AudiHax Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 I've been in a LDR with my boyfriend for 5 years. I live in England and he lives in the US. We've visited each other at least once a year and spent about 3 months together each time. He's 21 and I'm 23 and I have a hard time talking to my parents about him. They know about him and have met him before, but I can tell that they're worried and unsure about me being with him. They would prefer if I had a "normal" local relationship and see me happy. Because I seem to spend too much time online talking to my boyfriend and it scares my parents. They have told me that if I can find a visa to live and work in the US then they would support me if it makes me happy. But I have searched everywhere and there are no visas that I can qualify to get. Me and my boyfriend are tired of doing this online and we want to be together. A fiance visa seems like the easiest option for us, but he's still living with his parents right now. I want this so bad, and my friends tell me I'm "mad" because I'm only doing it to be with him and not thinking logically about actually having to marry him...But for me, if marrying him means that I get to be with him all the time, then I'll take that chance... Do you think we should go ahead and get the fiance visa? Or do you have any other option that I could consider? Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 Why don't you try for a working holiday visa? I know the USA has one for my country, but I'm not sure if it applies to yours. You definitely should be qualified for it. Link to post Share on other sites
Author AudiHax Posted April 29, 2010 Author Share Posted April 29, 2010 We don't want something that will expire and then I'd have to come back home. We want to be together permanently, maybe rent a place together and build our life. Is a fiance visa pretty straight forward? Are there chances that one may not be granted a fiance visa? Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 The reason I suggested a working holiday visa is because many people who find favour with their companies end up having their term extended and a work permit offered to them. They also typically last a decent amount of time, usually 6 months - 2 years. The reason you shouldn't take a fiance visa is because, if I'm not wrong, if you DON'T marry him within a certain amount of time they'll revoke it and you will never be able to apply for another fiance visa from that country again, ever. Hardly the sort of pressure you'd want to put on your relationship. Also, tbh, no 21 year old guy is EVER ready for marriage. Or fiancehood. What has he said about this? Link to post Share on other sites
Author AudiHax Posted April 29, 2010 Author Share Posted April 29, 2010 I've been reading up on it and if you don't get married within the 90 days, then you have to leave the country, but you CAN try again under a new visa. He said he wants to do this. He wants to be with me too and after 5 long and hard years of dating online, I just think it's time we started moving forward...It feels like we're not getting anywhere, while most of my friends are growing up and moving in with their partners... I want to be with my boyfriend and he wants to be with me...After searching and searching, there's just no other type of visa that can allow us to be together all the time without having a time limit on it... Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 How is the 90 days not a time limit? Even a working holiday is usually longer than that. It's entirely up to you, but IME such things tend to place undue pressure on the natural progression of a relationship. If you do take it up, I sincerely hope you DON'T get married within 3 months just to keep the visa going. Link to post Share on other sites
Eeyore79 Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 Getting a fiance visa is an expensive and lengthy process. You need a significant amount of money, not only to pay an immigration lawyer to do all the paperwork for you, but also to support you while you're waiting for your green card, and to pay for the wedding and flights and shipping all your stuff over etc. You're looking at literally thousands of pounds - has a 21yo guy got that amount of money to spare? But you're right when you say you're unlikely to get any other kind of visa to live in his country, a fiance visa is probably your only option in the long term. There are other short term options though. One of you could get a student visa and study in the other person's country for a year, so you can try living together, and if it works out you can apply for the fiance visa afterwards. A working holiday visa would also be an option. Why do you have to go to his country? Can't he come to your country for a year? Then if you want to marry, you can go to his country afterwards. I know you just want to be together permanently, but I really think you ought to try either the student visa or working holiday visa first, so you can have a trial run of living together. Then afterwards you can apply for the fiance visa when you have exerience of living together and know it's definitely what you want. Link to post Share on other sites
Rollercoasterr Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 My fiance and I were just approved for the fiance visa so I think I may be able to shed some light on this for you. YES, there is a chance that you will not be granted your K-1. No one can tell you for certain if you will be approved or not. It is a very lengthy process, and it IS very expensive. He must also show that he can support you financially. Currently, the guidelines are 125% of the poverty line, which for a household of two is a little over 18k a year. If he doesn't make that he'll have to line up a co-sponsor. No ifs, and or buts about it. Even after your K-1 is finished you are not done. There is still Adjustment of Status that has to be filed, which can take another 6-8 months and $1010 out of your pocket. Also, you will not be able to work immediately upon entering the country. You have to file for EAD with your AOS, and that takes usually around 3 months to be approved. At the interview for your visa your relationship will be questioned. They want to make sure that your relationship is bonafide before they will grant any kind of visa. So again, no one can tell you for certain if you will be approved. And sorry Eeyore79, but hiring an immigration lawyer is about as useful as hiring a clown. There's nothing that they can do to make it go any faster or to ensure that your case will be approved. Anything that they file you have to provide the info for, so essentially, you're paying someone thousands of dollars just to fill out paperwork that you could have done yourself. And the forms aren't really all that hard to fill out it's just that you have to prove that your relationship is bonafide. Do not use this as a way to test the waters. If you come here and then go home again and choose to file for a different family visa in the future it WILL come into question. Especially if you overstay your 90 days without getting married. Check out visajourney.com if you haven't already. Read the guides there THOROUGHLY before making your decision. Link to post Share on other sites
Eeyore79 Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 I was told that if you make the slightest mistake on your forms they get sent back, and you have to make corrections and then wait in line for months to be processed all over again. So if you get an immigration lawyer to cross the t's and dot the i's, your paperwork is less likely to be sent back because of errors. I'm no expert though Link to post Share on other sites
aerogurl87 Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Lol, I was just waiting for what rollercoasterr had to say since she's had to go through the whole immigration process with a fiance visa. But yeah, listen to eeyore and RC and go with either a student or working holiday visa before you decide to go for a fiance visa. Link to post Share on other sites
Rollercoasterr Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 I was told that if you make the slightest mistake on your forms they get sent back, and you have to make corrections and then wait in line for months to be processed all over again. So if you get an immigration lawyer to cross the t's and dot the i's, your paperwork is less likely to be sent back because of errors. I'm no expert though That is only partially correct. It depends on the Consulate that you are petitioning for how long the wait times is. Lots of people who have used immigration lawyers end up getting RFE's because of the lawyers mistakes. They don't care about your case as much as you do. You may send out your forms today, while they may wait another week just because they can. Having a lawyer doesn't make anything full-proof. And again, they will not fill out anything that you don't provide the information for. I've seen plenty of people on VJ get RFE's because of a mistake that a lawyer has made, and even worse, a girl who petitioned for her fiance in Canada got a NOID(Notice of Intent to Deny) that her lawyer HID from her for MONTHS. Her process took 2 years to complete. Also, did I mention that just the other day a woman was told by her lawyer that you must get married in 60 days instead of 90? Lots of misinformation there! I will never tell anyone not to seek legal counsel if that is what they wish to do. However, looking over your own petition and having a website like VJ is worth way more than anything a lawyer could ever do. And getting an RFE isn't so bad. At the most right now(due to current processing times) it'll set you back a couple of weeks, not months. My case was approved from start to finished in 6 months exactly, while another couple that filed in September(the month I filed in) actually got an RFE and was STILL finished AND married before Mathew even had his interview. Link to post Share on other sites
Author AudiHax Posted April 30, 2010 Author Share Posted April 30, 2010 The student visa isn't an option to me because that alone would cost almost triple what the fiance visa would cost. If I'm not mistaken, it costs well over 10,000 dollars for a foreigner to study in the US. I just have one question that maybe can be answered here? If we pay for all the forms and do everything correctly, the interview goes well, we have all the perfect documentation to prove that we are a couple etc, but don't have 1000's of dollars in the bank, will they refuse us just for that? He's at college right now and I'm not working at the moment...So there isn't any actual income coming in from either side. Since his parents are supporting him, would that be acceptable enough financial wise? Link to post Share on other sites
Arabella Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 I just have one question that maybe can be answered here? If we pay for all the forms and do everything correctly, the interview goes well, we have all the perfect documentation to prove that we are a couple etc, but don't have 1000's of dollars in the bank, will they refuse us just for that? Absolutely, yes. He needs to be able to support you as per the guidelines Rollercoasterr explained above. If he can't, you WILL be refused and you will lose your application fees. Arabella Link to post Share on other sites
Rollercoasterr Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 No money, no honey. The Consulate has no problem denying people who do not meet their specific guidelines. He doesn't have to have thousands of dollars in the bank but he DOES have to show that he makes at least 125% of the poverty guidelines, which is, as I stated is $18,212 for a household of two. He MUST make at least that much money or YES you will be denied. The government wants to know that you will not be a public charge when you arrive so they enforce income requirements based on what it would take to support the household while you wouldn't be working. IMO, it's annoying to lots of people, but it makes a lot of sense. Approving a petition for someone that only makes $6k a year is asking for trouble. At that income level they can't even support themselves(as in live on their own), let alone another person who wont be able to work for at least 3 months after marriage. If he doesn't make that much money he can align up a cosponsor, but in that case they would have to show that they can support their own family plus you. So if his mother decides to cosponser and the only other person she has living with her is his dad that would make their household size 3(you, her, him). In that case she would need to show documentation that she makes at least $22,887 a year. In the event that he can't find a cosponsor, assets can be used. In order for him to use his bank account balance it always goes by a rule of 4. Let's say that he makes $18,012 a year, leaving him missing $200. He could make up for the missing $200 by having $1000 in the bank and showing proof of that. So just whatever you're missing multiply it by four and that will tell you what you'd need in the bank to make it acceptable. 2009 poverty guidelines are listed here: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864p.pdf All fees are nonrefundable and nontransferable, so make sure you have all of your ducks in a row before you do anything. Link to post Share on other sites
Author AudiHax Posted April 30, 2010 Author Share Posted April 30, 2010 Wow, I never knew anything about having to make so much money before we will be granted a visa...Neither of us are working or living out of home... I am going to see him in July and we were all prepared to send away the first lot of forms and information...Now everything is ruined...I feel like my life is over and we're never gonna be together now. We had it planned for months...and now after 5 years, nothing is going to change... Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Just go get a working holiday visa first while you sort things out and try to impress your employers and get it extended to a work permit. There's more than one way to skin a horse (or whatever the saying was). Why are you so against that? It's so much cheaper, easier, and has less conditions required than a fiance one. Link to post Share on other sites
Author AudiHax Posted April 30, 2010 Author Share Posted April 30, 2010 Can you give me a link to what type of working holiday visa you mean? I don't know what's real and what's not anymore...I guess I've just been too caught up in one visa this whole time... Link to post Share on other sites
Rollercoasterr Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Wow, I never knew anything about having to make so much money before we will be granted a visa...Neither of us are working or living out of home... I am going to see him in July and we were all prepared to send away the first lot of forms and information...Now everything is ruined...I feel like my life is over and we're never gonna be together now. We had it planned for months...and now after 5 years, nothing is going to change... Which is why I suggested that you to go VJ and read the guides there. It doesn't seem like you did a whole lot of research into this, but more or less saw the words fiance visa and pounced on the idea. The government doesn't care about love. They want facts and documentation. The process itself isn't hard at all, it's just a lot of waiting and costs a bit of money. In the end it is completely worth it. Why can he not get a job while he's going to school? I mean, I know that a lot of people don't work while they go to school but some do. I work a full time job and go to school full time so it IS possible. My fiance does(did, he graduated) the same. Nothing in this life is free and if you really want to be together I would suggest that you get the financial aspects of the whole deal lined out. And I'm really trying not to be harsh here, but your life is NOT over. It just means one of three things: he needs to get a job, get a cosponsor, or you two need to chose a different type of visa/working holiday. Link to post Share on other sites
Author AudiHax Posted May 1, 2010 Author Share Posted May 1, 2010 Can someone please give me a link to the type of holiday working visas there are? I would appreciate it... Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 http://www.gapwork.com/visas-usa.shtml https://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/h1b-work-visa.html Frankly, those took me all of 1 minute to search up on google. I don't understand - why didn't you just go to the US immigration site and look it up yourself instead??? I'm going to have to be blunt here - if you really want to get with your guy, YOU are going to have to take the initiative to do your homework and read up specifics online, instead of expecting us to spoonfeed you. Link to post Share on other sites
aerogurl87 Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 http://www.gapwork.com/visas-usa.shtml https://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/h1b-work-visa.html Frankly, those took me all of 1 minute to search up on google. I don't understand - why didn't you just go to the US immigration site and look it up yourself instead??? I'm going to have to be blunt here - if you really want to get with your guy, YOU are going to have to take the initiative to do your homework and read up specifics online, instead of expecting us to spoonfeed you. I gotta agree with Elswyth, if you really want to be with him your gonna have to do your homework yourself. It doesn't take long to google US visas and go to the official site for immigration to find more information on the subject. Link to post Share on other sites
Rollercoasterr Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 Unless you learn how to read and research you won't be approved for anything. This is a big step and you're supposed to be an adult. So it's time to start acting like one. We won't spoonfeed you here, and neither will the government. They'll tell you to suck it up, submit the right documentation and to have everything in order or to not apply at all. Not trying to be mean, but you should know how to research things on your own. This furthers my thoughts that you didn't even do your homework on the fiancé visa. Link to post Share on other sites
Eabie Posted May 2, 2010 Share Posted May 2, 2010 Regarding a UK fiance visa.... I'm currently a grad student here in Canada. My fiance ("proposed civil partner" actually) is in England for about 10 days right now with his family and friends - he'll be coming back to Canada for a few more months before heading back to England permanently at the end of August to find work. I'll be wrapping up my studies around that time as well and coming to the UK as soon as I'm able to, to give our notice of intention to marry at the register office. I asked them if they thought that was enough time to plan a small ceremony for December and they said that it was, so I'm hoping they're right! We're trying to minimize long separations as much as possible, and we are planning a very inexpensive, small wedding. In any case - the part about this tricky balancing act that makes me most nervous, of course, is the fiance (or proposed civil partner) visa. I won a lot of scholarship money for my studies, so I should have about $10 grand or so in the bank by the time I apply, and probably more than that by the time I go to the UK (assuming they approve my application). My partner only has a few thousand on a prepaid Visa card which he'll be using for most things during his stay here in Canada; he also lives with his parents back in the UK. Our hope is that I have enough money, and that we can use his parents' house temporarily before and shortly after the wedding, until I'm permitted to find work. His parents do pay rent for their place; I read that we'll need to get some sort of letter from their landlord, and I'm not clear on whether this is a specific formal document or something more informal from the landlord. I haven't been able to find that info yet. Another concern is that his parents do receive benefits, and I'm not supposed to make recourse to public funds. I can pay them rent, though, so I hope that merely living in their house won't be enough for the consulate to turn down the application. I know of at least one other couple I found online that was in a similar situation - they had about $10 thousand, neither were employed, one didn't even have a bank account (so no bank statements), and they used a parents' house for the residency requirement - and their application was *approved*. That gave me great hope, though of course I'm still anxious and worried. I also worry about my fiance's lack of money at present - though I have enough to support us both (I've been doing that here in Canada, where I pay much higher rent than I'm likely to in the UK with his parents). Although some sources I've read refer to the British national as a "sponsor," I know of at least one other couple who was denied a visa because although the British national had plenty of money, she did *not*, and they decided that in the event of a break-up she could be stranded in the UK. That won't be a problem for me, and I think it does make far more sense that, in our situation, I should be the one with the bulk of the funds. Any advice on our chances, or tips on what documents we should submit, would be greatly, greatly appreciated. (I am doing my own research by the way - I'm just getting advice from others who've gone through the process as part of that research too. ) Link to post Share on other sites
Spiritofnow Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 I may have some info for you as me and my bf have begun researching my immigration to the states....I will give you the info I have on the fiancée visa, because it does outline other options as a posed to the fiancée visa; There are other ways to be together without having to get engaged and return home immediately... http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/New%20Structure/3rd%20Level%20(Left%20Nav%20Children)/Resources-3rd%20level/How%20Do%20I%20Guides/A2en.pdf I hope this helps. Link to post Share on other sites
txsilkysmoothe Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 Why can't he move to the England? Is that more complicated, expensive? I knew a guy who went to Indonesia and married his g/f, then they applied for a spousal visa. Is he willing to do that? Link to post Share on other sites
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