My fiancee is from the UK and works on a cruise ship, I am American. We met on the
ship. We are thinking of 2 options 1. the fiancee visa. 2. just get married either in
England or the states and then apply for the visa. Our delimma: he is not residing in
the UK, he is on a ship. Can he do some or all of the K1 process somewhere besides
the UK. ie the US or one of the islands with a Brit consulate? During this process is
he still allowed to work on the ship? He is currently on a C1/ D visa.(non
immigration). If we just got married, would he be allowed to go back to the ship to
finish his contract? Or would this hinder or stop the process? As you see I really
need some help. Any corespondence would be helpful. Thank you, Tammie B

I'm sure someone here can help you more directly, BUT have you considered asking the
cruise line? I'm sure it happens a lot more often than you realize, and they may be
able to answer the questions about where he can do paperwork and whether he can
continue working.

FYI, if anyone suggests doing direct consular filing (which is often the fastest
way), please be aware that to do DCF through London, you (as the US citizen) need to
be an official resident of the UK. Having said that, most people seem to think that
doing the fiancee visa is usually quicker than the I-130 (marriage based) unless you
live in the part of the US which is serviced by the Vermont Service Center (which is
meant to be fairly quick on both types of visa). But there are people here who have
more experience than I in these matters.

All the best, Beth

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Just for the record, VSC is not quick in terms of approving the I-130. Their track
record there sucks! But they are great for I-129F's

Rita

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met on
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Ah, Rita, you would be one of those aforementioned people with "more experience
than I." ;)

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A lot depends on when you want to get married and what he's going to do afterwards.
It seems that if he's going to be spending a lot of his life on a ship anyway, you
might as well go the I-130 route. In particular for the K-1 route you would have to
deal with: (a) Needing advance parole to leave the US (to go on the ship) and (b)
possible difficulty "passing" the AOS interview if he spends most of his time away.

Having an I-130 or I-129F filed for him shouldn't effect his job at all - they don't
ask searching questions when you enter on crewmen visas from what I hear!

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

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Thanks everyone, Will try asking the cruise line. As soon as we get either the k1
approved or get married, my fiance will not continue to work on the ships. If we
marry first then apply for the visa, he would go back to the ship until he is able to
work in the US. I am not sure of how long it would take him to be able to work if we
got married, then applied. Any other comments? Tammie