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Comment by colkassad | Hacker News Reader

I married my wife overseas in 2007. In 2008 we applied for immigration at a US embassy (I sponsored her as my spouse), waited a couple of months, and received an appointment date. My wife was granted a visa at the appointment. I made a comment during the interview on how the process was so painless and the consulate basically said, "well, you guys are married". 3 years later, she is a US citizen. I think the fiancee visa route plays second fiddle to family immigration. That and maybe the Buenos Aires consulate needs to get their act together. It's a shame you spent so much money on lawyers as well :| Good luck to you...you may want to try again now that you are married.

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Glad to hear you had such a better experience. There are definitely a lot of factors to consider.

Luckily since our initial terrible experience, we've had nothing but good ones with the US Consulate in Buenos Aires. So I'm hopeful that if we ever decide to move back to the USA, being married for 5 years and having a child will count in our favor and make the process much easier like it was for you.

As it is though, I've grown pretty comfortable here and don't know if we'll ever move back. All's well that ends well, I suppose. :)

That's great to hear. I know how you feel, I miss living overseas sometimes :)

Yes. Marry over-seas then apply for the visa at over-seas consulate --should take about 3-months or so.

I know a handful of couples like that. It was pretty painless --so long as they married prior to coming to the US. So they were legally married overseas, then applied at overseas consulate and green card was granted --citizenship can be applied for a year after arrival, and (I'm under the impression) most have been granted citizenship within one to two years. No fuss, that I've heard of.

Now, (you) working overseas (not in the US) as a non citizen can get tricky for US citizens --you have to be sponsored, of course, but in some countries, like Argentina, you (or employer most likely) would have to prove there was no local available to fulfill the job requirement. That can be a tough hurdle.

Actually, after a year you apply to have "conditional permanent residence" removed. Then after three years you can apply for citizenship. It may be less for members of the military though.

Is this a personal experience that you are generalizing or it is actually faster to get a wife to the US vs a fiancee? Any link to actual law is appreciated.

I've spoken with several couples in Tokyo that were told by the US Embassy here that they should get married before trying to move to the US, since marrying afterwards would be a nightmare.

My understanding also is that its way way way way better to get married overseas and then try to get into the US. Sorry, I don't have any links for you.

It will still probably take a few months to a year. Which is probably going to make it difficult to have a job lined up in advance.

In any case its better because it doesn't require you and your spouse to be separated.

I admit that this is personal experience. However, a quick google of "fiancee visa vs spousal visa" seems to back me up.

Does "fiancee" even have any legal defintion in the US? Nobody signs anything when they propose and I'm pretty sure that states don't recognise it as a legal status, at least not until various common-law cohabitation conditions comes into play.

It's a particular type of immigration Visa the K-1 is a "Fiancee Visa". Note that you are required to get married within 90 days. The point of it is to allow US Citizens to get married within the US to non-US Citizens.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2994.htm...

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