Sister Luck

Hi All,

I've scoured the threads here, but I don't easily see the answer here. So, it turns out I'm not the only one in my office going through some immigration process. My boss (USC) and his long-term Swedish girlfriend plan to marry within the next 6 months.

She will then split her time between the US and Sweden, but mostly here in the States (Florida), so they are filing a K-1. She has a great job and will be allowed to work from the US when she is here, so my boss's questions is this:

Is he (the sponsor) required to fill out an I-134 Affidavit of Support - or - since she's financially not dependent on him, is there another form for her to file with their K-1 that will suffice? She will not end up being on welfare as I know this is the point of these forms.

Any help here is greatly appreciated...

Cheers!

MidAtlantic

The answer is yes. Check the required documentation here:

https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...nce-k-1.html#6

Nutmegger

There are so many questions with regard to what you write (beyond the support query). Do they plan to marry in the US or Sweden? If the US, she only needs the K-1 visa in order to enter and do so if she plans to stay here and become a permanent resident. However, if she only plans to make brief VWP entries to the US, she can come here to marry, and leave within her VWP 90 day window, without a fiancee visa. However, when she comes here to visit on the VWP she is not supposed to be working, even remotely. If they will marry in Sweden, and she wants to come here to live, she will need a spouse visa to enter the US, and will be eligible to work in the US upon arrival. If they go for either the fiancee or spouse visa, she would probably not have her visa within the six month time frame your colleague cites.

Noorah101

So they are nearing the end of the whole K-1 visa process?

Eventually she can split her time, once she has AP in hand. She will be landlocked in the USA right after arrival on K-1 until she marries, files AOS, and gets AP in hand. This can take 90+ days to obtain.

Have they even started the process? I ask because the whole process takes about a year to complete, but you mentioned they are getting married within 6 months.

Some consulates allow a K-1 applicant to show enough savings to avoid the I-134. I am not sure if Sweden is one of those, and if she's using her job income rather than significant savings, that could also be iffy. There is no other form, no. It's best for him to send her the I-134 just to be on the safe side.

Rene

Sister Luck

Passing these answers (and more questions on)...stay tuned. Thanks for writing, gang!

Rete

Actually, it is preferred that your colleague sign up to BE and ask questions himself rather than have you, a third person, do so.

He is the one with the information and it is easier to communicate quickly with him directly than having to have you relay communications.

In addition to what Nutmegger wrote, the third way is for her to come to the US without a K-1, get married here in the US and leave before the 90 days of the VWP and your colleague files for her immediate relative visa stateside and she completes it the visa portion of it in Sweden at the US Consulate. She can, as Nutmegger said, still visit him in the US for the time allowed under the VWP, but she cannot work remotely.

scrubbedexpat099

If she needs to work in the US immediately then she need a cr1, k1 means about a 4 month gap.