etemilytaylor

Hello All-
I am engaged to a British citizen and once we get married he will move to the US. I have no idea where to start. I have heard conflicting information about whether we should apply for and engagement visa or just wait until we are officially married. Wedding date is Feb 2014. All information will be helpful!
Thank you.

Ray

US Citizen can apply for a special visa to allow a non-citizen (their fiancée) to enter the country in order to get married to a US citizen inside the US.

Once issued, the K1 visa will allow the non-citizen to enter the United States legally, for 90 days in order for the marriage ceremony to take place. Once you marry, the non-citizen can remain in the US and may apply for permanent residence. While USCIS processes the application, the non-citizen can remain in the US legally
The US citizen income must meet the require minimum to fulfill the affidavit of support

Trixie_b

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=585898

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=729015

etemilytaylor

Would he be able to work legally on a green card status or does he have to wait for a citizenship?

RICH

Hello and welcome to BE. Lots of people here have married Brits and emmigrated to or from US. I will assume you are a US citizen?

You stated he will move to US AFTER you are married, so that rules out a K1 fiance visa. However if you are marrying in UK YOU will need a visa I believe.

Trixie_b

Once a green card has been issued he can work. He could also work with an EAD

RICH

If he has a green card he can legally work. But he won't have a green card based on what you have said.

Pulaski

Arriving in the US without the "protection" of a fiance visa and attempting to adjust status to a "permanent resident" is ill-advised, and especially so if you have a wedding date set because it will be challenging to argue that the wedding was "unexpected". If you marry without a fiance visa, your husband would/ should leave the US and apply for a marriage visa from his home country, which is currently reported on BE to be taking 6-8 months. Conversely he will be able to stay after marrying on a fiance visa, and adjust status soon afterwards.

Pulaski

Agreed. The choices are (i) move to the US on a fiance visa, stay and adjust status, or (ii) marry on a VWP visit, leave, apply for a marriage visa and immigrate 6-8 months later.

etemilytaylor

Thanks for all your help. Sounds like we need to apply for that Fiancé visa as soon as possible. Glad I found this site!

etemilytaylor

Does anyone know once we are married how long it takes to be issued a GC?

Trixie_b

Lets start at the beginning. I'm sure that someone else will come along later and correct any mistakes I make with the terminology. Don't write it off as pedantic, the terminology is very important.

**************
If you are not yet married, you can apply for a finance visa, once that is granted, he can travel to the USA on that, you must get married within 90 days, and then he can adjust status to gain permanent residency (green card) (filing I130) - because your marriage will be less than 2 years, it will be a conditional green card. at the same time he can apply for and EAD (I-765, Application for Employment Authorization)

This process can take ??????????? months. it can be any length of time, but on average, expect between 6 - 8 mths for the green card. approx 3 mths for the work authorization.

Alternatively, you can get married (if he travels to the US, you can get married in the US with no special entry requirements, BUT HE MUST RETURN TO THE UK AFTER THE WEDDING). Once you're married he will then return to the UK and you file the I130 & I765 and once granted he can enter the country with a green card.

Michael

It depends. If you are married first (could be while he is visiting you in the US or anywhere else) and your husband returns to the UK to wait for his visa (CR-1 visa), as soon as he enters the US on the visa he is a legal permanent resident (I-551 stamp in the passport which is the green card until the physical green card arrives) and he can work immediately.

If he enters the US on a fiancé visa (K-1 visa) and then gets married, there is an adjustment of status process following the marriage to go through before the green card is issued. He can apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) at the same time and that usually takes 60-90 days and then he can work. It may take up to a year for him to get the green card. It could be anywhere between 60 days to 6 months before he would be allowed to work depending on how fast you get married after he enters the US and files for an EAD.

Because of the different processes and the immigrant may want to work as soon as he enters the US on his visa, some have a small civil wedding while visiting and then after he enters on the visa, they have an large ceremony.

Noorah101

In the above scenario, only an I-130 is filed to start the immigrant visa process (plus whatever supporting documents/evidence required). There is no I-765 because he will become a US PR upon entry to the USA, which allows him to work from Day 1 in the USA. No EAD needed.

Rene

Noorah101

Are you talking about the K-1 process or the Immigrant Visa process? It makes a difference.

Rene