Help! - Fiance(e) Visa I-129f + Visitor query

[Liam2506]

Hello!

I'm looking for a bit of advice on how to proceed with my visa application. Here's my current situation:
- I'm a British citizen and my girlfriend of three years is American-Italian (dual citizenship).
- We have been living in the UK since late 2014.
- She is moving to the US in August.

Ideally I'd move with her in August, get married, apply for a green card and stay in the US indefinitely.

The way I see it, we have several options:
- We could go the I-129f route, and I would simply stay in the UK until approved. However, 6 months wait time seems very likely, potentially longer.
- We could do the same as the above, but I'd buy a 3-month visa waiver or apply for a 6-month visitor visa (B1/B2) in order to stay in the US until the I-129f is approved.
- Or we could get married here in the UK first and proceed with a different visa route.

Can anyone shed any light on the second option? Would this technically class as visa fraud? Or could I claim that the two applications are exclusive? And what are our visa options with regards to marriage in the UK first?

Thank you for reading

Regards

Liam

[inadmissible]

The fiancee visa process is the safest and most straightforward route. Travelling to the United States while pretending to be a tourist will be quicker, but exposes you to accusations of fraud

[Liam2506]

Thank you for your response. Could you shed a little light on it speeding the process up? Would the US embassy in London hand our case over to a US representative?

Say we got married in the UK, how would we then proceed? Am I right in thinking we'd file an I-130 right away (in London), with the option of filing an I-485 and a notice of action to continue the process in the US when we move in August?

[inadmissible]

You can ask the consulate, but typically consulates expedite visa issuance when there is urgent humanitarian grounds or if it is in the interest of the United States goverment

If you get married in the UK you will have to wait for an immigrant visa to be issued before you can travel. It is often quicker to have a fiance visa issued - you would then complete the immigrant visa process in the United States. The quickest route to become a US permanent resident is through the consular immigrant visa process, but the quickest route to living in the United States is the fiancee visa

You would file Form I-485 if you entered the United States on a fiancee visa, tourist visa, or on visa waiver. If you get married in the UK and wait for an immigrant visa the process would be complete - you would arrive in the United States as a permanent resident. Travelling on a tourist visa or visa waiver is not practical in your situation, because they won't let you in if you tell them the purpose of your trip is to live in the United States

[Liam2506]

I'm not sure I understand. If the process to acquire a fiancé visa takes several months, followed by another few months when we arrive in the US to first get married, then for the AoS to process, how is this quicker? Isn't there a risk that this process would extend far into next year? Is overstaying an option?

Currently, the US embassy in London is processing I-130 forms from mid-February, making our wait around 2 1/2 months. Surely this is quicker? Doesn't the marriage, I-485 and the adjustment of action together allow us entry? If not, what's stopping us overstay an VW/Visitor while we await GC approval?

[inadmissible]

The fiancee visa process is quicker if your goal is to live in the United States sooner. Yes, you will arrive in the United States as a non-immigrant, and will then need to file paperwork to adjust your status to that of a permanent resident. The adjustment of status process alone may take just as long as it takes to obtain an immigrant visa through the consulate abroad. However, during this period you will be living and working in the United States. Since your goal is to live in the United States very soon, it makes sense to take the fiancee visa route. On the other hand if your priority is becoming a permanent resident sooner (perhaps your goal is to seek naturalization as soon as possible) and you don't mind waiting abroad longer, the immigrant visa route through consular processing makes sense. Also, if you want to get married outside of the United States, the fiancee visa is not an option at all. Couples usually have their heart set on where they want to get married, regardless of the immigration consequences

As for you, I can not state definitively that an immigrant visa will take longer to obtain than a fiancee visa. I can only generalize the experiences other aliens have had. I do know for certain that the burden on consular officers is less when issuing a fiancee visa - that is they have less work to do. Also, I can tell you that the processing times you reference indicate when the consulate begins processing a visa application - not when they finish processing a visa application. Perhaps you can just call your local consulate and ask them what the difference in processing time is