Not Sure Where To Start On A Visa...

[Tukaram (Tim)]

Ok... I looked over at VisaJourney - good site but too much info to wade through at once.  I just need some advice on what route to even take.

 

Me: I am 50, live in the PI's full time on a tourist visa.  I have no home in the US (the domicile they want in the visa app).  No job, and only $800 a month in VA disability income.

 

Her:  25, no job, has passport but never used it (about 3 years old?). Family has no money to speak of.  A couple OFW's is all.

 

We:  We have lived together for 1 year, renting a house. Have joint bank account.  Been engaged for 2 weeks.

 

I am going to the US in October 2014 for my daughter's wedding.   I would like to take Melane.with me.  I don't think she would stand much of a chance of a tourist visa from what I have read online.  So would I be able to apply for a K-1 (fiance) visa with no domicile and job to sponsor?  Get married here and get a spouse visa?  We have no intention of moving to the US.

 

Anybody have a similar experience?  I am just trying to figure out what visa to apply for, or if it is even worth the trouble.

[Call me bubba]

1.try catholic charities in Dallas, office used to be in Oak lawn,

 http://www.catholiccharitiesdallas.org/immigration-services

now i believe its somewhere on LBJ freeway

2. try getting a member of family to sponsor 

3. consult an attorney (immigration) the D/Fw area has several that could be of assistance 

inquire at "nolo network"?

[jon1]

I am in a similar quandary with my wife. We have lived together for 7 years now and recently married. She has an account, real estate and no job. She was however going thru college and took a semester off to plan the wedding. I was planning on helping her apply for the tourist visa. She would use the college re-enrollment in lieu of a job as the reason she would have to come back. Even though she is married to an American Citizen, she has to qualify for a Tourist Visa on her own merits. The State Department's skewed logic is that even though she is your wife, you reside abroad with her and no intention of living in the US, they feel that you can not guarantee that she will return with you back to the Philippines. Now how screwed up is that? If her intentions were to never return, do you think that a job in the PI would really hold her from never coming back? 

 

She is going to have to provide a certified copy of her bank records showing that she has steady money flow for at least 6 months. Having a credit card is a positive also. She will also have to get the CFO certificate in Manila as she will be traveling abroad with a foreign spouse or fiance'.http://www.cfo.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1348&Itemid=918 yet another block to check off before departure. 

 

My wife has been fighting with the NSO to get a NSO certified copy of our Marriage Contract since January. This is required for her to change her name on her passport to her married name. 

 

A fiance' visa requires medical certification, financial certification of yourself and a lot of paperwork and time (6-8 months and at least $1000 in fees, etc.).

 

A spousal visa requires all of the above and 10-14 months of processing and costs similar.

 

The fiance' and spouse visas all have the intent on you and her living in the U.S. Not the other way around.

 

More flawed State Department logic. A spousal visa is harder to get approved as they deem that the woman "has no way out" if it doesn't work out after arrival in the U.S. Whereas a fiance' can be sent home prior to marriage if it doesn't work out. Really??

Edited February 27, 2014 by jon1

[i am bob]

My gawd but the american government had you guys jumping through hoops! It would probably be easier to register her for a short course and get a student visa? Ouch!

Sent by using a very long piece of string, a couple tin cans, 2 gaseous monkeys, Tapatalk and my Nexus 4

[pokermike]

Someone said jumping through hoops here is my situation. This is my 5th time i have been married. Two times i went the fiance visa route and now this time i married in PI. Regardless what they tell you on line it truly depends on quoats and their work level. The two fiance visas both took a little over a year. The marraige route takes a little longer , next time i wont go this way.  ha ha better not be sixth. We had our I-131 accepted in December of 2013 and i had my interview in the states in December of 2014 and was approved.

 

From there you are required to jump through some more hoops which includes submitting an I-864 which is the support form. You must make at least federal poverty lines , which i beleive is around $20,000 per year to cover you and a wife , throw in kids and it is more. You can offset this requirment if you have a certain amount of personal assets dont know that number but i think it is a big number. They asked me to provide them with a copy of my current tax years documents and the two years prior.

 

i know the first time i submitted an I-864 i was quickly approved i hope the same thing happens this time. I am a casino manager by trade and make very good money , plus i get royalties from one of my inventions and Social Security. I am convinced the more money you make the quicker this last phase goes.

 

i would be confident on how much a wife makes in PI , dont think our government will care they want to know how much the husband makes.

 

I remeber in one of the hoops they ask you to jump through, they encourage you to have all email and mail to be sent to a stateside address and even tell you it will quicker if you follow that directive.

Thats all for now guys but if i get married a few more times i should be an expert at this. i hope its love this time i would not want to think its the money just because i have a lot of it. What do you think guys?

 

Later Poker Mike, remember what happens if you get caught bluffing!    you lose

[pokermike]

Oops forgot one other thing you can go our govenments site USCIS and find out just about everything you need to know , but i will tell you one thing the waiting times are not even close to being correct. 

 

Later Poker Mike

[Tukaram (Tim)]

Since I have no domicile in the US and no real income I don't think I can do either a fiance or spouse visa.  They are both meant as immigrant visas - they don't care that we don't want to stay there.  So it looks like a tourist visa is about it... and we know that won't get approved.  She has no job, property, or money of her own.

 

Maybe I will just go to my daughter's wedding without her....  Or fly to Mexico and walk across the border... ha ha  :tiphat:

[pokermike]

Tuka thats probably your best bet to go by yourself. I know i am worried about my wife coming here and then not wanting to go back home. I think i will be ok , because i do hide form her how much i make just to avoid problems. She knows it must be decent , because when i am there we travel all over the place. I do hope to retire there soon part time and the other part Las Vegas, no state taxes.

 

Its funny i Have several firends living there , they all say i should retire now , they say i have enough money, but whats enough. I started my life as life as a pro card player and risked my entire lifes savings more than once on a turn of a card and was not afraid. Now that i am being told by my friends that i am ok ,go for it , i am chicken s--t.

[jpbago]

Since I have no domicile in the US and no real income I don't think I can do either a fiance or spouse visa.  They are both meant as immigrant visas - they don't care that we don't want to stay there.  So it looks like a tourist visa is about it... and we know that won't get approved.  She has no job, property, or money of her own.

 

Maybe I will just go to my daughter's wedding without her....  Or fly to Mexico and walk across the border... ha ha  :tiphat:

 

Would your daughter consider getting married outside of the USA, like in the Bahamas, DR, CR, or on a cruise ship?

[davewe]

Since I have no domicile in the US and no real income I don't think I can do either a fiance or spouse visa.  They are both meant as immigrant visas - they don't care that we don't want to stay there.  So it looks like a tourist visa is about it... and we know that won't get approved.  She has no job, property, or money of her own.

 

Maybe I will just go to my daughter's wedding without her....  Or fly to Mexico and walk across the border... ha ha  :tiphat:

While you could get the fiancé visa in time if you started now, I agree that you would have a tough time in other areas. The requirement is that you make 125% of the poverty line and they are very stringent about that. I know some self-employed guys who make plenty but it doesn't get reported on their 1040s and they were not able to qualify. The other option is a co-sponsor. You not only have to prove income but show pay stubs, banks records, etc.

 

The chances of getting tourist or student visas are slim and none. USCIS knows all the tricks and knows how people want to get around the rules with a different type of visa. They are pretty tough, though I am sure some people do manage to circumvent the system.

 

Sorry I don't have better news.