chris23

Tracy thanks for clearing that one up

Megan,
Times are tough especially as it's so nice to see all you guys ready to move forward with your lives and I still have at least 3 years before marriage will be possible as my GF finishes Uni in 4 years time!! but it's allways good to be prepared and it's been good to have all the info ready to talk to the parents about

Noorah101

I haven't read that wiki article, but I believe what it is referring to is that CR-1 means "Conditional Resident", which is the visa category you'll get if your marriage is less than two years old when you get the visa. If your marriage was older than 2 years at the time you get the visa, you'll get what's called IR-1. On top of that, if you get the CR-1 visa...but then enter the USA after your 2nd wedding anniversary, you'll get the 10-year card, because you actually became a PR after your second wedding anniversary. I'm thinking what you read on the wiki wasn't about when you can file the I-130, but what happens when you get the visa and what could happen at the POE using that visa.

Rene

badlydrawnmegan

Ahh, okay, I see now. So the green card my fiance would get would be good for two years, instead of 10. Then which form would I have to file after that? Is there a way to prolong that time, or would we need to do the N-400 citizenship next? Which eventually, we would want to get to that....

Thanks for your help!

Noorah101

Well, if you're planning on the fiance visa (K-1) then there's no CR-1 / IR-1 visa involved, it's a K-1.

If you go the K-1 route, he'll get the K-1 visa in London. When he gets to the USA and gets married within 90 days, the next step is to apply for AOS. If he gets approved for AOS before your second wedding anniversary, he will receive a conditional 2-year green card. The next step would be to file an I-751 to remove the conditions, within the 90 day window just prior to his 2nd anniversary as a PR (2 years from the date he gets approved for AOS and gets his green card...that date will be on the green card). If he meets all the other eligibility requirements, and is still married to you, he can apply for citizenship by filing the N-400 starting 90 days before his 3rd anniversary as a PR.

If you get married and go the CR-1 / IR-1 spouse visa route, a lot of the steps change from what I wrote above.

Rene

badlydrawnmegan

I'll be going the CR-1 route.

Noorah101

Oh, OK. I misunderstood when you said "the green card my fiance will get...". You mean the green card your husband will get.

OK. You'll get married and then your husband will eventually go to a visa interview in London. If your marriage is less than 2 years old at the time that visa gets approved, it will be a CR-1 (conditional). If your marriage is less than 2 years old when he enters the USA, he'll get the 2-year green card. The next step would be to file an I-751 to remove the conditions, within the 90 day window just prior to his 2nd anniversary as a PR (2 years from the date he received his green card...that date will be on the green card). If he meets all the other eligibility requirements, and is still married to you, he can apply for citizenship by filing the N-400 starting 90 days before his 3rd anniversary as a PR.

If your marriage is more than two years old by the time his visa is approved, he'll get an IR-1 visa, and will get the 10-year green card when he gets to the USA. Or, if your marriage is less than two years old when he gets his visa approved, and he gets a CR-1 visa, but your marriage is more than two years old when he enters the USA, he'll get the 10-year green card.

Rene

badlydrawnmegan

Alright, thank you! That's all helped a lot, I appreciate it!

englishinfl

Try reading the official website (www.uscis.gov) there's loads of information on that.
I moved here in 2003, on a K1, even though me and my wife (fiance at the time) were both living in the UK before I moved permanently.
The process is actually pretty simple as long as you follow their directions, but US Immigration can be a huge minefield, and the timelines can vary enormously, and what may apply if you live in NY, may not apply elsewhere. It took almost 3 years before I got my green card, (lonnng time) and yet I know people that got them within 2 years from application. Doesn't matter as long as your case is in the works, you're allowed to be here.
The important thing is to make sure you cross the t's and dot the i's, because if you don't then it all becomes even more complicated than it needs to be. If you're moving to FL, then be prepared for a wait, because in my experience, they're well backed up with outstanding cases, and nothing makes the move faster.
I didn't actually get the work permit stamp in my passport, but I got a work authorisation card after we were married, and it only took a couple of weeks from when I applied.
Everything else it seemed, took forever, and the immigration service proved to be in total disarray in my case.
Everything takes a while, but once you're finally approved as a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) and get the card, you can live and work here. The card they issue will depend on whether it's issued less than or more than 2 years after your marriage. If it's more than 2 years after, then the card will be good for 10 years, if not, you'll get provisional status for 2 years, which you then eventually apply to change to full status, but right now, you don't even need to worry about obtaining citizenship until you've been lawfully living here as a permanent resident for 5 years, Ok, so I know someone else has said 3, but I've looked into it before and as of today the information on the USCIS site still says 5 years. I quote -

"An applicant is eligible to file if, immediately preceding the filing of the application, he or she:

has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (see preceding section);
has resided continuously as a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. for at least 5 years prior to filing with no single absence from the United States of more than one year"

Remember, that like everything else, everytime you file something with the USCIS, they charge you money to process it, it's not free, and believe me, it's not cheap.
Hope it all goes well for you, like I said, the official site gives you all the info you'll need to apply.
All the best.

meauxna

You might look into it again. I've put the link to the Waivers and Special Exceptions page in the wiki here if you didn't find it at uscis.gov


If married to a US citizen and otherwise eligible, a Permanent Resident can naturalize after 3 years as a PR.

Ray

Another one who believes the official site knows all...
Thats been shown to be untrue so many times ..

Bluegrass Lass

Incorrect. As the spouse of a US citizen, a PR can apply for citizenship 90 days before the 3rd anniversary they were granted PR status. For anyone else that is a PR, let's say through employment, they have to be a PR for 5 years.

Took you an awful long time to get your I-485 approved. My hubby arrived on his K1 in April 2004, and he had his AOS approved in Jan. 2005. Did a name check hold you up?

englishinfl

Nope, not the name check, just the total inefficiency of the BCIS at the time. They "had a backlog", lost my file twice betweeen where it went and the local office, when I was eventually given an interview date the person that interviewed me at the local office didn't pass on my details for approval and so I had to go back months later after eventually getting a response to asking what the holdup was, by which time my fingerprints were apparently "out of date" because they were only valid for a certain period, (yeah, work that one out, if you can!) so I had to go and be re-fingerprinted, and so the list goes on. Took forever. Let's just say that my faith in them was shot to bits by that point. The most ironic thing was that the interview really was just a formality, almost like they were sitting there with a rubber stamp with "approved" on it. It took 10 minutes at the most, we were longer in the waiting area than in the room itself.

englishinfl

Hmm Interesting. Thanks for correcting me on that, and informing me of something I wasn't aware of.
I never even thought to look at the waivers and exceptions section because in the past they'd never seemed to apply to me, just goes to show that sometimes it's worth the effort. Next time I'll make sure and read through everything.