RH1

So I live in England, and my fiance lives in the united states. For the past 1 1/2 she has been visiting me often, once she stayed for 6 months and the last time she stayed for two. They stopped her at the border and asked her why she was back visiting again in such a short period and she said visiting her bf because we were going to be discussing marriage and visas, well her honesty led her being held there at the airport for hours and they questioned her alot about everything, I didnt know know what they spoke about but i ended up getting a phone call and they asked me why she was in the country again and I made the mistake of saying we were thinking of getting married(obviously we had no visa, we didnt have a clue about visas or that we needed one right away remember we were engaged but we were still gathering information) well they only let her in the country for one month and she stayed for two because financially they made it more difficult for her to leave so quickly. To make a long story short, Im going to be going to visit her in the United states. We wanted to know if it would be wise to get married over there and just not bring it up when they aske me my intensions for this visit. For me just to say vacationing. And then we go get married and apply for the k3 while im there? OR should we apply for a fiance visa instead even though we have heard that it means we have to continue this back and forth visiting deal for a bit longer?

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Your caption made want to say "the one not taken." How appropos now that I read your post.

The responses just might be somewhat interesting.

Since I'm a lawyer, I have to publicly say you should do it legally, a path simply "not mentioned" and therefore you are considering it be one "not taken."

Of course, you could work on making such that you can't live in the US and she can live in the UK. Like I said, could be interesting.

fatbrit

You have no idea about the possible routes. Either much more studying is required, or simply state your actual goals if you want others to guide you.

RH1

Our goal is figure out which visa would suite the situation. We would like to live in the United states if possible. So which would be the fastest way the fiance visa or the marriage visa?

fatbrit

What's most important: living in the US, or being together permanently in the fastest possible way?

RH1

being together permanently in the fastest possible way

fatbrit

So, live together in the UK. Visa usually takes a week or less -- although I have no idea whether the little run-in with the UK authorities you described might delay yours a little. Place to find out is on our "sister board" @ uk-yankee.com.

FYI, sorting out a suitable visa to start living together in the US is going to take you around 8 to 10 months if all goes smoothly

RH1

thank you very much.

fatbrit

You're welcome. Are you going to get married in the US or the UK? Either should be possible.

onyxangel23

Our dream was always to live in the U.S but we have been apart for some time now and it is becoming more and more of a burden on our relationship so, we probably will go through the Uk channel and then at some point look into seeing how we can move to the united states, It just seem pretty difficult with so much on the web being outdated or not very accurate you just dont know who to ask haha. wish us luck!

Our ceremony is looking to be held in the states because her family out weighs mine haha. so that settle that lol

BritishGuy36

If you want to be together ASAP, go to the US, get married, go to a consulate and get her UK entry visa, and come back here (not quite as straightforward as that - do some research).

Once she has been living here 6 months, she qualifies to file in London at the US Embassy/consulate by a process unofficially called DCF (Direct Consular Filing). This process (should all go well) would get you a US entry visa within 6 months.

Note the following points about the process, should you go down this route and ultimately want to both live in the US.

1) You will need to have a police certificate issued to you by ACPO in the UK to state your criminal history. If you have arrests/judgements against you it will not be easy, and may not be possible to obtain a US entry visa and your only way to be together would be outside the US.

2) You will need about $52,000 (or the equivalent) between the two of you, in assets. The US won't just let you in because you are married to a US citizen. They want to know that you can support yourself as a family. Hence there is a financial requirement. I-864 is the form detailing this. If you don't have enough assets a joint sponsor can be used (on of her relatives?) to make up the shortfall. The joint-sponsor must be a US Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident.

3) Your spouse will need to show that she either still has ties to the US or that she intends to re-establish those ties. Personally, as she is still there right now, I'd recommend that she retains the use of a US bank account, US credit card, and maintains a mailing address in the US (even if it's a parents, sisters etc). This helps to show "domicile", another requirement of the I-864.

There are other things you will need to do too, the above are the main and perhaps most difficult to sort out - the process is lengthy and feels arduous, but necessary if you want to live in the US. Believe it or not the London office is the fastest in the world when it comes to processing US visas.

ian-mstm

I understand the underlying humor in this... but when speaking of immigration, these are usually mutually exclusive. Nothing happens quickly when dealing with US immigration... so the "fastest possible way" could still mean 8 - 10 months or more.

Ian

Rete

You do have a great deal of research to do before you can make any type of decision in regards to immigrating to the US as the spouse of a USC.

First off I will tell you that even considering the K-3 while you are a UK citizen is pointless. It can only be done with you living in the UK and your spouse living in the US so you won't be together. The K-3 takes as long as the I-130 which also means you have to live in the UK and the USC lives in the US.

Check out the wiki section above and have a good read.

Noorah101

As others have said, looks like you still need to research your options more thoroughly.

If you really want to live in the USA for sure, and your goal is to be together ASAP, then in my own opinion, the K-1 fiance visa is quicker...simply because the USC can start the ball rolling on it NOW, without having to wait for another visit to get married and then start the process.

It seems that your (and her) history of visiting each other is getting complicated...and it won't get easier with more visiting being done. Might be a good idea just to find the visa you want to follow and get started on that, instead of visits.

By the way, if you choose either the US K-1 fiance visa, or the US spouse Immigrant Visa, you are looking at 8 to 10 months for processing. That IS the fastest way possible to get to the USA legally.

Rene

Folinskyinla

Hi:

I want to express my admiration for you all in guiding OP towards the right and legal course or courses. And a tip of hat to the OP in picking up on that. You have impressed the resident attorney iconoclast on this forum.

Written from Vancouver, BC where a lot of immigration attorneys are hanging out for the next three days.