Visas: K1 vs IR1/CR1

[seshei]

I guess this question is for those who have been through, or are going through, the visa process in the US. My bf is in England, and I live in the US, so we are looking at our options for him to come here.

I know a few people on here have gone the route of the K1 visa, and I'm just curious as to why you opted for that over a spousal visa?

We're thinking about going the spousal visa route, because it's considerably less expensive, and we wouldn't have to file for AOS once he gets here. Essentially he'd be a legal permanent resident and be able to travel and work freely sooner. So, this makes sense for us, I think, even if it does take a bit longer.

I'd love to hear why others went with the K1 visa, and why that was more appealing. As of now, we're weighing our options, so would be nice to hear the other side of things.

[garnet]

Having him come over with the intent to marry can be tricky. They *say* you can come over with intent to marry and leave, but that is one nasty bag of worms. Or you lie, and thats bad too, since it will somehow catch up with you along the way.

The CR1 may be less expensive, but the K1 expenses are spread out over a longer time, so it's a little easier to manage.

How many times have you met in person? How much time have you spent together? The interview may be kinda rough if you haven't spent a ton of time IRL. Proving your marriage is genuine...

The K1 was easy. And fast. Plus we didn't have to be separated after getting married, which was nice. Who wants to send their new husband home? The AOS isn't FUN, but now that I have the paperwork finished, I'd still go this route. I have nothing bad to say about the K1, as the US citizen.

[Rane]

Having him come over with the intent to marry can be tricky. They *say* you can come over with intent to marry and leave, but that is one nasty bag of worms. Or you lie, and thats bad too, since it will somehow catch up with you along the way.

The CR1 may be less expensive, but the K1 expenses are spread out over a longer time, so it's a little easier to manage.

How many times have you met in person? How much time have you spent together? The interview may be kinda rough if you haven't spent a ton of time IRL. Proving your marriage is genuine...

The K1 was easy. And fast. Plus we didn't have to be separated after getting married, which was nice. Who wants to send their new husband home? The AOS isn't FUN, but now that I have the paperwork finished, I'd still go this route. I have nothing bad to say about the K1, as the US citizen.

As the Canadian citizen going to the US, it's my personal opinion that they don't trust that you're going to get married, and then send him back on his merry way I don't think. And if they have even a shadow of a doubt, they can deny you entry for any reason whatsoever. I came really close to being denied entry when we had planned a 3 month trip, since I wasn't working at the time. They took me in the back room, started asking for phone numbers to call, and made me log in to my email account and went through my emails/chat logs. They finally let me go an hour later, shortening my trip to 1 month.

Sorry for the ranting. >.< I guess my point to my side of the immigration is, be prepared for the same kind of treatment if you do intend to go for the CR-1 route. I guess the benefit to the K-1 versus the CR-1 is that chance of being denied entry for the spousal, whereas the K-1 was a relatively smooth process. Of course, this was with Garnet researching and doing everything just right, cause she's awesome like that.

Oh! And not having to leave after getting married is very very very nice too.

[garnet]

The email thing was so out of line. But what can you do? Nothing. Sometimes tons of evidence tying you to home still isn't enough. It's the mood of the guard that day. I was one of the people they phoned to interrogate and it lasted forever. Dreadful.
They just did not grasp that he wasn't going to stay. His return ticket home, his parents words, everyone else they called... nothing mattered.
And then to shorten our trip, hello, we don't have the money for this! No refunds on flights. New ticket. We had to save and save for THOSE tickets, and now one was useless and we had to buy a new one. Now we have a nice chunk of new debt that will take a long time to pay off.

This type of thing happens over and over. We aren't an isolated case. So if you go CR-1, be ready for a possible bumpy ride, imo.

[seshei]

Thank you for your replies. Wow! What a tough time you've had with customs, huh? Luckily, we have had it really easy so far! And I hope it stays that way!

Do you think it's any more difficult to prove the marriage/relationship is genuine going the CR1 route over the K1? Reading other people's stories, it all seems pretty intimidating, but hadn't really noticed much difference in that respect.

We've been together for about 2.5 years, and our fourth visit is coming up in November. Each visit has been 2-3 weeks. Which leaves us just shy of 3 months of time in person. Not a lot, no. But, as much as many others.

A big thing for us is having as much money saved up as possible, and for him to be able to look for work fairly quickly. He will still own a home in England when he comes here, and though someone else will be living in it and paying rent, there may be a part of the mortgage payment that he will still need to cover. While we'd have money saved to cover that expense, it would definitely take the stress level down a notch for him if he was able to look for work when he gets here, rather than waiting indefinitely until they decided to get things processed.

But, yes. It sure would suck to get married and send him home. It always sucks to send him home! Sucks even more to be the one doing the leaving! Though, at this point, I think it's something we can both deal with, knowing that step puts us one step closer to being together. I could be wrong tho!

[garnet]

I have a co-worker/friend who had a terrible time proving her marriage was genuine, and they had gone the CR-1 route. She told me the story, it was a nightmare. It was years before they were together. -_-
I think more than anything it comes down to your interviewing officer. >.< I'm not sure how it will be... can you add him to things like your bank account, bills, rent/title, etc while he's here? They like to see things merged. I DO think it's harder to prove a marriage, than proving intent to marry/genuine love relationship. Impossible, of course not!

If he came on a K-1, if you got married as soon as he got here, it *shouldn't* be too long before he got his work permit. That seems to move pretty fast, and after your biometrics (which is no big deal), it's the first thing you get.

I'm not trying to change your mind at all. All we know is our own experience, and we did consider the CR-1 as well. But this was just easier, faster, and a LOT more likely to get an approval from what I've read. K-1's are something like 95% approved? Great odds.

We understand the money issues. We have them too, and it's a hard choice to make, because yeah, if he could have started work right away, that would have been great. But what if he was denied? And we had to start the process all over again? I don't know. From what we've seen of immigration officers, and how his visa journey was, the K1 was really fast, and really easy. But if the CR-1 is the right way to go for you, then we both wish you the absolute best of luck with it. Please keep us all updated on what you guys decide.

Oh and I don't know if you plan on any visits after marriage, but before his interview/visa is approved, but it might be REALLY hard for him to get in, and that would red flag him, on and on...

Enough from me. We are both always here if you want to chat about the process though! The process is a pain, no matter which visa you choose. I will keep my fingers crossed that you two have as smooth of a time as we did.

[Mio]

Well, maybe you can ask a immigration lawyer. You don't have to hire them to make you all the papers and all, but you can schedule an appointment, and they can advise you what is best for your case. That is what we did, we married, and we are still in the process of immigration, but what our lawyer said worked good so far.

[seshei]

Thanks for your input. My preference is K1, while his is CR1. So, I was looking into that route. But, when I research something I tend to lose focus on the other side of things. Must be the age creeping in! I appreciate your thought process, though. Hopefully we'll choose our route and get started by the end of the year. The distance needs to be gone! Thanks again!

[dynomitegurl]

so I have to say that we never looked into the CR1 because well we didnt want to be married and apart. So we did the K1 visa. so far it has been going pretty smoothly and my fiance is from Ireland. We filed in April 2010 and he has his interview September 21st which will put him here at the beginning of October. I put the entire K1 petition together for my end ( USC)...it wasn't hard just time consuming and just double checking everything was in order before sending it off. We included my phone bills,IM chats, cards/letters we had sent to each other, pictures ( we had spent around 3months together IRL),I also included our passport pages that had been stamped ( pretty much anything that had proven I went to visit him and vice versa) Then when I visited in the summer we got the paperwork around for the portion on his end. I am lucky to not have had any real problems yet *knock on wood*. As for an immigration lawyer, some say you can get one, but I did it on my own with reading the instructions and making appointments at the local USCIS. The only part I think people might run into is the Affidavit of Support after they get approved because you have to make sure you or a cosponsor has enough money over poverty line to prove that the immigrant will not become a public charge once he gets over here. So hope that helped some..not sure if it did or not but good luck! Oh and VisaJourney is amazing! Definitely, which ever way you choose...become familiar with it! It is very helpful and so are the people on the forum

[Élan]

^ If the interviewers don't think they have a real relationship, then the petition will be denied. He won't have to go to jail for that. If they are in a real relationship, then there shouldn't be a lot of worries--just make sure they are documenting visits, activities together, taking photos together, etc. And yeah, the regulations target the people that are just getting married in order to get a visa to a particular country. They aren't designed to stop your real, regular couples.

My SO and I have chosen to do K1 mainly because if we were to get married in his country, I'd have to convert to Islam and we'd have to have an Islamic wedding. I'm not religious and would really rather not do that.

[michy]

We both firmly wanted to marry in his country, which we will do in February and go the CR1 route after that. It's heartbreaking to think of coming back home without him after our wedding, and then waiting through all the months of processing... but if we've made it this far, we'll make it that far as well!

If we had chosen the US for our wedding instead, then we'd have done the K1 rather than the CR1. Also I keep hearing that the K1 process is faster than the CR1, although I'm not sure if that's actually true or not...?

[Zimushka]

please please please!!! advise what to do if I'm not a citizen yet... a green card holder, and we're married officially ... but no wedding and I don't have the money for lawyer.
What type of evidence is good? pictures? statements and testimonies from family, friends and work? phone bills?
ANY advise will be appreciated... thanks

[LeilaniJoi]

I have hesitated posting here though I've thought about it a few times. There is a loophole around both the K1 and the fiance visa. I have used it, it works and it's legitimate. If anyone is curious they can pm me for details.