Help needed regarding fiancé visa to US

Irishfiance

Hello.....
My girlfriend of 2 years lives in America and I live in Ireland. We have decided its time for me to make the move to America so we can be together full time and get married. She told me to go there for three months and while I am there we will marry and then go fill out paperwork so I can stay in the country beyond the three months and get a visa so I can work..

I'm just wondering if this is the right way to go about this and if it will work?she assures me that all the paperwork can be got in America and sorted out once I am in the country and we are married.we would get married within six weeks of my arrival as we are already engaged since her last visit to Ireland in January of this year..



My question is can I just go to America on the three month waiver Marry my fiancé then file the relevant paperwork and stay in the country forever? Or am i missing something?

I'd really appreciate any hasty replies as I am more or less ready to make the move in the next two months

quad_red

Step by step:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2994.html

Irishfiance

quad_red wrote: »

Step by step:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2994.html

Thank you very much for the reply.i have already been to this website a couple months ago and read through the fiancé visa part. It says I must apply for a visa here in Ireland and my fiancé must apply also in America,

My fiancé though is tellin me just go to America and marry her and then we will go to the American consulate place and tell them I'm in the country and we are married and I would like to fill out paperwork there and stay in the country..


I'm just wondering would this work or would they kick me out of the country?i cant seem to find any information regarding this

silja

Irishfiance wrote: »

My fiancé though is tellin me just go to America and marry her and then we will go to the American consulate place and tell them I'm in the country and we are married and I would like to fill out paperwork there and stay in the country..

Using the visa waiver program with intent to marry AND STAY is visa fraud- it can lead to a lifetime ban, and boards.ie does not endorse or condone illegal activity of any kind. You can go over on the visa waiver and get married, but if you want to stay, you need the K1 fiance visa- or come home to Ireland after the wedding and file for a CR-1 spousal visa.

Irishfiance

silja wrote: »

Irishfiance wrote: »

My fiancé though is tellin me just go to America and marry her and then we will go to the American consulate place and tell them I'm in the country and we are married and I would like to fill out paperwork there and stay in the country..

Using the visa waiver program with intent to marry AND STAY is visa fraud- it can lead to a lifetime ban, and boards.ie does not endorse or condone illegal activity of any kind. You can go over on the visa waiver and get married, but if you want to stay, you need the K1 fiance visa- or come home to Ireland after the wedding and file for a CR-1 spousal visa.

Thank you very much for the reply ,I was not aware that it would be considered fraud to get married without askin the American visa people for permission to get married, we are just missing each other alot and we would not like to get bogged down on paper work for months or for a year,


Is there no legal way I can go to America and file all the relevant papers there?what of my fiancé was to come to ireland and Marty me here would it be quicker to get into America as her husband rather than her fiancé ?

silja

On average, the fiance visa (k1) is about a month shorter than the CR-1 (spousal visa)- we are talking 6-8 months vs 8-10 months. Also, with the fiance visa, she could petition you now, ie send in her paperwork, whereas with the spousal visa, you need to wait till you are married to start the paperwork. On the other hand, the K1 is more expensive and there is more paperwork to do after the wedding, and you won't be able to work or leave the USA for 3+ months after the wedding- with the CR-1, you get a greencard upon entry and can work, get a drivers license etc.

Two ways to be together quicker:
- She moves to you, the Irish immigration process is easier and quicker and cheaper. That's what my US husband (then fiance) did, and a few years later we did my US visa while living together in Ireland.
- You get a different type of visa- such as an F1 student visa or a work visa. These may be quicker to get, and you can live together while exploring other options.

Irishfiance

silja wrote: »

On average, the fiance visa (k1) is about a month shorter than the CR-1 (spousal visa)- we are talking 6-8 months vs 8-10 months. Also, with the fiance visa, she could petition you now, ie send in her paperwork, whereas with the spousal visa, you need to wait till you are married to start the paperwork. On the other hand, the K1 is more expensive and there is more paperwork to do after the wedding, and you won't be able to work or leave the USA for 3+ months after the wedding- with the CR-1, you get a greencard upon entry and can work, get a drivers license etc.

Two ways to be together quicker:
- She moves to you, the Irish immigration process is easier and quicker and cheaper. That's what my US husband (then fiance) did, and a few years later we did my US visa while living together in Ireland.
- You get a different type of visa- such as an F1 student visa or a work visa. These may be quicker to get, and you can live together while exploring other options.

Thank you again for the reply I really appreciate it.

It's not possible for her to move to Ireland due to family and work etc and I would not qualify for a student or work visa,I have looked into them options last year so marrying is really our only option to be together.


Have you any idea what the total cost of the k1 application process may be? I think it wight be around 1000 dollars but I am not sure..

Could you also tell me if you know why it is considered fraud and/or illegal to just get married in the US. I was under the impression that people get hitched in Vegas and various other places all the time without any prior notice or worry about informing the government

silja

1000 dollars sounds about right, between the various fees and medical etc- maybe a bit more, depending of if you need to get any police certs from abroad, certified translations etc. For the K1, there will be an additional $1100 for AOS (Adjustment of Status) after marriage.

As I mentioned earlier, it is NOT illegal to get married in the USA. If you would like to have a wedding there because it is easier for her to plan the event or she wants her family close by, you can absolutely do so. What is illegal is to plan a wedding AND TO STAY after the wedding, ie circumventing the needed K1/ CR1 by using your visa waiver privileges to immigrate.

Frankly my dear

Irishfiance, your situation sounds quite similar to my own. Girlfriend from America etc and after a couple of years going back and forth (between Eire and the US) we decided to get married (and settle somewhere, we chose the US). She spoke to an Immigration "lawyer" who told us it would be fine for me to just come over on the visa waiver and just get married once I'd arrived.

I admit I didn't do as much research as I should, but anyway I arrived in the US, we got married maybe a month later and then sent off all the paper-work for my permanent resident card and what have you. Received a date for our interview (after having to go get bio-metrics) and set off to get it done.

During the interview the question came up about applying for a fiance visa, I told him exactly what happened and that we didn't apply for one. He asked us if we had planned to get married before I left Ireland and I told him truthfully yes. He told me that this was the wrong way to go about it, and that I should have gotten the fiance visa unless the decision to get wed had come after I had arrived in the US. He told me he believed our marriage was genuine and if it wasn't for the whole fiance visa issue he would rubber stamp our approval right there. But he would have to talk to his superiors because of our mistake.

In the end it all worked out fine and I was issued my green card not long after. They saw it was a genuine mistake and common sense prevailed. Just thought I'd share my experience in the hope that it makes things a little clearer for you or helps you out in some way.

MrEko

Funnily enough, I have just completed the K-1 process. My interview was yesterday and I was approved. We first filed the petition on the 3rd of September 2011 and had no problems throughout it. That should give you some idea of the time frame involved in it.

I found that www.visajourney.com was a pretty good website if you have any issues or worries. Silja has it spot on though, dont go over on the VWP and get married, they really dont look lightly on visa fraud. To get a K-1 to go smoothly you really need to have no problems or issues. They examine everything in minute detail. To be honest, if you are genuine and willing to put in the effort the K-1 is pretty straightforward, the hardest part is being apart for the 6 or 8 months it takes. That is not a problem though if you can afford to make a couple of trips back and forth.

As for fees, yeah roughly $1000 is what it costs before you arrive in America and then there is another fee for the Adjustment of Status, somewhere around the $1100 mark.

If you have any questions PM me, the whole experience is pretty fresh in my head so I should be able to help.

Irishfiance

Frankly my dear wrote: »

Irishfiance, your situation sounds quite similar to my own. Girlfriend from America etc and after a couple of years going back and forth (between Eire and the US) we decided to get married (and settle somewhere, we chose the US). She spoke to an Immigration "lawyer" who told us it would be fine for me to just come over on the visa waiver and just get married once I'd arrived.

I admit I didn't do as much research as I should, but anyway I arrived in the US, we got married maybe a month later and then sent off all the paper-work for my permanent resident card and what have you. Received a date for our interview (after having to go get bio-metrics) and set off to get it done.

During the interview the question came up about applying for a fiance visa, I told him exactly what happened and that we didn't apply for one. He asked us if we had planned to get married before I left Ireland and I told him truthfully yes. He told me that this was the wrong way to go about it, and that I should have gotten the fiance visa unless the decision to get wed had come after I had arrived in the US. He told me he believed our marriage was genuine and if it wasn't for the whole fiance visa issue he would rubber stamp our approval right there. But he would have to talk to his superiors because of our mistake.

In the end it all worked out fine and I was issued my green card not long after. They saw it was a genuine mistake and common sense prevailed. Just thought I'd share my experience in the hope that it makes things a little clearer for you or helps you out in some way.

Thank you for the reply

Could you please tell me the time frame for all this. You got married after one month,was it immediately after this that you filed for your visa?was it in the next couple of days?did you get your visa or the interview before your three months were up and also did you have any problems entering the country for the three months? Did immigration pull you aside and question you about why your goin for so long and who your stayin with and so on?

how did you get married was it just you and your wife in a small little place or was it a big family affair pre planned with honeymoon and big reception and such?

Could you also please tell me the total cost involved in the visa process

silja

Frankly did not apply for a visa; he used the VWP to enter and then Adjusted Status. As he mentioned, he got into trouble with USCIS because what this couple did is not normally allowed, and they were lucky to get the greencard. Boards.ie does not condone illegal activity, nor the instruction or advice of same.

Falcon.ie

Quick question regarding the K-1. Myself and my American Girlfriend are planning on starting the K-1 process in the next week or so. However we currently live in Australia. Can I start and complete the process within Australia? Medicals etc? Thanks in advance.

silja

Yes that is fine. You can start it wherever you want; you can only interview in a place you legally reside, so if you are illegal in Australia or only on a tourist visa, you'd need to interview elsewhere.

Falcon.ie

silja wrote: »

Yes that is fine. You can start it wherever you want; you can only interview in a place you legally reside, so if you are illegal in Australia or only on a tourist visa, you'd need to interview elsewhere.

I'm currently on a Tourist Visa here. So I can't interview at the embassy here? Strange. At which stage of the process does the interview occur?

silja

In most embassies no. Some embassies in countries where you can get a long-term tourist visa will make exceptions, as you essentially do reside there, but it is unlikely.

But you won't be there by interview time, probably: the process takes 6-8 months, and the interview is the last bit