Job Discussion Forums

[dynow]

So.....it's this year.

Yep, tying the knot with my Polish lady this year, and with that, comes some questions.

For one thing, if there are any Americans on this board that have married a Polish citizen, PM me. If you have married a Polish citizen IN AMERICA, definitely PM me.

What I have encountered recently is this: the law states that if you are to marry a Polish citizen in America, and then stay in America to live, you need a K1 Fiance visa which requires you to fill out a 129F petition along with a G325 form. The processing fee for this is $455

It then says that if you get married in America, but then go back to Poland to live, you do NOT need a K1 fiance visa. I wrote to the consulate in Poland asking about these matters and was sent back links to this and that. When I replied to the email asking about my specific situation, that being getting married in America, going back to Poland to live, and then going to America to live in the future, my email was ignored. I tried to tackle this by emailing the consulate in Chicago, then NYC, and they both told me, "this is a matter for the consulate in Poland, write to them."

I'm having wicked flashbacks from my KB application/office running/paperwork chasing days in 07'......................

It's simple. I want to get married this year in America to my Polish fiance, come back to Poland to live for a while, then move to America to live for good, and I don't want to miss any necessary paperwork in order to do so. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance,

dyn-dyn

[scotv]

I married a Polish citizen, but in Poland, then she moved to America. Send me a PM with any specific questions.

[Blasphemer]

If you get married to a Pole in the states, she'll get her temporary [2 year] green card about six months after your marriage [It will be in a form of a letter with which she'll be able to travel abroad and come back to the states. The problem with that, you'd have to be back in the states every six months in order for her to keep the card.

This is something that you have to take up with the US Homeland Security which is something out of a nightmare.
Once married, you have to apply for the initial interview [I went through two interviews and the waiting period was nearly 2 years, but you won't know exactly when you'll be called in, meanwhile both of you have to reside in the US and have the same mailing address and have bills sent to that address under your name.]

Also, once you are done with the interview you won't have any idea how long before the actual green card arrives.

After 10 years of living in the states, your spouse is valid for a citizenship which now is over $1000.

$450 is still not so bad and it's only the beginning, there will be more fees that you'll have to satisfy.

If I remember correctly you're originally from JC, so your regional office is in Newark, right off Broad street.

You'll need blood work [I had to provide blood work few times due to the extensive wait period - blood work expires after 6months], finger prints, pictures and few other forms. It's been a while for me so I don't remember all of the paperwork, but there's a lot of it. You have to attach a check with all of your forms, if you're lucky enough, your case will be revised before the check is void, if not [as it was in my case] you'll have to send in a new check with a new form and wait a bit longer [I had to wait 6 more months].

Another thing that you should pay attention to is the 2 year mark with her temporary green card - you MUST send the appropriate forms about 6 - 9 months before the expiration date otherwise you may have to start the entire process all over again.

If I remember anything else, I'll hit you up.

PS

You could hire a lawyer, but it will cost an arm and a leg... after hiring three different lawyers who completely wasted my time and money I finally took care of it myself, so it's not impossible... just really annoying and stressful.

[Jack Walker]

[dynow]

thanks for the info, blasphemer.

if she already has a 10 year visa, after we're married, why would she have to revisit the states every 6 months? she's already legally able to go in and out of the states at will.....if what you're saying is true, getting married to an american in the US would give her even LESS travel freedoms, no? also, after we get married, we're coming back to live in Poland for a year, maybe a little less. we wouldn't be in america for this "interview"......why would she need a green card if she's not living in the US??? if she doesn't have residency in America, why would she need a residency card?

citizenship is 5 years after marriage to an American citizen, not 10.

by the way, who in america should I email to get more info? i contacted the consulate in Chicago, NYC as well, they told me they don't deal with these kinds of matters and to contact the consulate in Poland, which also proved useless. which office exactly is in Newark?

did you ever finally get your citizenship in America, Blasphemer???

[Blasphemer]

I never went for the citizenship.
When you are a US citizen and your spouse is not a US citizen, in order for the both of you to be able to legally live in the states [now or later] and work, she will need a green card. If you marry and don't want to apply for her change of status, that's fine, but I couldn't tell you how things might or might not change.

She doesn't need a green card if she doesn't live in the states, but as soon as she does, she'd have to apply for one. In order for her to be able to work legally in the states, she'd need a work permit [also temporary and valid only for two years] usually by the time it expires you should [in theory] have your green card.

I'm mentioning green card because you said that soon after you'd go back to the states to live... well, that's where the whole green card thing comes into play.

My suggestion would be to apply for all that as soon as you're able to, it takes a while and if you want her to work as soon as possible, then that's the way to do it. Imagine having to support two people and pay bills on a teacher's salary. Also, if she'd want to continue her education in the states, non-residents are charged a fortune. [13 years ago I was paying $1000/month for an associate degree, I can't even imagine what it is now]

You have to contact the US Homeland security offices [Homeland Security replaced Immigration] in order to find out all the info
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis

It's extremely difficult to get any info from these people and you'll get some serious run around. Make sure to set few days just to obtain all of the info.

There are only few offices in the entire country that take care of this sort of thing and with millions of immigrants requesting info daily, you can only imagine how difficult it gets at times.

I applied a while back, pre 9/11, back then, you had to sit outside of the immigration office on the street for days. My wife and I spent 2 days and a night out in February on a street in Newark with crackheads and hustlers asking for money.. good times. Things have changed since, and now you have to request an initial interview in order to obtain all the papers. You'll still have to spend an entire day waiting to be seen just to get a piece of paper, say thank you and come back some other time... or pay a lawyer few thousand dollars and hope for the best.

Why blood work? Well, the US gov't is not really interested in drug addicts or AIDS patients... you and her both will have to have a blood test done BEFORE your wedding too [mandatory federal law] THEN you'll both have to get yet another blood test for the US immigration purposes.

Fingerprints are now done by special immigration offices and ones done by the Police dept. do not count anymore. Pictures you can get done at pretty much any place such as Ritz Camera or what not.

The office in Newark is the main office of Homeland Security which takes care of immigration and naturalization.

970 Broad Street, Newark
(973) 645-3666

This is info that I was able to get from my docs. I think it should still be valid, if not, you could try the interwebs.

If both of you are planing on living permanently in the US, these are the procedures that you'll have to endure.
Even when it comes to the citizenship, there are certain regulations that you should look into. For example, I know that there are limits on how long a person can stay outside of the US before the 5 year wait period resets itself and you'd have to wait all over again.

Loads of homework ahead of you, if you thought that the Polish immigration process was a pain, you're in for a cold shower. I do wish you all the luck though!

[Jack Walker]

[Blasphemer]

ah.. another thing.

Driver's license - as soon as you wife obtains her work permit make sure to get that taken care of just in case something goes wrong and the wait period is extended. She'll have that two year period to get that done. She'll need five different forms of ID and other proofs of residency such as bills with her name on it and so on and so on...

[dynow]

The problem with the HS website is there aren't any email addresses for just simple inquiries. It talks about the K1 visa but there's no information I don't already know there. My fiance most likely doesn't need a K1 visa, she already has a visa allowing her to go in and out of america. I guess I'm going to have to make a really expensive phone call.....plenty of phone numbers on the site.

[Jack Walker]

[Blasphemer]

[ray.brwin�w]

have you ever thought of marrying her in Poland first? the rules here for my Polish fiance and I (we're getting married here in May) are horrid compared to getting married in the UK, but it looks like a piece of cake compared to what the yanks require....... just a thought, your Polish wife may be accepted more easily by HS and others if you ARE actually already married when you eventually hit your own soil again

[hrvatski]

I got married in Poland, 'twas a piece of cake.

[dynow]

[mitsui]

the embassy would tell you to notify them once you know you will return to the US, ideally 6 months before. Then they will start the process of your spouse getting the green card.