|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
pangaea
Joined: 20 Dec 2007
|
 Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 5:03 am Post subject: Immigrant visa for spouse |
 |
|
I asked about getting a fiance visa for my fiance to enter the US in another thread. It looks like we could be separated for quite a while before he would be able to enter the US. I am wondering now if it would be better for us to get married here and apply for an immigrant visa for him.
I see the option for an immigrant visa and a non-immigrant visa on the immigration website. Has anyone done either one of these? I see that the waiting time is 3-6 months from the time of application to the time he would be able to enter the US. If anyone else has gone through this process, can you tell me how long it took? Also, do I need an immigration lawyer to help me with this process or is it straightforward enough that I can handle it on my own? I just don't want to screw up anything and delay his visa.
I was really hoping that we wouldn't have to go through a lengthy separation, but it looks like it will be unavoidable. I think I will also have to go home before him to establish a job and a residence before we have to file the affidavit of support.
Any advice or commiseration will be appreciated. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
hamie
Joined: 27 Nov 2009
Location: The middle of nowhere Korea
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 5:34 am Post subject: |
|
|
Hi,
I know what you're going through. My husband is a New Zealand citizen and I am an American. We want to move permanently to the US in March of 2012, so we went ahead and got married at the Embassy in Seoul this past August. We actually have just started the immigrant visa process for him.
We didn't want to be separated so that's part of why we got married here and decided to stay in Korea another year: so we could wait for the "petition" to go through together. May I ask what nationality your fiancee is? We were told it would take about 4 months for his visa to go through, but the more time in advance you start the process the better.
Since my permanent residence is my parent's farm we were clear on that end but my Mother is going to co-sponsor my husband's visa, since she has an established job in America. We've also been saving a substantial amount of money in our American bank account. Basically you have to prove to the US that your intended won't be a "burden" on the US government and has a support group.
I'll let you know how it goes, we are filing our petition hopefully in May. 
Good luck!
Oh, we're not hiring a lawyer, but if others have and you can afford it that's not a bad idea. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Died By Bear
Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Location: On the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 5:38 am Post subject: |
|
|
| If you're going to be separated, why not get married now and have him join the military? He'll get the citizenship within a few weeks of basic training, and then he can punch someone and they'll kick him out. Wa-la, all problem solved. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Drew10
Joined: 31 Mar 2009
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:02 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Died By Bear wrote: |
| If you're going to be separated, why not get married now and have him join the military? He'll get the citizenship within a few weeks of basic training, and then he can punch someone and they'll kick him out. Wa-la, all problem solved. |
I hope that wasn't a serious post. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cyui
Joined: 10 Jan 2011
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Not May..very soon |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mmstyle
Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Location: wherever
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
cyui....your cryptic trolling posts on multiple threads are getting annoying. Please stop. Much appreciated.
MODS?  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
pangaea
Joined: 20 Dec 2007
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:15 pm Post subject: |
|
|
@hamie:
Thanks for the response. My fiance is from Cameroon and is working on his Ph.D. here. Unfortunately, I don't have a residence in the US and there is no one that I feel comfortable asking to be a co-sponsor. We could probably stay with family for a little while but that wouldn't be the best option and I'm not so sure immigration would go for that, especially if neither of us have jobs. My fiance has been here for over 4 years and is ready to leave. I'm ready to go home too, but was hoping we could go together. It looks like a forced separation is unavoidable. It is even more stressful to me because I will have to find a job and a residence before I can submit the affidavit of support. Now I don't know when I would file our petition because I can see it taking me a month or two (or longer) to find a job and get an apartment. I want to reduce our time apart as much as possible, but I don't want to delay or jeopardize the application process by not being financially ready to support us both as far as immigration is concerned. Now I'm wondering if I can just go to immigration and lie down on the floor kicking and screaming until they give him a visa. Maybe it wouldn't be that effective but it would make me feel better.
As for cyui, Died By Bear, and anyone else who feels the need to post something useless here - this situation is very serious and stressful for me. I have no patience for irrelevant and unhelpful responses. If you can't post something useful, sympathetic, or otherwise relevant to my post, please don't post anything here. If you can't or won't comply with my simple and polite request, I will report you to the mods. In this particular case, I just don't have the patience to deal with it. Thank you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Bill2K
Joined: 16 Jun 2010
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| hamie wrote: |
Hi,
I know what you're going through. My husband is a New Zealand citizen and I am an American. We want to move permanently to the US in March of 2012, so we went ahead and got married at the Embassy in Seoul this past August. We actually have just started the immigrant visa process for him.
We didn't want to be separated so that's part of why we got married here and decided to stay in Korea another year: so we could wait for the "petition" to go through together. May I ask what nationality your fiancee is? We were told it would take about 4 months for his visa to go through, but the more time in advance you start the process the better.
Since my permanent residence is my parent's farm we were clear on that end but my Mother is going to co-sponsor my husband's visa, since she has an established job in America. We've also been saving a substantial amount of money in our American bank account. Basically you have to prove to the US that your intended won't be a "burden" on the US government and has a support group.
I'll let you know how it goes, we are filing our petition hopefully in May.
Good luck!
Oh, we're not hiring a lawyer, but if others have and you can afford it that's not a bad idea. |
I'm trying to do this with my girlfriend, who's from China (PRC). She got approved for a visitor visa (three months for Korea), but I am a bit worried if it's a bit late if I want us to head back to the states in late August. I'm starting to think that it might be best to get a job in China, and do the whole process there. Anyone have any thoughts? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
pangaea
Joined: 20 Dec 2007
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:17 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Bill2K wrote:
| Quote: |
| I'm trying to do this with my girlfriend, who's from China (PRC). She got approved for a visitor visa (three months for Korea), but I am a bit worried if it's a bit late if I want us to head back to the states in late August. I'm starting to think that it might be best to get a job in China, and do the whole process there. Anyone have any thoughts? |
Are you planning to get married or get a fiance visa? If you plan to get married and get an immigrant visa for your girlfriend, the visa will have to be issued in the same country that the marriage took place. So, in that case, it depends on where you and your girlfriend want to live until she gets a visa. This would be especially important to your girlfriend if you have to leave before her.
As far as the fiance visa goes, from what I understand, you just file the petition and once it is approved, she will have to go to an interview at the nearest embassy. It will take weeks or months for the application to be processed, then the paperwork will be sent to the nearest embassy to the residence you list on your application. You would obviously have to stay in the same place so your girlfriend would be available for her interview. I'm not sure if you could change the location to have her paperwork sent from the US. I ran into this problem when researching a fiance visa for my fiance. He probably doesn't want to just hang out in Korea for an indefinite period waiting for his application to be processed. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Bill2K
Joined: 16 Jun 2010
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| pangaea wrote: |
Bill2K wrote:
| Quote: |
| I'm trying to do this with my girlfriend, who's from China (PRC). She got approved for a visitor visa (three months for Korea), but I am a bit worried if it's a bit late if I want us to head back to the states in late August. I'm starting to think that it might be best to get a job in China, and do the whole process there. Anyone have any thoughts? |
Are you planning to get married or get a fiance visa? If you plan to get married and get an immigrant visa for your girlfriend, the visa will have to be issued in the same country that the marriage took place. So, in that case, it depends on where you and your girlfriend want to live until she gets a visa. This would be especially important to your girlfriend if you have to leave before her.
As far as the fiance visa goes, from what I understand, you just file the petition and once it is approved, she will have to go to an interview at the nearest embassy. It will take weeks or months for the application to be processed, then the paperwork will be sent to the nearest embassy to the residence you list on your application. You would obviously have to stay in the same place so your girlfriend would be available for her interview. I'm not sure if you could change the location to have her paperwork sent from the US. I ran into this problem when researching a fiance visa for my fiance. He probably doesn't want to just hang out in Korea for an indefinite period waiting for his application to be processed. |
The plan was to get married in Korea, apply for her American visa, then move back to America in August. She doesn't seem to understand that it takes a long time to do this stuff, and that being married to me doesn't me that she can just come to America. She was a little reluctant to move to Korea since she just got her masters, and wants to do something with it. So might go to China, since we both can do something and don't have to worry about time. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
hamie
Joined: 27 Nov 2009
Location: The middle of nowhere Korea
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
Hi guys
We got new information today, so we're posting.
We'd just like to add that we aren't experts at this sort of thing, we're kind of learning as we go. This is very stressful on us too, and we have both said multiple times that we're very glad we got married here in Korea because at least if there ARE delays with the visa we can get other jobs in different countries while we wait.
Okay, so we emailed the US Embassy in Seoul and told them our names, phone numbers, my husband's birth country and several dates we could come in for an appointment.
We got an email this morning, our appointment is May 10. We're surprised they are open for Buddha's b-day but whatever.
Okay, so this FIRST appointment we're just filing the petition (I-130 petition for an Alien Relative).
When we go to the meeting we have to bring:
Petition I-130
Form 325 (from what I've seen so far we basically write mini biographies.)
a photo of each of us
our marriage certificates
My husband's birth certificate
Our ARC cards and passports
proof of termination of prior marriages
if the beneficiary (in this case, my husband) has children from a previous relationship they need the kids' birth certificates
We're supposed to bring additional copies of everything as well as the originals. I don't know if we have to bring my parents' co-sponsor forms at this interview, I'll check it out tomorrow.
According to the embassy it takes between 4-6 months to process all this stuff, but I've heard it taking longer too. Good luck and if anyone has any questions, let us know. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Died By Bear
Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Location: On the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 5:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
| pangaea wrote: |
@hamie:
As for cyui, Died By Bear, and anyone else who feels the need to post something useless here - this situation is very serious and stressful for me. I have no patience for irrelevant and unhelpful responses. If you can't post something useful, sympathetic, or otherwise relevant to my post, please don't post anything here. If you can't or won't comply with my simple and polite request, I will report you to the mods. In this particular case, I just don't have the patience to deal with it. Thank you. |
I presented you an option to get what you want. Thousands of Koreans (google 'MAVNI PROGRAM') with PhDs have done this and gotten out as soon as they get the citizenship. There are even websites that teach them how to do it.
If you think you're stressed now, wait until you deal with rude immigration officials back home that delight in denying you what you just waited 8 hours in line for. Ineptitude runs rampant and the lines will make Korea look like disneyland. When you make a request to travel in 2-3 years, they will more than likely not meet your travel deadlines in their response to give you permission. Same goes for work permissions, and possibly when you apply for permanent residence. They will act like the whole marriage is a scam. They put you through a videotaped interview as well. You will really be stressed then.
As for the affidavit of support, your parents can sign to promise support and it will go a little faster. The application for a fiance' visa is painless, but that six months wait for the visa will be a drop in the bucket when you look back on this 10 years down the road. I'm speaking from experience.
Although I was half joking, my post wasn't intended to illicit a response, and I definitely wouldn't get into an online argument with the likes of 'Drew' and other anti-military tree huggers. I don't troll the boards like chewi, so I'll remember to steer clear of your 'stressful threads' in the future. Good luck with your marriage.
Last edited by Died By Bear on Tue Mar 22, 2011 5:55 am; edited 6 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cyui
Joined: 10 Jan 2011
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 5:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Don't understand what the "issue" is? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sadguy
Joined: 13 Feb 2011
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 6:51 am Post subject: |
|
|
pangaea, if you need help with this situation, you should really check out this forum:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?
you can probably find your answers there much better and quicker than on here where people think it' funny to be jackasses |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Died By Bear
Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Location: On the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
