An addendum to the previous post

[joellevand]

If our petition fails, we may consider just forgoing the whole student application process and get married in the US. What, if anything, is required for a k-1 visa? I've been to the site and saw what's at the site, but I know some countries make you bring proof that that couple will live on their own (no parental support) and that they make a

Comments

[kaypow]

visajourney.com - great resource for people undergoing the K1 visa process

[darth_spacey]

The immigration process via a K1 is demoralising and not something to be taken lightly.

I found it nothing but lengthy. Download the form, read it, file it, and wait. And then wait a bit more. And eventually, that day comes, and a few hours later you leave the embassy with a bunch of other jubilant types and hit the nearest pub.

[arosoff]

It depends. I know people who really got fucked over with it--a friend's husband nearly lost his job because his work expiration was about to expire and they'd lost his paperwork. They're trying to improve it now, but in the past it's been absolutely dire.

[arosoff]

Er, work authorization, even.

[darth_spacey]

Your work authorisation never expires on a K1. The card goes out of date, but you only need a new one if you change jobs. At least, that's what my lawyer told me when I was in a similar situation.

[arosoff]

This was a few years ago, so the rules might have changed, but if I remember correctly, his AOS took so long that his visa actually expired. It took years; they ended up having to get their senator involved.

[dativesingular]

You know, I didn't even know it was possible to get senators involved until today--you mentioned it, and one of my classmates in my graduate program had to do the same thing for her student visa (they were giving her a hard time because her loan paperwork hadn't come through yet). It's good to know that's an option.

[kaypow]

I guess I was referring past the K1 to the AOS, AP and EAD parts of settling in the USA too.

Also having to apply to the US government for permission to marry my husband, and to have to give them all the personal evidence they asked for I found intrusive and upsetting. Hated having to undergo the medical and be treated like a piece of cattle too.

Still waiting to hear anything about my AOS two years later. Fed up with the whole process.