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princess
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: soul of Asia
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:30 am Post subject: For Americans married to Koreans |
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Which is easier? Getting married in Korea or getting married in the states? It seems like more of a pain to fool with K1 fiance visas or K3 marriage visas. I have heard of some people getting married on a tourist visa in the states and then applying for adjustment of status. As long as you have applied for aos and are pending aos, your spouse will be allowed to stay with you in the US. I mean, geez, you can end up separated for 8 months or longer waiting on those K1/K3 visas. I saw an immigration lawyer's website today, and it wsn't too encouraging. It said INS actually looks for the tiniest mistakes when you apply for a K1 visa, and then they can take MONTHS to send it back to you saying you made a mistake. Then, you will fix it, send it back, and they can do it all over again. It said the goal of INS was to discourage you enough and keep you separated long enough to make you give up. What creeps!
There has to be an easier way. And who wants to get married and still be apart for up to one year. That's BS.
Seems to me like the smart thing to do is just get married in Korea and get the F2 visa and screw the US. Even one of my Korean friends married her American boyfriend here in Korea. She told me she did not like the K1 visa and that it was too much trouble, so she and her guy just got married here and got the immigrant spousal visa. But if you get married in the US, then apply for the immigrant spousal visa, you will be separated. The US is so messed up.
Also, did anyone here get married on a tourist visa in Korea, or in the US and apply for adjustment of status? |
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kingplaya4
Joined: 14 May 2006
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:34 am Post subject: |
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Getting married here and getting the F2 is way easier than jumping through all the hoops the US has. I say this as an American citizen. |
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sojourner1

Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Location: Where meggi swim and 2 wheeled tractors go sput put chug alugg pug pug
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:45 am Post subject: |
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Are these marriages recognized globally between the 2 countries the bride and groom are from? Can you get married to a Korean in America and then go to Korea expecting recognition and your F2 visa? If you marry in one country and travel as one, does this mean you got to file a divorce in every single country you associated with if returning to them as a single? Can civil disputes upon divorce run across borders and bite you in the ass when you least expect it? Just curious. |
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Hyeon Een

Joined: 24 Jun 2005
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:50 am Post subject: |
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Are you marrying the bartender with another girlfriend? |
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princess
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: soul of Asia
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:54 am Post subject: |
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Hyeon Een wrote: |
Are you marrying the bartender with another girlfriend? |
No, I am NOT. If you have nothing nice to say or to contribute, then please, go bother someone else. Thank you. Have a nice day. That is one thing I can say about myself. I don't come on here and sling insults at others. |
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princess
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: soul of Asia
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:56 am Post subject: |
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kingplaya4 wrote: |
Getting married here and getting the F2 is way easier than jumping through all the hoops the US has. I say this as an American citizen. |
Thank you for your kind advice. |
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Hyeon Een

Joined: 24 Jun 2005
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:28 am Post subject: |
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princess wrote: |
Hyeon Een wrote: |
Are you marrying the bartender with another girlfriend? |
No, I am NOT. If you have nothing nice to say or to contribute, then please, go bother someone else. Thank you. Have a nice day. That is one thing I can say about myself. I don't come on here and sling insults at others. |
I'm sorry^^
I didn't mean any offence, it's just that I've been following your dramas on this site for a while now (5 years?) and I thought that might be where you are going.
I apologize, I was wrong.
Are you actually getting married though, or just enquiring for someone else? If its for yourself I feel you've been leaving us out by not mentioning this guy after posting so much about your previous beaus! Details please ^^ |
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princess
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: soul of Asia
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:21 am Post subject: |
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sojourner1 wrote: |
Are these marriages recognized globally between the 2 countries the bride and groom are from? Can you get married to a Korean in America and then go to Korea expecting recognition and your F2 visa? If you marry in one country and travel as one, does this mean you got to file a divorce in every single country you associated with if returning to them as a single? Can civil disputes upon divorce run across borders and bite you in the ass when you least expect it? Just curious. |
I've been reading the immigration websites and the websites of immigration lawyers. if you get married here in Korea, the marriage is recognized as being legal in the US. But, that does not mean that you can marry a Korean and go right away to live together in the states. Many people are under that assumption, and it isn't true. The US govt. does not care if you got married to a Korean in Korea. In order for the Korean to go with you to the states. you have to apply for an immigrant/spousal visa. It can take 6 months or even longer. So, you have two choices. Get the F2 visa and wait here with your Korean spouse, or go back to the states and sit around for 6 months or longer being apart from your spouse. Guess I'd just sit in Korea,and go seemy family for a few weeks after gettig my F2, and then come back here to wait with my husband. I wouldn't like that whole separation thing. Long distance relationships suck and are for the birds.
If you get married in the states, yes, the marriage is also legal in Korea. But, many people are under the assumption that as soon as you get married, the Korean spouse can freely stay in the US. Not so. You have to apply for adjustment of status. Then, they can stay. But, they can't leave the US under pending aos, or else, they will have problems coming back, which would mean being apart again.
Also, some people try to go over on a tourist visa and get married. INS is very suspicious of this, and they will think the Korean had "intent" to commit immigration fraud. But, I have heard you can do this, if you wait at least 60 days or longer, so it is close to the 90 day mark. Then, you can apply for adjustment of status and they can stay.
It just seems like the F2 and staying in kimchiville is the best bet. I'm so sick of teaching though. And I was ready to start a new life now in the states, but I'd rather not be apart from someone I love for 6 months or longer.
Also, you don't have to get married in both places. All of this mess makes the E2 regulations look like tasting pie.  |
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kotakji
Joined: 23 Oct 2006
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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We did the marriage in Korea/ F2 thing. After two years of being wed you don't have to do the probationary green card thing either. We skipped using a lawyer altogether and had no problems with the whole (lengthy) process. Remember to fill out everything completely. Seriously it was amazing to watch other couples turn in the paperwork at the US embassy with gaping holes in the requested information. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 3:31 pm Post subject: |
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There is also the fianc�/fianc�e visa. You apply for that on behalf of your fianc� and you two get married in the US before the visa expires. Once married, you report the marriage to the BCIS and they adjust the status.
The best thing to do is to contact the BCIS yourself for information, though, as immigration laws (and penalties) change. What someone else did may no longer be a legitimate option. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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kotakji wrote: |
We did the marriage in Korea/ F2 thing. After two years of being wed you don't have to do the probationary green card thing either. We skipped using a lawyer altogether and had no problems with the whole (lengthy) process. Remember to fill out everything completely. Seriously it was amazing to watch other couples turn in the paperwork at the US embassy with gaping holes in the requested information. |
We haven't gotten around to doing paperwork on this in the past year. We don't plan on going to the USA for several years. Should we just wait it out, then, and do the paperwork later? How much paperwork are we talking about?
Thanks. |
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Straphanger
Joined: 09 Oct 2008 Location: Chilgok, Korea
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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yingwenlaoshi wrote: |
Why are people so horny about getting married? |
Koreans stay virgins until they are married, so if you want to sleep with one, you need to put a ring on that finger. |
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kprrok
Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:34 pm Post subject: |
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My wife and I got married here in Korea. We then traveled to the US to visit my family and held a ceremony there, where we were legally married in the US. The Korean marriage license would have been enough to be legally married in the US, but we wanted a ceremony. This was all done with my wife on a US tourist VISA.
We are going to apply for her permanent VISA in the near future so we can move back there with our daughter when she gets to the school age. It's a lot of paperwork, but if you're anal retentive and a stickler for details like I am, not so much a problem. It does take a while to get it done, so they told me I should start about a year before we actually want to move back. |
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kprrok
Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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And as for the comments about the US making you wait and hoping you'll give up, thus being a crappy country, they do that because a lot of people do fake marriages just so someone can enter the country and stay there. They make it "difficult" and time-consuming so that only the legitimate spouses come over, not everyone. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 8:14 pm Post subject: |
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kprrok wrote: |
My wife and I got married here in Korea. We then traveled to the US to visit my family and held a ceremony there, where we were legally married in the US. The Korean marriage license would have been enough to be legally married in the US, but we wanted a ceremony. |
You were already legally married as far as the US is concerned once you contracted a legal marriage under Korean law. |
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