Travel Restrictions whilst Visa's being Processed?

[Amanda]

Help/Advice Request! Hi, I'm a UK citizen and got engaged to my US Fiance in November this year and we are about to send off our paperwork for the fiance visa. However, there are a couple of things worrying me and wonder if anyone can help. Firstly, I understand that we have to marry within 90 days of my travel to the US but after that how do I stand on travelling back and forth to the UK? I am an only child and have an elderly mother who i will want to return to visit regularly and also, heaven forbid, if she needed me to return for some reason such as ill health, I'm worried that my travel will be limited??? I will also want to return soon after we marry to pack up all my belongings to ship them out. . .is this permitted? Also are there any limitations on my travel to and from the US once we have submitted our application? And have I read the information correct that if/when we recieve confirmation of the fiance visa i have up to 6 months before it expires. .is that right? And on average how long do people find it takes from submitting your application to having it granted? I'm just finding it really confusing and frustrating trying to plan a wedding and moving my belongings and arranging time to just be together in between all this. . . .all info gratefully received!

[nichole]

Visa time varies. I could be 6-8 months. If you do a perfectly complete application and get all your paperwork ready for the interview quickly and don't have any issues with previous overstays, infectious disease, criminal record, or fiance's income, then you should move along in that time frame.

You can visit during the process if the immigration officer believes you are a tourist and are going back home.

The K1 visa has to be used within 6 months of being issued. I can be extended by the Embassy.

Once you use the K1 to enter the US, it's void. It's a one time use visa. If you leave, you can't use it to come back.

Once in the US, you have 90 days to marry.

Afer you marry, you can file for Adjustment of Status (the green card). It costs $1010 to apply. If you wish, you can apply for the EAD Employment Authorization Document and the Advance Parole document at the same time for free. 3 for the price of 1.

EAD allows you to work in the US. Takes 60-90 days (or more) to be granted.

Advance Parole allows you to travel outside the US and come back while your Adjustment of Status is processing. It takes average 60-90 days to receive. They don't have to let you back in, but they normally do unless you are on their list for overstays in the past. Then they might take that opportunity to not allow you back in.

Once you get the green card, you can travel freely. I don't know how long that takes. At least 6 months, maybe a year.

So----Pack everything and ship it before you leave, because you won't be going back once you use the K1 visa until after you are married, filed AOS and Advance Parole, and waited on that to be granted.

It's hard to plan a wedding date with the unknown timeframe of the visa. If you want to plan a perfect wedding, you'll have to marry a Brit and stay in the UK. Or you have a quick courthouse wedding shortly after you arrive to legally file the AOS papers, and then plan a big wedding months down the road. If you apply today for a K1, the times could be getting longer than what people are getting now. Last March, it took us just over 4 months. The times have increased with each subsequent month of filing. It just depends on how many apply and what the workload is at the time. Nobody can tell you. It goes up and down.

Plan ahead for the cost of the visa and adjustment of status. There's alot of incidental expense involved besides the filing fees. We are over $5,000 currently with filing, travel to London to medical, the medical and shots, police report, certified copies of birth certificates, travel to interview, more visa fees and courier fees at the Embassy, shipping things, about 10 passport photos so far just to name a few expenses. We don't have a lawyer. Tack on more money if you do.