Legal Details for International Moves

[melanie2781]

Sorry if this has been posted before, but I didn't see anything after a quick scan of the forum. So he's in Canada and I'm in the US. I have children from my previous marriage here, so we've already decided he's coming here. I had a friend tell me the difference between a marriage visa and a fiance visa, so I'm thinking we're going to fiance visa route - given that the information I was given was correct. I was told we needed to meet once (hoping for that to happen later this year) and then I can come home and apply for the visa. Then it's about a 6 month waiting period for it to be approved. Once it is, he can move here and we can get married and live happily ever after lol

My question is, how do we do this. I've done LDR before, but never imagined I would find my perfect match in another country and be in this position lol Any advice or tips from people who have been there, done that is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advanced!!

[mllebamako]

Visa Journey

Learn it. Live it. Visit it everyday obsessively.

Seriously though, that website is gold. The fiancé visa sounds like a good choice for you, if you're only meeting once before applying for it. There is a crapload of paperwork involved so I'd suggest just keeping things organized into a folder (skype/phone records, plane tickets, passport stamps, hotel receipts, etc) for now...you'll need it later on.

[snow]

What mllebamako said.

My fiance and I have applied for the fiance visa in march and are currently waiting on the second notice of action. There is loads of paperwork you have to fill out and you need to prove that you have met at least once within the past 2 years, with either passport stamps, itineraries or boarding passes - we submitted all of these things. We also put in a lot of pictures of us, together with family and from the proposal. We added a 2 page letter of how we met and what we did on all 3 visits and a short list of dates chronologically, so it was easy to see when we did what.

If you need help filling it out you can message me and I will try to help you, but the community at visajourney is amazing.

Once your visa has been approved he can move to the states and you have to get married within 90 days of the entry date. Then you have to apply for adjustment of status (AOS, which is about 600$) and a work permit (300$) when you get the first notice of action from the AOS. The AOS is going to take a couple of months to years and when you are done you might have to prove that your relationship is real - so keep everything that proves you did soemthing together.

[mllebamako]

Once your visa has been approved he can move to the states and you have to get married within 90 days of the entry date. Then you have to apply for adjustment of status (AOS, which is about 600$) and a work permit (300$) when you get the first notice of action from the AOS. The AOS is going to take a couple of months to years and when you are done you might have to prove that your relationship is real - so keep everything that proves you did soemthing together.

This is important! A lot of people think that with the fiancé visa you do all of the paperwork, get approved, get married and then it's done. But there is a lot to do (and pay for) after the wedding as well.

[melanie2781]

Thank you so much! I'll go check that out and bookmark it now. I knew the parts about keeping records that we're really in a relationship. I had friends do that a few years ago, and actually wrote a letter confirming their relationship. We communicate through so many avenues, there's lots of proof. We actually are on a chat client together with avatars and are married on there.. so there's that too.

Thank you, thank you.. and Snow, I will most definitely let you know if (when) I have more questions ^_^

[Mayrainlove]

Thanks as well for all the information. We are preparing for this as well. Deep breath to get through it all. Do you know how long a work visa will be granted after above said paperwork?

[Hollandia]

If marriage is in your plans already, for me, do it in some other country first. I am not sure which one, but I highly doubt it would be the one we end up closing the distance in. I am thinking some other EU country or even PR. It is much easier to get a marriage license in a country that you are planning on using only as a destination wedding location.

The wedding would be for us and whoever can travel to it and worry about parties for the rest in our home countries later. I had been told while it legally should not matter in either USA or NL whether you are married or not, it does make an impact and easier to prove validity of relationship. I will be married before filing any legal documents to close in NL, USA or UK(places he is applying for work at). After marriage we will continue the pond jumping while processing the paperwork in whatever country it is.

[snow]

Thank you so much! I'll go check that out and bookmark it now. I knew the parts about keeping records that we're really in a relationship. I had friends do that a few years ago, and actually wrote a letter confirming their relationship. We communicate through so many avenues, there's lots of proof. We actually are on a chat client together with avatars and are married on there.. so there's that too.

Thank you, thank you.. and Snow, I will most definitely let you know if (when) I have more questions ^_^

Be careful when you submit anything that says you are "married" as they could see it as you are not eligible for the Fiance Visa! I read a topic on visajourney the other day where a couple would refer to each other as husband and wife and they were freaking out about it. Better be safe then sorry! :P

Thanks as well for all the information. We are preparing for this as well. Deep breath to get through it all. Do you know how long a work visa will be granted after above said paperwork?

This is not a work visa, it's a fiance visa :P Usually it takes between 5 months and 14 as I have read cases that took over a year. Right now TSC is working on the cases from February 22nd and we are March 6 applicants, so it's been a little over 3 months, hopefully we get approved within the next month. Here's a flow chart:
https://www.visajourney.com/content/k1flow
Afterwards it will take between 1 month or three before I can leave.

[melanie2781]

Well we officially know I'm going to visit this fall. I'm thinking probably Nov. sometime, possibly December. Thanks for the head's up Snow.. It would be funny to me that they would flip out over that, but at the same time I would much rather be safe than sorry. Honestly we spend more time playing WoW anymore and talking on Skype than we do on the chat client and never refer to each other as anything more than boyfriend/girlfriend.

Oh and thanks for the flow chart!