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I am wondering if I should marry and officiate documents in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and bring my wife into the USA on a K3 visa.
OR
I could "marry" her for her family's sake and not officiate the marriage certificate and process the K1 visa.
An entry visa processor said he stopped doing services for K3 visa processing because it was much more difficult to process. K1 visas allow entry for the fiance' within 4 to 6 months, per him.
Anyone have any experiences with either K1 or K3 process?
Just to make sure you have the total picture.
K-1 route: The packet is sent to the local INS/BCIS Center for processing, possibly a 6-month wait until the appropriate embassy is notified and your fiancee comes for the interview. Once the visa is granted, she comes to the US, but this is not the end of things. Once you marry in the US, you then must file for temp residency and work permit, if wanted. After about 3 years of waiting, paperwork, and intrusive interviews, you will then be able to get her permanent resid status.
K-3 route: Marry your fiancee in Tashkent. Submit an I-130 to the BCIS center, followed by the K-3 application. Wait the appropriate 6 months (or whatever) for the K-3 approval, and your wife will come in for the interview. She will enter the US as a non-immigrant on the K-3, and will have to wait for the I-130 to process before given immigration status (I really have no idea just how this scenario is supposed to work out, but waiting for I-130 approval can take years, depending on the BCIS Service Center).
Alternative route: If you can claim you are a temp resident in Uzbek (need a lease agreement) the I-130 can go straight to the local US embassy, with an approval wait of about 3-4 (for Russia, maybe faster for Uzbek.) Then , your wife goes to the interview, and immigrates(!!!) to the US.
Disclaimer: This info is my personal knowledge and should not be accepted as fact (protocol changes, and some stuff may not have invicersal applicability). Always clarify with the appropriate agency before iinitiating a course of action.
I'm afraid I don't have any personal experiences to share with you. However, I would suggest that you check out the immigration forum on www.about.com. This crowd is probably a lot more experienced in the type of questions you are asking.
Dacha
Thanks for your opinions.
I do not see where on that site where I need to go. Any link there that I should visit?
Sorry for not specifying:
http://forums.about.com/ab-immigration