# I want to marry my girlfriend that lives in the usa



## jeanmarc (Oct 7, 2012)

My girlfriend lives in Nyc and im a from french citizen living in france, I want to know, what I can do to become a United states citizen or how can I marry her cause its really hard to do it in france, they ask us alot of documents Im ready to live in Nyc but i don't know, how and where to go to start my reshearch, they said its difficult to be a us citizen also.

Ps Im 27 years old and work for software company


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

If you want to marry your American girlfriend, you basically have a couple of choices. It all depends on where you want to settle, because you'll ultimately need to register your marriage with the French consulate if you marry outside of France - and that can be a hassle almost equivalent to all the documents they'll require for you to get married in France in the first place.

But if you want to settle in the US, you'll have to go for either a fiancé visa for the US or to go to the US just to get married, then return to France while your (by now) wife applies for a spouse visa and green card for you to join her in the US. The disadvantage of the fiancé visa is that you won't be able to work until after you get married in the US and change status (to a "spouse" visa with accompanying green card). After that, you still need a period of residence in the US with your spouse in order to apply for US citizenship.

When you get to the US, it's a very good idea to maintain your registration with the French consulate and to keep your carte d'identité up to date - just in case you decide you want to go back to France as a couple.
Cheers,
Bev


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## jeanmarc (Oct 7, 2012)

Bevdeforges said:


> If you want to marry your American girlfriend, you basically have a couple of choices. It all depends on where you want to settle, because you'll ultimately need to register your marriage with the French consulate if you marry outside of France - and that can be a hassle almost equivalent to all the documents they'll require for you to get married in France in the first place.
> 
> But if you want to settle in the US, you'll have to go for either a fiancé visa for the US or to go to the US just to get married, then return to France while your (by now) wife applies for a spouse visa and green card for you to join her in the US. The disadvantage of the fiancé visa is that you won't be able to work until after you get married in the US and change status (to a "spouse" visa with accompanying green card). After that, you still need a period of residence in the US with your spouse in order to apply for US citizenship.
> 
> ...


do you think i can get married in the usa, without the visa fiancé and if yes what document should i bring with me, cause it's gonna be 3 years now that we are together and we xan't live like that forever


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

jeanmarc said:


> do you think i can get married in the usa, without the visa fiancé and if yes what document should i bring with me, cause it's gonna be 3 years now that we are together and we xan't live like that forever


do it properly or not at all ..the 
US citizen files for the 
k-1 fiancee visa

K1 Process Flowchart


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

jeanmarc said:


> do you think i can get married in the usa, without the visa fiancé and if yes what document should i bring with me, cause it's gonna be 3 years now that we are together and we xan't live like that forever


You can get married in the US while there on a VWP but that means you will have to return back home to France for a 6 to 9 month wait for a spouse visa to come through.

Or, you get married in France and then she applies for the spouse visa for you. It still takes 6 to 9 months by all accounts. She'll either need a visa for France to stay with you during the waiting period or you'll have to part until the paperwork comes through.
Cheers,
Bev


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## jeanmarc (Oct 7, 2012)

Bevdeforges said:


> You can get married in the US while there on a VWP but that means you will have to return back home to France for a 6 to 9 month wait for a spouse visa to come through.
> 
> Or, you get married in France and then she applies for the spouse visa for you. It still takes 6 to 9 months by all accounts. She'll either need a visa for France to stay with you during the waiting period or you'll have to part until the paperwork comes through.
> Cheers,
> Bev


are you sure they will send the visa for me if im back to paris


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

The process is basically that your fiancée/wife petitions to sponsor you for a visa application. Once that is accepted and approved, the information is sent to the US Consulate in Paris and they will "invite" you to file your visa application. Though it takes some time, it's the surest way to do it.
Cheers,
Bev


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