Marriage-based green cards

Megan Pastrana – Immigration for Couples

By Megan Pastrana / October 7, 2022 /

What Problem(s) Do You Solve? The issue that the couples I work with are confronting is having to navigate the labyrinth of the US immigration system and the emotions that come with it.  Many people are surprised to find out that going through an immigration process as a couple is very complex and can oftentimes…

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Failure to Marry in 90 Days – K1 Visa

By Immigration for Couples / November 27, 2021 /

One of the requirements of the K1 fiancé visa is that you marry your fiancé upon entry to the United States with your K1 visa within 90 days. But what happens if you don’t get married in 90 days? Immigration is very strict. It has to be 90 days, not 91 or 92. There’s no flexibility. It’s…

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Can I Get Married on a Tourist Visa to a US Citizen? (ON ESTA at 2020?)

By Immigration for Couples / November 14, 2021 /

If someone who’s not a US citizen comes to the US, either on a tourist visa or on a visa waiver program, or commonly referred to as ESTA, can they get married and apply for a green card in the US? With this question, there’s a lot of online forums that have said that they…

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K1 vs CR1 – Which is Faster?

By Immigration for Couples / November 7, 2021 /

One of the most frequently asked questions we have been receiving in the past few weeks and months is whether it’s faster to do the fiancé visa or the spouse visa. A lot of couples become paralyzed by this decision. The K1 is the fiancé visa route and the CR1, also called IR1, is the spouse…

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Truth About Green Card Processing Times

By Immigration for Couples / October 30, 2021 /

Most people are shocked to find out that it can take more than a year, oftentimes, many years to receive a green card by marriage to a United States citizen. If you’ve ever seen a Hollywood movie that has any kind of reference to immigration, it makes it seem like you just marry someone from…

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Do I need to have a formal engagement for the I-129F?

By Megan Pastrana / February 19, 2021 /

There is a great question floating around the internet currently about how formal does your engagement actually have to be to qualify for a fiancé(e) visa. If you’re getting ready to apply for the I-129F application which is the first step in obtaining a fiancé(e) visa, you have to be engaged. What does that mean?…

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Overview of the K-1 Fiance Visa Process in 2020

By Megan Pastrana / February 21, 2020 /

If you’re engaged and starting to look ahead to the fiance visa process, you’re probably wondering what the visa journey will look like. There are three different main phases of paperwork when applying for a K1 fiance visa. Read on for all of the highlights! The Petition The first step is a “petition.” The petitioning…

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My Spouse and I Don’t Share a Bank Account. Will USCIS Care?

By Megan Pastrana / May 30, 2019 /

Bona Fide Relationship Evidence USCIS officers have a tough job. They must decide whether someone is in a real marriage just by looking at some documents and then talking to the couple for about 20 minutes. Many of them have developed a super sharp intuitive ability to spot fake relationships. At the same time, they…

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relationship evidence

What NOT to Include in Your Relationship Evidence: #3 Alcohol Use

By Megan Pastrana / May 28, 2019 /

What Not to Include in Relationship Evidence Welcome back to our article series on what not to include in your application as evidence of your relationship. As mentioned previously, it is easy to submit things with your best intentions that you think will prove your relationship and accidentally cause yourself a lot more problems. As…

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fiancé visa

Can My Fiance Get a K-1 Visa From Inside the United States?

By Megan Pastrana / May 27, 2019 /

It seems logical enough that if you’re engaged to marry someone from a foreign country, you need a fiance visa. And many times, it is what the person needs. However, there are some circumstances in which it doesn’t make sense to try to get a fiance visa for your foreign fiance. One of these times…

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