Rob

Hello,

I've got just a short question for you visa gurus; I'm a Dutch
national, living in Anchorage, Alaska and planning on applying for a
K-1 visa any time soon now. Right now I'm working as a trainee on a
J-1 now. My J-1 expires April, 14 and cannot be extended in any way
(read my other posts here in this forum).

I already have an employer, I'm working there as a trainee right now.
My question is related to the fact that my employer would like to know
when I'm back in the US; I'll go home April 14 and my fiancée will
apply for my K-1 visa.

Questions:
1. How long does it take to file for a K-1 visa?
2. Any tips before I apply/file?
3. Can I file it on my own or do I need an attorney?
4. Can I already apply for a K-1 while I'm working on my J-1?

Your advice is appreciated.

Thank you,
Rob

sdmansour

Check out another forum on this same website; you can find a wealth of information already posted there:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forum...?s=&forumid=35

meauxna

Rob, as you are Dutch, and plan to marry, please consider saving yourself a couple of years of hassle and check this out:

"Is your loved one Dutch. Read how to DCF, save time, money and aggravation by going this simplified method:

DCF Page for Amsterdam: http://www.usadutch.com "

My husband and I did this in Greece 2 years ago; it took 33 days to get his Immigrant Visa. Upon his arrival, he had Green Card status immediately. This is a valuable shortcut that is not available to everyone, but *is* available to Dutchies.
best,
meauxna

Ingo Pakleppa - see web site for email

On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 15:53:12 -0800, Rob wrote:

    > Hello,
    >
    > I've got just a short question for you visa gurus; I'm a Dutch national,
    > living in Anchorage, Alaska and planning on applying for a K-1 visa any
    > time soon now. Right now I'm working as a trainee on a J-1 now. My J-1
    > expires April, 14 and cannot be extended in any way (read my other posts
    > here in this forum).

If you are already in the USA, why do you want to apply for a K-1? Just
get married and apply for adjustment of status immediately (unless your
J-1 has the home residency requirement, but in that case a K-1 won't help
you much).

    > I already have an employer, I'm working there as a trainee right now. My
    > question is related to the fact that my employer would like to know when
    > I'm back in the US; I'll go home April 14 and my fiancée will apply for
    > my K-1 visa.
    >
    > Questions:
    > 1. How long does it take to file for a K-1 visa?

As I said above, you only need it if you decide to leave the USA. In that
case, I would expect six months to a year.

Of course, if you have to fulfill the home residency requirement, you
would have to remain outside the USA for two years, or get it waived.

    > 2. Any tips before I apply/file?

Nothing specific, other than that you would want to look into the
alternative of remaining in the USA.

    > 3. Can I file it on my own or do I need an attorney?

You can't file at all. Your fiance has to file the paperwork.

    > 4. Can I already apply for a K-1 while I'm working on my J-1?

Yes. You can also get married and apply for adjustment of status directly.

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please support H.R. 539, H.R. 832 and S. 1510. More information at
http://www.kkeane.com/lobbyspousal-faq.shtml

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com (always under construction)

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection. See
my Web site for information on how to contact me.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.

Rob

Thanks sdmansour for this link.

Rob

Rob

Ingo,

Thanks for all your help by replying to my message. Your help is
certainly apprecaited.

This is why I would like to file for a K-1; I would like my fiancee to
file for my K-1 to give us some time to 'plan' a simple wedding plus a
day to do so; that's kind of understandable right? So that's why I
would ask her soon (next week), go home in april (since my J-1 expires
soon), file for a K-1 and come back on this K-1. Hopefully it won't
take 6m to a year?! (average time?). Whoh, my employer won't like
that. What if I hire an attorney; will that help my fiancee to file my
K-1 faster (more efficient I think maybe)?

I see how staying in the USA, get married and adjusting my status is
the most convenient option here. But I would like to give us some more
time by filing for a K-1, what do you think about using the K-1 for
that?

Thank you,
Rob

PS. I do NOT have the 2y home residency requirement on my J-1.

HunterGreen

Rob,

If you go with the K1 you will have plenty of time to plan a simple wedding. You will also have time to plan the wedding of the century.... the K1 WILL take a lot of time, and the 6-12 months wasn't an exaggeration. After getting the K1, you will still have to file for adjustment of status (after marriage in the US).
If you and your fiancée do not want to get married and file for adjustment of status now (before April 14th), then your best 'bet' is to DCF in Amsterdam. Go to the US embassy website, consular section, and read up on 'filing petitions for immediate relatives'. You won't find the term DCF on there, that's a laymen's use of words.
The last person I know of DCF'ing in Amsterdam was done in 28 days, start to finish.

Good luck with things!

Groeten, Elaine

Ingo Pakleppa - see web site for email

On Sat, 13 Mar 2004 21:49:09 -0800, Rob wrote:

    > Ingo,
    >
    > Thanks for all your help by replying to my message. Your help is
    > certainly apprecaited.
    >
    > This is why I would like to file for a K-1; I would like my fiancee to
    > file for my K-1 to give us some time to 'plan' a simple wedding plus a
    > day to do so; that's kind of understandable right?

What many couples do in this situation is have a small civil ceremony to
get the paperwork started, and have the big family event at a later, more
convenient time.

    > So that's why I would ask her soon (next week), go home in april (since
    > my J-1 expires soon), file for a K-1 and come back on this K-1.
    > Hopefully it won't take 6m to a year?! (average time?).

Believe me, 6m to a year is *lightning speed* by USCIS standard. For that
matter, if you are in the jurisdiction of the Texas Service Center, it may
well be two years.

Some immigration cases take up to 25 years! My own case took a total of
about six years.

And after you have the K-1, you are far from done. You would have to get
married within 90 days, then file for adjustment of status. Once your
status is adjusted - depending on where you are, that can take another
three years or so - you may get a conditional GC and have to apply to
remove the condition two years later. Expect to be dealing with USCIS for
about five years total, and again for another two years if you are
applying for citizenship.

    > Whoh, my employer won't like
    > that. What if I hire an attorney; will that help my fiancee to file my
    > K-1 faster (more efficient I think maybe)?

No. The delay is entirely within the USCIS.

    > I see how staying in the USA, get married and adjusting my status is the
    > most convenient option here. But I would like to give us some more time
    > by filing for a K-1, what do you think about using the K-1 for that?
    >
    > Thank you,
    > Rob
    >
    > PS. I do NOT have the 2y home residency requirement on my J-1.

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please support H.R. 539, H.R. 832 and S. 1510. More information at
http://www.kkeane.com/lobbyspousal-faq.shtml

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com (always under construction)

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection. See
my Web site for information on how to contact me.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.

Rob

Elaine,

You wrote before: "If you and your fiancee do not want to get married
and file for adjustment of status now (before April 14th), then your
best 'bet' is to DCF in Amsterdam"

I don't understand your explanation here, could you please explain it
a bit more. First of all I think you mean "If you and your fiancee DO
want to get married..."??

Thank you,
Rob

HunterGreen

Hi Rob,

No, I did mean 'If you do NOT want to get married and file for adjustment of status BEFORE April 14th'.
You see, doing that (getting married and filing AOS before April 14th) would be your best option... you wouldn't have to leave the US. BUT you'd have to get hitched (and file for AOS) before the 14th.
If you do NOT want to do that (because you want more time to plan the wedding or whatever), and you wanna get married AFTER the 14th, THEN your best bet would be to DCF (=consular file an I-130 for an immediate relative visa (CR1)) in Amsterdam.
Hope that clears it up?

Elaine

HunterGreen

PS - I would like to add that the website for the US consulate in Amsterdam mentions the non-resident USC being allowed to file an I-130 IF THEY COME TO THE NL TO MARRY THEIR FIANCÉ(E).
This might mean that you HAVE to get married in the NL to be able to DCF here (if the USC is not a NL resident, which in your case she isn't).

You'll have to get in touch with the consulate about this and ask them -

a) if they will allow a non-resident USC to file a petition for a CR1 for her NL citizen husband at the consulate in Amsterdam

and if the answer is 'yes' -

b) are you required to marry in the NL to do so, or is the place of marriage not relevant.

Elaine