soniusa

Hi All..I'm just curious about the basics. I have a boyfriend in Germany coming to visit in 30 days. I want him to stay in the US with me and He wants this as well. I assume getting married is the fastest way to go about this but we all live in the real word. I would love for us to get to know eachother for a year before actuall marriage. He is 5 years experienced IT Technician. but if he applied for more schooling in the US .is that all he needs to get a student visa? and also if I decide throw caution to the wind and marry him. How long does it take to get a spouse visa and work permit? I am under the impression it is 6 months. and when applying for a spousal visa. He will still be allowed to come visit on a passport again while waiting for this ? I can reasearch the details just point me in the right direction ... :-)

Ray

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forum...?s=&forumid=35
http://www.visajourney.com/

Thorsten

Dear Soniusa,

I'll point out a few visa options possibly relevant in your situation,
but mostly I'll give some personal advise based on experiences with
people in similar situations. If you are not looking for (or might be
offended by) any kind of personal comment, please hit the delete button now.

soniusa wrote:

    > I'm just curious about the basics. I have a boyfriend in Germany
    > coming to visit in 30 days. I want him to stay in the US with me and He
    > wants this as well.

Realistically, there should be no problem for this (German) person to
travel to the U.S. for a maximum of 90 days once or twice a year (or
even more often, as long as he spends at least a few months in Germany
between visits.) When entering the U.S., it would not be necessary for
him to _volunteer_ the fact that he has a girlfriend in the U.S. One
must never, ever lie to a customs/border officer, but usually a German
traveler with no unusual immigration history wouldn't be asked anything
beyond, "What are you gonna do while in the U.S.?" (Typical answer:
"Travel to A, B, C") and "Where are you gonna stay?" (Typical answer:
"First with a friend," [again, the friend's gender need not be
volunteered] "then in motels along the way".) In the unlikely event an
officer asks more questions and uncovers the existence of a U.S.
girlfriend (but who's to say what's a girlfriend as opposed to a female
friend, really?) your friend could still enter, provided he could make a
compelling case that he would return home within 90 days ("I have a
job/house/apartment to return to" etc. etc.)

> I assume getting married is the fastest way to go

Yes, if you know now that you want to live together in the U.S. permanently.

    > about this but we all live in the real word.

Okay, and here is where the personal advise starts... ;-)

> I would love for us to get
    > to know eachother for a year before actuall marriage.

While this is understandable, you might want to consider that any
process involving a non-fiance/marriage visa may well be time-consuming,
expensive, and/or frustrating for one or both or you. (More on this
below...)

> He is 5 years
    > experienced IT Technician. but if he applied for more schooling in the
    > US .is that all he needs to get a student visa?

"IT technician" is a very vague term. Does he have a college or
university ("Fachhochschule" and "Universitaet" in German) degree? If
not, does he have a high school degree that would allow him to enter
college/university in Germany ("Abitur" in German)? If none of the
above, his options of attending school in the U.S. may be limited. Even
if he does have some form of higher education, he most likely would have
to pay full out-of-state tuition in the U.S.

You both have to ask yourselves if the added cost and potential stress
of interrupting a career to go back to school would be worth it if all
it would accomplish would be for the two of you to live together. Might
all the aggravation perhaps less likely for you to want to get married
(in other words, be counter-productive)?

You may want to consider how your boyfriend might feel. He would have to
interrupt his career, uproot his live in Germany, and move to the U.S.
to start school, essentially without any commitment from you. If his
student visa runs out and you don't want to marry him at this point,
he'd have to go back to Germany and try to restart his life (after a
year or more planning for a life in the U.S.), while you could basically
go on as if nothing had happened. I am not saying that such
arrangements can't work (in fact, they often do), but please be mindful
that there is an equal chance that such an unequal deal might might make
things worse rather than help you stay together.

> and also if I decide
    > throw caution to the wind and marry him.

Basically, you have to decide where you are in the relationship. If it
is very early and doesn't go much beyond "I like him; it may develop
into something more", you should probably stick with mutual visits for a
while. If you know now that you can't live without him, you should
probably just get married. (A simple, civil ceremony would be sufficient
for now. You can always have a big church/temple/mosque affair involving
the family much later.) I am not sure that there is a good way in
between the two.

> How long does it take to get a
    > spouse visa and work permit? I am under the impression it is 6 months.
    > and when applying for a spousal visa. He will still be allowed to come
    > visit on a passport again while waiting for this ?

Others are better qualified to answer these questions. From what I
gather, 6 months seem like a lower bound, the process may also take a
year or so. It may be hard but not impossible for your boyfriend to
visit in between. Of course, you can always visit him.

Good luck,
Thorsten

soniusa

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Thorsten
Dear Soniusa,

I'll point out a few visa options possibly relevant in your situation,
but mostly I'll give some personal advise based on experiences with
people in similar situations. If you are not looking for (or might be
offended by) any kind of personal comment, please hit the delete button now.

Thank you Thorsten,

You made alot of good points. I should have been a bit more clear. The student visa was his idea. I think he was thinking in the lines of continuing more education in his field and working at the same time. I did point out to him that this could be very expensive and stressful trying to do both. we both feel we want to be together permanently but this will be our first meeting. He wants the marriage option to come naturally and not seem like it is only for the reason of staying in the US with me but like you said. we can spend a year being counter productive trying to be together anyway. The choice will be his in the long run but atleast now I can explain the options alittle better.

Thanks again :-) SoniUSA

soniusa

Thanks Ray6,

tha visajourney.com link is going to be very helpful :-)

Best Regards, SoniUSA

Thorsten

soniusa wrote:

    > The student visa was his idea. I
    > think he was thinking in the lines of continuing more education in his
    > field and working at the same time.

Well, if continuing his education is sth he has been considering
anyways, this may be a good option, after all. Again, his educational
background needs to be considered before determining his eligibility for
a student visa.

Also, be advised that the options of working while being on a student
visa are extremely limited.

> we both feel we
    > want to be together permanently but this will be our first meeting.

If you haven't spent any (significant) amount of time together, I would
strongly recommend one of you visiting the other for a few weeks before
he even considers coming to the U.S. to study. Going to a new country
for more than a typical vacation often involves a sometimes significant
culture shock. Add to this the rigor of a new academic environment _and_
starting a new relationship is a lot to bite off in one piece.

Again, good luck,
Thorsten

Ingo Pakleppa - see web site for email

On Sun, 02 May 2004 03:15:15 +0000, Thorsten wrote:

    > > How long does it take to get a
    >> spouse visa and work permit? I am under the impression it is 6 months.
    >> and when applying for a spousal visa. He will still be allowed to come
    >> visit on a passport again while waiting for this ?
    >
    > Others are better qualified to answer these questions. From what I
    > gather, 6 months seem like a lower bound, the process may also take a
    > year or so. It may be hard but not impossible for your boyfriend to
    > visit in between. Of course, you can always visit him.

There are four ways to get a spouse "visa" (I put this term in quotes;
please visit my site http://www.kkeane.com to understand the difference
between visa and status, and why you aren't really looking for a spousal
visa), with vastly different procedures and timelines.

The first would be applicable if you apply while he is in Germany, and you
want to get married in the USA. In this case, you file for a fiance visa
(by the way, a fiance visa requires that you have met in person in the
last two years). Depending on where you are in the USA, that can take six
months to two years or so - although six months is usually closer. He then
goes to the US consulate in Frankfurt (the only one that issues fiance
visas), picks it up and travels to the USA. Within 90 days of his arrival
in the USA, you have to get married and file an application to adjust
status. This application will eventually get him a Green Card; depending
on where you are in the US, that process can take from one day to four
years or so. He will be allowed to wait inside the USA, but travelling out
of the USA may be difficult. The visalaw newsletter just had an excellent
writeup on the fiance visa at http://www.visalaw.com/04may1/2may104.html

The second way would be applicable if you apply while he is in Germany,
and you get married in Germany. In that case, you would start out by
getting married filing a petition (form I-130; you will come across that
term a lot). He waits until the I-130 is approved (can be up to two years
or so), then goes to the consulate in Frankfurt and picks up an immigrant
visa. This truly is a visa in the literal sense of the word. He uses that
visa to enter the USA. At the airport, the immigration officer will take
away his visa, and instead give him a Green Card (actually, a stamp in his
passport - the actual GC will be mailed later). So he would spend more
time in Germany, but end up with a Green Card immediately upon his
arrival. If he is interested in becoming a US citizen, that can be
important.

The third way is kind of a cross between the first two. You get married
and file the I-130, but then also apply for a K-3 visa. This is
essentially the same as the fiance visa, but is for people who are already
married. He uses the K-3 visa essentially the same way he would have used
the K-1 earlier.

Finally, the fourth way to a Green Card for him would be to travel to the
USA as a tourist, fall head over heels in love (in this order!), get
married, and then proceed as if he had arrived with a K-1. Note that this
is illegal if he arrives in the US with the intent of getting married -
but it is OK if getting married was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

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