Which one K1 or K3

[lawman65]

Gentlemen,

Question, which one is the easiest K1 or 3? If the lady wishes to marry in country to celebrate with her family, will this route slow the process? I read that K1 is the easiest. Also can we do the paperwork ourselves or is a lawyer really needed. Len

[Goombah]

Both take about the same time.  Go visit http://www.visajourney.com to see the statistics.

Kevin

[andrewfi]

At this stage it does not matter, after all, you are going on your first trip to see this woman. The kind of visa she might need is moot, unless you are planning to do the daft thing. Surely, discussions of marriage are well premature?

[Jet]

Each visa has specific assets and liabilities. You need to look at which will work best for your particular situation. As far as marrying "in country" many have had a church wedding (which is not recognized by the Russian gov't), done the K-1 and then had a simple civil ceremony upon arrival in the states to make things all nice and legal.

[lawman65]

Yes of course, I am not getting married without first knowing the person(s).Merely trying to know all of the requirements associated with the possibilty of getting married in the future.

[RacerX]

The USCIS timelines can vary sharply from month to month, so you have to check VisaJourney's individual forums to see what others have been experiencing.

Having not done the K-3, I understand that it doesn't really exist anymore, in that the CR-1 part is granted along the same timeline.

In reflection, as a K-1 type, if I had to do it all over again, I would definitely recommend the K-3.  The reality is that probably 95+% of the guys using the K-1 get married anyway (impending disaster or not), so all you have done (mathematically anyway) is expended the time necessary for her greencard and added the complexity of applying for advance parole, etc.

I think without the slightest reservation, a marriage in her hometown would be her preference, and since you are taking her away from friends/family forever, a nice gift to them.

Oh yes, don't use a lawyer unless children (and an unwilling ex) are involved.

[lawman65]

What is this CR-1?

[Jet]

CR-1 is the visa you get when you file the I-130 and DO NOT file the I-129f for the K-3 visa. She arrives to the US as a permanent resident and does not have to file to "adjust status".

[philb]

Here is a link from the US Embassy in Ukraine outlining the process involved for an American citizen to get married in Ukraine.  The second link outlines the procedure to file the I-130 directly at the US Consulate instead of with the USCIS.

http://web.usembassy.kiev.ua/amcit_marriage_civil_eng.html

http://web.usembassy.kiev.ua/visa_immigrantvisas_eng.html

My understanding is that the current timeline for the DCF route is right around 3 months.  So, getting married in Ukraine and going the Direct Consular Filling route is the fastest way to get a woman over here.  For obvious reasons this is may not be the wisest choice in every situation.  Also, this option is not available in every country.  I believe in Russia that you must have been a resident for a period of time (6 months?) to be able to go the DCF route.

[Bruno]

In reflection, as a K-1 type, if I had to do it all over again, I would definitely recommend the K-3.

What about pre-nups in case of civil marriage in foreign country ??? Law about pre-nups are not the same in FSU country and USA... Is a russian pre-nups valid in USA ?

 

[RacerX]

Actually the pre-nups might even be more survivable if she had a Russian lawyer review/translate them prior to signing, otherwise where the marriage occurred would have no effect - with the written understanding that any future litigation would be governed by the laws of his State.

[Bruno]

If i ask about pre-nups, it is because i have marry myself in Russia... here in Belgium, we have a "default" pre-nups by laws... since my country and Russia have some agrement over marriage rule, only the common term of the default pre-nups was taken in consideration during the divorce...

My situation was maybe a little special : married in Russia and divorced in Belgium... on the 90 laws article about default pre-nups in Belgium, only 13 was common with russia... and our justice court have based the decision for divorce on these 13 common article of law...

Not really a problem in my case, but a possible problem when it is about a more complex pre-nups...

If the marriage happen in FSU, it is yourself who need a lawer for the review of pre-nups since all document are in russian... who can you trust enough for certify that the marriage document in Russian that you sign during the marriage is really the pre-nups that you have wish ?

A local marriage ( K3 or CR-1 ) is only recommended in simple case, for more complex situation, for the interest of man, i recommended a marriage in own country.

[POConnor]

In Ukraine there are usually two weddings, a church wedding (does not count), and a state wedding (DOES count). You could have a church wedding, bring her here on a K-1 and if all OK marry her here with a state wedding. By marrying her in Ukraine (state wedding) and then having to file an I-130 and get K-3 usually takes longer, could be up to 1 year. The reason is she will count towards the yearly quota as a K-3 since she is immigrating, verus K-1 is non-immgrating and no quota. When you marry and do the I-485, Adjust Status, then she may could towards a future quota, but you do not care, she is here. Just looked and for state VA the Vermont servcie Center is processing K-1s 6 weeks faster than K-3s.

If you bring her here as fiancee then if things do not work, no problem, you do not have to get divorce (if K-3 married) which takes time and money before you can find another one.

[RacerX]

Just as a matter of interest, there are no quotas with regard to K- visas.