The K1 Experience

Change of Status: Ok folks here we go with the next serious round of paperwork after the K1 visa status. What is required? First off here is the general documents page . The following are the forms required with listed extra documentation required for our K1 application. Documents required for other applications may vary. Read the instructions carefully for details pertaining to your application. 1) I-485 - Application To Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. a. Fee of $325 (Be aware of older forms with $315 listed) b. Copy of Birth Certificate c. Copy of Passport page with non-immigrant visa (K1 page the put in the passport) d. 2 Photos (passport styles, we had ours done at FedEx-Kinkos). e. Fee of $70 for biometrics processing (include on one check with above form fee) f. Vaccination report (medical within last year from K-1 so only this was needed) g. G-325 – Biographic information h. Copy of I-94 arrival and departure record (you get this when you enter on K-1) i. Copy

Oddly enough my new brother in law is marrying an Austrailian citizen and thus is going through... make that... has gone through the same process for gaining admitance down under. As luck would have it they met while she was traveling abroad for a lengthy period of time. She wound up staying in England for a year and as such the two of them have qualified as a defacto married couple in Austrailia (Common Law marriage essentially). The processing for his visa took 3 weeks. Let me say that again. 3 WEEKS. Weeks. 21 days. He has the right to work as a part of this. He says he could have had it faster except that he didn't have his medical at the same time as he applied. We took 6 months for the K-1. It is goign to take another 3 months to get the EAD for right to work. By contrast lets say Suzie and I had lived together in England for a year (We Dated for 2) and then gotten married and applied to come to the US. We would have had to apply for a K3 visa and it would have been 8 months

Ok I have really been avoiding this issue because frankly everywhere I looked I found contradictory information. The website has changed two or three times just during our approval process. Initially when we started the site stated the k1 visa itself was an immigrant visa and conffered the right to work for 90 days after entry or up to your change of status. I wish now I had kept archived copies of the information on the website as it changed. Now I see verbiage stating the k1 is not an immigrant visa. Some one please explain that one to me.... I suppose one could simply come here to get married on the K1 and then leave but it makes no sense. If you are not comming to stay there is no reason to even bother Uncle Sam with the details. Enter on the standard visa waiver get married and leave inside your alloted time (60 days). The whole point of going through the pain of a K1 is to come to the US in order to immigrate while you are a fiance. It holds the reasonable expectation that you wi