British Expatriate Network

Hi all,

I am a UK resident and want to marry my USC fiance. I met her in college in the states and we have been together for 3 years. I have been back and forth as I have tried to find out a way to stay and whilst spending Christmas with her, I proposed and we want to get married ASAP (being apart is killing us!)

I originally thought I might try and come in on a Visa Waiver, marry and apply for a change of status. This seemed like it would work out nicely as my current job contract expires in March, after which I have a 2 month trip planned to the south of Europe (half pleasure/half research into a new business). I was then looking at coming over in May with an idea to Marry in June.

However, I have realised after trawling numerous boards that this can be a very risky manouver (could be denied change of status, will have to wait for a while until I can work/leave the country) especially as we want a proper wedding with a bunch of my friends and family coming over. So it looks like a K-1 visa is the way forward.

However, this poses a couple of problems for me as I understand it takes around 8 months for this to be processed. My questions are

1. Will I have to stay in the UK the the whole time this is being processed? I have had this trip planned for a long time and even have a buddy/business partner from the US coming over to join me so he might be a little non-plussed if I cancel. Not to mention, the knowledge gained will set me up for the future.

2. Is 8 months the average amount of time it takes for the K-1 to be processed?

3. Is it okay to have a "proper" wedding when I come to the states? I see alot of people have had civil weddings and then had a "proper" ceremony later. Is this due to the legality of the situation or just because its easier to have a quick ceremony on arrival and then plan a larger one later?

4. How much, roughly, does the process cost? As I will not receive my visa for the presumed 8 months, if I do go away to Europe, I will return in may and will have a period of 3 months before I can come out in which it may be difficult to find some temporary work. Ideally I would like to come straight out in May and look to work straight away but I understand this is impossible. I just need to budget as I obviously want to take a good amount of money out with me.

5. My fiance is in Med School and does not have a full time job, will this hinder my chances of obtaining a K-1 as she technically cannot support me?

Thanks for your help, sorry about the length, I am just trying to get my head around all of this!!!

I'm not an expert but this is my opinion.

K1 is definitely the way to go - I did it with VWP but as you already noted, it has several drawbacks and is quite risky. In hindsight, I am still a bit surprised that my change of status was accepted but it set me back many months in terms of a work permit. K1 visa will allow you to work immediately so I would say 8 months waiting in UK is well worth it.

As far as your fiancee's finances go, I think she has to either demonstrate that she can support you (calculated as a proportion over the poverty level) or have friends or family co-sign to support you. This affidavit of support is very important as it could be used later by federal or state government, to reclaim any benefits payable to you.

Surprisingly, the affidavit is valid for a considerable amount of time and can even outlive marriages. When I got divorced, my ex requested it be discounted and my attorney advised me to go along with it, even though he told me that the government would ignore it and still hold her liable until I either completed enough quarters of work or became a US citizen. Fortunately, it was never going to be an issue in our case but I have read of cases where it was.

There may be some resistance from friends or family to co-sign the affidavit so I would say be prepared for that.

Good luck!

I can't answer all your questions but I'm sure between us we can shed a good deal of light.
Firstly, I think having already decided to marry the K1 is a good way to go. I did that and I think there are several on this board who did likewise. The time for processing varies depending on the amount of people applying and I did mine around 8 years ago so I'm not sure how to answer this one.
The biggest hassle is waiting for the bureaucratic cogs to turn, filling out forms, and going to interviews. The good thing is that if you're genuine and prepared to jump through the hoops, it is just a bunch of formalities seemingly designed to weed out those whose heart really isn't set on the deal. Of course there are the fees but these are spread out over the various stages rather than a big bunch in one go. Once you have the visa, you can go to the USA, get married within 3 months and the rest is less painful because you are with the one you love. I can't remember exactly and didn't add up the fees but I would guess from K1 application until citizenship (not that you need do this far) I probably spent between $500-$1000 (probably closer to the lower end) on the various fees.
I found it surprisingly quick after the wedding before I had authorization to work although, again I'm sure this can depend on the amount of applications the particular INS office is processing at any given time. This authorization, if I remember correctly, come along with the conditional residency status you get after being married.
As far as you being supported, you will need someone to fill in an affidavit of support and they will need to supply a couple of years of tax returns to show they are willing and able to guarantee that you won't be a liability on the state. My in-laws did this and they aren't rich by any means but I would suggest a similar route as a student, medical or otherwise, might not be seen as a good enough guarantee.
I hope that helps and I'm sure someone else will post to clarify some gaps in my knowledge or something I just have plain wrong. Good luck.