K-1 Fiancee Visa

[bundy_138]

Yeah, yeah...I know how much "friendly fire" I'm gonna get for this question, but how did you file for your K-1 visa?  Did you get the do-it-yourself-kit or did you hire someone to do it for you? 

I have been researching it online and noticed a few links via PL.  Each place offers the same service but their fees differ greatly.  If I wanted to hire someone, who do you suggest?  An attorney?  A website based service, such as (www.fianceevisas.net)?   I obviously want the K-1 done right the first time, no mistakes, and the cheaper the better.  I won't even attempt to do it myself.

I would like to have my novia come here to visit.  It looks like the easiest way to do that would be with the K-1 visa and not the Tourist visa.  I feel it would be better to see if she likes it here first then to marry her, bring her here and she decides to hop on the next plane home because she doesn't like it!

All suggestions and comments appreciated!

Bundy

[william3rd]

The odds of your girlfriend getting a tourist visa are slim or none and slim just left town if you are sending her the invitation.

Using a paralegal service is paying somebody to do nothing for you since you may as well do it yourself and save their fee since they cant even talk to USCIS for you.

I sell a DIT kit and also do K visas. About 3000 K visas ago, I did my first visa for myself and it was a pain in the rear waiting.

This is something that you can do yourself if you want to- or talk to me

[Ray]

Bundy, a lot of guys would rather pay to have someone do the paperwork for them. However, keep in mind that you and your fiancée will be doing most of the leg work anyway. You will still have to provide all the documents and evidence to the one who will prepare your petition for you.

If you hire someone, shop around first. A visa preparation service may be considerably cheaper than a lawyer. If you hire an attorney, I would recommend an experienced immigration attorney who is a member of AILA.

Ask lots of questions first. Find out if you will pay a single fee up front for everything, or if there will be other costs as you go along. Ask if you will be charged on the clock if you phone your attorney later for a status update or to answer a question for you.

If you decide to do it yourself, you'll get plenty of free help here and elsewhere on the Web just by asking. It's up to you.

The purpose of a fiancée visa is for two committed people to come here to marry. Technically, it shouldn't be use as a visitor visa to see if your partner will like it here. If you do decide to do it that way, make sure you both understand the options and consequences of calling it all off within the 90-day visa stay and buy her a round-trip ticket.

Ray

[bundy_138]

Thanks Ray.  My novia has no immediate intentions of leaving Cali, but she has hinted that she may be willing to leave eventually.  She would be leaving everything behind which is hard for her.  I understand the purpose of the K-1 and have discussed it with her in detail.  We have both agreed that if she did not like it here, she would go back to Cali and we would move on to Plan B.  I would perfer to live in Cali, but being self employed and owning my own business makes it difficult to just get up and go.  I am just trying to figure out the best, cheapest and most reasonable way for her to experience life in the USA before a huge decision was made and she encountered "culture shock".  Especially since she has never left Cali. 

Bundy

[william3rd]

Does she have her international passport yet? She might as well go and get that started since you are leaning in the direction of a visa.

[papi]

Bundy, I did the I129 myself and got it approved but needed to cancel it on my visa dodger. As mentioned above, you are going to be doing most of the legwork. There are some good kits online. I am friendly with Gary Bala and I think he is well thought of if you want someone else to handle it. But doing it yourself is doable. I worry more importantly about your novias commitment to marriage and moving to the USA. Don't even think about walking away from a good business...forget that idea. I don't know what to advise you on your novia...maybe marry her in Colombia and then she might be willing to come here? I don't know...but don't go expat until you are very flush. good luck

[Chris F]

Bundy,

I did mine myself and honestly it was not that difficult. Just go to the immigration web site and down load the forms. Like everyone said.....You are going to have to do most of the leg work yourself gathering all the different documents needed.

It cost you nothing to go the immigration web site to download the forms and directions. Take a look for yourself how fairly easy it is.

[doombug]

I am just trying to figure out the best, cheapest and most reasonable way for her to experience life in the USA before a huge decision was made and she encountered "culture shock". 

That's easy.

Such cultural initiations (or, cultural "shocks") come as cheap as $0.99 a copy (VHS) at Amazon.com.



In all seriousness, I'm on the DIY bandwagon.

The out-of-pocket for already ridiculously high immigration fees needn't be compounded any further by ridiculously high attorney fees. While that lawyer's reminding you to dot your i's, who's to say he'll catch the uncrossed t's.

A little proofreading and careful following of instructions is pretty much all it takes to handling a K-1 visa app. I did the K-3 for 3, and each petition was approved without a hitch. 

[jediknight]

www.visajourney.com for lots of info and how to's on doing it yourself.

[michaelb]

Aint hard to do it yourself. The two major hard parts are gathering up all the documents and translating them into English (which you can also do yourself, if you are competent, or you can hire a professional translator). The INS site (www.uscis.gov) has all the forms and instructions you need, free for the downloading. A petition filed by a service and/or attorney isn't going to be processed one day faster than a properly documented one filed by the principal. Notice I did say PROPERLY, if you do it wrong or don't include all the required supporting documentation, they will kick it back, causing even more than their usual and customary (and unacceptable) delays. Ray is right, BTW, the purpose of the visa is to allow the foreign person into the US to get married, NOT a 'back door' visitor visa.

[Looking4Wife]

My novia has no immediate intentions of leaving Cali, but she has hinted that she may be willing to leave eventually.  She would be leaving everything behind which is hard for her.  I understand the purpose of the K-1 and have discussed it with her in detail.

1.  As far as do-it-yourself info, the best source is www.VisaJourney.com as has been previously mentioned.  Hundreds of people are on the site almost daily, sharing experiences, from all over the world, in various stages of the visa process, and dealing with different types of spousal, fiancee, and family visas.

2.  Are  you ready for a K-1?

Many guys who are currently happily married to foreign women would say:  My wife didn't care where we lived (or neither one of us cared) as long as we were together.

Based on what you've shared, could it be premature for you to be implementing a fiancee visa?  Especially now with IMBRA restrictions looming overhead.   What's the rush?

Are you guys really ready to get married?  Is the 90-day time frame possibly going to pressure you into making a decision faster than you would otherwise?

Just a non-judgemental, objective question from a 3rd party to propose some food for thought...

[william3rd]

Self-translation is not a good idea, guys. You can have your neighbor do it if he certifies his fluency but dont do the translation yourself or have your gf do it.

[bundy_138]

Thanks for the info. guys.  I have started to print the forms from the uscis.gov website.  I looked on another website to see what forms I need for the K-1 and just printed them directly to get a feel of what the process will consist of.  Thanks for the link to visajourney.com.....very helpful!  Lots and lots of paper!  I would feel much more comfortable having someone fill the paperwork for me.  I can guarantee that I will make a mistake somewhere!  jajajaja

Looking4wife:  Thanks for the tips.  I know my novia is the one for me, but she has never left Cali....EVER!  She lives with her entire family and they all work together as a collective unit to take care of each other.  I know she is scared, and by leaving the "nest", she will have to do things on her own and will be lost!  She has told me that she wants to be with me and would rather me move to Cali, but at this time, I am not prepared to do so.  I know the culture shock of coming to the USA will be a major factor ( thanks for the Springer pic doombug) and I just want her to visit and experience where I live before we decided to get married.  I do not want her to marry me and then come here only to find out that she doesn't like it and then decide she wants to be in Cali. 

Sure, you hear them say "I just want to be with you, it doesn't matter where we are".  Well, I don't buy it.  Sure, my love is strong, but it is strong enough to live in a place that I do not like and I walk around miserable all day?!  Not for me.  I want to know and like the place I plan on spending the rest of my life.

OK, I have heard several people say that the K-1 is not the way to go for what I am wanting.  I want her to come and visit to see if she could adjust here (along with her daughter).  If she likes it and things go well, sure, we would get married within the 90 days.  If things did not work out, well, I would have to put her back in the plane to Cali and just continue to visit once a month until Plan B could go into effect.  (Plan B is me moving to Cali full time).....several years down the road.  What other road is there to take to get here her for "vacation"?  I have read and have been told that the Tourist Visa is next to impossible to get and I am not familiar with other routes?  Any suggestions??

Papi:  Thanks for the info on Gary Bala.  I spoke with him yesterday for some general information.  He is very knowledgeable on the subjest (as an immigration attorney should be), but I think his fees are a little high, especially if you can have a paralegal do the same stuff at a fraction of the cost.  Do not worry, I have worked long and hard to build my business and will not throw it away for a woman.  No matter how good she is, she is not worth the blood, sweat, tears, and money I have invested in building what I have.  I do not plan on going ex-pat for several years.  Your comments are always appreciated!

Any additional feedback from the forum?

Bundy

 

[papi]

Bundy, you sound like you are in decent shape financially. My suggestion is to go ahead and rent a nice large apartment in Cali for your novia and her family (and you of course). Marry her in Cali. Then give it time and see if/when she is ready to move to the USA and be with you. You should be able to get a great place for $1000US per month..not a ton of money when you consider the costs of marriage to someone and with child. Allow the love to grow. I only recommend this if you are really certain she is the one for you. It is a big pond.

If you want to do the K1, buy the kit and study it. They give you step-by-step directions. I have one that I can email you in pdf format but it is a few years old and not updated.

[soltero]

I do not see the huge conundrum over filing the forms. The instructions are pretty straight forward, and if you follow them, you should not have any issues. If you follow the directions exactly, and do not try to assume what they mean and just do what it says, you should be able to complete it minus the legwork in half an hour or less.

[papi]

Sol, have you done the K1? it is somewhat complicated and requires some study, far more than a 1/2 hour but still not that difficult. I did it - at least as far as  submitting the I-129F. I found the kit i downloaded very helpful and read it twice before attempting the forms so i better understood the process. i download the kit then had it printed and bound  for study and reference. $50 for a kit is better than $1200 or more in attorney fees plus even with an attorney as said you must do most of the legwork yourself anyway

[william3rd]

John Roth's office in NY will do most of the legwork for you if you want to go with a full service law office; his staff is multi-lingual. Most of the rest of us have you provide information and documents.

[Kiltboy1]

I am more for the DIY as well. GB did my CR-1 Visa 5 years ago and since i knew nothing really about the whole process, it made sense , but this time i am doing it myself. The biggest pain is all the documents, but my Novia has already gotten all the documents done before i came to Quito and already translated into English. Why not let your Novia pick up some of the leg work to show she is serious and translation is fine from Cali and a lot less money. The new filing fees are what i paid GB for to do my visa 5 years ago. No thanks.

KB

[soltero]

Sol, have you done the K1? it is somewhat complicated and requires some study, far more than a 1/2 hour but still not that difficult. I did it - at least as far as  submitting the I-129F. I found the kit i downloaded very helpful and read it twice before attempting the forms so i better understood the process. i download the kit then had it printed and bound  for study and reference. $50 for a kit is better than $1200 or more in attorney fees plus even with an attorney as said you must do most of the legwork yourself anyway

Papi, I wouldn't be speaking on the ease of it if I hadn't already done it (I did the K3, but it's the same form). It is so simple, I don't see what all the fear is about. Follow the K.I.S.S. rule as you would with any other government form and don't think, just do. Most people run into trouble when they overthink a thing. If you follow the very clear instructions you should have no issues. If a guy wants to pay for something he can do himself for free, then it's his dime, and I would not be mad at him. It just wouldn't be me.

[Chris F]

I want her to come and visit to see if she could adjust here (along with her daughter).  If she likes it and things go well, sure, we would get married within the 90 days.  If things did not work out, well, I would have to put her back in the plane to Cali and just continue to visit once a month until Plan B could go into effect. 

 

Sorry Bundy...the chances of her and her daughter getting a Tourist Visa are slim to none. Also...be aware if you use the Fiance Visa to get her and daughter here...and she then decides to go back to Cali and then later you try again for her to come here...the Immigration might give that situation a red flag the second time and say "No"

I dated my wife for over a year in Peru..making trips every two to three months to make sure she was the one. How long have you known your novia before making this decision about marriage?? Did you make this decision after your first trip?...If you did...trust me...you need to give the situation more time....i.e. more visits to Cali to MAKE SURE she is the one.

Good Luck Bundy!!!