Get Married or File as a Fiancee? HELP

[BelarusGirl]

Hi everyone,
Thank you for great advices that you guys give to people who needs them. I also wanted to ask you a question.
I am from Belarus. In US I applied for asylum in 2001 and was denied in 2004. From the end of 2004 I remained in the US illegally. In August of 2006 I was detained in my apartment and then deported to Belarus in November of 2006 after my Motion to Re-open was denied (the Motion was filed from the detention center.) I have a 10-year ban for 1)deportation; 2)illigal presense for over a year.
I have a USC boyfriend (who is now my fiancé) for 3 years, who had visitted me here in Belarus in June (stayed for a month.) He wants to marry me, but we are not sure whether it's better to get married first and then file I-130 and all the waivers (212 and 601) OR file for a K-1 fiancee visa (I-129F and waivers.) Do people have more chances of approval if they're already married? Moreover, his mother was just diagnosed with cancer a week ago and it's hard for him now to leave her and come to get married (he'd do it if it's really needed, but wants to know that it's a wise decision.)
I also know that if your country office is not "easy" for waiver approvals, there is a chnce to get married and apply for K-3 visa in a country that is less strict. So I wonder how long the procedure with waivers may last and what are the chances of getting them approved if I file through the Moscow Office. I didn't find any info on the I-601 spreadsheet about Moscow. The US Embassy in Belarus doesn't deal with immigrants; so I'd first need to go to Poland (Warsaw) for an interview. However, for a waiver, Belarusians should file for Moscow Office. Any advice? Please help.
Thank you.

[angela256z]

You can go either way. It just depends on what process you want to take. I am not sure of the wait times for your country, but the Fiance way is a bit faster in Mexico where I have to file. Someone will chime in with more information. The married way is a little cheaper because you will not have to adjust your status once in the US. Because of the fee changes the cost to adjust your status is more than $1000. Someone eill give more info soon.

[Cynthia]

I believed Member Ginger had to go thru Poland as well before her file was transfered to Frankfurt, Germany for adj. If yours "works" the same, Frankfurt had/has very good approval rate.

[BelarusGirl]

Thank you, guys. I see that marriage is the best choice for us. Money is the issue in our case as well. I was just affraid that because of his mom's condition, it may be harder to marry fast as we planned before. So I started to look into the fiancee visa possibility, and someone told me that the chance of your I-601 being approved is lower if you're just fiancee and not a wife.

[aguafria]

I don't know about approval rates for fiances, but I know I2US had some fiance approvals not too long ago w/ Jancy and Chikimyrn. I think it really depends on how well you prove your relationship and your hardships. I am filing through Honduras for a fiance visa and if my waiver is approved, we'll have 90 days to marry upon his entrance to the U.S.

[kitkat1]

Thank you, guys. I see that marriage is the best choice for us. Money is the issue in our case as well. I was just affraid that because of his mom's condition, it may be harder to marry fast as we planned before. So I started to look into the fiancee visa possibility, and someone told me that the chance of your I-601 being approved is lower if you're just fiancee and not a wife.

It may be that your chance of being approved is lower -- but only if your USC fiance would find it harder to prove hardship (i.e. you contribute a large portion of the income in the relationship).

The law allows both fiances and spouses to file waivers as the qualifying USC relative . In my case, for example, we went with a fiance visa because it's a much faster process in Mexico since they don't require fiances to wait for interview appointments. My hardships were based 99% on what would happen to me if his visa was denied -- my medical situation and health insurance, my employment prospects and the unemployment rate in Mexico, the impact on my financial future (401K, social security payments), my family ties and need to be in the US to care for my parents, my father's health, etc.

So if a fiance visa is a faster process at your consulate, and your USC fiance can prove hardship (his mother's illness will be important here) then legally speaking for the waiver process, it makes no difference if you are married or engaged.

[ILoveLucy21]

Agua Fria, since you already went through the fiancee visa process & 601 waiver may I ask you a couple of questions before i start the process myself?

The first time you went to the consulate to ask for a fiancee visa (and be told that you have a bar yet may apply for the 601 waiver), did you go by yourself or did your fiancee have to attend as well? I don't want my fiancee to have to fly all the way to London knowing that I will be denied the visa anyway because I have a 10 yr bar for overstay.

At what point(s) during this entire proceess is it necessary that my fiancee be there? I assume he definitely has to be at the visa interview after my 601 waiver is approved yet I don't know when else.

[kitkat1]

Lucy, since the fiance is the one interviewing, there is no law that requires the USC to be there. When the visa is issued after waiver approval, there is no additional interview.

http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/iv/kinterview.html

"The visa will be returned to you by the Embassy's courier service, Secure Mail Services"

"Who is required to attend?
The beneficiary of the fiance(e) visa petition"

Q: My spouse, who is a U.S. citizen, has filed the immigrant visa petition on my behalf. Is he/she required to attend the immigrant visa interview with me?

A: No. There is no requirement that the U.S. citizen attend the immigrant visa interview.

[blueblue]

While there is no requirement that the USC attend the interview, and in London it is not a big issue, however if you had been interviewing in another country where the embassy believes fraud is an issue, I would recommend attending the interview. This is something we were unaware of at our first interview and ended up being accused of fraud in that our relationship was for immigration purposes, even though we have a child together. I feel if I had gone to that first interview, our experience would have been very different, but it never occured to me at the time it was even possible that this would happen.

[ILoveLucy21]

Thank you so much for those links agua fria they were exactly what i was looking for! Blue Blue, i'm glad you shared that personal experience with me - even it's not a requirement they may look more favorably on it. I think I will try and arrange an interview date when I know my fiancee will be visiting and i will call ahead of time and ask whether i should bing him or not.

The people in this forum are the best!

[Ginger]

Belarus Girl, if you are applying for visa in Poland, your waiver would not go through the Moscow, it would go through Vienna because there is where Poland sends all its waivers. I know that for the fact because I am from the Ukraine, we went through the Poland (Warsaw) and our waiver was send to Vienna ( then Frankfurt but that is a different story).

This is what you need to know for sure:

1. Does Warsaw still accept direct consulate filing ( I have hared that they do not so you want to know 100%). In order to you that, you fiancée have to email Warsaw. The reason why fiancée and not you- because Warsaw responds in 10 business days to the US CITIZENS. If the answer would be yes- then you guys need to marry and apply for I-130 in Warsaw. We did not do that so I do not know timeframe exactly but from what I hared; it is usually 1 - 30 days.

2. You need to find out what kind of visa they accept in US embassy in Belarusian. If K-1 (fiancée) and K-3 visas go there and Immigrant visas go to the Warsaw, you might want to make a decision based on that- which consulate you prefer to deal with.

3. I am sorry to hear about you fiancée mom’s condition. Both of my in-laws past away from cancer so I know how difficult it is for your fiancée. However, it makes your case much stronger ( let’s try to think about positive aspects of the story).

4. I believe that approval rate between fiancée and wife is wary depending of the consulate. I would say wife is probably tiny bit better but then again, if you waiver would be denied ( let’s hope not), you guys can marry and re-open a case based on that.

5. I know girl who was approved with the Fiancée visa in Moldova. I believe she went through the Romania.


Good luck and congratulations on your engagement.

[MistyB]

Get married..Member Mich1028 went through this. I believe she went through Frankfurt (I may be wrong) but she first did the fiance thing. She later re-filed the waiver as a spouse and was approved. The grounds at the time they gave her was not enough hardship.

Moscow may be different but IMO you will have a much better shot if you are married. You shouldnt have any problems finding enough hardship.

Just wanted to add if you check my link I have above for the overseas office it will tell you which office has juridiction. The Moscow sub-off has jurisdiction over Belarus. If Moscow wont adjudicate then it will either go to Frankfurt, or Vienna. Probably as a last resort Rome.

[kitkat1]

It really comes down to the individual hardship arguments. Being married would only make the case stronger if there are strong differences in your hardship when married vs. single. The only thing I can think would be financial -- if you are married and your non-USC husband contributes a large portion of your income, or if you are married and raising children together.

Since the hardship is based on the USC i.e. major medical condition, family ties and caring for relative or children from a prior relationship, financial, unemployment, crime in the non-USC's country, etc., the majority of these types of hardship do not change if you are married.

[BelarusGirl]

Thank you all, guys, for your support and your help. So much useful information! I worried before that I SHOULD get married before filing, but now I see that even if I file as a fiancee, my chances don't fall dramatically. Besides, one positive thing in this scenario is that if denied, We'd have the chance to reapply after we get married. So far, of course, I still hope that we can get married in November, as planned. But if he can't come, then we'll file for K-1. I feel more confident now. Thanks.

[toodles]

Are you allowed to go to the US on vacation and marry a US citizen?

[kitkat1]

Are you allowed to go to the US on vacation and marry a US citizen?

It would make more sense to start a new thread with this question.

In any event, the details matter.

Are you talking about getting married and returning to your own country?

Are you entering on a tourist visa or visa waiver? If so, it's fine. AS LONG AS YOU RETURN HOME before your duration of stay expires.

If you are talking about entering on a tourist visa or VWP and marrying and staying, you already have the intention to marry and that is not legal. In that case, you need a fiance or spousal visa. If you marry and do not leave, when you get to your AOS interview in the US, you could very will be questioned regarding your intent when you arrived, why you didn't petition for the right kind of visa, etc. and have your AOS denied.

[Ginger]

I think I am confused. As my understanding she is already out of the US. So, what visa waiver program are we talking about? She overstayed. Under ANY circumstances she should enter the US now or she would get a LIFE BAN. Does she really needs that??? More then that, if she would fly and have a changing flight in the Us- she would still get that life ban. So, please be careful. We had a story in the forum long time ago when girl was flying to Mexico from Canada and it was changing of flights in Florida somewhere. She got a life ban. As harsh as it sounds, INS does not care that you do not know rules. It is not their problem. Sorry.

Why would not you guys apply for visa now? IT is July now and you would “waste” time waiting till November. I am at any mean trying to push you to do anything, just thinking aloud.

[Pinkpig]

Are you allowed to go to the US on vacation and marry a US citizen?

Generally no/yes/depends

the details matter...

This would not be the best way to go about getting married to a USC.

It would be better if you start a new thread with this question as it will get very confusing for everyone trying to answer your question in this thread... :)

[kitkat1]

I think I am confused. As my understanding she is already out of the US. So, what visa waiver program are we talking about? She overstayed. Under ANY circumstances she should enter the US now or she would get a LIFE BAN. Does she really needs that??? More then that, if she would fly and have a changing flight in the Us- she would still get that life ban. So, please be careful. We had a story in the forum long time ago when girl was flying to Mexico from Canada and it was changing of flights in Florida somewhere. She got a life ban. As harsh as it sounds, INS does not care that you do not know rules. It is not their problem. Sorry.

Why would not you guys apply for visa now? IT is July now and you would “waste” time waiting till November. I am at any mean trying to push you to do anything, just thinking aloud.

The question about traveling to the US and marrying was not from or in reference to the OP - it was from someone else who posted in the middle of the OP's thread.