First of all; very nice site! It warms my heart to hear of so many people succeeding in a long-distance relationship, and there is a lot of that here.

I come bearing a question. I am a 20 year-old male from the UK, and my girlfriend is American. We met online, and It's been almost 5 years with us now. I've been over to visit her 4 times, with each stay spanning 5-6 weeks, we talk every single day, and although we are both young, we are very much in love.

We want to become engaged next year, and be married at 21/22. I have researched all the various details about a K-1 visa, and they look incredibly daunting. We are young, but we are also very serious about our relationship, and though we're both very mature, I have the feeling that the immigration department wouldn't take us seriously because of our age, and perhaps because of how we met. (There seems to be a lot of scare-stories about online meetups).

Are we right to worry about this kind of thing, or is it a case of 'if you can prove your relationship is bona fide..' regardless of age? We're ready for this, and money isn't a problem, but it's all so scary. Would anyone have any advice for us? Thanks -

I do not think either will be an issue.
You are within age for marriage and visa requirements, and lots of people on here met online, I am sure one of them will be along soon to testify.

The "immigration department" follows the law, which does not discriminate on the basis of age or how people meet. If people are old enough to marry, the US fiancé(e) or spouse old enough to sign a contract, and the potential immigrant is not ineligible to enter the USA, a visa will be issued.

Regards, JEff

JEff meant to say "does NOT discriminate".

Welcome to BE! As others have said, your age and how you met should not be an obstacle.

Rene

Yes, thank you Rene. Fortunately, I saw your post in time to edit mine.

Regards, JEff

US or UK immigration does not make "moral" judgements about your relationship.

Has she been to visit you in UK? Perhaps that would be a better option for long term? Have you done equal research on her immigrating to UK?

I had the exact same fear when Sheila and I started our immigration journey. That was in 1997 - almost 15 years ago... when meeting online wasn't anywhere near as popular as it is today. Trust me... you have nothing to worry about.


Nonsense. For every scare story you read, there are many tens of thousands of couples who met online and who had no issues whatsoever because of it. You're focussed on the negative stories just now... so that's probably what you're actively searching for.

Ian