Marriage vs. fiance visas

[jazfunk]

I am new to this board.Please excuse if this question has been asked before.I live in California.Would like to know approximately how long it takes to get fiance visa with girl from Ukraine.Is marriage visa faster?Thanks for your help.

[TwoBitBandit]

... in response to Marriage vs. fiance visas, posted by jazfunk on Jul 14, 2005

The fastest way to get a Ukraine girl over here is to marry her in Ukraine and do a "direct consular filing" (DCF).  This is a different process than a K3.

This only applies to Ukraine, not Russia... the DCF process is available in Russia, but it is much more complex and requires that you live in Russia for a few (six?) months.

However, I agree with Travis that you're still better off with a K1 than a DCF...it just gives you time to get to know the girl better.

[Frank O]

... in response to Re: Marriage vs. fiance visas, posted by TwoBitBandit on Jul 14, 2005

Just curious as I had never heard of that till it was too late.

[Ray]

... in response to Does every country have DCF?, posted by Frank O on Jul 14, 2005

Frank,

Immigration Attorney Gary Bala has a list on his web site of countries that do/do not accept direct consular filing.

http://www.usaimmigrationattorney.com/DCFandnoDCFcountries.html

Some other consular posts will process a DCF petition if you are a U.S. citizen and also a resident of that foreign country for at least 6 months.

Ray

[Frank O]

... in response to Re: Does every country have DCF?, posted by Ray on Jul 16, 2005

Thanks I was just curious as I did't found out till after I returned & had filed for the K3. Always makes me wonder if it would have made a difference NOT being apart for 1 1/2 years after marrying.

[Philb]

... in response to Does every country have DCF?, posted by Frank O on Jul 14, 2005

No.  I can't tell you all of the countries that don't do this, but Russia is one of them.

[Frank O]

... in response to Re: Does every country have DCF?, posted by Philb on Jul 14, 2005

Thanks anyways I was just curious as I never heard of DCF till AFTER we were married. ANywyas I don't think it would have made much of a difference in my case.

[Frank O]

... in response to Marriage vs. fiance visas, posted by jazfunk on Jul 14, 2005

why jazfunk do you like that music or are you a musician?

[Travis]

... in response to Marriage vs. fiance visas, posted by jazfunk on Jul 14, 2005

Mine took about 4 months for the K1 approval. But you shouldn't be in a hurry, especially if you live in California. In this venture slower is much better than faster!

[Frank O]

... in response to Marriage vs. fiance visas, posted by jazfunk on Jul 14, 2005

I did the K3 marriage visa. It took me close to a year to get her here. I started the paperwork in April simply because she did not have an intl passport & it took her 4 months to get it!!! Anywyaas she arrived here May 4th. I would probably go the route of the K1 also for "safety" purposes. You do not want extortion or blackmail like what I went through but then again you SHOULD heed red flags AT ALL COSTS!!