The petition process

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jul 16, 2007

Hi all,
Good day!
I have a friend who has a US citizen fiancee. The boyfriend is already offering her a marriage. She initially declined because she was focused on passing all her foreign exams and wanted to get to the US her own way and effort. Now that she has passed NCLEX and has acquired a visa screen and with the problem of retrogression, she's starting to reconsider the proposal. She is asking my opinion but but I am not very knowledgeable with the process. Will getting married to an American citizen speed up the process? To my understanding she'll get petitioned in a matter of months and she does not need to sign up with an employer while she is here in the Phils. Am i righT? How long does it usually take before she can leave the country? Thanks for the replies.

he will need to file I believe it is K1 visa and can take approx 6 months but will be quicker than waiting for retrogression to lift. If she goes this route then she does not need visa screen certificate. She can then look for an employer once she is in the US and has her SSN and permission to work. This site may help http://visajourney.com/forums/index.php?act=home

suzanne4, RN · Jul 16, 2007

And she will only have 90 days to get married in or her visa will be cancelled and she will have to leave the country. She needs to make sure that this is something that she truly wants to do, and not just to make it quicker to get to the US.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jul 16, 2007

also to add that she will not get EAD etc until she is married and filed

suzanne4, RN · Jul 16, 2007

It will be months before she will be able to work. It will not coming here and starting to work right away.

There is an interview that is done in the home country, and then another one here; along with other procedures that will need to be done.

john83, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2007

I think it would be "faster" if they go for I-130. I am referring to "quality". I have watched a similar case in "ANC's Citizen Pinoy" tv program, with Atty. Michael Gurfinkel answering the question.

God bless!

mazeRN · Jul 21, 2007

Thanks, suzanne and everyone. I was able to talk to her a few days ago. I think she is seriously considering it and if things really work well, the guy will (or might) come over to the Phils, get married here then go with the process. That would even make things easier and faster, right? If i am not mistaken, in a matter of 2 or 3 months after the wedding, my friend can already follow him in the US.

suzanne4, RN · Jul 21, 2007

Thanks, suzanne and everyone. I was able to talk to her a few days ago. I think she is seriously considering it and if things really work well, the guy will (or might) come over to the Phils, get married here then go with the process. That would even make things easier and faster, right? If i am not mistaken, in a matter of 2 or 3 months after the wedding, my friend can already follow him in the US.

Sorry, but that is wrong information. If she gets married in PI, then she would go thru the K-3 process and that is actually about two years before she would get a visa to come to the US. It is definitely not faster and not the way to go. The processing for any visa to come and stay in the US is not a matter of two or three months in any case. She would not be coming over on a K-3 visa, that is for sure.

Even with the K-1 visa, it is months and months. And then still more months in the US before she can work. Neither is an instant process. But getting married in PI is not the way to go.

Friends of mine that have gotten married overseas, only had the religious ceremony there, not a legal marriage that was recorded and then got married in the US so that they would not face the two years before getting the visa. And this is for multiple couples, even if the groom was living and working in the foreign country, still a two year wait for the bride to get the K-3 visa. This is why only one or two went that route because they were already there. The others came over here to get married.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jul 21, 2007

on another website I go on I have seen it where people have gotten married and then started the process to move to the US and it takes them about 8 months seperation until they join their US citizen spouse.

suzanne4, RN · Jul 21, 2007

on another website I go on I have seen it where people have gotten married and then started the process to move to the US and it takes them about 8 months seperation until they join their US citizen spouse.

This also is dependent on where they are from. The process from Asia has been taking about two years with the K-3 visa, and then about eight months with the K-1 visa.

If they got married in their country, chances are that it was just at the church and was not recorded there, or it will be longer. US wants to make sure that it was not done just to get to the US faster. That is why the green card even with these two visas are only for two years and then need to be renewed, and if the marriage does not take place in the 90 day window, then the application gets cancelled and they have to leave the US. If for any reason they suspect anything, they will be following up with the couple. Especially now with the retrogression in place and people doing things just to get to the US.