K1 or F1 Visa?

[weakseason]

Hi!

I'm a US Citizen and my fiance is Mexican. We've been together for the past two years, and we are recently engaged (yay!!!). We are trying to decide if it would be best (and most expeditious) to: 1) marry in the states with the Fiance visa 2) marry in Distrito Federal, Mexico and then apply directly for the green card or 3) apply for her to go to graduate school (for the 2014/2015 school year), and marry once she is up here.

Regardless, she would like to go to graduate school in 2014 -- are there any advantages for her applying to grad school as a temp green card holder vs. an international? Like loans and scholarships? How would that affect her application process to school? If we marry while she is in graduate school, our documentary evidence of our relationship would prove that we knew and were committed to each other before she came to the states for graduate school. Is that grounds to deny her the green card from marriage?

She doesn't have a particularly strong case for returning to Mexico: She makes 12,000 pesos a month, has no children, nor land nor business. However, she does live with her family. For this reason, I'm concerned that she wouldn't get the F1 in the first place, since she has little to bring her back to Mexico. In fact, she was recently denied a visitor's visa to my college graduation. Then, would it be safest for me to marry her in Mexico?

Thank you very much for any advice.

Sincerely
Lucky

[lisaanderson]

Hi!

I'm a US Citizen and my fiance is Mexican. We've been together for the past two years, and we are recently engaged (yay!!!). We are trying to decide if it would be best (and most expeditious) to: 1) marry in the states with the Fiance visa 2) marry in Distrito Federal, Mexico and then apply directly for the green card or 3) apply for her to go to graduate school (for the 2014/2015 school year), and marry once she is up here.

Regardless, she would like to go to graduate school in 2014 -- are there any advantages for her applying to grad school as a temp green card holder vs. an international? Like loans and scholarships? How would that affect her application process to school? If we marry while she is in graduate school, our documentary evidence of our relationship would prove that we knew and were committed to each other before she came to the states for graduate school. Is that grounds to deny her the green card from marriage?

She doesn't have a particularly strong case for returning to Mexico: She makes 12,000 pesos a month, has no children, nor land nor business. However, she does live with her family. For this reason, I'm concerned that she wouldn't get the F1 in the first place, since she has little to bring her back to Mexico. In fact, she was recently denied a visitor's visa to my college graduation. Then, would it be safest for me to marry her in Mexico?

Thank you very much for any advice.

Sincerely
Lucky

1. If she is not planning to go to school until Sept. 2014- then green card is DEFINITELY the way to go. Once she has a green card (even if it is a 2 year conditional green card based on a marriage that is less than 2 years old), she will be eligible for student loans. Foreign nationals on F-1 visa ARE NOT eligible for student loans. Also, in most states except two or three, you must be at least a green card holder to be considered a resident for state school purposes. Meaning, if she is on F-1 and is living in State X, she will still need to pay full tuition at even the state school. If she is a permanent resident, she will be eligible for in-state tuition. Also, based on the facts you’ve shown, unless she gets a scholarship, it will be difficult for her to get the F-1 visa.

2. The Fiancée visa is a good route to go if you want to get married here. And, she will be able to come here a few months faster than if you went straight for the green card. Remember, it may be slightly more expensive to go this route than the marriage route so if money is an issue, you may want to think about doing the green card. Many people who came on the Fiancé visa then can’t afford to do Adjustment of Status to get the green card.

Here’s a breakdown- for the fiancée visa- you have the application fee for the fiancé petition + the visa fees to pay to the consulate + adjustment of status fees. Then 2 years later, you are filing for Removal of Conditions because your fiancée will get a conditional green card.

For the green card- you have the application fee for the spouse petition + visa fees. Then you’re done until you have to pay for Removal of Conditions. You can find all the fees online.

[weakseason]

Thank you very much, I really appreciate your advice! I'm meeting with a lawyer soon to get the process under-way. I'm so excited!

Thank you again,
Lucky