Timore

Hello!

I'm turning every which way I can for help, so I do hope this is an appropriate corner to come to. Glancing on previous threads it certainly looks like this forum is populated by some very well-informed and experienced individuals, so I have high hopes.

I'm an American citizen who currently lives in Turkey. My fiancee is from Iran and is looking to leave this part of the world as soon as possible. I've contacted a number of immigration lawyers in the US and there is a general consensus that it ought to take between 9 and 11 months to get a K-1 visa for my fiancee because she can't be processed by an embassy other than the one here in Ankara, which is one of the slowest in the world. Most folk I spoke to were confident that the only benefit of getting married before immigrating was the money saving, so we thought it best to wait until arriving in America to get married.

My fiancee has spoken to friends of friends who have immigrated and has heard stories about people going over as tourists, then getting work visas and then marrying. It sounded like such a scheme saved a good deal of time, and my fiancee's pending master's degree should make finding work rather easy for her. My concern is that the people I've spoken gave me the impression that walking the straight and narrow and taking the extra time that getting a K-1 or relative immigrant visa would require is undoubtedly the best way to go.

Given that we want to leave as soon as we can, but also don't want to ruin our chances, is there any particular path that is recommended?

Thanks a ton

maore

My advice to you (I have no much experience in the field) is to wait for the fiance visa for the simple reason that if you tell to a consular officer the reason why you married (make it easier to immigrate to the USA) he/she will question how genuine is your marriage/relationship.
I know you are very much in love, a fiance visa has its advantage:actually finding out if you to get married and live in the USA.These questions are hard to answer unless you go through it.

All the best.

Michael

One of the moderators, Rene, married an Iranian so she will be along shortly to give you advice. 9-11 months could be optimistic since there may be Administration Processing (AP) from that part of the world because of the similarities of names and many of the common names are on the homeland security watch list.

Unfortunately if it goes into AP, you can never tell how long it will take.

Currently H1-B visas have all been allocated for this year. Applications for H1-B visas will start again on April 1 for work starting on or after October 1. Also without work experience, it is unlikely an employer would employee someone and pay the cost of the visa and lawyer as well as wait 9 months before they can work when they can probably hire someone immediately due to the current economy.

ian-mstm

The people she has spoken to are suggesting a route that is illegal. Do people get away with it? Yes. Does that make it okay? No.


You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. Trust your gut on this.


The only recommended path is the legal one. Nothing else matters... even if it takes time.

Ian

S Folinsky

I'm no longer in practice -- but I can tell you that the lawyers happen to be right.

I was a young lawyer on November 4, 1979. In subsequent years, there was a lot of hostility to Iranian applicants in every post on the planet. Every consular officer personally knew at least one person who had been a Guest of the Ayatollah.

Under the rules, the only post required to take Iranians was the one in Tehran -- which was closed. Any other post had the discretionary authority to process the application and the inclination was to say "nyet." It was an interesting time.

At least now there is a post specifically designated to handle the cases.

Noorah101

Hi Tim,

As Michael said, I'm a USC and I brought my Iranian fiance over on the K-1 visa back in 2004. He is now a USC and we're very happy here in the USA.

We also went through Ankara, because my fiance was living and working in Istanbul at that time. But there are a few other posts who will process Iranians, most notably Dubai, I believe. But if you already live in Turkey, Ankara is probably more convenient. Sadegh's K-1 interview in Ankara was actually very pleasant, the ConOff was very nice, and his visa got approved on the spot.

Sadegh's K-1 visa took 14 months to process, because he spent 4 months going through security checks at the NVC stage of the process. You can see my full timeline in my signature link.

I agree that any other method of her getting to the USA will be difficult, and if the goal is to actually adjust status once inside the USA, a visitor visa is definitely NOT the way to go. Go ahead and file an I-129F to get the ball rolling on her K-1 visa process, and hopefully you'll be done in about a year.

As a female, she is less likely to be put into a long AP, although it depends on her specifics. I know of one Iranian female who spent several months in AP because she had a degree in biochemistry and worked in a lab or something in Iran.

Please let me know if you have any questions, I'm happy to help.

Rene

Noorah101

Here is the list of countries that process Iranian immigrant visas (and K-1's): http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/in...1302.html#iran

Immigrant visas for residents of Iran are processed at: U.S. Embassy Vienna, Austria; U.S. Embassy Ankara, Turkey; U.S. Embassy Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; U.S. Consulate General Frankfurt, Germany (family-based applicants only); and U.S. Consulate General Naples, Italy.

I said Dubai, but it's Abu Dhabi.

Also, I should mention that about 6 weeks of our timeline was spent with Sadegh going back to Iran for his original civil documents and seeing his family before leaving for the USA. So our timeline might have been a couple of months shorter if he hadn't had to do that.

Rene

jeffreyhy

Don't count on it. You don't say what field her degree is in, but many of the unemployed in the USA - short and long-term - have Master's degrees and PhDs.

Regards, JEff

Squirrel

Probably being thick, but I can't see why marrying first and applying for an immigrant visa wouldn't be better if you are currently both together and can await the processing together. It would save a trail of paperwork stateside.

Squirrel

But they would have married because they loved each other not to make it easier to emigrate! If that is the case then most of us could be accused of marrying someone for visa reasons. Fact is, we didn't marry any old person to get a visa, we married the person we love, who happened to need a visa if we wanted to be allowed to live together like most married couples do!

Noorah101

The benefit of getting married first and doing an Immigrant Visa is that she will become a US Permanent Resident upon entry the USA, with no more paperwork to be done in order to get her green card (as with the K-1 visa).

But it's really a personal choice, whichever way works better for you guys.

Rene

Noorah101

The OP didn't actually say his fiancee lives in Turkey, too. I assumed that she still lives in Iran, while he is living and working in Turkey.

Rene

ian-mstm

Why should people be afraid to 1) Speak the truth; and 2) take a course of action that is perfectly legal?


Perhaps you should stick to things you're familiar with.

Ian

Timore

Thank you everyone for such quick and thorough responses!

My fiancee does in fact live in Turkey with me, but unless there were advantages beyond the cost and paperwork burden of getting married before immigrating, we wanted to celebrate coming to America by getting married.

Rene- Did you use an immigration lawyer? Getting legal help seems very beneficial, but it seems a touch pricey. I want to do this right, but doing it quickly and inexpensively is important.

S Folinsky

Renee did it without a lawyer. On whether to hire a lawyer or not is a personal decision.

You do not define "pricey." As these things go, Mathew Udall in Sacramento California is knowledgeable, and his fees are more than reasonable. [IOW, I think they are quite low].