angellisa

Hi .. I'm brand new to these boards and Immigration. I am also utterly confused what is the best and fastest way to go with my situation. And would greatly appreciate any advice Please.

I am a USC born and raised, my boyfriend is a UKC. Okay we met on-line .YES really. Neither of us is that young (40's) so we aren't naive to this however we have been discussing getting married, in fact we are planning on getting married we just don't know what way would be best. I am planning a trip to the UK in August for 3 to 6 months (unsure yet). What I would like to know is it best or easiest to get married in England and file papers for him to come back with me or would it be best and easiest for him to come here to marry. another factor is he has 2 children that are 13 & 16, once I marry their father I know in the United States I become a legal guardian but does it work that way when they are UKC? Can they come with dad on his visa or do they need separate ones.

I have read and read so much that I have utterly confused myself and am very frustrated :curse: at the moment. Which ever way is best is the way we will go but I don't have a clue which way is best and perhaps the fastest to get him and his kids over to the US.

Thank You
PS I hope I made sense.

Noorah101

Hi,

There are basically two routes: The spouse immigrant visa, or the fiance visa. Both visas take around 8 to 10 months to process. With the spouse visa, he enters the USA as a PR and has the right to work immediately. With the fiance visa, he enters the USA and has to do more paperwork to become a PR and work.

If you're planning to marry in the UK when you go there in August, make sure you apply for the correct visa to marry him. You can file the I-130 (the first step on the way to his spouse immigrant visa) from the UK, by sending it to the correct service center in the USA. You can remain in the UK as long as you are able, but you should have someone checking your US mailbox, as you will have further correspondence after that, inside the USA.

Regardless of which visa you choose, your husband won't be coming back with you after only 6 months, of that I am sure.

What happens with the kids is dependent on which visa you and your man choose. The routes are different for each one. And I don't believe you become their legal guardian upon marriage...but I'm not 100% sure.

I guess the FASTEST process right now, would be the fiance visa, because if you've met in person within the past 2 years, you can file an I-129F for him as soon as you have all the necessary documents together for that...maybe in a few days' time. So that already cuts out the 3 months you have to wait to get married in August when you go there (and cuts out any time you'd spend waiting for him to come marry you in the USA as well).

Fastest isn't always best, though. It also depends on how fast he needs to work in the USA, and how patient you can be with further paperwork to get him his green card after he arrives, not to mention it's $1,010 more to file that paperwork. But, right now for you, that's fastest...so the choice is yours.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Noorah101

Do you work? You will need to be his financial sponsor, so you will need to meet a certain income requirement. If you don't meet that requirement, you have to get a joint sponsor who does. Anyone 18 or over, USC or PR, living in the USA, can be a joint sponsor. They would have to earn the right amount for their household size + 3 immigrants.

You can also use assets if you own property, assets need to be 3x the amount needed in income, if you guys are married. And if you guys are married, his assets can be used to...but his income can't, unless it will continue from the same source it did in the UK.

The guidelines can be found at www.uscis.gov, Immigration Forms, I-864P. Look at the 125% column for the family size (for you, it would be 4 if you have no kids or anyone else in your household).

Rene

angellisa

Wow .. Thank you for your fast reply.

I am not currently working as I'm a full time student but will be working soon, finding a co-sponser shouldn't be too hard as I have 2 older boys that make a good income or other family members. By the sounds of it, it would be best to marry there so he can work as soon as he comes here as I do know that it is a long process if you start it here cause of a friend.

Next question .. I do not need a visa to just visit the UK and can stay for up to 6 months, however I know I need a visa to get married to him correct? And this can be done from the UK?

Sorry for sounding dumb but this is all way new to me, heck I don't even have a passport until now as never been out of the country thats how noob I am to this issue.

Thanks Again

Noorah101

OK, so you've decided to do the Immigrant Visa. That's one thing you can cross off your list...now you know what to focus your attention on.

You don't need a visa to visit the UK, no. But if you will be marrying there, you will need to apply for a particular visa (from within the USA), made specifically so you will be allowed to marry in the UK. I am not sure on the specifics of that, but I've heard it's quick and easy to obtain, and someone should be along who can point you in the right direction.

Now that you know which visa you guys will be going for, you need to know that you will have to file 3 separate I-130's. One for your husband, and one for each of his kids. He should also make sure he has legal permission to remove them from the UK.

To start your research, go to www.uscis.gov, Immigration Forms. Look at the I-130, G-325A, and I-864. Especially read all about the I-864, as it's a binding legal contract between you and the US government, that even divorce does not nullify. Not to put a damper on your marriage before it's started, but it's wise to know what you're getting into financially.

I'm excited for you! I know how exciting first-time overseas travel can be!!

Rene

angellisa

Thank You once again .. It helps having a starting point as I was just confusing myself the more I read. well off to read some more, but sure I'll be back.

Noorah101

Happy Reading! We'll be here to answer follow-up questions.

Rene

clarissageo

We had a similar dilema - I am the UKC and my hubby is the USC.

We debated marrying in the UK v US, and it worked out easier to marry in the US. To marry in the UK he needed a COA (certificate of approval) that he could only get with a fiance visa, and as we were planning to move to the states it seemed silly, and costly to get him a Visa for the UK when we could marry in the US whilst I visted on the VWP and then return to the UK and apply for the spouse visa. We filed in the US immediatley after our wedding and he then returned to the UK with me for 6 months.

We had to bring lots of evidence with us when he came into the UK with me that we were going to go back to the states and he wasn't going to settle in the UK, and we did that in the form of copies of all the paperwork (I130's) that we had just filed in the states, his UK visitor Visa runs out on the 1st July, so far we have been able to spend the first 6 months of our marriage together. We are now going to the states in June, to spend summer with his kids (again armed with evidence of my intention to return to the UK) so hopefully we can snatch another couple of months together, and we are keeping our fingers crossed I have my medical date before I come back, meaning that we wont have to spend too much time apart.

I dont know what your bf's situation is with the kids, but dont forget he will need the mothers permission to take them from the UK. This in itself can take a long time. It might be worth having a little read of this : http://www.familylawweek.co.uk/library.asp?i=3034

LynannC

Hi

My husband is a USC and I'm a UKC and we married here in the UK last August. The Marriage Visitor Visa is really easy to apply for and really quick to get. My hubby applied online on the Sunday night, sent the evidence and passport by FedEx on the Monday, received an email confirmation on the Tuesday that the application was recieved, then another email on the Thursday confirming the tracking number for his returned passport. He had his passport in hand on the Friday. You apply through one of the 3 UK Consular Offices, depending on where you live. We used New York as he lives in Florida.

While it will be nice to arrive on full immigrant status, spending the first year of our married life 5000 miles apart has not been easy. You can stay for up to 6 months on the Marriage Visitor Visa. There is another one that is for 2 years but it's more for those who are going to settle here. It's more expensive, and I have heard it takes about a month to get if everything is already in order. The UK Consular website has all the information, laid out really clearly, and the Consular Staff are really friendly and helpful.

We've waited 7 months to have the I-130 approved and it will probably be another 3-4 months at least before I can get Stateside. If the current timescales continue then you're probably looking at a potential 10+ months for the I-130's after the date you file. (I know there are still many who filed before me have not been approved yet.)

Hope this helps.

Lyn

LynannC

The British Embassy website is www.britainusa.com

Lyn

TracyTN

This may also help anyone looking at the immigrant visa process:

http://www.familybasedimmigration.co...hread.php?t=12

Bluegrass Lass

Angellisa,

If you decide to marry in the UK, you will need a specific Marriage Visa as others have pointed out. This will cost a good bit of money. You will then need to file the I-130's for him, and his 2 children, with USCIS in the USA. From what I've read of other people in similiar situations, you will not have the option to file the I-130's with the US Consulate in London because you do not have official residency in the UK. You must have residency in the UK to file the paperwork with the US Consulate in London -from what I've been reading, they are cracking down on this. The one advantage of pursuing a spousal visa is that when your new husband enters the US on his Immigrant Visa (also called a CR-1 visa), he will automatically enter the US as a Permanent Resident and will be legal to work.

However, the spousal visa, in my opinion, has the longer timeline compared to the Fiance Visa route (for your situation). You can file the I-129f to begin the Fiance visa process right now (assuming you have already met in person), as opposed to having to wait to file the I-130's until after you have married. While you are in the UK for six months, the petition will be being processed, and with any luck, the I-129f will be approved by the time you return home. After the I-129f is approved, the paperwork is sent to the US consulate where in a few months he would have his visa..so there would be less separation than with the spousal visa. However, the big disadvantage to the Fiance Visa is that he will not have work authorization or be a Perm. Resident right away. You would need to file his Adjustment of Status and Work Authorization paperwork (which currently takes about 90 days for approval) after you marry.

And because there will be a gap between your marriage and the filing of the I-130s (in order to have the necessary paperwork), you will have to return to the US (since you only have 6mo in the UK) to await approval of the I-130's. This means you will more than likely be separated for awhile (unless he can come visit you in the US). This separation would likely be longer than with a Fiance visa because you will not be able to file the I-130's as soon as you enter the UK because you will need to marry and then gather the necessary paperwork. By the time you send off the I-130s to the USCIS, you would have already been in the UK for several months, and when you return to the US you will have several more months of processing before they are approved and sent to the US consulate.

Do some research about the pros and cons of the Spousal vs. Fiance visa. There are a few flow charts laying out the steps involved in the process. I think another poster has already posted the link to it. You have to decide whether you want to be separated while married or engaged, and whether you want marry in the UK or US. This will dicate to you what visa process to do.

Good luck!
~Jamie

LynannC

[QUOTE=sunflwrgrl13;6381146]Angellisa,

If you decide to marry in the UK, you will need a specific Marriage Visa as others have pointed out. This will cost a good bit of money.

Hi

I've just checked the fees again, as I didn't think it was that expensive. The Visit for Marriage Visa costs £65 (about $130) and can be used to stay here or for multiple visits here for a period of 6 months.

Since we have taken this route I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. My husband had to leave to return to work only 2 days after our wedding, and even though he has been over 4 times for visits since then it has been a difficult time for both of us. If I had known then what I know now I would have applied for the fiance visa when we first got engaged. Not only would we have been married by now, but I would also have been Stateside several months ago instead of having to wait another 3-4 months. As far as I can tell the K-1 and AOS/EAD/AP process together would be just as quick as the waiting we are doing right now, only I would have been with my hubby during some of the waiting.

In the end though only you and your husband to be can decide what route is best for you.

Here's to finding our way through the immigration maze someday.

Lyn

Noorah101

Angellisa,

Have you and he actually met in person yet?

Rene

Bluegrass Lass

I should have checked before my statement, Lynn. Thanks for pointing that out. I thought it was a good bit more expensive than that. Will have to do my homework more thoroughly.