Hello from Gary;
In today’s post I’ll share with you more information about getting the K-1 Visa, more familiarly known as the fiancee visa. This is the visa that is needed to bring a foreign woman into America for marriage. Specifically I’ll put out some ideas on how to go about the fiancee visa process.
I’m going to cover several aspects of the fiancee visa process here and discuss them from the perspective of my own experience. So jumping right into the topic - -
When Should You Start Checking Out The Fiancee Visa Process?
Now this might seem strange, but I believe the best time to start looking into the fiancee visa process is immediately AFTER you have conclusively decided to marry a foreign woman, but BEFORE you have located your bride to be.
I say this for a couple of reasons.
First, I think it’s important for a man to understand the full legal implications and processes of marrying a foreign woman before he starts courting her. It’s important for his sake as well as for hers. And if a man knows about these things in advance he will be better able to provide for her adjustment into her new foreign home.
And second, if a man knows about these processes, he will be able to better assure the woman that he’s got things “under control.” She can trust him. He’ll protect and provide. Through establishing this sense of assurance, you’ll be more likely to convince your “dream girl” to trust in you.
And know too that your foreign fiancee will be required to submit documents and comply with specific requirements for the fiancee visa process. If you personally are aware of these things in advance, you can alert her to them early on so that she does not get “surprises” in her mail.
So check out this stuff early and know how to “take care of business.”
What’s The Best Way To Start The Fiancee Visa Process?
O.K., so you’ve decided to marry a foreign woman and you want to learn about the fiancee visa process. So do you rush out and hire yourself a lawyer? NO, not yet. Ultimately, I recommend that you get a lawyer. A competent lawyer can lead you through the fiancee visa process and help you avoid certain “land mines.”
BUT, initially I recommend you buy a fiancee visa “kit” first and study it to get a solid feel for what’s involved.
Why do I say this? Well I did not do this when it came time for Alla and I to undertake the k-1/fiancee visa process. And I regret not doing it and being knowledgeable in advance of the whole rigamarole involved. Yes I had hired a solid lawyer to “shepherd” us through the process. And everything worked out great including navigating through some major glitches. BUT, in retrospect, life would have been soooo much more easily dealt with had I known in advance what the exact steps involved consisted of. So get smart early and avoid the confusion of being mystified by “what’s next?”
What are the criteria for a good fiancee visa kit?
Focus on two areas.
First focus on the author of the kit.
Is the author credible? By this I mean is the author credentialed? For example, I’ve been through the fiancee visa process and have shared lots of insights about it here on our site. I stand by what I’ve written but if I ever write a fiancee visa kit for sale, don’t buy it. Just because I’ve “been there, done that” does not make me credible as in credentialed in the law.
Is the author experienced? In other words you want a kit written by someone “working in the trenches”, actively involved in the fiancee visa process. You don’t want a kit produced by someone with a law degree who happened to recognize that a market existed for fiancee visa kits and created a product to fill the need even though their primary professional focus is completely different.
Secondly, focus on the kit itself.
The kit must be comprehensive. It needs to describe for you the process from A to Z, not just from your side, but from your fiancee’s side as well. It should answer the questions “what and when” must each of you provide things in order to complete the fiancee visa process.
A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE - - virtually all of the fiancee visa kits on the market tout their product as providing “all necessary forms included.” Like to buy their kit you get some special bonus - - HELLO, all the fiancee visa forms are available for FREE at http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/. So whatever forms are included in a kit that you buy, note the form number and go to the USCIS site to get the latest version of that form. I’m not suggesting that you actually use the forms. Get a lawyer is my advice. But you need to study the latest edition of each form as well as the latest published instruction set for each form. (hint - - these forms change often in content and/or format.)
The kit must be readable. Plain simple English is what you want and need. There’s a lot of legal jargon involved in the fiancee visa process. If you’re a lawyer, have fun. But for the “average Joe”, legalese is a pain. And too, it’s unnecessary because the fiancee visa process is easily translatable to language that’s easy to understand. So require readability as a prerequisite for any kit you purchase.
The kit must be targeted to YOU, not to a lawyer. There are kits available that are intended for the sole use of lawyers. They are “hyper-comprehensive”, being so thorough in their contents that for the average person they are totally inappropriate, in fact unusable. Don’t try to be a lawyer in your quest for a fiancee visa. Hire a lawyer, yes. But only buy a kit to arm yourself with fore-knowledge of what’s needed.
There are many fiancee visa kits available on the market across a broad spectrum of prices and content. In choosing one for your use remember the criteria discussed in this post - - credibility and content.
Of the many on the market to choose from, there are 3 or 4 that are appropriate to use for the purposes outlined in this post, i.e. to get high quality information preparatory to initiating the fiancee visa process.
Of these, the highest rating choice is what’s offered through A Foreign Affair. I have not yet prepared a review of the product available through their site. But I will soon and will present it along with other products for comparison purposes.
But in the meantime, if you need to get started on the fiancee visa process ASAP, check out what’s available at A Foreign Affair. Click here
A Foreign Affair Home Page V to go to their home page. THEN scroll all the way to the bottom of the A Foreign Affair home page and click the link that says “FIANCEE VISA”. THEN click on “Do It Yourself Fiancee Visa Package.” Go ahead, check it out. It’s a high quality kit produced by a highly credible person.
So that’s it for now. A Formal review of this fiancee visa process kit will be posted soon along with several others. But don’t wait. If you want to have a foreign bride, start now and get the facts.
Happy Studying and Good Luck.
Gary.
P.S. Could one of these women from Elenas Models be your fiancee visa intended?
