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Cross country LDR - Has anyone closed the distance?


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Hi all,

 

I'm new and this is my first thread (woo!). I was wondering how many of you were in cross country LDR's and have or are planning to close the distance. I would love to hear about your experiences and if you have any advice. I would love to hear about the visa and wedding processes from your experiences specifically.

 

I am in Canada and my SO is in the States. We have been dating for 3 1/2+ years. I would like to close the distance by moving there (or having him come here even if it's just for a short amount of time). I've been looking into the visa processes and I would love to hear what your experiences have been.

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I would love to hear about your experiences and if you have any advice. I would love to hear about the visa and wedding processes from your experiences specifically.

 

Welcome, Rinner! :)

 

I was in a cross-country LDR, and we closed the distance more than 3 years ago. The country that we live in is different from the USA though, in that the criteria for a partner visa is living together for 12 months, with marriage being irrelevant to the immigration process. So I'm afraid I can't help you on that front. There is another couple here where one of them did migrate to the USA on a fiance visa I believe.

 

As for advice - I think one piece of advice that will probably apply everywhere is that you should talk to an immigration adviser if you are serious about this. Many of them offer free initial consults. And if you get one that will help you for a reasonable price, he/she may be more than worth the money.

 

Also save every bit of documentation that you possibly can, including photos, until you are certain of what you will and won't need.

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Elswyth have said most of it. Happily for you Rinner, your SO knows the language.

 

Me and my wonderful BF are about to close the distance, and he will automatically get 6 months of residence permit in my country as long as he can refer to documentation that he is applying for jobs. When he gets a job, it will expand to 12 months. After that, there are a few formalities to sort, as 300 hours of language school etc. to get his permanent permit.

 

Both our countries are members of the EEA (European Economical Area). Makes it a lot easier, at least in our case.

 

Good luck to the two of you :D

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Yes I have one LDR but no I don't have plan to close the distance now. I mean not this year. I have to wait for at least two years. Congratulations for you and high hope for me

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Snakechammah

Aww.. I'm also in an LDR at the moment and closing the distance very soon, possibly in 2 months. We're from different countries/continents. He will move to mine and we're getting married in early 2015 :bunny:

 

All the best to you. Always remember, where there's a will, there's always a way! :love:

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Aww.. I'm also in an LDR at the moment and closing the distance very soon, possibly in 2 months. We're from different countries/continents. He will move to mine and we're getting married in early 2015 :bunny:

 

All the best to you. Always remember, where there's a will, there's always a way! :love:

 

Congratulations to you!!

 

I've been in a LDR for about 3 years now, we are looking at closing the distance next June (less than a year!) I will be moving over, so hope it all goes well. :)

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Aww.. I'm also in an LDR at the moment and closing the distance very soon, possibly in 2 months. We're from different countries/continents. He will move to mine and we're getting married in early 2015 :bunny:

 

All the best to you. Always remember, where there's a will, there's always a way! :love:

 

Congratulations! That's really nice to hear. Have you had any issues with visas with moving or has it been an easy experience for you.

 

That's so exciting!

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Me and my husband closed the distance. I was in the Netherlands when we started talking. We met on xbox. He lived in America.

 

The visa progress didnt take too long. We filed in August and got approved in December. In February I had my visa interview (we filed for a k-1 visa, a fiancee visa). The interview lasted maybe five minutes. They asked if I met his family while they went over the affidavit of support. They ask you to bring proof of the relationship but basically it was all about making sure your partner can provide for you. They didnt even look at pictures and printed emails.

 

In April I moved to America and we got married. We are now awaiting my green card.

 

So yup, closed the distance and couldnt be happier. Long distance relationships are a good way to get to know a person. You build trust together and show your willingness to wait for each other. In our case we made lots of sacrifices due to a 9 hour time differences.

 

A lot of people on this forum usually mention lack of communication for whatever excuse. I would go to bed 6pm and wake up in the middle of the night to chat. He would do the same. We were both working at the time. If it is meant to be you put in the effort. No matter what. My husband went without internet for a month. I got a phone deal to call to the abroad for free but only an hour of total time a month. Needless to say, we timed five minutes talks. Haha!

 

I am so happy I am finally with my husband now, in person. No more early morning xbox/kinect parties, no more waiting for my next trip or news on my visa.

 

Only hard part really was leaving my family.

 

If you have any questions regarding visa stuff, let me know!

Edited by Ophelia27
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Me and my husband closed the distance. I was in the Netherlands when we started talking. We met on xbox. He lived in America.

 

The visa progress didnt take too long. We filed in August and got approved in December. In February I had my visa interview (we filed for a k-1 visa, a fiancee visa). The interview lasted maybe five minutes. They asked if I met his family while they went over the affidavit of support. They ask you to bring proof of the relationship but basically it was all about making sure your partner can provide for you. They didnt even look at pictures and printed emails.

 

In April I moved to America and we got married. We are now awaiting my green card.

 

So yup, closed the distance and couldnt be happier. Long distance relationships are a good way to get to know a person. You build trust together and show your willingness to wait for each other. In our case we made lots of sacrifices due to a 9 hour time differences.

 

A lot of people on this forum usually mention lack of communication for whatever excuse. I would go to bed 6pm and wake up in the middle of the night to chat. He would do the same. We were both working at the time. If it is meant to be you put in the effort. No matter what. My husband went without internet for a month. I got a phone deal to call to the abroad for free but only an hour of total time a month. Needless to say, we timed five minutes talks. Haha!

 

I am so happy I am finally with my husband now, in person. No more early morning xbox/kinect parties, no more waiting for my next trip or news on my visa.

 

Only hard part really was leaving my family.

 

If you have any questions regarding visa stuff, let me know!

Congratulations! That's such an inspiring and happy story. In regards to applying for visas, was it an expensive process for you? And since he was moving to your country did they require a certain annual/preferred income or did you just have to prove that you could take care of both of you?

 

Thank you for sharing!

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Congratulations! That's such an inspiring and happy story. In regards to applying for visas, was it an expensive process for you? And since he was moving to your country did they require a certain annual/preferred income or did you just have to prove that you could take care of both of you?

 

Thank you for sharing!

 

Thanks!

 

I moved to America though, not the other way around. As for money, my husband paid 340 dollars for the application. Then I had to pay another 180 for my part of the process in the Netherlands (plus the cost for the medical test you require for the interview) 150 for tge doctor and then between 15-35 (in my case euros) per vaccination you still need.

 

After you come to the States they ask another $1080 for the greencard.

 

It is ridiculous how much we have to pay for love but it is worth it.

 

This is for the k-1 visa. It was the only option for us. I am not sure about the cost of other visas

 

Hope that helps. Keep us updated!

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Thanks!

 

I moved to America though, not the other way around. As for money, my husband paid 340 dollars for the application. Then I had to pay another 180 for my part of the process in the Netherlands (plus the cost for the medical test you require for the interview) 150 for tge doctor and then between 15-35 (in my case euros) per vaccination you still need.

 

After you come to the States they ask another $1080 for the greencard.

 

It is ridiculous how much we have to pay for love but it is worth it.

 

This is for the k-1 visa. It was the only option for us. I am not sure about the cost of other visas

 

Hope that helps. Keep us updated!

 

Congrats on your success story.

It's great to hear about the US visa application, since I'll be moving over to the US next year too.

Which part of US are you at?

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Congrats on your success story.

It's great to hear about the US visa application, since I'll be moving over to the US next year too.

Which part of US are you at?

 

Thank you very much!

I am currently located in Arizona, haha. I went from a 77 degrees summer to a 113 degrees summer. Welcome to the desert.

 

Where will you be moving? And how far into the application are you guys?

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Thanks!

 

I moved to America though, not the other way around. As for money, my husband paid 340 dollars for the application. Then I had to pay another 180 for my part of the process in the Netherlands (plus the cost for the medical test you require for the interview) 150 for tge doctor and then between 15-35 (in my case euros) per vaccination you still need.

 

After you come to the States they ask another $1080 for the greencard.

 

It is ridiculous how much we have to pay for love but it is worth it.

 

This is for the k-1 visa. It was the only option for us. I am not sure about the cost of other visas

 

Hope that helps. Keep us updated!

Oh! That's great to hear. I plan on moving there as well! It probably won't be for another 2-3 years though.

 

How long time wise did the application take? And did you have to have all the paperwork finished before you would get married?

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Oh! That's great to hear. I plan on moving there as well! It probably won't be for another 2-3 years though.

 

How long time wise did the application take? And did you have to have all the paperwork finished before you would get married?

 

In total time, from when we applied until we got approved, it took us 7 months. Most of the paperwork is done by the time you get married. After marraige they want you to send a copy of your marraige certificate, your new last name and yet again an updated affidavit of support. Luckily, you are the one moving to the US so your partner will have to do the big bulk of paperwork. You just have to do the interview in your country and an online questionaire with a lot of yes or no questions. A lot involve "are you planning on assassinating anyone in the US". Haha, ridiculous.

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In total time, from when we applied until we got approved, it took us 7 months. Most of the paperwork is done by the time you get married. After marraige they want you to send a copy of your marraige certificate, your new last name and yet again an updated affidavit of support. Luckily, you are the one moving to the US so your partner will have to do the big bulk of paperwork. You just have to do the interview in your country and an online questionaire with a lot of yes or no questions. A lot involve "are you planning on assassinating anyone in the US". Haha, ridiculous.
Did your SO find the paperwork difficult? My bf is not very good at that kind of thing which worries me. Did you use an immigration adviser at all?

 

Thank you for answering all my questions! This has been so helpful and enlightening.

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Did your SO find the paperwork difficult? My bf is not very good at that kind of thing which worries me. Did you use an immigration adviser at all?

 

Thank you for answering all my questions! This has been so helpful and enlightening.

 

We did it without a lawyer or advisor. Most of the forms ask for his and your biographry, past (military, etc), previous marraiges, stuff like that. It also involves passport pictures and thats about it. It is really a lot easier than people claim. If you, you are the one moving so it is all about your history, have no past arrests or anything involving the law you are basically already accepted. All you really need for the first forms is proof of the relationship. Pictures, emails, phone records, plane tickets. You will have to have met your partner within at least 6 months of the application.

 

Trust me, it is really not that bad at all. I read up on the visa before we applied ourselves and the horror stories freaked me out. Then when you go through it, it is a lot easier than and less stressfree than people imply.

 

And dont mention it, I love to help you out getting some answers. Stay away from forums about the topic though. I recommend visajourney for some legit information and experiences. Like I said before, you barely hear about the success stories, people are more likely to share bad experiences.

 

You can actually download the forms for free on visajourney and take a look at what they expect. It might ease your mind!

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