meeko

Oh, wow. Alright, so time to either find a better job or beg a relative to joint sponsor him when the time comes.

When you say the K-1 takes about 8 - 10 months, is that from the time you first apply? Or is that the time it takes for it to process after the interview and such?

Michael

8-10 months from the time of the petition (application) to issuance of the visa. After the visa is issued, he would have up to 6 months from the time of the medical (occurs about 6 weeks before the visa is issued) to enter the US to activate the visa and then he has up to 90 days after entry to get married.

Noorah101

That is from filing the I-129F petition to visa interview.

After the visa is approved, it's usually valid for 6 months from the date of the medical exam. He must use the visa to enter the USA before the visa expires. Once inside the USA, he must marry you within 90 days of his entry. It's best to apply for Adjustment of Status ASAP after getting married, to secure his right to remain in the USA.

Rene

ian-mstm

The joint sponsor doesn't need to be a relative. It can be any USC or PR, living in the US, over age 18... anyone at all - and, there's no requirement that you even need to know the joint sponsor!

Ian

meeko

Alright. We talked about it, and we think we're going to officially get engaged while on our trip to Mexico and from there apply for the K-1

Thank you all, so much. You have helped immensely! )

Noorah101

You're welcome. When you return, if you have questions on the K-1 process, please post them in the US Marriage Based Visa section of this site.

Rene
Moderator

ian-mstm

Your choice of words is really interesting, insofar as a marriage proposal need only be accepted to make an "official" engagement. There's no other requirement. So... if you're suggesting that he will wait until you're in Mexico to "pop the question" then that's fine... if he's already popped the question, then you are already officially engaged. A ring is, most certainly, not a requirement.

Ian

meeko

Technically I guess we already are, but we still want to make a thing out of it Really, it's just when we plan to make it "official" and tell people and stuff.
I'm glad a ring isn't a requirement, though!

Michael

I hope you realize that without ESTA approval or a visa, he can't even transition in the US and will either have to fly direct to Mexico or through another country (possibly Canada) that he has authorized entry. Getting a direct flight to Mexico will probably be difficult.

Another thing, you may possibly want to consider getting married in Mexico if it is important that he is able to work immediately upon entry to the US. On the K-1 visa, he won't be able to be employed until 60-90 days after marriage when he receives his Employment Authorization Document (EAD) but on the CR-1 visa, he will be a legal permanent resident (green card) upon entry and can start work immediately.

meeko

Oh no! Seriously? I didn't think they were necessary for plane transitions.. Ahh! I guess we'll try looking for direct flights to Mexico for him Thank you for telling me this, I didn't think that would be an issue. Clearly I am not very well traveled outside of the US and England.

Hmm, I will have to discuss it with him. They seem about the same in terms of what needs to be done, so we might just get married there. I am so glad I posted in here.

Michael

One other thing to consider is health care reform. If he enters on a CR-1 visa, he will immediately be a legal permanent resident and should be eligible for health insurance through the health care exchanges if you don't have employer provided health care that he can be added to. Entry on K-1 is uncertain (rules still aren't completely defined) since he will not be a permanent resident until the Adjustment of Status (AOS) is adjudicated (possibly up to one year after marriage). Since you are young and possibly initially little money, the cost through the health care exchange should be low (possibly government subsidy). The following link estimates the cost for California but other states should be similar. Although you apply based on your current salary and can get the subsidy in advance, the subsidy may have to be paid back when you file your tax return if your income is higher than initially indicated.

http://www.coveredca.com/calculating_the_cost.html

If the calculator indicates "Free Medicaid", some states have opted out of that program and therefore you would not be eligible if you lived in that state and your income is below that level (the supreme court ruling allows states to opt out of expansion of Medicaid but not the main program). The following is the current status of different states concerning expansion of Medicaid but some states may change their minds and opt in before the deadline since the federal government pays the full cost of Medicaid expansion for the first 3 years.

retzie

Look into flying via mainland Europe. I seem to remember there being plenty of direct flights from Spain/France.

Michael

If going to Cancun, most of those also seem to go through the US and are more expensive than the great circle route through Toronto Canada which seems the cheapest way. However most flights to Cancun take 24 hours with layovers unless going through busy great circle route airports such as Chicago or Houston which takes about 16 hours and is only about $40 more (unfortunately he can't take those routes). Toronto is pretty neat the great circle route but probably doesn't have many direct flights to Cancun daily so there is probably long wait over.

meeko

We found a few direct flights from London to Cancun! They're a little more expensive than the ones with stops, but that's alright. I also found some which stopped in Canada, however, all of those seemed to also stop in places like Miami and Texas :?

As for medicaid - I live in Michigan, so it's a very popular thing here Luckily I make like no money, haha! He is extremely prone to injury, so that is another factor him and I have to take into consideration.

Thanks again for your extremely helpful posts! Seriously, you are all saving me here.