Which visa is quicker, Fiancee or Spouse

[Sailover]

This has been asked and answered in past threads, but the laws and situations seem to change each month, so I will ask again. Is it better (faster) to get a fiancee visa and get married in the States or get married in Colombia and apply for a spousal visa?
Thanks...I got a friend.......

[Secret Agent 001]

Professor,

I am by no means an expert on this subject, nor am I up to date on the current laws. But here is something to consider and get informed about:

If you get married in Colombia you could find yourself in a situation where, even though you’re married, you are waiting (and waiting and waiting) for your wife’s visa before she can come to the USA. I have met women in Bogota who were in this situation.

If you get married in the USA on a fiancée visa, then your wife may not be able to travel back and forth between Colombia and the US until she gets permanent residence status. That happened to me along time ago, although my wife was here originally on a tourist visa. It was over a year before she could go back to visit family. If she had returned to Colombia before she got permanent residency, then she would have been stuck there until all the paperwork was done.

[HonkyTonk]

A friend called me last night. He married a Bogotaña last May in Bogota. She's still not here and it doesn't look like she will be anytime soon. I highly recommended he call Gary Bala for advice and to use his services if necessary.

In the meantime I asked him to send me his experience in an email and I'd post it on the Board this weekend. If he doesn't email me his situation in detail, it means it was taken care of by Bala.

This is as good a thread as any to put it in. You're right Sail, these things seem to change daily.

On the lighter side and totally unrelated to Sail's question:

Whatever happened to the good 'ol days like in '99 where I got all my stuff together and went to the Colombian Consulate in Atlanta a few times. I was treated like royalty. Then when all was said and done, he permanently took a whole ****in' page of my passport...I digress, he pasted my "Contraer Matrimonio" on page 17 of my passport taking up the whole...I didn't need that page anyway . Total time from start to finish? 5 weeks, but could have been done in less time. The gentleman there was top notch!!

I then had 6 months to marry her in Colombia. From time of marriage until she could fly home with me was about 7-10 days.

So for a man hell bent on ruining his life, I mean spending the rest of his life with his soulmate; back then only about 6 weeks.

It is what it is now, and in the time it took me to write this maybe 5,000 people took a dip in the Rio Grande on their way to a better life, most heading northward.

What's fair got to do with anything?

[Ohio Al]

Hi all,
There is a pretty good forum devoted specifically to visa issues. In the forum it appears that K-1 fiancee visas are being processed more rapidly than k-3 spouse visas.

Check the following link:

www.visajourney.com

Upside to the k-1 is that it will process quicker than a spousal visa. Downside is that a k-1 visa is a one time entry into the US, so after you marry her - she can not leave the country for any reason (ie: sickness of a family member in her home country, honeymoon, travel, etc). She can legally leave the country and re-enter until she has an adjustment of status. Hope this helps.

Alan

[Sailover]

This is all great info, and HT, I sure miss the old days too. Even 15 years ago things were so much different. Of course, no one had flown airliners into buildings yet.
Can anyone advise the current time for either visa to be approved?
We both have family members that could need us, and being stuck in either country wouldn't be a good thing. I hear the swim from Havana isn't all that bad....

I wouldn't count out Havana. It could open up. Raul favors the "China" style of communism. In other words keep the ideology but, rake in some cash too.
When Fidel passes, I would say Raul will push the trade button hard.

[Bala]

January 2009

Average estimated times for most people who have no special issues or problems
to slow their case down. US Citizen in USA, Lady Fiancee in Latin America or Colombia.

K-1 Fiancee Visa - Aprx. 7 to 9 months from U.S. Petition filing date to final Interview
K-3 Spousal Visa - Aprx. 8 to 10 months from U.S. Petition filing date to final Interview

K-1 - allows one time 90 day entry to US for marriage, but no automatic travel permission. However, after marriage, you can file for temporary travel permission (advance parole), usually done at same time as Adjustment of Status. Time to get temporary travel permission is about 90 to 100 days after filing date. There is automatic work permission but only good for the same 90 days of the visa. After marriage, you file for work card (called EAD - Employment Authorization Card) with her Adjustment of Status. Time to get EAD card is 90 to 100 days after filing.

K-3 - temporary 24 month visa. Allows automatic travel permission but no automatic work permission. You file the same work permission petition, and time to get is same 90 to 100 days after filing. At the end of 24 months (or before), you file the Adjustment of Status to lawful residency. File ASAP if you want her to start the clock towards qualifying for U.S. citizenship.

The only meaningful way to "expedite" an immigration or visa petition is to meet the USCIS requirement of "emergency", which means a medical or other similar-type emergency.

(DCF or Direct Consular Filing at the US Embassy in Bogota, Colombia of an I-130 resident visa petition for the spouse of a visiting US citizen who just married in Colombia ended on July 01, 2003. I know that date by heart because that is the day "the music died", as the song says. DCF processing time at that time in Bogota was as quick as 2 to 4 weeks after filing, and I did cases as quick as 7 to 10 days after filing. Sorry, but you can kiss those days goodbye.)

Without wanting to sound cold or unsympathetic, I suggest that, rather than hunting for wishful"shortcuts", couples in love (and people in general) instead focus more on practical things such as:
1. budgeting realistic current time frames to secure the visa,
2. budgeting time and money for the gentleman to go and see his lady again while the visa is processing
3. finding good and imaginative ways to "manage the separation" from your loved one while the visa is processing, such as sending her to English classes and learning about U.S. culture and lifestyle, scoping out your local area Latin restaurants, available Spanish-language TV cable channels, available friendship support groups, local ESL (English-as-Second language) classes, etc. to help in her future adjustment process.

Visit my website for more ideas on managing the waiting time.

Visit also this government website for more useful adjustment information.

http://www.welcometousa.gov/

Of course, a well-prepared and thorough petition filing package and visa application packet will make the case go more smoothly and efficiently, and thus minimize painful waiting time and avoid potential delays and pitfalls.

OK? I gotta run. Good luck.

[Bala]

Supplemental Note

Please keep in mind that these average estimated time frames are exactly that - estimates only of average times. For any number of reasons, an individual case may move slower or faster in the processing pipeline than the average estimated times. Today, I received an Approval Notice for an I-129F Fiancee Visa petition for lady in Honduras at slightly below the 90 day mark from Vermont Service Center.

Keep in mind also that these average estimates will constantly change over time, sometimes even at the same Service Center, as Immigration changes staff, adds staff, places varying or changing priorities on different petitions at different times for different reasons, etc. etc.

The good news is that Immigration, over the past year or so, has hired and trained 1600+ new adjudications officers nationwide, and has reduced the average process time for many FBI name checks. Thus, we may hopefully see some improvements in process speed this new year 2009.

[Sailover]

Great information but terrible news. My father is getting worse which means I will spend more time with him in the US, but we were hoping my woman could come too. If it indeed takes the better part of a year, I will just have to find a way to commute.
One possible help is that I will be in Vermont. Maybe I can visit that office for help.
Thank you very much Gary. Again, great information. Damn it.

[richie]

Thank you Gary
Asking your state senator for help has also worked for a friend