Moving from UK to US - New to the Process, in need of some advice

Hi there. My partner (US citizen) and I (UK citizen have been together for 3 and a half years. During this time we have realized that we want to be together permanently, not a few months trips here and there to see one another. We intend to marry, and for myself to move over to the US to live with him. I have done quite a bit of reading into procedures and forms and immigration etc through a variety of websites, but still feel pretty naïve and confused by the whole situation. A friend of mine told me about this website so I thought it would be a great opportunity to try and gain some insightful information that I can work  I am also registered blind, I don’t know if this has any baring on the information which you may have, I am thinking it probably won’t but thought I would mention in any case. Here are my main questions:

•   Does anyone have a ‘dummied down’ explanation of what needs to be done by my partner in order to apply for a fiancé visa for myself i.e. where he has to go, what info he needs, what do I need to do etc
•   Is it possible to stay for the 3 months on a visitor visa, to then apply for the fiancé visa to extend the stay another 3 months in which we would need to marry. I.e. 6 straight months instead of 2 separate trips. I know that to get a visitor visa you need to have a return flight, so I wasn’t sure on what standings this would be affected.
•   What proofs and information do you need when filing for residency in the US or is this automatic once you marry
•   Any other info which you feel might be helpful to me and my partner

Hi there - sorry you haven't had any replies yet, I'm not familiar with the fiancee process as we went through a different process. Hopefully someone here can chime in with their experiences, you might try looking through some of the older posts here as well. Also, if you haven't been there another good visa process site is www.visajourney.com - maybe you can get some help there as well.

Hello,

I'm sorry that I've missed this post, too.

Like Marlespo I've not had experience with a fiance visa to the US (only spousal).   I know that the visajourney website that Sara provided is very popular and it has a lot of information on it.

Another site you may want to check out is http://forum.diveintoamerica.com/  for people moving to the US.  There are a lot of people there currently in the process of moving to the US; it's a friendly site with a lot of information too.

Good luck!

Oh, that's the time honored "K petition," or K Visa for Fiancees. 

The US fiance applies, the US Embassy sends the UK fiancee a bunch of forms, the UK fiancee sends them to the specified address, the UK fiancee gets her visa, goes to the US, then she's supposed to get married within 90 days or leave. 

The bride takes her marriage certificate to an immigration service office and gets her green card  (Alien Registration Card; not actually green any more).

It's all here:

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/visa/iv/fiance.htm


Have fun!
Jim
Been there, done that a long time ago

Hi there thank you for the info and websites I will check those out. I take it then that you cannot go to the US on a visitor visa and then change it to a K visa whilst out there to have another 3 months?

Thanks

Kirsty

The K Visa is for a person entering the United States for the purpose of marriage.  It is only issued outside the United States.

You should probably address your question to a specialized immigration attorney.

Jim

I know this might sound like a ridiculous question, but I have to ask it. Is it possible to get married in the US whilst on a visitor green card visa? i.e. when going for vacation?


Had to ask

Thank you

If you're going to the US on the visa waiver programme, it's okay to get married as long as you do not intend to settle there after the wedding.  If you do intend on living in the US after the wedding, it's best to apply for the fiance visa first.

I went through this process and found these websites to be invaluable...

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=35

http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1faq.htm

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/visa/visaindex.htm

also, this one for looking for jobs once you're there...

http://www.ajb.dni.us/

Trisha (p.s. i am not responsible for content!  I understand a few things have changed since I went through the process!)

many thanks for all the weblinks etc, I will spend some time going through them then. I also understand how procedures can change - I am just happy for any help I can get hehe. It is nice to have other suggestions that just trying to figure it out on your own. Thanks again

Figured I may as well post this one in the same thread. though not sure if it has a better spot or not. Does anyone know the best/safest/cheapest way to transfer money from contry to country? When I was in the US my boyfriend put me on his account as a secondary holder as you don't need social security number to do that etc, and we asked them about transferring money from my home bank to theirs and they said probably to wire it, but to check with the bank. I am doing that but also wanted to ask here if anyone has had any experience with this.
thanks.

i wire money from our US account to his UK account and it costs $50 everytime I do it. 

on other threads, I've heard of something like XE but I have never used that website and I don't know anything about it.

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

good luck.