Marrying in Britain, moving to US

[Welshgurl]

Hi, I have just joined this website and I am hoping someone out there can advise me here goes .....

I am a British citizen living in the UK and my boyfriend is an American citizen living in LA. We plan to Marry in the UK later this year. Once we are married he will return to the US and file for an immigrant visa so I can eventually move to the US and live with him.

Neither of us have been married before, we have no convictions, no children, he has a well paid job in LA and we have been dating since 2009 seeing each other 3/4 times a year.

I understand immigrant visas can take months to years to process depending on your circumstances and in this time I would not be able to enter the US and visit him. I have recently discovered the k-3 visa which I could apply for once the immigrant visa has been filed. This would apparently allow me to travel and stay in the US with him and wait for my immigrant visa to be approved.

When I read this I was over the moon about the prospect of not having to spend so long apart, however I have read many conflicting views online ....

Everything I have read is dated from 2011-2006 and I can't find anything recent! I have read the k-3 now doesn't exist? It is a waste of time as it actually takes longer than the immigrant visa anyway? And that if you apply for a k-3 you are only prolonging your immigrant visa?

I would really appreciate any advice, information or love to hear anyone's personal experience in regards to the k-3 visa. Every lawyer I have contacted locally only deals with UK immigration and not US.

I feel so confused about it all!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I really do welcome any information

Thanks a lot, xxx

[John]

I am absolutely not an expert on this but in the past I have read that getting a US fiancée visa is a lot quicker than getting a spouse visa. So you might like to investigate that point, and plan to get married in the US, and following that US marriage, converting in the US to a spouse visa.

Please excuse my lack of knowledge of the categorisation of the types of visas.

[Welshgurl]

Hi John,

Thanks for your prompt response

We have been advised that it is quicker to get UK clearance to marry in the UK rather than to wait months for the fiance visa and then get married in the US, then still have to wait months/years for the immigrant visa. Also all my family are here in Wales so would be disappointed if we didn't marry here.

It is the immigrant and k-3 visa I'm most confused about! I have read so many conflicting views online and the fact that there is obviously no set time for any of this, its so depressing to think you can marry but then have to wait for so long to be together in the same country.

Also I have been advised to NOT enter the US on the visa wavier programme while an immigrant visa is processing as a return ticket is not enough evidence to prove I don't intend to stay. Because I work in the tv/film industry I have no way of getting a letter of employment and I live at home with my family so I have no bills or mortgage payments to show I have ties here.

Its all so confusing! x