Friday, September 9, 2011

Fiance visa or marriage visa?

Once you and your partner have made the decision that you would like to cement your relationship and live in the US together, you have to decide which visa that you are going to apply for.  There are so many visas that it can seem like a daunting prospect.  

I thought that I would look at the options that were on offer from the USCIS for my wife and I, including whether to apply for a US immigrant visa or a non-immigrant visa, and also whether to go for a fiance visa or a marriage visa?  I will then explain how we came to our decision, in the hope that it might help other couples.


US Immigrant visa or US Non-immigrant visa?

The first thing that my wife and I found out was that US visas are split into two main groups: immigrant visas and non-immigrant visas.  Immigrant visas are for people who want to live in the US indefinitely, whereas non-immigrant visas are for people who want to live in the US temporarily for a specific purpose such as studying, or working for an employer.  

US immigrant visas are usually more expensive and time-consuming to obtain, as far as I am aware, but once you have gone through the process, you can usually become a lawful permanent resident, get your green card, and live and work in the US indefinitely, provided you keep to some basic conditions.

Although a non-immigrant visa is generally cheaper and quicker to get, there are problems if you wish to live in the US with your American fiancee, or fiance indefinitely, as a non-immigrant visa will almost certainly be temporary and you will also most likely be tied to a specific job, or study course.  Although they can often be renewed in some circumstances, it’s bound to be problematic in the long run. 
 

Fiance visa or marriage visa?

My wife and I decided that if we were to be together longterm, then we would have to get married.  This wasn’t a problem for us as we were already committed to being in a lifelong relationship.  The only question was whether we got married first and then I moved to the USA using a marriage visa, or whether I went to the USA with a fiance visa and got married there.    

We discovered that the main practical difference between the two types of visa was that with a K1 fiance visa, I had to move to the US with the undertaking that I would marry my fiancee within 90 days, whereas with the marriage visa, my fiancee and I would have to get married first and then apply for the visa.

The K1 Fiance Visa, which is what we eventually went for, is technically only a non-immigrant visa, but in practice it allowed me to enter the US and get married (we had to get married within 90 days of me entering the USA) and then, once I was married, I was able to apply for a Green Card in order to achieve LPR (Lawful Permanent Residency).  LPR means that you can live and work in the USA indefinitely, provided that you don’t breach certain basic rules.

The reason for our decision to go for a K1 Fiance Visa was that the research we did at the time suggested that the K1 Fiance Visa would work out to be both cheaper and quicker to get than a marriage visa.  The advantage of getting married first and then applying for a marriage visa, which we did not choose, is that I would have got a green card as soon as I arrived in the US, whereas with the fiance visa, I had to go through the I-485 Green Card Application process once I arrived.  

It is important to note, however, that you won't get a fiance visa without meeting the K1 Fiance Visa requirements.

14 comments:

  1. Hi Paul...If I have read through your blogs properly, it took roughly 8 months to get your K1 visa plus another 7 months to get your green card. Is that about right? Our concern is the length of time David might be out of work once he gets to the US from UK. You mention above that the marriage visa would allow one to work upon arrival. However, the trade-off is that we would be apart after the wedding until the visa is approved. Was that your understanding as well? Have you seen any indicators as to how much additional time the spouse visa takes over the fiancé visa?
    Thanks so much!
    Sharon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your summary fits with my understanding of the relative merits of the fiance vs spousal visa. I would recommend trying the britishexpats.com site for further info.

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I skipped this question originally, because I don't know the answer. I would guess that the minimum age is the minimum required in the US state where you get married, but it's just a guess. You'll have to look elsewhere, sorry.

      Delete
  3. Hi Paul, quick question- after you arrived and got married does the 90 day length of stay go away? I mean, you have to get married within 90 days, so you do that; but then you have to apply for permanent residency which takes much longer than the 90 day period, so are you simply free to stay here after you get married? Maybe the 90 days is simply for the wedding, and after that you can stay longer while waiting for the perm. residency to go through?

    Andrew

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As I understand it, once you are married, you've met the K1 visa stipulation. You are then supposed to apply for AoS before the 90 days runs out, but it doesn't matter if the processing of your application extends beyond that (it almost certainly will do).

      Delete
  4. Hi Paul, I have an american fiancee and we are planning on getting married in april of next year. I was wondering if you could help me with one or two things. Firstly, do I have to get a fiance visa? its seems to be a long and expensive process. Is it possible for me to go out on the visa waiver program and get married?
    Secondly how soon after getting married did you get a green card?

    Thanks
    Kev

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not a visa lawyer, but I believe that a visa waiver is temporary and meant for holidays and business trips only - you will need a fiance or marriage visa to enter and live in the USA for more than a few months. If you have a visa, then you apply for an adjustment of status and get a green card that way. There are strict criteria that you must meet to apply for a green card.

      Delete
  5. Hi, I am a UK citizen, my partner and I plan on marrying next summer in the US under the fiancee visa program. However, as his family are Guatemalan and mine are English our families need a date sooner rather than later in order to commit to coming. Obviously we cannot set a date due to not knowing when the visa will be approved. I travel back to the UK in three weeks and we were wondering whether it would be a lot easier to marry here, now, and then to apply for a spouse visa meaning we can set a date for our 'wedding' (just a ceremony, our families would be unaware we were already married). I wonder what you recommend because the longer we leave it, more family members can't make it, but if we were to set a date the visa could be approved afterwards and we would lose the venue, money for flights, etc.

    Many thanks,
    Robyn.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Paul,

    I'm currently going through the K1 process, we applied for it a month or so back while a was in the US on the 3 month visa waiver. I returned to the UK about a week ago (making sure I didn't outstay the waiver period), but now I am unsure as to how long I have to stay in the UK before I can travel back to the US on another waiver until the K1 visa has fully processed.

    The guidelines I read on the matter seemed vague, something like "stay out of the USA for a reasonable amount of time". I was wondering if you encountered the same issue, do you have any idea how long "a reasonable amount of time" is, or if having proof that I have a K1 visa processing counts for anything? (forgive me if you have written about it and I just haven't got to that part yet)

    Thanks, I have found your blog very useful.

    Dave

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't really know much about the rules regarding the visa waiver. I thought that the rule was you could spend up to three months out of a year in the US on a visa waiver? So you could, for example, make three one month visits in a 12 month period?

      Having a K1 visa processing doesn't necessary count as positive, as far as I've read, on the contrary, they can sometimes see you as an overstay risk.

      Have you tried the forum/wiki at britishexpats.com?

      Delete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice information, thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  9. Its always good to learn tips like you share for blog posting. As I just started posting comments for blog and facing problem of lots of rejections. I think your suggestion would be helpful for me. I will let you know if its work for me too.

    ReplyDelete