Romeofud Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 My homeboy, 25, wants to bring this chick up from Dublin, Ireland and just marry her into citizenship, but doesn't know how to go about it. Man, I'm against this crap but he aint hearing nothing from me on it lol. His mind is already made up cause he's so into this broad who he met from a chat & she's 17, beautiful, but poor, so he says. Anyway, what you ppl think?
CrestfallenNoMore Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 You can't "marry someone into citizenship." The best you can do is marry someone to make them a legal permanent resident. But there has to be a reason to legally allow an immigrant into the country in the first place - usually work-related. And I'm guessing a 17-year-old girl doesn't have any real in-demand skills here. And it's a huge, huge hassle. It's also not cheap. I married a Canadian and it was a process that took a few years, involved lots of INS paperwork and a couple interviews and several thousand dollars. My innner cynic says the bloom will disappear from the rose before it can ever be finalized, assuming he can even get her over here. If he really wants to do it and have it be legal, then urge him to really research it rather than stay caught up in an uneducated fantasy.
Cee Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 I don't know what country you are from, but this isn't easy in the U.S. It takes years and costs a bit of money since he'll probably need to hire an immigration attorney. I suggest that you tell your friend that he should hire an attorney, asap. That might wake him up to the fact that this isn't child's play. Marriage is going to cost him a ton of money, aggravation, and likely a broken heart.
carhill Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 (edited) http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2994.html He'll be looking for a K1 fiance visa, presuming 'homeboy' is a US citizen. She'll then become a legal resident after they marry and can apply for full citizenship after a period of time. One of our LS'ers was such a fiance, later wife (married overseas so different visa type) and she is now a full US citizen and is bringing her mother over here in a couple months to become a legal resident. I hope he has a few bucks saved up. When I was going to the FSU/CIS over a decade ago, a typical K1 budget was between 5 and 10K USD, including travel, documents, fees, problems, and with minimal lawyer input. My opinion (I was in my late 30's) is that it takes a pretty mature person to have a successful K1 and marriage. Hope he's up for that. He'll need the financial stability to sponsor her and both of them must be legally free and able (her age could be a factor) to marry in the state they will reside in. They'll have 90 days to decide and marry, or not, after which, if not, she must return so as not to overstay her visa. I hope he thinks it through. Big decision. Edited May 13, 2011 by carhill
CrestfallenNoMore Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Yep, and I don't think you can get a K1 without having ever met. So someone's going to have to fly somewhere. She's 17 and poor, you say, so guess it'd be up to homeboy to foot the bill.
CrestfallenNoMore Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 He'll be looking for a K1 fiance visa, presuming 'homeboy' is a US citizen. She'll then become a legal resident after they marry and can apply for full citizenship after a period of time. That's a good point that adds more clarity to my first statement. Again, marrying someone does not make him or her a citizen, but she could pursue the process of attaining citizenship after she is married (according to INS rules).
carhill Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Meeting in person within two years prior to filing is one requirement. Typically, like when I visited, we took pictures together in public and at family events, providing proof of meeting, should anything progress. The requirements are pretty simple and it's not that expensive to travel anymore. My advice would be to budget for a number of trips.
CrestfallenNoMore Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 A ticket from the US to Ireland would be pretty expensive for most 25-year-olds that I know.
Author Romeofud Posted May 13, 2011 Author Posted May 13, 2011 You can't "marry someone into citizenship." The best you can do is marry someone to make them a legal permanent resident. But there has to be a reason to legally allow an immigrant into the country in the first place - usually work-related. And I'm guessing a 17-year-old girl doesn't have any real in-demand skills here. And it's a huge, huge hassle. It's also not cheap. I married a Canadian and it was a process that took a few years, involved lots of INS paperwork and a couple interviews and several thousand dollars. My innner cynic says the bloom will disappear from the rose before it can ever be finalized, assuming he can even get her over here. If he really wants to do it and have it be legal, then urge him to really research it rather than stay caught up in an uneducated fantasy. This is what I suspected and I dont know jack sh** about these things lol. I'm just looking out for him. He's young, just finished college last year and got a good job in Capitol Police out in Washington. Whatever, man. He's just so interested in her, aside from her being hot, is because he wants to do what he wants with her, like keep her pretty ass at home and in the damn kitchen lol. I know how he rolls.
carhill Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 A ticket from the US to Ireland would be pretty expensive for most 25-year-olds that I know. IDK, I already owned a home and was traveling when I was 25, mostly racing. Spent about a grand a month on that and this was back in the mid 80's. If one wants something bad enough, one figures out a way. Sounds like homeboy has a good job so he should be OK. Watch out for those Irish girls though; they're spunky
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