K-1 fiancé visa/General qualifications question

[Voivod]

I have a girlfriend in the US (I'm from the UK), and since I've got a lot of personal family problems here I really, really want to marry my girlfriend, move in with her and basically start a new life over there. I've read (and bookmarked!) about the K-1 fiancé visa from someone else's thread (who are in a similar situation to me), but my only problem is I don't really have fantastic qualifications or a highly skilled job. Well, to put it bluntly I work part-time cleaning at a school - I think you can guess my kind of 'level' from that. I absolutely love my girlfriend and want to marry/be with her, so do you think the fact I don't have an amazing job/qualifications is going to impede anything? I really hope not because her moving here is just not an option.

She's a US citizen, has her own apartment (well, paying a mortgage but it's hers, heh) and is a teacher, if any of that is important. I have no criminal convictions or any problems like that.

[Bevdeforges]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

On a K-1 fiancé visa, you don't need super duper job qualifications. It's your girlfriend/fiancée who is going to have to show that she has the means to support you (at least for the first couple of years) and keep you off the welfare system.

Propose to the lady! And work it out from there, assuming she says "yes."
Cheers,
Bev

[Voivod]

Thank you very much for your answer - that's reassuring to know . I mean I've never even been abroad before (I'm applying for a passport soon!), let alone move abroad, but knowing I should be okay is a huge relief.

Now let's hope she says yes, as you say

[Fatbrit]

OP will be required to show supporting income at 125% of poverty guidelines[/url] or substitute capital @ 3x the annual level. In this case, the non US citizen's income will not count.

The poverty guidelines can be found with a Google search -- since this site will not currently allow me to post the URL.

So, a US citizen living in Chicago with one child who was sponsoring his or her fiancée or spouse would need an annual income of at least 17,600 x 1.25 = 22,000 USD to satisfy the hurdle.

Without an income, capital of 3 x 22,000 = 66,000 USD would equally satisfy the requirements.

And finally, if the US citizen had a lower than required annual income of, say, 16,000, they would need -- in addition -- capital of (22,000 - 16,000) x 3 = 18,000 USD to pass this part of the test.