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blujeanguy
Joined: 30 Mar 2004
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 Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 11:40 pm Post subject: American marrying a Korean |
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| Hey. So I found a great girl. We're planning on getting married 2-3 years from now. We plan on having a wedding here in Korea, then the reception in USA. We're having the wedding here for her mom but we want to live in USA after. My concern is the application for her green card. How long does it take to porcess? Would it be better to get married in USA (I heard that immigration investigates more of overseas marriages).? |
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rapier
Joined: 16 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 11:43 pm Post subject: |
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| How can you plan anything 3 years from now? Everything changes. |
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PolyChronic Time Girl
Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Location: Korea Exited
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 12:41 am Post subject: |
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| The visa process is gonna be Loooooong....so you want to be married and apply for her visa AT LEAST six months before you plan to go to the States. You can get a fiance visa and then you must marry in the states within three months....all the goody information is under American Citizens information at www.asktheconsul.org I'm married to a Korean and I'm just starting the process too. It's a freakin' headache....they really make life difficult. |
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blujeanguy
Joined: 30 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 12:45 am Post subject: |
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| Yea three years is a long time- but when you find the right girl.... that changes everything. |
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mercury
Joined: 05 Dec 2004
Location: Pusan
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 2:13 am Post subject: |
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| rapier wrote: |
| How can you plan anything 3 years from now? Everything changes. |
 They say that love is blind.....................I suppose it is the first stage of love, where the "loved one" can do no wrong. It is the greatest stage in love, flowers, CHEMICALS, but what nobody expects is the fact that the chemicals can wear off really fast. Once they do, let the battle begin. It is not just here in Korea, look at Hollywood. Angelina Jolie and the Billy Bob relationship, even Brad Pitt and Jennifer............all under the same arrow from Cupid. Its fun while it lasts!!!!!!!! |
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Konundrum
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Boston
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 3:30 am Post subject: Re: American marrying a Korean |
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| blujeanguy wrote: |
| Hey. So I found a great girl. We're planning on getting married 2-3 years from now. We plan on having a wedding here in Korea, then the reception in USA. We're having the wedding here for her mom but we want to live in USA after. My concern is the application for her green card. How long does it take to porcess? Would it be better to get married in USA (I heard that immigration investigates more of overseas marriages).? |
Why would you care if they investigate your wedding? If it's legit..no worries.
Anyhoo...just did this process over the last year. It ended up taking about 7 months, but realistically could have been done in half that time.
We wasted several months waiting for the Embassy to send out papers after our original approval (initially they said it would take 3 months, so after 4 months we made a "WTF?" phone call...they said they sent it 3 and a half months ago, but we never received it)
It's just a matter of jumping through the hoops until you've sated the bureaucrats.
Our biggest problem was finding a sponsor. Unless you have a job waiting for you, you will need a person in the US who makes 10% above the poverty line to sign for you (it can be anyone..family or friend).
So yeah, it can be time consuming...If you're in a hurry to zip over right after your Korean nuptials, I would suggest doing a quiet civil service at the embassy several months earlier (just signing papers and getting them stamped by the Korean civil services offfice acroos the street).
And BTW, I'm willing to bet the Korean process for getting a tourist visa is as time consuming as the marriage route...in fact, I'm pretty sure they would deny her a visa if she got one on the pretense of visiting to get married. We got a warning letter about how entering the US on a tourist visa to get married and immigrate is fraud and they seemed to frown on trying that route. |
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PolyChronic Time Girl
Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Location: Korea Exited
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 3:39 am Post subject: |
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Two years ago, I had my husband (at that time..boyfriend) want a travel visa to go to the U.S visa just for a week. They denied him...saying he didn't have "strong economic ties", their sugar-coated word for "rich," to be granted a travel visa. The American tourist visa in near damn impossible so forget the travel visa unless your girlfriend is really, really rich. American visas have got to be the biggest headache on the planet  |
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chance2005
Joined: 03 Apr 2005
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 3:54 am Post subject: Re: American marrying a Korean |
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| blujeanguy wrote: |
| Hey. So I found a great girl. We're planning on getting married 2-3 years from now. We plan on having a wedding here in Korea, then the reception in USA. We're having the wedding here for her mom but we want to live in USA after. My concern is the application for her green card. How long does it take to porcess? Would it be better to get married in USA (I heard that immigration investigates more of overseas marriages).? |
It took my wife and I three months to get her marriage visa to the USA. There is a lot of running around you have to do....go to the doctor, get translations, going to Korean gov offices for documents etc. The interview at the U.S. embassy/immigration office was very easy, no intvestigation or probing questions. I also had to have my Mom sponsor us as well as I had to attain a letter of future employment in the U.S.A. But this can be absolutely any kind of job.
I would not go the route of the fiance visa, doing all the paperwork in the USA and waiting for her green card there will take forever. You will probably end up having to drive to some far away immigration office in a major city and standing in line with half the population of Mexico. The immigration clerks in the USA are overworked and extremely testy. Our process was smooth and quick compared to acquaintances who chose to get the fiance visa and do the green card paperwork in the USA. |
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lastat06513
Joined: 18 Mar 2003
Location: Sensus amo Caesar , etiamnunc victus amo uni plebian
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 5:03 am Post subject: |
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I would like to say I'm very happy for you if you think you've met the right girl~ but planning 3 years ahead is way too much because alot of things can happen between now and then. I can tell you from experience and alot of people will say girls here change their mind like the wind patterns, so always expect the unexpected (and prepare for a BIG letdown)
I would honestly say, if you want to get married, try to find a way for the both of you to do it in the US. INS will just review your application and the process is alot smoother. So, try for a travel visa or another type of visa to help her go there.
What is her job?
What is the economic situation of her family?
These play a big factor because these will determine what kind of visa she can get (if she can get it, that is)
But here is a story that I would like to share with you (though it might be unrelated since you are a teacher and the person I'll mention was a soldier.
I had a best friend who married a Korean women while he was stationed over here. They were married for 5 years and had one beautiful girl. They left Korea and resettled at Fort Hood, Texas. Then his unit got called up for the Iraq invasion and he spent a grueling year away from his family. In June of last year, he went home from Iraq and got discharged from the military. They then resettled in San Fran with the help of his parents. That was when things went awry (sp. pls?)
She started drinking heavily and abusing not only the kids, but also my friend and had 4 illicit affairs at the same time. One night, he called her on her behavior and she started to go ballistic and stared beating him with the lamp. The nieghbors heard the racket and called the police. But when they got there, they saw my friend trying to subdue her, so they arrested him. He spent 4 days in jail as she pressed charges on him for battery and assult.
This was all back in September and he is now starting the divorce proceedings.
So keep in mind also, can she truly adjust in the US. That is why alot of men tend to stay in Korea. And if you truly wish to get married, do it as soon as possible, don't wait, the more you wait, the more doubt can set into her mind or yours.... |
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Guri Guy
Joined: 07 Sep 2003
Location: Bamboo Island
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 5:33 am Post subject: |
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| Hell hath no fury like an Adjumma scorned... |
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Cedar
Joined: 11 Mar 2003
Location: In front of my computer, again.
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 5:42 am Post subject: |
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| I've been told it'll take us 18 mths to 2 years... so, the 3 months comments are heartening, but not necessarily the only way it'll work out. |
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Konundrum
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Boston
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 5:58 am Post subject: |
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| Cedar wrote: |
| I've been told it'll take us 18 mths to 2 years... so, the 3 months comments are heartening, but not necessarily the only way it'll work out. |
I found the embassy usually exaggerated the times...I think on the premise, that if they tell you the longest possible time and it takes only half that time, you'll be happier than you would be if they said the actual time and it took longer.
Like I said, a lot of it depends on how well YOU jump through the hoops. |
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blujeanguy
Joined: 30 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 6:21 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks for all the suggestions and its a shame what happened to lastat's buddy. Let's hope it won't happen to any of us. I say 2-3 years because she has some personal things to resolve. She doesn't want that to affect our marriage. I understand her situation and told her that I will be patient. Anyway she is a nurse here and is currently taking a course to get her nurse lisence in USA. They are in demand in USA. So she will have a good job over there. |
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