# Bringing foreign spouse to the US



## texan243 (Jul 17, 2014)

A bit about me and my fiance's inquiry. I'm in Texas, she is in London, UK. She is a Thai citizen. Her father who is a citizen of the UK married her mom while in Thailand years ago, they are divorced, their children were born in Thailand and therefore are not UK citizens. Her father brought her to live in the UK several years ago as a resident. We have no set plans at the moment and no definite timeframe so far. We are just looking ahead starting to make plans to marry and have her move to Texas after we marry and are trying to find out everything we can about making that move in the future. When we do finalize things we are planning on getting married in Denmark and then coming back to Texas to live permanently. I talked to an immigration lawyer and his advice was to have her come here as a tourist then marry before that visa expired. I do not think that is right or even legal since we are planning on marrying some day and that would be considered immigration fraud and I have no desire to get in trouble and I surely wouldn't want to risk her getting into trouble! There are so many conflicting opinions and spotty information out there that it's hard to actually get a handle on this and figure out how to even begin making plans. 

I would like to get some clarification on several points of this taken from the PDF on the state department's website titled Bringing Spouse to Live In The United States as Legal Permanent Residents. The link to it can be found on the uscis.gov site. Sorry but I can't post links since this is my first post.

The law gives special consideration to immediate relatives of U.S.
citizens, which includes a U.S. citizen’s spouse, unmarried children
under 21 years of age, and parents.
• There is no waiting list to immigrate these relatives.
• The U.S. Department of State will invite them to apply for an
immigrant visa as soon as we approve your I-130 petition.
• If your petition has been approved, and your relatives are
currently in the United States after making a legal entry (and
they meet certain other requirements), they may be able to file
applications with USCIS to adjust to permanent resident status.

It says that "there is no waiting list to immigrate these relatives", then it says "the U.S. Department of state will invite them to apply for an immigrant visa AS SOON as we approve your I-130 petition". Are they saying that even if you are legally married outside of the US that you can not bring your spouse home with you, that you will have to be separated for an untold/uncertain amount of time while they are getting around to processing the I-130 petition?

Then it says, "If your petition has been approved, and your relatives are currently in the United States after making a legal entry (and they meet certain other requirements), they may be able to file applications with USCIS to adjust to permanent resident status." What I would like to know is what are "legal entry" requirements for this? And does this mean that a petition would have to have been filed before the spouse made the "legal entry" into the US? A tourist visa would be legal entry as far as I can tell, even though we would be married. Marriage should not negate the legality of a tourist visa, would it? And lastly what are the "certain other requirements" they refer to? I could not find them and have no idea of what phrases to use to search for the specific "certain other requirements". These people purposely give vague, non answers to everything which just leaves people in the dark about what exact steps are necessary to comply with the law. It's crazy to say the least!

Any help would be much appreciated. My fiance and I are looking at all options before making any set plans as there seems to be many different challenges to come to understand and overcome with the immigration process. Thank you in advance!


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

It is not as crazy as it seems:>)

Can your bride apply for UK citizenship? It might make things easier plus she would be free to come and go which can be helpful in family situations.

The option "spontaneous marriage" while in the US under VWP and then AoS (Adjustment of Status) is available. The key word being spontaneous. AoS is also an option for spouses legally in the US under various visas - student, employment, au-pair, ...

I hope you did not pay the ambulance chaser!!!

Your "certain requirements" are K1 or CR1. K1: you petition, she is in the UK, petition approved, she enters the US, you get married and file AoS and EAD (Employment Authorization Document). Give or take 12+ months. CR1: you get married, you petition, petition approved, she goes through medical/interview, she enters the US and gets her Green Card status at point of entry. Give or take 12+ months.


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## texan243 (Jul 17, 2014)

twostep said:


> It is not as crazy as it seems:>)
> 
> Can your bride apply for UK citizenship? It might make things easier plus she would be free to come and go which can be helpful in family situations.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the quick reply Twostep. No, I didn't pay the "ambulance chaser"! It sounded fishy to me because of the research I have done on this site and on a couple of others. That is what I'm trying to figure out and avoid, the waiting 12+ months after getting married before she could legally come to the US. That is the crazy part I was talking about. It is crazy when we have a "president" that is fast tracking tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens with amnesty, giving them EBT cards, allowing them to fly without valid I.D.'s, and has just started a program advertising in mexico welcoming deported criminals to come back to the US.... all the while the people who want to lawfully and properly follow the law are harassed and delayed and treated with the greatest of indifference known to man.

All I want to do, is when we decide to do it, is get married and legally bring my wife home with me. Without having to be separated and living in different countries for some unknown amount of time while some bureaucracy dithers around and takes their sweet time with no regard to the value of our time. I guess I'm different than a lot of people these days in that I still believe that the government is our servant and that we the people are NOT the servants of the government. LOL I guess I'm old fashioned or something! LOL


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

texan243 said:


> Thank you for the quick reply Twostep. No, I didn't pay the "ambulance chaser"! It sounded fishy to me because of the research I have done on this site and on a couple of others. That is what I'm trying to figure out and avoid, the waiting 12+ months after getting married before she could legally come to the US. That is the crazy part I was talking about.


It is what it is until US immigration laws get changed. You are not the first and will not be the last who does not care for the current legal process of bringing a spouse/fiancé to the US. Compared to some other countries it is relatively easy if you have clean backgrounds, fill your paperwork out correctly and follow the yellow brick road to the T.



texan243 said:


> It is crazy when we have a "president" that is fast tracking tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens with amnesty, giving them EBT cards, allowing them to fly without valid I.D.'s, and has just started a program advertising in mexico welcoming deported criminals to come back to the US.... all the while the people who want to lawfully and properly follow the law are harassed and delayed and treated with the greatest of indifference known to man.


As US citizen you have the right to vote and get active in your community and politics.



texan243 said:


> All I want to do, is when we decide to do it, is get married and legally bring my wife home with me. Without having to be separated and living in different countries for some unknown amount of time while some bureaucracy dithers around and takes their sweet time with no regard to the value of our time. I guess I'm different than a lot of people these days in that I still believe that the government is our servant and that we the people are NOT the servants of the government. LOL I guess I'm old fashioned or something! LOL


It is a goat rodeo and you cannot change the rules. You can break them but you will have to deal with potential consequences. You can read up on a recent one from a poster whose spouse (by now probably former spouse) lives in Texas.

By the time you fiddle around you can have the process well under way. Where are you in Texas?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

About the only way to avoid being separated after you get married is to go the fiancé visa route. That way your period of separation is before the wedding. Once she enters the US, you have 3 months (I think it is - someone will correct me if that's wrong) to get married and at that point it's a matter of paperwork, not physical separation.
Cheers,
Bev


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## texan243 (Jul 17, 2014)

Thanks you again Twostep for the reply, I appreciate it.

I do participate in the election process! And am working to help change things as much as I can. It's just frustrating sometimes at how the government panders to those who deliberately thumb their nose at the law while "getting tough" on those who choose to follow the law. Thankfully we both have clean records and nothing to worry about on that account. 

I know what you mean, I have read some horror stories on here about people not following the law to the T and getting in a bind by doing so. I have no desire to, or intention of taking any questionable shortcut that could end up that way. My job is dealing with the worst of the worst of the "rule & lawbreakers" and I will NOT be joining them! I'm going to look around and interview some more reputable immigration lawyers and get their legal advice and see where that leads to. And hopefully she and I will have a better idea by mid october of what sort of plans we need to make, possible by the middle of this month so we can get started on it as it seems it's going to be a long process.

In your experience, have you seen any problem with couples that married outside the US and both spouses being able to travel back and forth between countries while waiting for the whole process to complete? Or is the one waiting to receive the I-130 petition to be approved required to NOT travel to the US, even for a visit of a few weeks or a month then returning to the respective country? In other words would it be possible, without complications, for each of us to visit back and forth while waiting for everything to clear? If so what is the best approach that you have seen others take in doing this?

I'm in east Texas, up close to Nacogdoches. 



twostep said:


> It is what it is until US immigration laws get changed. You are not the first and will not be the last who does not care for the current legal process of bringing a spouse/fiancé to the US. Compared to some other countries it is relatively easy if you have clean backgrounds, fill your paperwork out correctly and follow the yellow brick road to the T.
> 
> 
> As US citizen you have the right to vote and get active in your community and politics.
> ...


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## texan243 (Jul 17, 2014)

Bevdeforges said:


> About the only way to avoid being separated after you get married is to go the fiancé visa route. That way your period of separation is before the wedding. Once she enters the US, you have 3 months (I think it is - someone will correct me if that's wrong) to get married and at that point it's a matter of paperwork, not physical separation.
> Cheers,
> Bev


Thank you for the reply Bevdeforges. Yes it is 90 days and the marriage has to take place before the end of the 90 days. I saw that on the state department website. Do you have any idea of how long that will take for it to be processed from start to finish when the visa is in hand?


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

K1 - no employment until EAD is in her hands. AoS - I have heard everything from 3-9 months. No outside US travel without approved Advanced Parole.

It is an oxymoron but she can enter under VWP or B2 depending on her passport but may need proof of binding ties making her leave the US. It is a gamble.

I would get UK citizenship if possible then pick the option which suits your specific needs better.


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## texan243 (Jul 17, 2014)

twostep said:


> K1 - no employment until EAD is in her hands. AoS - I have heard everything from 3-9 months. No outside US travel without approved Advanced Parole.
> 
> It is an oxymoron but she can enter under VWP or B2 depending on her passport but may need proof of binding ties making her leave the US. It is a gamble.
> 
> I would get UK citizenship if possible then pick the option which suits your specific needs better.


Thanks again Twostep. But wouldn't waiting for the process of getting UK citizenship before doing all the other add a really huge amount of time to the whole process? I mean they don't just give that out overnight. I'm not sure but I'm assuming from what I have read that it takes as long or longer to do that as it does to gain US citizenship. So we would be looking at several years before starting on bringing her to the US. 

Please explain more about "but may need proof of binding ties making her leave the US", what are you telling me there? Proof of binding ties to the US or binding ties to the UK?


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

try not o look too deep into this ..it boils down to 2 method that wont have problems 

you get married anywhere in the world .. you return to the US and file for a spousal visa 
takes about a year ..when she arrives the greed card is ready 

spousal visa CR1
http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2991.html

OR the fiancee visa 
again you file while they wait in their country 

for a fiancee visa 
K1 Visa Process Flowchart and Timeline

US Citizen can apply for a special visa to allow a non-citizen (their fiancée) to enter the country in order to get married to a US citizen inside the US.

Once issued, the K1 visa will allow the non-citizen to enter the United States legally, for 90 days in order for the marriage ceremony to take place. Once you marry, the non-citizen can remain in the US and may apply for permanent residence. While USCIS processes the application, the non-citizen can remain in the US legally
The US citizen income must meet the require minimum to fulfill the affidavit of support
currently $19660


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

texan243 said:


> Thanks again Twostep. But wouldn't waiting for the process of getting UK citizenship before doing all the other add a really huge amount of time to the whole process? I mean they don't just give that out overnight. I'm not sure but I'm assuming from what I have read that it takes as long or longer to do that as it does to gain US citizenship. So we would be looking at several years before starting on bringing her to the US. ?


I know nothing about UK immigration or where in the process she may stand. Why do you not post in the UK Forum to get some answers? It might come in handy for her and your kids. Just food for thought.



texan243 said:


> Please explain more about "but may need proof of binding ties making her leave the US", what are you telling me there? Proof of binding ties to the US or binding ties to the UK?


To the UK. Reasons that make her go back - contracts, job, real estate, ...


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## texan243 (Jul 17, 2014)

Thank you Davis1, I appreciate the reply.

That is what I was afraid of but am starting to accept it because that is pretty much the consensus here and everywhere else, that it will take about a year no matter what route we take. Which wouldn't be so bad if we could visit back and forth with each other. It'd be hard to keep a job, any job for that matter if I had to spend too much time out of the country, but if she were able to come for a month or more at a time, and in between her visits I could go for a week to two weeks to visit her so that we didn't spend a year or more apart, it would be manageable. Fortunately my job allows me a good bit of time off, but I couldn't take more than 20 days at a time off more often than every few months. I just can't grasp their reasoning about demanding that you show you have a stable and viable marriage while at the same time forcing you to be separated for up to a year or maybe more while you are still newlyweds. I just can't wrap my head around that sort of logic. But of course I may be reading too much into it, I don't know. Anyway, thank you again for your advice!



Davis1 said:


> try not o look too deep into this ..it boils down to 2 method that wont have problems
> 
> you get married anywhere in the world .. you return to the US and file for a spousal visa
> takes about a year ..when she arrives the greed card is ready
> ...


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## texan243 (Jul 17, 2014)

Thanks Twostep, I "got it" shortly after I had replied. The reason I haven't posted in the UK forums is because we are not trying to move to the UK, but rather bring her here to Texas. And she is not a UK citizen, but a Thai citizen that is living and working in the UK. She has family there and that is why she is there.



twostep said:


> I know nothing about UK immigration or where in the process she may stand. Why do you not post in the UK Forum to get some answers? It might come in handy for her and your kids. Just food for thought.
> 
> 
> To the UK. Reasons that make her go back - contracts, job, real estate, ...


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Try not to approach anything related to US immigration and immigration overall with common sense.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

texan243 said:


> Thanks Twostep, I "got it" shortly after I had replied. The reason I haven't posted in the UK forums is because we are not trying to move to the UK, but rather bring her here to Texas. And she is not a UK citizen, but a Thai citizen that is living and working in the UK. She has family there and that is why she is there.


I believe that Twostep was advising your prospective wife to obtain her British citizenship because, if she leaves the UK to live elsewhere and is gone for two years or more she will lose whatever immigration status she has in the UK. 

Since you say she is not a British citizen but has lived in the UK for a number of years, I presume she is on some kind of visa and probably has Idefinite leave to remain. However, that is not the same as having British citizenship. Citizenship means you can come and go from your home country as you like. Having ILR means you have a residency status for as long as you are permanently living in the UK. Leaving the UK means the ILR will lapse, so it is something to think about.


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## texan243 (Jul 17, 2014)

twostep said:


> Try not to approach anything related to US immigration and immigration overall with common sense.


Sound advice and well taken!


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## texan243 (Jul 17, 2014)

Crawford said:


> I believe that Twostep was advising your prospective wife to obtain her British citizenship because, if she leaves the UK to live elsewhere and is gone for two years or more she will lose whatever immigration status she has in the UK.
> 
> Since you say she is not a British citizen but has lived in the UK for a number of years, I presume she is on some kind of visa and probably has Idefinite leave to remain. However, that is not the same as having British citizenship. Citizenship means you can come and go from your home country as you like. Having ILR means you have a residency status for as long as you are permanently living in the UK. Leaving the UK means the ILR will lapse, so it is something to think about.


I see what he means now. It has been a long night for me last night with little sleep so I have been a little dense today. Seems like I have read more and chased links, tried to decipher government websites and such more in the past few days than I have in ages. I appreciate everyones input, advice and help that has been offered and am I'm taking it all to heart. 

She has been working on British citizenship for a while and there may be a way we can secure that while we are at it. I will delve more into that at a later time though. I have to get to bed and get some rest as I am leaving to go out of town for the next 4 days for work. Will be back on Monday though and probably will have a ton more questions to ask everyone here!

Again thank you all and anyone who reads this thread please feel free to add your input as it will all be appreciated highly! Will be back on Monday.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

As yet another benefit of her acquiring U.K. citizenship, as a legally married couple you could live with her (and work) in any European Union or European Economic Area country. And there is no waiting period. You just get on a plane and join her, then take care of paperwork formalities after you arrive.

I'm assuming here she is exercising an EU treaty right, notably that she would move to another EU/EEA country and work there in economically self-sustaining employment.

Oddly enough there are some islands in the Caribbean that are part of France. Those count, too. That's a shorter hop for you to visit each other if you want to stay in the U.S.

Note that this doesn't work for the U.K. itself. The U.K. imposes extra burdens on its own citizens when they try to bring foreign (non-EU/EEA) spouses to join them to live in the U.K. Strange but true.


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