What would you do if...

[Kuna]

Gents,

I read the posts about the "new" US immigration rules (2 shots at happiness and then it's all over - which is the same in Australia by the way) and it got me thinking...

If you couldn't get a waiver to have a 3rd Visa application accepted, would you move to FSU to be with your gf/future wife?

and

What other options would you consider?

I guess it depends heavily on which stage of life you're in...  but I thought it'd be interesting to hear your opinions on this...

Kuna

[Turboguy]

Interesting question Kuna.   I will give you my thoughts on it. 

First thing there are other options in the USA such as a K-3 however if my countries laws kept me from marrying the gal I loved and bringing her in her the first thing I would do is work to quickly sever any ties I had with my homeland such as selling everything I own then I would go somewhere never to set foot again in the country that tried to bar me from being with the person I love. 

Yes, probably temporarily I would move there but I think I would try to find some way to go someplace where I could be with her and rebuild my life in a more desirable area.   Not that I have anything against Siberian winters.   Where I have no idea, Italy maybe, Costa Rica or somewhere where no one knows what a snow shovel is used for.   

[viking]

You are right in that it all depends. For me, if I thought i did everything 'right' and the woman I selected was 'the one' and I bombed out twice in a row, I think I would hang it rather it up than go for 3. And I doubt if I would even go for 2.

[William3rd]

SInce I am still a few years short on retirement, I would marry overseas and then go through the I130 process which will not be affected by the new K regulations. A little longer to get her here but that would get her here soon enough.

As it is, I intend to retire overseas in a few years anyway so any stay here is now considered transitory.

[Turboguy]

I have targeted a retirement age of 80 so I have a ways to go.  Heck, If I still feel like it and haven't dropped dead I might go for 90.   If retirement is the only way to be with someone I love then the heck with it.  I can find some new business venture to tackle. 

The I-130 is a DCF????   That is not too workable from Russia as I understand it. 

[jb]

The I-130 is a DCF?

No,,, the I-130 process is to marry there and file for a K-3 visa.  The U.S. Embassy in Russia does not do DCF for anyone not ex-pat living there full time for at least 6 months.

[William3rd]

or just filed as an alien relative petition with no K3 filing and letting it mature the old fashioned way.

[dwfunk]

If you couldn't get a waiver to have a 3rd Visa application accepted, would you move to FSU to be with your gf/future wife?

Why wait till then?  What's wrong with moving there before you reach that point?



----------
David & Natalia
Republic of Texas/Moscow , Russia
УЛ. КОНЕНКОВА
16th World Spacemodeling Championships

[jb]

Kuna,

Maybe it's just me, but I'm seeing a level of frustration in your posts that a is little bothersome to me.  You haven't made a trip yet.  Just wait until you have a half dozen or more trips under your belt, have found the right woman and filed the paperwork, then are sitting on your hands waiting all those unbearable months for the immigration service to move on your case,,, that's the time to get impatient.

Not before you have made the first trip.  At the rate you are going you are going to be a total burnout before you ever get on a plane.

[catzenmouse]

I have targeted a retirement age of 80 so I have a ways to go.

That's in about two months right...

Still waiting for that TR... hint, hint....

Ken

[Jooky]

Strange question.

I'll tackle the root of the problem. A K-1 is a fiancee visa. It's not a 'let's get to know each other' or a 'let's see if I can put up with you for a chance to live in the USA' visa.

The reason for these new restrictions is that people insist on misusing visas.

If a woman wants to come to the United States and check it out, she can apply for a tourist visa. If she wants to come work or study here she can apply for a work or student visa. If she intends to marry a man she loves then she applies for a K-1 visa.

So what you do is you get to know a woman well then propose to her and then you bring her over on a K-1 visa. That way you really don't have to worry about going through two failed engagements or marriages over a short period of time.

To answer the question: What other options would you consider?

Check myself into a looney bin if after two painful failures (I can't imagine a failed K visa to be anything but painful) I am going back for a third round of punishment.

Find a woman somewhere else. It might be hard to believe but women do exist on other parts of the planet. I've even seen them in the United States.  If all Russian women were really so great, Russian men wouldn't be walking around with a giant beer in hand and a frown on their faces.  

[Turboguy]

That's in about two months right...

Still waiting for that TR... hint, hint....

Ken

Some days it feels like I am there already Ken.  I have not forgotten the TR Ken.  Right now I am busy trying to wrap up some very important paperwork and as soon as that gets in the mail the TR will be next.   

[Kuna]

Kuna,

Maybe it's just me, but I'm seeing a level of frustration in your posts that a is little bothersome to me.  You haven't made a trip yet.  Just wait until you have a half dozen or more trips under your belt, have found the right woman and filed the paperwork, then are sitting on your hands waiting all those unbearable months for the immigration service to move on your case,,, that's the time to get impatient.

Not before you have made the first trip.  At the rate you are going you are going to be a total burnout before you ever get on a plane.

jb,

Thanks for your words of concern.  I appreciate your thoughts.

I'm very impressed you can detect my frustration through my posts?  Can you also detect sarcasm?   

But seriously...  I'm not frustrated with the process. there's certainly been some surprising twists and turns so far but they're not negative things.   

I do get frustrated with some of the posts in here because they're clearly from a different generation, but those "frustrating" opinions are still valid because they add a different perspective.  (By the way, I'm not talking about yours.  I usually find a way to read through your words to discover the hidden intent.)

I'll reply to another post to explain why I posted this question...  It may not seem as it first appeared.

Cheers,

Kuna

[Turboguy]

You are right in that it all depends. For me, if I thought i did everything 'right' and the woman I selected was 'the one' and I bombed out twice in a row, I think I would hang it rather it up than go for 3. And I doubt if I would even go for 2.

Never give up Viking.  I was the world champ at bombing out but only once with a K-1.  The important thing is to learn from your mistakes and to grow with your experience.   You have found the real secret to success already anyway,  RWD.   Hanging around here long enough will make even a stupid guy like me a little smarter. 

Remember stay focused on your objective and work hard and you will get the results you want.   You can't find a pearl unless you put on your swimming suit and dive into the water.   Decide what you want, persue it and don't let anything stop you even a failure or two.   

[I/O]

2 shots at happiness and then it's all over - which is the same in Australia by the way

Kuna It is not quite a simple as that mate.  There is actually a few options if you get really determined and the DIMA becomes a real pain in the neck.  The first 2 options are straight forward enough which are either the prospective marriage visa (Fiance' visa)  or the spouse visa. 

Given that you were knocked back on either of those which is quite common, then you have option to lodge a case with the MRT (Migration review tribunal) which more or less repeats the process including interviews, however is not linked in any way to the DIMA or the Embassy and is similar to a "Small Debts Court". I have never heard of a case getting to this stage and being knocked back.  In all cases I have known about, the applicants have won and the embassy staff in Moscow have been rapped over the knuckles for incompetance.

However, in a worst case, that is a loss in the MRT, then you still have the option of going to the High Court and of course direct petition to the Minister.  I tend to think that if one is serious, there is enough options available that it is unlikely for the process to be completely stone walled.

Having said that, there is the financial question, and many simply don't have the resources to go the distance.  I would think, anyone in a financial position to go the full distance and still be blocked, would simply up stakes and move to another country or location.

I/O Who has doubts about approval of his partner's current application and expects to be lodging a writt in the MRT within months.