Alright, so a friend of my brother in laws called me.
He is marrying a lass from Rumania and he went over there 2 months ago to try and sort it all out.
He wanted my advice as he said I had been through the INS system and what not.
I said she should just fly here as a tourist, then get married and file for adjustment of status. However Romania does not have the Visa Waiver program and that would just stall it as much as applying for the K1 visa.
I know nothing of the K1 system, any advice givers out there on what their best plan of action is and an approx indication of the costs?
muchly obliged.
Going the K1 route shouldn't be a problem for her - the whole thing should take between 4 and 6 months. As well as being illegal to enter the US as a tourist with the intention to stay, it is very unlikely that a single woman from Eastern Europe would ever be granted a B2 visa, as immigrant intent is more or less assumed. The fiancé visa would be much quicker than a spousal visa in this case. The other alternative for a Romanian citizen is the Diversity visa (lottery).
They've already met in person, which is one of the conditions of K1. He needs to file a petition with his BCIS service center, which should take just a couple of months to be approved. She applies for a K1 visa from the US consulate, which would be granted after a medical and interview. Part of the petition and interview process is to prove that their relationship is real - so most people enclose some photos, letters/emails, itemised phone bills etc.
When she arrives in the US, they have 90 days to marry and file for Adjustment of Status. If they are going through the Detroit BCIS office, she should have her green card very quickly - they are reputedly the fastest office for spousal AOS.
The cost is:
[list]
[*]$110 for the I-129F petition
[*]$45 for the K1 visa
[*]$100 - $200 for the medical
[*]$30-ish for photographs.
[*]$255 for AOS filing
[*]$50 for fingerprinting (this may be waived)
[*]$120 for the Employment Authorization Document
[*]$110 for Advance Parole (if she wants to leave the US before AOS is granted).
[/list:u]
On 2003-06-18 16:50, Ameriscot wrote:
If they are going through the Detroit BCIS office, she should have her green card very quickly - they are reputedly the fastest office for spousal AOS.
Thanks, and yes, they are pretty quick, unless your name is dolphins 1967.