K-3 does, and is a far more direct route towards the green card (with the Immigrant Visa, you become a PR upon entry to the USA and no need for AOS). Immigrant Visa process, K-3 process, and K-1 process are all being completed in less than a year these days.

This varies from state to state. That might have been your states regulations. Other states allow you to obtain the marriage license and have the ceremony on the same day.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Bluegrass Lass

Yep. We got our license on Friday, got married on Saturday. Be aware that some states also require a certain number of hours of pre-marriage counseling/education as well as a blood test.

Ali1000, if your boyfriend knows which state he will moving to, and you want to marry in the US, you can look into the marriage license requirements for that state.

Richardowen

So our case was APPROVED and I'm now a Permenant Resident ! W00t!

It was very easy actually, he didn't ask us any questions appart from specifics about my personal data.. DOB, Parents Names etc etc, he was basically just checking the info he had on file was correct.

Looked at my Passport, EAD, Social, my wifes Employment evidence and that was it... all in all about 10 minutes !

I'm a little annoyed that he destroyed my EAD card, would have been nice to keep that as a momento but alas no... got a stamp in my passport with my Green Card number and should get card in 4 weeks...

ali1000

Thank you all for you advice I'm researching heavily which is "fun" we thought we had till mid December till he goes back but the powers that be have decided to send him back next week I'll keep u posted as to how it goes lol

marcsred

So what is this all about? What visa did you all come over on, and then what visa did you apply for afterwards? My fiance is looking to come over on a K1 visa, and we are under the impression that this is the fastest, cheapest way to do it. We're just worried that the processing of all of it won't be done by the middle of May, which is when he wants to come over for my university graduation...

English Muffin

You might get it for the middle of May if you submit your petition now - if not yesterday!

marcsred

We can't even apply until January - I'm living in Australia until then.

English Muffin

I think you might be able to submit your petition from Australia but I'm not 100% sure of that. Someone much more knowledgable than me should be along shortly who'll know more about it.

Good luck with everything.

English Muffin

I did some digging around and the instructions for the I-129F actually explain how to file from abroad. Here's a link to them - they are on page 5.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-129Finstr.pdf

You just need an address that you can use in the US, and if you have one you can submit your petition ASAP - which you'll need to do to make that May deadline.