Us K-1&k-2 Info, Assistance Or Any Experiences

[skrewball]

Hello all!

The time has come for my girlfriend, her daughter and I to begin out journey to the States.

I have done a lot of reading over the past few months and I see that it can take a long time and involves a lot of paperwork.

I am asking those here who have gone through it if they can offer any advice to me. Whether it be methods or immigration lawyers you have used or problems you've encountered.

A bit about us:

- Me: 35 Her:25 Daughter:7

- We have been together for 2 years. I have come to Thailand every 3-4 months to see her and I am currently staying here on a Non-Immigrant visa.

- I am not working (by choice) and in Thailand doing training. However, I have substantial savings and according to the Embassy saving/income calculator, finances should not be a problem.

-I also have a condo in Singapore that I intend on renting out once it is finished building...would this be a positive or negative on my finances?

- One issue I am concerned about is that I have worked overseas the past 8 years and I don't have a home in the US (unless you count mom's house). I don't plan on getting a job or a permanent home until the visa is approved so my fiancee and I can decide what state we would like to live in. Or perhaps head back overseas. Has anyone run into this? Would this cause issues?

-Has anyone run into issues bringing a child along? My fiancee says that she has a paper that states she is the sole parent, but the birth certificate does list a father who isn't really in the picture.

Thanks for any insight you can offer!

[rickb]

Yes, it's a long drawn out process. But it is also very straight forward. I went through the same process back in 2001. IMO, I think it is actually easier to get a K-3 and K-4 visa than the K-1 and K-2. That, however, would require that you and your GF marry here in Thailand before applying. But, again IMO, it shows more of a commitment between the two of you to the person reviewing your application at the US Embassy.

Regarding the daughter, your wife will have to show divorce papers from the previous marriage demonstrating that it is concluded and that your wife has sole custody of the child. In my case, my wife's divorce papers clearly indicated in writing that my wife had sole custody of her children. With such in writing, there was no need for the former husband to indicate his willingness to allow the children to go to the USA with their mother.

Regarding your finances, you indicate that you have substantial savings on which you can live without having to work. Depending on how substantial they are, that may not be a problem. But I would think the officer reviewing the case would prefer to see that you are gainfully employed already. Again, that's only my opinion and may not actually be a problem.

Regarding a residence in the USA, I would suggest you simply indicate that you will live at the address of your mother's house. I think the US Embassy wants to see that you have all of your ducks in a row before you are granted any kind of visa for your GF and her child. It's best not to leave everything until after they receive their visas, as you may be disapproved for reasons of too much uncertainty. Once you're granted the visas, you can always move and that simply involves you telling the government where you are now residing. Moving doesn't involve obtaining any permission before hand. You also state that perhaps, after obtaining the visas, you'll head overseas again. That is the wrong thing to state. You're applying for visas for your GF and child to reside in the USA, not to go there for a short time and then move back overseas. You need to demonstrate your long term plans to reside in the USA with your GF/wife and child which, in turn, demonstrates your need for the visas.

Regarding the condo in Singapore, I would suggest only referring to it as a means of potential future income, if you think it's necessary. Otherwise, don't mention it at all. Any other reference might give the impression that you want to reside in Singapore and, therefore, not need visas to live in the USA.

I've given you my opinions on the above issues. Certainly, the US Embassy could see things differently than I've suggested. You never know until you apply. However, the best advice I can give is to be honest in everything you state. The US Embassy is trying to weed out those that are simply trying to get to the USA and never actually intend to marry once there. That's partially why I suggested, if you truly intend to marry once in the USA with the K-1/K-2 visas, why not marry here first to better demonstrate your intentions. You can always have another marriage ceremony once in the USA.

Good luck.

[daboyz1]

A few things.

Marriage visa This visa will require that you are married before sending the petition to USCIS.

1. K-3 and and K-4 visas are for all intents and purposes not available any longer. K-3/K-4 requires that you file an I-130 and an I-129F. They are both still valid visas, but when the I-130 and I129F are approved at the same time and sent to NVC (State Dept.) they close the I-129F and you have to follow the I-130 route. The CR-1 visa is your option for your wife if you want to get married first.

2. The step-daughter. If you get married she would need a CR-2 visa and a separate I-130. There's been some odd things going on lately with the U.S. embassy in Bangkok and what they'll accept as proof of sole custody for the mother. They seem to have raised the bar recently. This means getting the biological father involved and having him sign some document, and in some cases unfortunately I have seen the biological father ask for some Baht for his signature.

3. U.S. domicile. You can use your mom's address as your U.S. domicile. All of the documentation after you file the I-130 (marriage) forms will go there. Receipt notices etc.

The marriage visa is the better route IMO if you're not in a hurry. It takes roughly 2-4 months longer than the fiancee visa (K-1), but it will result in a 2 year green card for your spouse and step-child about a month after their arrival in the U.S.

Fiancee Visa This visa will require a letter from your fiancee that states that she intends to marry you withing 90 days of her arrival to the U.S. The same documentation I mentioned about the step-daughter above will be required from the step-father for the step-daughter.

1. Fiancee visa requires that you file I-129F with USCIS in the U.S. You can list the step-daughter on the same form. Although this route is quicker, it will require to file an adjustment of status for both the wife and step-daughter after marriage that will cost an additional ~$1080 USD for each after arrival in the U.S. Also, the wife will not be able to work, and in some states not drive, until she gets her green card or EAD. This takes another 4-6 months.

2. The same domicile requirements apply with the Fiancee visa.

The quickest and easiest way of all is Direct Consular Filing (DCF) This will require to get married in Thailand and prove 6 months residency there with a valid Thai visa. (Not a tourist visa)

As far as the financial requirements, You'll need to show 125% of the poverty guidelines for this. Google form I-864P and it has the guidelines. I know that you can use certain liquid assets. I think for K visas you need to have liquid assets 3 times the 125% of the poverty level, and for CR-1 you will need 5 times the 125% of the poverty level. I don't believe that they will consider real estate as liquid assets. You can use bank accounts etc.

You need to go to visajourney and get an account there. It's free, and nothing beats that place for family based visas to the U.S. Just as nothing beats Thaivisa for visas to Thailand.

I'll keep my opinions of immigration lawyers to myself.

Good Luck! Feel free to PM me if you need anything.

Edited May 25, 2013 by daboyz1

[bangkokburning]

I second visa journey

It is widely roumoured that if you want to file here, through the embassy (DCF) /USCIS that you must be on a non-o and have lived here for six months (I've read one year). There are also other issues that show to USCIS you two are a couple, one is a joint bank account another is an established residence here (our mgt only allows 1 person on lease).

I think if your marriage is 2+ years old, the cr1 turns to ir1 and she gets a green card for ten years.

My hunch is the kid and the filing are your issues. Have a look on vj, good luck!

PS Rick stated something regarding your possible interest in returning overseas. Bad idea both to inform them and to try it. You may be denied outright, if not the INS might have something to say about long visits (esp back to Thailand). If she is gone over one year wo prior approvsl I think the gc is null.and void.

Please be serious about returning or it casts doubt on the rest of us.

Finally, yeah that house in.Singapore might be an issue for some investagator?

Edited May 25, 2013 by bangkokburning

[daboyz1]

I second visa journey

It is widely roumoured that if you want to file here, through the embassy (DCF) /USCIS that you must be on a non-o and have lived here for six months (I've read one year). There are also other issues that show to USCIS you two are a couple, one is a joint bank account another is an established residence here (our mgt only allows 1 person on lease).

I think if your marriage is 2+ years old, the cr1 turns to ir1 and she gets a green card for ten years.

My hunch is the kid and the filing are your issues. Have a look on vj, good luck!

PS Rick stated something regarding your possible interest in returning overseas. Bad idea both to inform them and to try it. You may be denied outright, if not the INS might have something to say about long visits (esp back to Thailand). If she is gone over one year wo prior approvsl I think the gc is null.and void.

Please be serious about returning or it casts doubt on the rest of us.

Finally, yeah that house in.Singapore might be an issue for some investagator?

Agreed on the 10 year green card. I didn't mention that because it sounds like you're not married yet. Also agree about not mentioning your plans to return to Thailand. Some people have tried (and failed) to use the green card as some kind of extended tourist visa. They want to know that your wife is going to be a permanent resident in the U.S. Now after 2 years and 9 months from the date of the green card you can file for U.S. citizenship. Once you're wife has that, she can live wherever she wants and come and go to the U.S. as she pleases.

[bangkokburning]

Daboyz: do you know how long the citizenship process takes and very generally what is involved?

[daboyz1]

Daboyz: do you know how long the citizenship process takes and very generally what is involved?

Yes, actually my wife just went through it last year. It's actually the easiest part of the whole process I think. You file N-400 with USCIS. In a couple months you get a biometrics appointment (fingerprints and photos) Then about a month later you have an interview and they ask you 10 questions out of 100 possible questions. Civics, geography etc. You have to get 6 right to pass. After you pass that they send you a letter for the oath ceremony. Raise your right hand and all that and they give you the citizenship certificate right there. From start to finish it took us roughly 4 months.

I had a friend send me the 100 questions in English and Thai, as well as another tool you can load on your computer that asks you all the questions and gives the answers. My wife studied pretty hard for it.

[bangkokburning]

Thanks. Pretty easy - after you get that far.

Are the questions they send exactly the ones on the list? I ask this because a person could memorize by rote. My first History course at university the instructor took all.the questions out of the workbook. It was a general survey course. Anyway, I memorized all 500 questions by flashcard. Finished the test in twenty minutes, scored 100 and given an A+.

Well, my wife's reading is poor, spelling worse so +3 on the verbals.

Thanks for input, congrats to your wife.

[daboyz1]

Thanks. Pretty easy - after you get that far.

Are the questions they send exactly the ones on the list? I ask this because a person could memorize by rote. My first History course at university the instructor took all.the questions out of the workbook. It was a general survey course. Anyway, I memorized all 500 questions by flashcard. Finished the test in twenty minutes, scored 100 and given an A+.

Well, my wife's reading is poor, spelling worse so +3 on the verbals.

Thanks for input, congrats to your wife.

Yes they are exactly the ones on the list. You have to get 6 out of 10, so if you answer the first 6 right, they stop. They also ask you a question and you have to write the answer. My wife's English spelling and reading is terrible. The asked my wife "Who was the president during the Civil War?" She had to write "Abraham Lincoln was the president during the Civil War" She wrote "Abraham Lincoln was president the Civil War" She forgot "during" They passed her anyway.

I guess since she said Abraham Lincoln and not Jefferson Davis, they were fine with it.

I took the test myself and got alot wrong.

Here it is:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.d72b75bdf98917853423754f526e0aa0/?vgnextoid=afd6618bfe12f210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=afd6618bfe12f210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

[skrewball]

Wow. A LOT of great information! Thanks to all who applied and I will definately get over to VJ.

A couple more questions.

- As for the DCF...I came in on a tourist, got it changed to a 3 month Non-Immigrant and I have the option to change it to a 1 yr education visa. Will an education visa count for the DCF? If I marry my fiancee will I get a status change to live in Thailand? How long does the DCF process normally take? Can I count all the time I've been in Thailand? Or does it have to be on one specific visa?

- As for the overseas portion...I contract for the US Govt. Which is why overseas is an option. I would be working for the US and I wondered how that would affect us. I wouldn't be immigrating to a foreign country.

- Also I mentioned the Singapore condo because of the money I put in for a down payment. But according to the I-864 I have enough to cover 125% with savings.

-Now once all the paperwork is submitted we just have to wait for it to be forwarded to the embassy for an interview? Do they interview the both of us or just her?

Again, thanks to everyone for the info. It's a wonder with all the rules that anyone can finish it!

[daboyz1]

Wow. A LOT of great information! Thanks to all who applied and I will definately get over to VJ.

A couple more questions.

- As for the DCF...I came in on a tourist, got it changed to a 3 month Non-Immigrant and I have the option to change it to a 1 yr education visa. Will an education visa count for the DCF? If I marry my fiancee will I get a status change to live in Thailand? How long does the DCF process normally take? Can I count all the time I've been in Thailand? Or does it have to be on one specific visa?

- As for the overseas portion...I contract for the US Govt. Which is why overseas is an option. I would be working for the US and I wondered how that would affect us. I wouldn't be immigrating to a foreign country.

- Also I mentioned the Singapore condo because of the money I put in for a down payment. But according to the I-864 I have enough to cover 125% with savings.

-Now once all the paperwork is submitted we just have to wait for it to be forwarded to the embassy for an interview? Do they interview the both of us or just her?

Again, thanks to everyone for the info. It's a wonder with all the rules that anyone can finish it!

I think an education visa will work for you as far as DCF is concerned. I lived in Bangkok for 3 years and made the (wrong) assumption that since we were married this would be a piece of cake once I got back to the U.S. It ended up taking a year to get my wife to the U.S. I wish I had known about DCF before I left Thailand. A DCF case on average takes a couple months.

I don't know about the contracting for the U.S. govt. I know they make special allowances for people in the military.

Sounds like you're good with the I-864. Make sure you don't have any tax liens out there. They'll know about it, and count it against when it comes to the I-864.

Yes you have to wait until everything is approved in the U.S. by USCIS before they forward it to the embassy in BKK (unless you go DCF). They only interview her. In fact, they wont even let you in the embassy with her for the interview. They used to let the USC in for the interview. I heard a story years ago that when a K-1 applicant was denied, the USC threatened the embassy worker in BKK, so now they only let the K-1 applicant in alone. Not sure if it's true.

[bangkokburning]

You have a lot of questions and have been given some good information. VJ will help a great deal but I would warn you about snap decisions. You are now wrapping marriage and visas and while it is all part of the larger picture, namely getting her to the US - you can now toss the following into the mix:

You living in a big city for two years which then you csn DCF and apply for IR1.

NonO education - yes you can, I hear its a hassle but esp if you are not fifty, best /only choice

NonO marriage - multiple in neighboring countries or by extension. Extensions are a maximum hassle.

If you marry and want to DCF lets say before the first year. You will need loads of supporting paperwork and photos, documents to show your marriage is true. My hunch is its about the same as doing a K visa. I understand the longer you wait, the better.

Your fiance' is best served by having a salaried job of multiple years. You should have some document you are living together. A jojnt bank account post marriage and years of photos of the both of you (with the kid is better imo) in many places, events, etc...

Included in the poverty level is your household, which needs to include the kid. Child will have to be accounted for and INS will asdume the child is going with or will question why mom would leave him behind. - Im very vague on this, so ask. I do not think INS is in business of splitting up families.

I think.you must state if she has children. It is an actual question. Then if they state they must be on the app, you must do just that.

As for your time here and DCF its all smoke and mirrors. I don't think there is anything firm. Further, many embassies allow DCF under much easier conditions. Thailand is a hardcase because of all nonsense that goes on here. The bar girls, the Internet meetup's and the lovestruck farang. You will be scrutinized.

You can ask to apply anytime at USCIS office but you might email ACS and ask them about guidelines [email protected]

Will you get time time served on past visas. Two no, twenty, maybe. I am orvwas a professional bisa dodger until I married. While we are in no hurry to return to states, I would think they would be real serious hard case not to give me a break. Im on my 5th 48 page passport, one is actually 96 pages.

In the end, its about giving them what they want.

I've read the process can take less than a year, even six months. Also read 1.5 years. Usually people with big problems are the same people that have gone thru life with big problems orbare trying to game the system. Big plus is your finances. Big minus the kid - you mention ypu gf a lot, but the kid is just as important and just as much a deal.breaker.

I do not know if I would list that place in SIN if I were you. Maybe not, but that is not advice, just something to ponder.

Edited May 25, 2013 by bangkokburning

[skrewball]

Everyone,

Thank you for the advice given and I am definitely mulling the options! I may hit up some of you PM wise for any more information or personal experiences.

It basically comes down to this. We are tired of waiting. We have been together two years and the poor girl has put up with me contracting in Afghanistan or Iraq during that time. She has been strong and stood fast by my side. We are eager to start our lives somewhere...together.

The one problem I am really worried about, is since I have been working in warzones, I was able to support her. She was able to stay home with her daughter and do school in her home town. In fact I discouraged her from working to spend time with her daughter and study. Again, it all comes down to the consular official, I just hope they can see that these were choices we made as a couple and not because she didn't want to work.

Everyone, thanks again!