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Originally Posted by A BROWN SMILE
I just wanted to know if anyone knew for filing visa papers to bring my dominican love to the states. Would it be better to marry in Dr and file paperwork or better to just file a fiancee visa to bring her here? thanks people!
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The outcome is different depending on what your goal is. If speed is your goal, then filing a K-1 fiance visa is faster, however, your interview at the consulate will be brutal, more so than if you were married. After your marriage you will have to apply for work authorization and also adjust status, which involves another interview, and it doesn't happen often, but if things don't go right when adjusting status, your spouse can be made to leave the country until things get sorted out, or worse if there is a problem it could be years before your loved one can get back in the country.
Getting married will be longer, and you must be careful to have a marriage that is legal in the US, but the interview should be easier, and your life will be much much easier after the visa is issued if you go the CR-1 or IR-1 route. When your spouse enters the US on a CR-1 or IR-1, he or she will recieve a work autorization right away, and will get his or her green card in a few weeks. You can also inform the National Visa Center that you would like a social security number to be issued when the visa is approved. You still have to adjust status after you are in the US for 2 years, but you will have done most of the work ahead of time, and with the K-1 fiance visa you may have to wait as much as 90 days for a work permit.
That being said, Each way is a long process. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking you can do this in 3 or 4 months, it's not going to happen. Figure on 6 months minimum. And do yourself a favor. Talk to people who have been through the process (like myself
) or better yet, only rely on information you receive firsthand from the US government or the Consulate. There will be many people who will have advice and horror stories, who will tell you that they will deny the visa because the consular officer had a bad day, etc. There will also be people who will tell you you cannot do this without a lawyer, or that a lawyer will speed up the process. The reality is that unless your spouse has a problem like illegal entry to the US or a criminal record, or some other unusual circumstances, a lawyer can't do anything that you can't do. I am not an attorney, and this is totally my opinion, but for a normal case a lawyer is a collossal waste of money. If you are not comfortable with filling out the paperwork yourself, there are many assistance agencies that will charge you a reasonable fee to do the paperwork or check it for you, and do the translations, pictures, etc. Actually, I have used a firm like this for my translations, and I am considering starting my own agency since I have been through the process, and I am passionate about people being able to legally immigrate to the country to reunite with their families.
Feel free to ask more questions, or PM me if there is something you don't want in the forum. You can also e-mail me at
tim@twincactus.com if you want. I will be glad to help you.
Oh, one more thing. There seem to be a whole bunch of people who think that you can just get married and file some papers directly at the embassy in the DR. There is NO consular filing in the DR, and if there was, the USC would have to reside in the DR for a long period of time to do it. So the answer is absolutely you cannot file at the Embassy. You must file your paperwork with a service center.
I hope I have helped you some on your journey.
-Tim
Hey, anyone think they might want someone to moderate an "emmigration from the DR" forum here on DR1? Robert, what do you think? I would be willing to moderate it for the group. It's just a thought. We seem to be getting alot of these questions lately.
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Visa Question.
The work is the same but......
