Any advice on moving to America from the UK

[SiB86]

Hello all,
I am hoping to move over to America (Austin, Texas) to be with my partner who lives there, we have been looking at various visa options and i was hoping i might get some advise on what i need to do to live and work in the states. I'm 21 and have a bachelors degree. We have disused marriage and are looking particularly at applying for a K-1 visa.. The hole process is more than a little bewildering and after reading so many stories about visas being rejected i wanted to know if anyone had advice on what i should do to get this right.
any help is much appreciated.

[Bevdeforges]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

OK, with a K-1 visa (the so-called fiancé visa) you will have to get married within 90 days of your arrival in the US. The other "trick" is that your partner in the US must be a US citizen. There is considerably more detail on the process here: Nonimmigrant Visa for a Fiance(e) (K-1) on the US State Dept. site.
Cheers,
Bev

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by SiB86

Hello all,
I am hoping to move over to America (Austin, Texas) to be with my partner who lives there, we have been looking at various visa options and i was hoping i might get some advise on what i need to do to live and work in the states. I'm 21 and have a bachelors degree. We have disused marriage and are looking particularly at applying for a K-1 visa.. The hole process is more than a little bewildering and after reading so many stories about visas being rejected i wanted to know if anyone had advice on what i should do to get this right.
any help is much appreciated.

Your educational history is irrelevant for this visa.

Skeletons in the closet include previous visa infringements, criminal record and health history. He needs an income, either of you needs capital, or there needs to be a joint sponsor. Beyond that, it's just a matter of researching the visa, pushing the papers and paying the fees. Budget 10 months from you first submission to receiving the visa.

[AllThatJazz]

I would say that the best advice is to keep at it, and not waste a day's effort. The link to federal government is easy to acquire. But one of the things I have seen is that some people look at doing what has to be done as something of a hobby or pasttime, done when convenient, perhaps not really focusing. The only way to do it is to do it, with focus and time is the key. Go at it hard. Let the others who are casual about it falter, but you must work at it as a professional person does any job. Also I would suggest considering an immigration lawyer, and there are those specialize, such as UK to US. Similar to my comment on the only way to get it done is to do it and not treat it as a hassle but as reality, I say something similar regarding immigration lawyers: since they do charge fees, and I have seen as low as $3,000, and of course they go higher, so taking a perspective that it might cost $5,000 (who knows, look into it) or whatever the cost, the real (emphasized REAL) issue is what is the value of getting it done? If not worth $5,000 then I would say the desire is not worth the effort anyway. If it entails staying up nights, then it is worth it. It is a tough love type of approach: do it, or get off the pot so to speak. And it is true that some immigration lawyers appear to just be an intermediary for the paperwork with the federal government (and some are), so it goes back to the question: why pay for a lawyer? Well, then don't pay for one, but stay on top things down to the minutia and waste not a day or single point in any of it in anyway whatsoever. Even lawyers who appear as simple intermediaries have some value, as they know the system, they monitor the situation, make recommendations, etc. So whichever it be, on your own or with an immigration lawyer, it is a matter of prioritizing and getting done exactly what needs to get done, and getting it in motion today and treating it as a serious task that you will do, and do right, from beginning to end. Not everything is in any our control. But it is what IS in our control that counts, thus doing absolutely all that one can to make it happen is the key, and not moaning or fretting over the whys, hows, and so forth of getting it done, but instead actually getting it done.

[Rachel_Heath]

Originally Posted by AllThatJazz

Also I would suggest considering an immigration lawyer, and there are those specialize, such as UK to US. Similar to my comment on the only way to get it done is to do it and not treat it as a hassle but as reality, I say something similar regarding immigration lawyers: since they do charge fees, and I have seen as low as $3,000, and of course they go higher, so taking a perspective that it might cost $5,000 (who knows, look into it) or whatever the cost, the real (emphasized REAL) issue is what is the value of getting it done? If not worth $5,000 then I would say the desire is not worth the effort anyway.

Personally I think an immigration lawyer for something as straightforward as a K-1 visa is probably overkill. Whilst it's not a simple process unless you've skeletons in the closet or something that will upset the immigration apple-cart I'd have thought you should be able to navigate the K-1 maze relatively easily...

[AllThatJazz]

Originally Posted by Rachel_Heath

Personally I think an immigration lawyer for something as straightforward as a K-1 visa is probably overkill. Whilst it's not a simple process unless you've skeletons in the closet or something that will upset the immigration apple-cart I'd have thought you should be able to navigate the K-1 maze relatively easily...

I have done it, and my best friend has done it, and I have met and spoke with others who have done it. Some on their own, others with immigration lawyers. Some have tried on their own, then later went ahead and got a lawyer, wishing they had done it from the start. In some cases, it is relatively easy. In other cases it is not. I would suggest that the best way to approach it is to understand that it appears to be easy, but there can be a lot more involved than what appears on the surface. One way to look at it is this: if it were really as easy as it appears to be, then there would be millions and millions of it done every year. But there aren't. Each case has factors that make it different from other cases. For example: Who would expect that a copy of the receipt for the engagement ring would have been requested? Perhaps not so difficult to acquire. But to find that out that it is needed, the application will have had to have been submitted, reviewed, and requests for clarification or unknown missing parts returned and then resubmitted. Then received again, and with the requirement of documentation of an engagement ring. That will have taken time just to get to that point. And/or finding out that written letters going both ways between the two people involved going back at least 6 months or longer are necessary? If those don't exist, then those will have to be started, meaning the time that has already elapsed from submitted the application to that point in time, it will be a minimum of another 6 months after starting with those letters back and forth so as to be able to submit those letters 6 months later. And/or what if a picture of the couple together taken sometime within the last 12 months is needed? If none can be found, then a trip is necessary just to get that done. And so on. And/or whatever else. And what if something gets lost during any of it? Then it means more time and redoing it. And then assuming that everything is in order, who knows what the appointment scheduling time frame is at the particular embassy or consulate? Maybe once everything is in order the appointment is scheduled and it is three months out. And then what if during that meeting come to find out that something is missing or that some aspect of the law has changed, thus another appointment is necessary thus possibly adding more months onto it. And/or what about if it is better to go ahead and get married in one or the other country, and then move forward as a couple? Or would that be worse and end up taking more time? The point that I am making is that it is extremely easy to see what is expected: that there is a K-1 application, and further, that it is just a rubber stamp that is needed, therefore it is easy to sit back and hope/guess/assume that that is all there is to it, therefore there is no need for concern, no need for action, just do it whenever one feels like it and assume that that will be that. If that's all it ends up being needed in a particular case, then great!!! But still, waiting another day means that another day has passed, while getting on it today is the only way to start reducing the time to find that out and to ultimately get a decision on that particular case. What is more difficult is to look at is the unexpected, because it is exactly that: unknown and thus unexpected. So instead of expecting the expected and assuming that the K-1 application is all that is needed, it allows for postponing in doing any, waiting, or worse is basing all future actions on that single supposition. By doing nothing today it means that the unexpected will not be known and thus cannot be dealt with until even further points of time in the future. And if there is one overriding aspect of the whole thing, it is "time." Reducing the time frame is ultimately the goal. If it would otherwise be 6 months, then trying to reduce it to 4 months. If it would be one year, then trying to reduce it to 9 months. ANd I know of a case where it took 5 years. It is all about each individual case. Each day that passes is yet another day that adds to the time. So by starting today and being so on top of things everyday and in everyway, whatever the particulars are in any case, and whatever decision and outcome ultimately will be in a particular case, at least the number of days is shortened by 1, 10, 30, 180, or 365 days, etc. If there is the desire to unite with a loved one, then anything and everything in one's control will be done to shorten that time frame by any amount of time. If it ends up being extremely easy and extremely quick in that particular case, so be it. Or if it ends up being extremely difficult and complicated in that particular case, so be it. Starting today is the only way to do it. The best conclusion drawn is the conclusion drawn at the end after all is done, not at the beginning, and worse of all is drawing a conclusion before even getting started at the beginning. I would purport that the easiest thing to do is get started, and that it actually takes more effort and time to continue to justify not getting started.

[synthia]

What country were the fiance's from? I suspect that applicants from developed countries with educations and resources aren't hassled as much, while the relatively undeducated fiance from a poor country has to provide a lot more proof that the relationship is in fact a relationship.

By the way, long posts with no paragraphs are very difficult to read.

[AllThatJazz]

England, Germany, Poland, Brazil, Russia, Canada, and other countries. All assumptions on what will transpire could be determined as valid and reasonable assumptions, ad infinitum.

The practicalities of each scenario will come to light only upon it moving moved outside of the realm of projected hypotheticals and intead into the realm of a case that is actually in motion.

Yesterday the return key wasn't functioning in this expatforum diaglog box, thus I was unable to create paragraphs.

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by synthia

By the way, long posts with no paragraphs are very difficult to read.

I gave up on about line 3 -- it was either that or go find my glasses. Was it a "yes" or a "no" for the lawyer, then?

[AllThatJazz]

It is a Yes. I recommend an immigration lawyer. The lowest possible value is that one gets advice but then acts on one's own. The highest value is that it is turned totally over to them and everything gets done perfectly and timely. Better to know that everything possible was done than to look back later and wish that it had been done. One can argue after the fact that one could have done it themself. However, one cannot argue after the fact that they wish they had gotten an immigration lawyer. The goal is to get the visa, regardless of knowing or believing afterwards that one could or could have done it better on their own. Keep in the mind the goal, and not necessarily on the whos, hows, or whats on achieving that goal.

And it is suggested that it is better to get an immigration lawyer based in the target country, in this case, The U.S., and if possble in the immediate area where the sponsor is located. Experience, expertise, location, and ability to respond immediately all can help reduce the time frame.

If there is anything that is not understandable, not just what I have written, but any documentation or notes related to what you are trying to achieve, move it into something that is understandable. For example, one can take the text I wrote yesterday and copy and paste it into a Word or text document, then enlarge the font, etc. Just do whatever has to be done, whether it turns out to be very easy or very difficult.

Wishing you well.