Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Poemer]

If you are living in Korea and intend to marry a Korean and live together in the US what is the best way to proceed?

1. Get married in Korea and then go to the US.

2. Go to the US with the Korean traveling on a tourist visa (which the intended spouse has entered and left the US on without overstaying on several occasions, so good track record) and then get married.

3. Go to the US with the Korean traveling on a K-1 visa and then get married.

Option two is technically illegal, but how common is it? What is the reality on the ground so to speak, is this one of those rules that is made to be broken?

If you file for a K-1 visa, can the spouse travel to the US on their tourist visa while it is processing, then return to Korea for the interview process and receive the K-1? Does the initiation of the K-1 process in any way invalidate the current tourist visa?

Does just getting married in Korea negate all these questions and solve the problem? Does it make any new problems?

Just thought I would get some thoughts, hopefully from people who have some first hand experience.

[xingyiman]

Technically #2 is illegal but the caveat is that your rights as a US citizen usually trump any measures they could take against you. The INS can just try to make your life misserable through the whole process but unless they can get you on record for saying that you planned to do that then they are screwed. You have the right to marry anyone you want.

[Dazed and Confused]

If you go route #2 they can and will make your spouse return to Korea to process the paperwork and your interview will be at he US Embassy in Seoul. And they could deny her a visa on whaterver grounds and she wouldn't be allowed to go back with you.

[xingyiman]

[OiGirl]

Our US immigration attorney recommended that we get married in Korea.

[CentralCali]

There's no "trumping" of anything. A US citizen does not require a visa to enter the US. The person violating immigration law in the scenario above would be the foreign national, not the the US citizen. Thus, the foreign national would be the one facing any punitive action.

Call the US Embassy or the BCIS and discuss which is better for your situation, marrying overseas and applying for an immigrant visa or applying for a fianc�e visa and then marrying in the US.

As the laws change periodically, going by what someone else has done in the past "and gotten away with" is not a good idea.

[Poemer]

[giraffe]

Poemer

I just got married to a korean but im canadian. I reckon the process is more or less the same. From the research i did its faster, easier , and cheaper to do it all from korea. I looked into what we would need to do in canada to get married ( similar to what you have to do in korea but a bit more expensive ) Also all the paper work takes longer to process if you're doing it within canada. I would assume its the same for the US. An american friend of mine married a japanese girl and said that he flew all the way to japan to do the immigration stuff because it was faster...

[saw6436]

Its much easier to just get married in Korea.

[jonbowman88]

In these situations honesty really is the best policy. That's what I've found anyways. These people can be jerks and they are trained to cath people in their lies. If they would catch you lying it WILL throw a monkywrech into the whole thing, and it will take time and frustration to remedy it.

The best thing you can do to expediate the process of your wife getting an immigration visa. Is to
a) You (the US citizen) should live here in Korea.
b) You should marry here in Korea.
c) After you're maried file your I-130 here in Korea since you reside here. It takes much longer if you live in the US and file it there.

[typo]

Big ups to all foreigners marrying Koreans. This is perhaps one of the most effective means of shattering the wall of xenophobia persisting in contemporary korean society.

[Psy]

I applied for the K1 visa for my fiance a couple of years ago and to be honest it was a bit of a hassle. There was alot of paperwork as well as an interview. If I remember correctly, the US embassy held onto her passport throughout the interview process. The visa lasted for 1 year and once she entered the US, it was unusable again. Unfortunately, things didn't work out between us, but that's another story.

Any of the three options seem fine. I know people who have done both option 1 and 2. However, as others have stated, option 1 is by far the easiest.

[grunden]

looks like you will have a life of high turbulance, but at least you got courage. I could never marry a local, sure, some are super hot, but I figure after kids are born, and it comes down to living a regular life, there are going to be tons and tons of mis communications, fights, culture shocks,and it might be super hard on the kids since they are half asian and all. Kids can be super cruel, good luck

[hellofaniceguy]

[hellofaniceguy]