S_barnes

Wondering if someone can help me with some questions I have? I'm a UK citizen and have been with my fiancé for around 10 months now and he is a US citizen. I want to move over to the US this August and we'll be married by Nov/Dec. Can I go over and visit and then start my immigration process whilst I am already there? The reason I ask if I can do it this way is that my tenancy for my current home is about to expire beginning of August so I just want to leave here and be with him. There's so many different ways of doing this but I haven't seen any direct answers for my situation. So basically what I'm asking is

A) can I just leave the country and start my process when I arrive if I'm already engaged and making wedding plans?
B) will I be kicked out of the country (US) if I try to go over there without a visa?
C) what is the quickest way of getting the process done? My tenancy ends in around 10 weeks

Please can someone help me who has gone through this or knows exactly what they're talking about? I'm in a rush to find out because im not sure if I'm going to have to find a new place to live until my visa is sorted or I may just stay with relatives I have in Jamaica (don't need a visa to visit there :-) ) until it's all sorted

Thanks in advance!

Noorah101

A) Yes, you can file the I-130 while you are still in the USA. Then you'll have to leave before your 90 day VWP visit ends. You can come back to visit again, but ultimately about 8 to 10 months later, you will return to the UK for your medical and immigrant visa interview.

B) No, of course not. You'll be visiting using the VWP, no visa at all. Eventually, when you come to the USA permanently, you'll have an immigrant visa in hand.

C) The quickest way for you to immigrate is probably the K-1 visa, because you can start it now, before marriage, and it might be some weeks shorter than the immigrant visa path. To be blunt, there is no way for you to move permanently to the USA as quickly as August 2016. Whether you do the K-1 or the immigrant visa, you should plan on the process taking 8 to 10 months. You can only visit the USA while waiting.

Jamaica might not allow you to interview there, if you're just visiting. 3rd country embassies are not required to process visas for non residents. They can, if they want, but it's their choice.

Rene

Rete

You have been engaged for 10 months and only now have started to look into the process of immigrating to the US. The proper way to have done it would have been for your fiancée to have started the Fiancee Visa route by filing the I-129F back in January of this year. If he had done so, you would have your fiancée visa by August/September which would have allowed you to enter the US, marry and remain in the US to adjust status.

The way you are proposing to do things is considered illegal as you have expressed intent to immigrate to the US without the proper visa. If you do this, there is the chance that it can come back and bite you in the arse when you go for adjustment of status interview in the US. The result of the bite would be to be deported and having then to apply for a spousal visa (CR-1) at the foreign consulate abroad and quite possibly require a waiver of inadmissibility because to be deported after rejection of your adjustment of status would have put you in an overstay situation.

Suggestion would be to have him:

1. Start the Fiancee Visa (K-1) route now while you are still abroad and you come and visit for a short period of time and then return home. Once the K-1 is approved you return to the US, marry and remain and file for adjustment of status; or

2. You come to the US, marry as planned and leave the US before the date expires that will be placed in your passport at the POE and have him file the I-130 for the start of your spousal visa which will be done at the US Consulate abroad.

Both avenues will take between 6 to 10 months. The later for the K-1 (6-8 months) and the longer for the spousal visa (6 to 10 months). If he starts the Fiancee visa now, you might have it in hand by December or January.

No one wants to be apart, but unfortunately, for long distance relationships this is often the case. No one has died from longing to be with someone they love. It is inconvenient, of course, but not the end of the world. Sign a short term rental agreement when you lease is up.

ian-mstm

With respect, the US has no interest in what you want. There is a process, and it is time consuming.


Yes, you probably have. You just didn't want to believe any of them because they conflicted with your preconceived notion of how things work. Bottom line: it is illegal to enter the US as a visitor with the intent to stay to adjust your status.


No... if your intent is to remain in the US throughout the process.


No... but that's not really the question you want to ask.


The quickest way would have been to start 6-8 months ago. I don't mean to sound flippant, but you can't simply move to the US and live there. There's a process you need to follow and it'll take 8-10 months.


That is not any concern of US immigration. If you start the process today, you'll have a visa in 8-10 months.


I suggest you start looking now.


I suggest you put your stuff in storage... because you can't live in Jamaica without a visa just the same as you can't live in the US without a visa. You can visit - yes, but that's not the same thing.

Ian

ian-mstm

I think it's worse than you think. I don't think they've been engaged for 10 months... I think they've been a couple for only 10 months. I'll wager they're in their early 20's. Ah... the optimism of youth!

Ian

sir_eccles

Talk to your landlord and set up a month to month lease.

S_barnes

Thanks for all the responses guys...

We've been together for 10 months not engaged for that time, he proposed last night and I've never been in a long distance relationship and all this has only come up today....

Not young either, I'm in my early 30's but know nothing about these things because I've never had to do any research about it or know anyone that has done it...

Can't get an extension on my lease as my home is owned by my abusive ex partner, hence the reason why I need to leave urgently... Maybe because of what I've been through the last 12yrs of my life is why I'm so 'ignorant' in a sense to this information, and maybe why I'm in such a rush to start a new life... Please don't judge someone who lacks information and is asking for help.

Thank you for the ones who have positively responded and helped me look in the right direction, I will start the process on Monday

Rete

You aren't being judged. While I can't understand why you would stay in a rental owned by an abusive ex-partner, I know you must in heaven that the lease is nearly up.

Find a new place to live for the next six months or better yet, a year. Have your fiancée come here and get the information, along with you, on how to get started on the fiancée visa or spousal visa (CR-1) and then get the paperwork in and processed.

You can visit while the processing is being done. You can visit up to the amount of time allowed under the VWP but need to return to the UK. The general rule is that you spend as much time outside of the US as you did visiting before you try to enter again.

While you are visiting you are here only as a tourist, nothing more. The time will pass quickly as there is much that both you and he need to do for whichever visa you apply for. As a UK resident you will need a long form birth certificate (shows your parents' names, etc.), a ACRO report from the police, a medical, probably an update on vaccinations.

The only thing that you need to know is that you must have seen your fiancée, in person, at least once during the two years prior to his filing the initial paperwork.

There is an excellent wiki up above. Have a look through it for both visas.

S_barnes

Thank you very much, this is the kind of detailed information I was looking for! We've been talking whilst reading the responses and I'm looking for another place to stay for the next year and I'll go and visit for the month of August instead, thanks again for the info and help :-)

Noorah101

We are here to help, for sure. I'm wondering what process you are planning to start on Monday? Did you mean immigration related, or looking for a new place?

Rene

zzrmark

Whilst it doesn't help with the timescales for sorting out a visa, moving to a different property gives you an ideal chance to clear out clutter amassed over the years and prep for emigrating without the need to fill a container ship.

ian-mstm

Fortunately, almost everyone here has been through or is going through the immigration process... and we will help you.


Perhaps that also explains why you seem somewhat overly sensitive to those whose responses lie outside your comfort zone.

Ian

LondonSquirrel

Obviously this isn't what you were asking, but if you are desperate to be together as soon as possible, and you have a job earning a salary of at least £18600, a spouse visa for him to the UK can be expedited for extra cost. People have got the visa as quickly as a week after giving biometrics. You could marry in August (the US doesn't require any special visa to marry there and leave again, unlike the UK), then apply for the spouse visa as soon as you can get the marriage certificate. There's no interview, it's all done by post. Your ultimate goal could still be for you to move to the US, but you'd be waiting for your US visa together.

Of course I realise this depends how flexible your fiance is, and is obviously out if he has a job he can't give up. If he did though, you are allowed to use a friend, relative etc, (any US citizen or permanent resident who agrees to it) to fulfill the financial requirements ie affidavit of support for your sponsorship (and the amount is much less than the UK requirement). So he wouldn't have to go back to get a job before you start the visa petition.