What about staying in Spain and getting married and doing a spousal visa from there?

I most likely am reading this wrong but I feel that people think Im trying to illegally enter the country. Im sorry if I come off as some one who is trying to exploit the legal system as Im not but I really am that ignorant when it comes to the American visa system. I just saw the B2 visa and it said 6 months so it looked like a sure fire way of being able to stay legal in the states. Its clear from what you guys have being saying (thanks again) that I have to stay in the Uk until my K1 visa comes through, then I can head over.

I really appreciate the input. You stopped me from f-ing up my K1 so I owe ya.

We are not thinking that, we are used to seeing questions like yours all the time, literally on a weekly basis. However the US immigration system simply divides "would be immigrants" into those who are doing it by the book, and those who are not. If you choose to do it other than by the book, be prepared for a much rougher ride than we are giving you! People forget that the VWP was designed to give visa-free access to the US for low risk people from low risk countries, it is a very nice privilege, and it was also intended to help the visa processing system cope with the huge number of visa applications. The US State Department does not want VWP eligible people clogging up their visa process. If you haven't yet applied for your K-1, you could get married "now" and do a CR-1 instead, which gets all the paperwork (except for the removal of the "conditions" two years later) done before you arrive in the US, and you'll be clear to work the moment you have cleared immigration.

As i really don't have much knowledge on the visa side of things (the people on here are amazing though!) i do have experience of sending pets from the UK to the USA. When i was sending my two jack russells from the UK to the USA with my partner, it took a fair amount of planning and phone calls and several thousand pounds! The company i used was PetAir UK, the service was amazing and extremely friendly, helped me relax knowing they was in good hands. The price i think is based on weight and height and obviously how many dogs you wanted transported. I believe they had different packages available such as do you want them to pick the dogs up before hand and to be dropped off at your home in the US or at the airport. Just a side note as well most dogs have to be up to date with all their vaccinations and has to have a rabies vaccination which we didn't have included in our fee with the air company and that alone cos roughly 150 pounds for rabies vaccinations, however dogs also have to have a vet letter stating they are "suitable to travel" which we included in our package with the PetAir. We opted for the package where they would come and pick our dogs up, have them overnight whilst they made sure they was flight ready and then drop them off at the airport, the company was extremely good at matching the dates we needed as my partner was travelling the same day (you can imagine how much of a sad day it was my house! Saying good bye to my partner and to my two beautiful babies!!) and picking them up at the airport when they landed. I have heard sometimes (not sure how accurate this is) that there can be some issues if someone isn't there to collect them straight away at the airport which is why it was so important that we arranged for my partners flight to land several hours before theirs to make sure. All in all the process still took some planning and some thought into making sure the details was just right! It cost 2400 for two jack russells (one medium and one small). People might have different experiences but that was mine Hope it helps

Agreed, but in the OP's case, assuming that he has a visa application in progress that is likely to take approximately 10 months, and successfully makes two VWP trips to the US during that time then the "risk" involved in attempting a to make a third trip and being refused entry is really only the cost of the air fare. He will, at that point, presumably be within 3 or 4 months of getting his visa. He can either decide just to stay in the UK for the remainder of that time or attempt to make one more 90 day trip. Worst case is that he isn't admitted to the US and has to remain in the UK until he gets his visa, which is exactly what would have happened if he hadn't attempted the third trip at all, In his situation the only negative consequence of that scenario is the cost of the air fare.

Agreed. ..... Perhaps entering through Dublin would be a good option (though someone recently suggested that Dublin based CBP offices were more picky) because at least then you'd only get bounced back from Dublin and not have crossed the Atlantic to be turned away.

OllieWaffle...could you please repost your questions about your pets in the General US forum? This forum is for human immigration issues only.

Thanks.

USA - British Expats

This was my thought as well. The OP and his fiancee could get married now. If the USC is resident overseas, she can file the I-130 to the local USCIS field office, and perhaps do a "DCF" case, which takes only 4 to 6 months, as opposed to the 8 - 10 for the K-1 visa.

Ollie, can you please tell us how long and in what status your USC fiancee has been living there (either in Spain or UK)?

Rene

Yeah sure, sorry about that.

We have been living and working here together for the past year as English teachers for the local Government. The problem is that our contract here in Spain finishes in two weeks and even though I can stay here indefinitely, she has to leave within 90 days. Our housing contract is also finished at the end of the month so it will be a lot of hassle trying to chase up the forms without a permanent address. As well the language barrier may cause all sorts of problems. But that definitely sounds like a better option due to the time frame. We were going to look at getting her the equivalent UK K1 visa but she has been offered a great job for November in the States.

Someone with more knowledge will likely be along to confirm this but the USC only has to be a legal resident of the country (Spain) when the paperwork is filed DCF (Direct Consular Filing) and then can leave. However I believe you have to finish the process in that country including a medical and an interview at the US consulate. I'm not sure if you have to remain a resident of the country or can return for each step (I don't believe that situation has ever happened on BE before).

Therefore if you immediately get married, you may be able to file DCF and shorten the time to get to the US. Also by getting married, you will get an immigration visa (CR-1) and become a legal permanent resident (green card holder) upon entry allowing you to work from day 1.

A K-1 visa will normally not allow you to work until about 60-90 days after filing for adjustment of status (AOS) after entering the US and getting married and getting the Employment Authorization Document in hand.

So would it be easier and quicker for both of us to just get married in the Uk rather than get a K1, go to America and get married there?

The problem with going to the UK is that she would likely not be a legal resident of the UK and you couldn't file DCF through the London embassy putting you back to an 8-10 month time frame to get the visa. Also the UK requires a fiancée visa and a waiting period (I believe 21 days) for her to get married in the UK. Although you could go through that process of getting married in the UK, she then may lose residency in Spain not allowing for a DCF filing in Spain. During her 90 day grace period to leave Spain, she would probably not be considered a legal resident of Spain by the US embassy.

Now if you got married in Spain or possibly Gibraltar (I heard it is easy to get married in Gibraltar) quickly, she would probably be able to maintain her Spanish residency so that DCF filing could occur in Spain. The marriage could be a court house wedding and later you could have a wedding ceremony in the UK or US if desired. You don't even have to tell anyone that you are already married. Many on BE had a court house wedding first to allow them to start the immigration process.

The following is a comparison of marriage based visas.

Comparison of marriage-based visas : British Expat Wiki

As you can see, the immigration visa (CR-1) is a one step process performed 100% outside the US and the fiancée visa (K-1) is a 2 step process with a petition and visa applied for from outside the US and an adjustment of status (AOS) performed in the US after entry and marriage. The 3rd column is the DCF route.

If you do decide to go the fiancée route for the UK, it really is a relatively quick process. I just did it myself and this is how it went:

UK Settlement Marriage (Fiancee) Visa (applied from within USA)

04 Feb 2014: Completed UK Settlement Marriage (fiancée) Visa application on Visa4UK in USA and Paid for Priority Settlement Service via WorldBridge
07 Feb 2014: Biometrics done (sheet stamped) and Documents shipped to Sheffield via UPS
10 Feb 2014: Documents delivered to Sheffield via UPS (8:43 AM Local)
11 Feb 2014: E-mail from Sheffield confirming receipt of documents (11:22 am Local)
18 Feb 2014: Request for Evidence from Sheffield
20 Feb 2014: Returned e-mail with requested evidence to Sheffield
04 March 2014: Decision e-mail received from Sheffield, tracking number received for return documents (Total processing time with Sheffield= 19 days)
06 March 2014: Return documents & passport received ***VISA APPROVED***

The only downside is that she'd have to return to the US for a bit in order to have the application processed. However, it does give you 6 months to get married in the UK in which you're considered resident (I think anything other than a visitor's stamp counts now) so you could then apply for the IR-1 using DCF through London (that process is currently taking 4-5 months start to finish) which I, personally, think is your better option if living in the US permanently is your main goal.