Hotscot

50k to 75k..wow that's amazing.

ian-mstm

I can see that arithmetic is not your strong suit. £840 over three days is £280 a day x5 = £1400 a week. Still... that's a pretty impressive wage.

Ian

Guindalf

"I'm a floor-layer, not a mathematician (or English Major), Jim!"





...oh, and yes OP, marriage is really your only hope. No-one's saying it has to be before you're ready. In fact, I think most would say you have to know it's what you want before you go into it. However, immigrating ain't gonna happen any other way.

sir_eccles

It is. Here's the problem, I don't think that is necessarily going to translate over here where *ahem* locals would probably undercut you.

ian-mstm

True that!

Ian

Dorothy

Frankly, what a lot of your family do is irrelevant to your emigration to the US. If you want to be with your girlfriend in California then you're most likely going to have to marry her. Simple really.

Oh, and most of my family are married to their partners but that doesn't mean that I won't live with mine without benefit of a ceremony.

sherbert

Also worth noting that California is stuffed to the rafters with Mexican immigrants (legal or otherwise) who do all manner of construction and manual labour jobs and who work for a pittance because they have no choice. Unless you own a successful and high end floor laying company, I doubt you could earn anywhere near what you are earning in the UK in this state.

As others have said, marriage is your only real option and you are very young. Is there any way you could take 3 months off work and just 'hang out' here for the duration of your tourist visa? Have a dry run at living together. Of course, it's no indication of the future but it may help sway you towards marriage (or not).

YouWantFriesWithThat

I think Sherbert's suggestion is sound, and probably the one I'd go for in a very difficult situation.

Being separated from your loved one for months at a time is tough, yet there are upsides to it. The not seeing each other for long periods can actually strengthen the bond and can also help both people be sure that they are on the path they really want to be on.

Bear in mind you would not be able to do any work if you did decide to visit on the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP)

Of course, if you did decide to marry at a later date you would have to look into finances and sponsorship, issues which may need careful thought especially as your girlfriend is (still) studying. (I'm assuming.)

Pulaski

Well applying for a marriage visa would give the OP time to scrimp and save for a few months to get together enough money to meet the financial requirements without a third party sponsor. On the money he's apparently earning it shouldn't be too hard to accumulate the roughly ($20k- annual US income) x 3 to meet the assets requirement to self sponsor. In other words if the then-wife earns about $20k there is no need for a joint sponsor or assets. If she has only $1k of income they would need $57k of assets, or a joint sponsor.

YouWantFriesWithThat

Hi Pulaski,

Yes, it all comes down to timings really. I was just pointing out that a financial analysis will be required with added pressure if one of the spouses to be is studying.

I was thinking more along the lines of a K1 visa tbh if for no other reason than it's usually a little quicker than a CR-1.

Susie

Pulaski

Start to finish, I don't believe there's a whole lot of difference. I have always suspected that ultimately, because the immigrant fiancé(e) spouse can't work for about five months, many couples probably regret going down the K-1 route instead of a CR-1 and being approved to work immediately on arrival.

scrubbedexpat099

My son in law laid carpet for a while, if it paid that well in the US he would still be doing it.

YouWantFriesWithThat

For processing times, last I heard (early 2014) the K1s were taking about 2 or 3 months quicker than an immigrant CR-1 but there are obviously exceptions to that.

As regards eligibility to work, it probably works out about the same amount of time, as you point out.

One of the major drawbacks of the K1 process (although I did it!!) is having to apply for adjustment of status, a PIA!!

Still, in this scenario, I'm imagining that the lady would like to get married on home soil, hence the K1.

Get me - I've got half the wedding planned already!! hehehe

Pulaski

That's a non sequiteur, the location of the wedding does not determine the visa type. We married on Mrs P's home soil, then I left and came back with a CR-1.

Actually we both left and later returned to the US, but that's another story.

YouWantFriesWithThat

Jeez.

I know it doesn't.

You've drawn a conclusion based on something you've misunderstood.

I was just saying what I imagined in this scenario.