stocker1984

Hello,

I am English and my fiance is American and we both currently live in our respective countries (we met through work and are doing the long distance thing). We are getting married in England in September, but once we are married we are going to move to America.

Which visa do I need and when am I able to apply for it? I have done some research but I ended up just getting confused.

Any help would be much apprecaited.

Thanks,
Becky

lansbury

After you get married the USC citizen submits an I-130 to have you classed as an immediate relative. Once that is approved you apply for a CR-1 visa. The whole process takes around 8 - 10 months. When you have the visa you can move to the US.

rpjs

Hi becky, welcome to BE. If you're marrying first, then you'll be applying for an Immigrant Visa, category CR-1 - the wiki has a good article about the process for this.

In a nutshell, once married, your husband will file a I-130 petition with the National Visa Center in the US. Once that's approved, you will have a visa interview at the US Embassy in London. You'll also have to go to London for a medical prior to the interview too. Assuming no problems, expect the whole process from sending in the I-130 to visa in passport to take about 8-10 months. You can visit your hubby on the VWP during this time (and he can visit you too of course).

Some things to consider:

* If you're marrying in the UK, your husband will probably need a UK "visit to marry" visa, unless he happens to be a UK or EU dual citizen.

* You'll need to get an ACPO criminal record certificate for the visa interview (not the same as a CRB check by the way). Although these certificates say they're valid for six months, the embassy accepts them for a year after issue, so you can start the ball rolling on that well before the interview date.

* You'll need to submit a long-form UK birth certificate for your interview, the type that has your parents' names on it. A lot of people only have a short-form b/c (as they are cheaper to get when registering a birth) so check what sort you have and get the long-form ordered in advance if you need it.

* Your husband will need to financially sponsor you (you submit his form I-864 at the interview). If he doesn't have enough income/assets to do so (google I-864P for the amounts required) he may need to get a family member or friend to act as a co-sponsor, so if you think that's likely, you'd best start thinking of that soon.

Assuming no major problems like a criminal record, health issues or need to meet the sponsorship requirements, the process is pretty easy for most people to do. You just need to be patient and comfortable with form-filling. And there's always BE for anything you're unsure about.

Good luck!

Noorah101

Just to clarify, the I-130 is sent to a USCIS lockbox facility (not NVC). The mailing address will be in the I-130 instructions.

For an Immigrant Visa where the I-130 is filed in the USA, the I-864 is due at a stage when the case moves through NVC (not at the interview).

Rene

stocker1984

Could I go to America on a K3 visa while I wait?

Noorah101

Probably not. The K-3 visa is very outdated, and no longer serves the purpose for which it was intended. The Immigrant Visa process only takes 8 - 10 months nowadays, and the K-3 takes the same amount of time to get.

In fact, if NVC receives an approved I-130 and an approved I-129F at the same time (which they likely would), they will toss out the I-129F themselves and just continue on with the Immigrant Visa process anyway.

Rene

Edit to Clarify: The K-3 was popular when it was taking literally 2 - 3 years to get an I-130 approved. In the meantime, while waiting, an I-129F could be filed to get a K-3 visa. The K-3 visa process took less than a year, and allowed the intending immigrant to come and wait inside the USA for the I-130 to be approved...at which point they had a choice of either returning home for Immigrant Visa processing, or Adjusting Status to Permanent Resident from inside the USA. USCIS finally cleared whatever backlog was at that time, and the I-130 now gets approved in about 5 months, so there's no more need for the K-3 visa.

jeffreyhy

You need an immigrant visa, and as lansbury writes you are able to apply for it after your then-husband submits an I-130 petition to USCIS and USCIS has approved that petition.

Have you read the Wiki on this web site? It should help clear up some of your confusion.

Regards, JEff

stocker1984

Thank you for your advice. Wow, I had no idea it would be this involved... So there is no way for me to move to America straight after the wedding?

lansbury

There isn't a way to avoid spending sometime apart. You can go for visits on the VWP, but as Rene says the K3 and CR-1 now take the same time. It is the nature of the beast I am afraid.

Noorah101

Nope, you can only continue to visit on the VWP (but not back-to-back trips). Once you have your Immigrant Visa in hand, then you can move to the USA.

Rene

stocker1984

Is it the same process if we get married in America?

Thank you for your help

lansbury

Yes you get married and come back to the UK while the I-130 and then the visa application are processed. You cannot enter under the VWP with the intent to stay and change your status. Or you can apply for a fiancee visa and come get married and then you stay while you apply for adjustment of status. A fiancee visa takes about 8 - 10 months to get as well

paulpur

you could always get married in the US and file the I-130 after you are married and come back to the UK whilst the application is being processed

the process for getting married in America , if you were going to stay there after you were married, would be that your fiance would submit an I-129F to the USCIS who would pass that on to the NVC and once that was approved , you could then apply to the US embassy in London for a K1 fiance visa , it has similar requirements to the CR-1 whis is that you need to get the ACPO police report , do a medical in London and then also an interview in London.
Once the visa was approved and you get your passport back with the visa attached to it you would then be free to move to the US to marry your fiance(the visa has a 6month expiration date so you would need to move to the US within 6months of the visa being issued)...you are required by the terms of the visa to marry your fiance within 90days of you entering the US.
once you were married you would need to file for adjustment of status(at the same time you would file for AP and EAD, the AP is advanced parole, which allows you to leave the country whilst your adjustment application is being considered....the EAD is an employment authorisation document which would allow you to work) , you cannot leave the country whilst your adjustment application is being considered till you receive the AP document

edit: corrected form number, thanks Rene

Noorah101

Yes. The visa process is the same. The marriage itself will be easier because you can get married on the VWP in the USA, whereas a USC needs a special visa to get married in the UK.

If you want to remain in the USA after marriage, and getting married in the USA is an option, you might want to think about a K-1 fiance visa. That process also takes about 8 months, but when you enter the USA using the K-1 visa, you must marry in the USA within 90 days, then apply to adjust status (i.e., apply for your green card). You might be able to do a September wedding this way, in the USA, if you start the process now.

Rene

Noorah101

Make that an I-129F.

USCIS approves the I-129F, then sends it on to NVC.

Rene