kstoss9

I am engaged to a British citizen. He is living in Wales, and I am
living in Maine. We have not picked a date for the wedding because we
want to sort out the visas first.

I have spoken to several lawyers. I am looking for someone who has
gone though this and knows the correct answers because I keep getting
different ones.

It was my understanding that I needed to file the K-3 fiance visa
(I-129F) application first. Once approved my fiance could come over
to the US and get married within the 90 day window allotted. Once
over I would file the I-130 and the I-485 together (including with
those the G-325A; I-864; I-864A; I-765) then after the two year
probation period, 90 days before the annaversary of the I-130 I would
send in I-751.

I was just informed by someone that I need to file the I-130 first and
then apply for the I-129F fiance visa, but dosen't that only apply if
you are living in the Us and already married? I was going to apply
for the K-3 first and then send in the proof that we are legally
married with the I-130 forms.

I guess I am just checking on the order of the forms. I believe my
understand is correct and the person who told me to file the I-130
first is wrong.

Does anyone know which is the correct order?

Thanks for your help!
~Kate

Noorah101

Hi Kate,

You have things completely mixed up. First of all, how do you want to bring him to the USA....as a fiance or a spouse? You have to decide this first.

Assuming you want to bring him as your fiance and then marry in the USA and have him remain in the USA permanently after marriage, you are looking at a K-1 visa (not a K-3...that's a spouse visa).

For the K-1 fiance visa, you (the USC) will submit an I-129F here in the USA at your service center. After it's approved, the file will be transferred to London, where your fiance will receive his visa application paperwork. He will get a police report, medical, and return a checklist to the embassy when he has all the paperwork ready. He will attend a visa interview and receive his K-1 visa.

He uses the K-1 visa to enter the USA, and must marry you within 90 days. After you marry, you will apply for his adjustment of status (AOS). This includes filing form I-485, I-864, I-765 for work authorization, and I-131 for travel purposes (optional). You don't need to file an I-130 at any time during the K-1 or AOS process. Once this is all filed, you sit back and wait for an AOS interview. At the interview, if everything looks good and security checks are done, he'll be approved and will receive a green card.

If your marriage is less than 2 years old at the time of AOS approval, he will receive a 2-year conditional card (then you will file I-751 to remove conditions in 2 years). If the marriage is more than 2 years old at the time of AOS approval, he will receive the 10-year green card and you do nothing more until or unless he wants to become a USC later.

See here for more info on the K-1 process: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/K1

Best Wishes,
Rene

ian-mstm

Rene is 100% correct. Many of us, me included, did this exact same thing in this exact same order and have lived to tell the tale! And, while I'm thinking about it, kudos for not setting a wedding date until *after* the visa stuff is settled. I can't tell you how many disappointments we've seen posted here recently because people set the date first before realizing that the visas won't arrive in time... that's a real heartbreaker! So... good for you.

Ian

Ray

Cancel the whole idea ..A welshman could never survive a
Maine winter ....

ian-mstm

ROFL!

Ian

kstoss9

On Aug 11, 8:16 am, ian-mstm <[email protected]>
wrote:
> > Cancel the whole idea ..A welshman could never survive a
> > Maine winter ....
>
> ROFL!
>
> Ian
>
> --
> Posted viahttp://britishexpats.com

haha you know he said the same thing!! We went ot visit Maine and all
he did was complain about the cold, I told him he would get used to
it, but probably not!!
thanks for all the help! You saved me a lot of money on forms I dont
need.
~Kate