Originally Posted by natelywills

actually, I completely agree with this. Unless you have megabucks and can afford a decent lawyer to speed the process up it's NEVER a good idea to marry outside of another country and then apply to move the souse. Where possible, take the K1 fiancee visa route.

I went through the K1 process and although it took a long time it wasn't half the time we were told it would take for us to be together on a spousal.

Originally Posted by natelywills

I came to the US in June '05 at last but the whole process took us over a year. That mixed with the hell that was the day I was sent back, I'm a tad nervous about the whole process!! .

Originally Posted by natelywills

sorry, just to clarify, by rights, etc I meant that she would be able to work and travel as normal but only once .

I'm simply sharing my experiences. I applied for a K1 visa and was not allowed in the UK even though I had a ton of proof. I had to stay out of the US until my visa came through, had my passport blocked for tourist travel, etc. My husband and I had to wait a YEAR before we were legally about to see each other in the US. It was really horrible to be honest. If this is a rpocess they have changed then great.

I also was not able to apply for my EAD until my gree card application had been sent in so again, if this has changed then great.

Concerning the Lawyer issue, I agree, it's an unnecessary expense but I was told by an official at immigration when I was refused entry to the US that if I had an expensive lawyer the process could be sped up somewhat. I would assume this is how celebrities get to come to the US and vice versa with little or no aggro.