K-1 Fiance Visa Versus K-3 Spousal Visa
Author:
John Kunkle
I can already see
the wheels turning in your head: Why not get married in Russia
and apply for a K-3 Spousal Visa rather than a K-1 Fianc‚ Visa?
It will make your fianc‚ happy. Her friends and relatives can
come to the wedding. Her father and mother can be there. It will
even be a lot cheaper than paying for a wedding and reception in
America.
Fair enough.
But before you get the idea that it is better to get married in
Russia and bring your wife over to America on a K-3 Spousal Visa
rather than a K-1 Fianc‚ Visa, consider the following:
First, a K-3 Spousal Visa is as complicated to file as a K-1
Fianc‚ Visa. There is no shortcut as far as paperwork or waiting
time is concerned.
Secondly, the CIS countries require almost as much paperwork for
an American to get married in their country as the US requires
for a Russian woman to get married here.
As you already know by now, CIS countries love paperwork.
Documentation Required For CIS Marriage:
As an American, you would have to provide documentation of your
ability to marry. You would need to have certified copies and
certified translations of those documents from English to Russian
for your birth, divorce, or other types of papers.
You would need to provide certified copies of your passport and
certified translations of those certified copies.
You would need to apply for a marriage license. In CIS countries,
church weddings do not have any official status. You must get
married in a civil ceremony for it to be official.
Once you get the green light, you may get married in Russia, but
most likely you are going to need to make a return trip to Russia
in order to get married.
You probably won't have all the necessary documents required to
apply for a wedding license in Russia with you during your first
trip to Russia.
So you fly home. You send off all the required documents from
America to your fianc‚ (two to three weeks for the mail). The
documents need to get translated into Russian for certified
copies (one week).
Local Marriage License:
Next you must apply for the marriage license (you need to fly
back to be present at the application for the marriage
license.)
You wait around for the marriage license to be issued (one to two
weeks). Once it's issued, the civil service takes place.
But your wife wants a church wedding too. You need to provide
documents to the priest that you are Orthodox. Oh, I forgot
you're not Orthodox.
Well, did you bring your baptismal records or church documents
that prove that you are at least a Christian? Oh, you didn't?
You're not Christian? Well, no church wedding for the two of
you!
Well, you could probably lie and say you're Orthodox and come up
with enough money that you could find a priest to marry you
without providing documentation.
Of course, your new mother-in-law already has a sour taste in her
mouth after all of this fudging church records, humph.
Wedding invitations are sent out. One to two weeks later, the
wedding takes place. It's a fun two to three day event.
But of course, you aren't used to drinking quarts of vodka days
on end, so you need a few days at your mother-in-law's home made
spin dry clinic to pull your liver out of a tail spin.
The Honeymoon:
You take a week off for a honeymoon to Cyprus. You return to
Russia. Your relatives welcome you back. Now it's time to file
the Form I-130 Spousal Visa.
It's two months later than it was when you first decided to get
married. You spent the better part of the last month away from
America, waiting for the marriage license, the civil ceremony,
the church ceremony, and the honeymoon.
And now you get to start the process to file her K-3 Spousal
Visa. With a K-3 Visa, it's going to take you just as long to get
her to America as it would have if you had filed a K-1 Fianc‚
Visa in the first place.
But now it's two months later. If you want to return for your
wife's interview at the embassy, you will then be making another
trip to Russia. You have taken nearly a month to a month and a
half away from work and your responsibilities at home.
Maybe you're retired? Maybe it's time you can afford to take off?
Maybe it's not?
By the time you pay for the extra trip to Russia, you still are a
little ahead financially than you would be if you had a full
wedding and reception in America because of the difference in the
cost.
But now it's two months later. If you want to return for your
wife's interview at the embassy, you will then be making another
trip to Russia. You have taken nearly a month to a month and a
half away from work and your responsibilities at home.
Maybe you're retired? Maybe it's time you can afford to take off?
Maybe it's not?
By the time you pay for the extra trip to Russia, you still are a
little ahead financially than you would be if you had a full
wedding and reception in America because of the difference in the
cost.
Maybe You Aren't Planning A Big Wedding:
But maybe you weren't planning on having a big church wedding and
reception in America. Well then, you really aren't ahead
financially, are you? Maybe you are about even from a financial
standpoint.
You've waited two more months than you would have to get your
wife to America if you had applied for the K-1 Fianc‚ Visa
originally as you planned.
You've spent at least an extra month away from home. How did that
affect your business or other parts of your life?
So from a time standpoint, you are way behind than if you applied
for a K-1 Visa.
The wedding was a lot of fun, but you can't drink like you could
during your fraternity days, so your health is a little further
behind than it would be if you had applied for the Fianc‚
Visa.
But maybe you made your wife and your mother in law happy, and
that was worth whatever extra time, money, pain, and suffering
you had to endure getting married in Russia rather than bringing
her home as a fianc‚.
Maybe it was worth it all. Maybe it wasn't. You decide. I tried
to paint the picture as accurately as I can from my vantage
point.
About the Author:
John has
been to Russia and CIS countries many times. He has been
successfully married to his Belarussian wife for over five years.
He will show you how to meet her, how to bring her home, and how
to successfully survive marriage to a Russian woman.
http://www.russian-luv.com/fiance.html
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rticle Source: ArticlesBase.com - K-1 Fiance Visa Versus
K-3 Spousal Visa