CherryT Posted June 14, 2013 Posted June 14, 2013 It's been a long road for my SO and I. We never fight and have always had great communication. The pace of our relationship has always been great... not too fast and not too slow. For a LDR, we've been extremely blessed to be able to see each other on a monthly (or sometimes up to 3x a month) basis. Even though we are a plane ride away. We've always talked about where we wanted to be and where we saw our relationship in the future (marriage, kids, etc). And we've always had rough timelines because we have a lot of logistics to work out (our properties, work, finances, my business etc). Well, it's happening. We're putting money where our mouths is and we're formalizing a plan. We working out all our finances and our timeline and depending on where that takes us, we'll set a time to start working on our K1 Visa. Thank you everyone in this community who has shared their stories with me. I will continue to share as I know it won't be easy. But for anyone in a LDR... if that person makes it "easy" (communication, transparent, loyalty, love) for you to be with them despite the distance... closing the distance almost seems like a fun exercise for couples to conquer. 8
Els Posted June 14, 2013 Posted June 14, 2013 Good luck! The partnership visa application was a HUGE pain in the arse for me, though mine wasn't the USA, and also residence (ie a green card equivalent), instead of a work visa, so hopefully yours will be much smoother! Wishing you all the best. Any time now..
LittleTiger Posted June 14, 2013 Posted June 14, 2013 I'm really happy for you CherryT We're not quite there yet but it's getting tantalizingly close and, yes, it will be very exciting when we finally start the legal processes. In our case, the wedding is likely to be our first step. Good luck with it all! I hope it runs smoothly for both of you. 2
Author CherryT Posted June 14, 2013 Author Posted June 14, 2013 Thanks everyone!! It's really exciting. I hope it's not too much of a pain for us. We're debating whether we should file on our own or go with a lawyer. I have a consultation with a lawyer this afternoon just to get more details. It will be a process and we're not rushing... so chances are, it can take a year, but at least we're moving forward. I'm OK with taking our time and doing it right. We were advised previously to go through the K1 process instead of getting married then trying to immigrate. I will be asking the lawyer today what's best for us. We are doing a Canada-US move, so we share borders and it shouldn't be too much of a struggle. 1
Els Posted June 14, 2013 Posted June 14, 2013 Thanks everyone!! It's really exciting. I hope it's not too much of a pain for us. We're debating whether we should file on our own or go with a lawyer. I have a consultation with a lawyer this afternoon just to get more details. It will be a process and we're not rushing... so chances are, it can take a year, but at least we're moving forward. I'm OK with taking our time and doing it right. We were advised previously to go through the K1 process instead of getting married then trying to immigrate. I will be asking the lawyer today what's best for us. We are doing a Canada-US move, so we share borders and it shouldn't be too much of a struggle. Do you have licensed immigration advisers there? Here they are cheaper than lawyers, and a good adviser is really all you need at the initial phase. In fact, they tend to be more experienced than lawyers at the ins and outs of immigration, as lawyers cover a broader base of legal issues. Not sure about the USA though. IMO it is usually a good idea to go fiance before marriage if you can, unless you have been together for a very long time, or have no choice.
Els Posted June 14, 2013 Posted June 14, 2013 I'm really happy for you CherryT We're not quite there yet but it's getting tantalizingly close and, yes, it will be very exciting when we finally start the legal processes. In our case, the wedding is likely to be our first step. Good luck with it all! I hope it runs smoothly for both of you. Ooooh. Hope I'm not derailing the thread too much, but, so excited for you, LT! :love: Did you manage to work out the property issues?
Author CherryT Posted June 14, 2013 Author Posted June 14, 2013 Oh, we do have immigration consultants but we just have a free consultation with a lawyer. I will be looking into consulting with an immigration consultant as well just to see who we feel the most comfortable with moving forward. LT - That is sooo exciting!! We plan on eloping since we'll only have 90 days from when I set foot on US soil. It's too hard to plan for out of Country guests we think... so we rather just do it that way and then take our time to plan our "wedding celebration" a year from then.
Arabella Posted June 14, 2013 Posted June 14, 2013 My personal experience is that the entire immigration process can be completed completely on your own. You only need to do some research and keep good records of what you do. I immigrated from Spain to the US about a decade ago. My ex and I completed all the paperwork needed by ourselves, all the way from getting a permanent resident card (green card) to becoming a citizen later on. If you can't be bothered to do it yourself, and you have the money, then I don't see the harm in it... but it's by no means a necessity. -A
Els Posted June 15, 2013 Posted June 15, 2013 Oh, we do have immigration consultants but we just have a free consultation with a lawyer. I will be looking into consulting with an immigration consultant as well just to see who we feel the most comfortable with moving forward. Yep, sounds good. Like Arabella says, you technically CAN do it on your own, but IME it's better to at least get one to look your application through. You're making a legal statement in it, and one inadvertently wrong word can give you hell - if not now, then come back to bite you in the ass a few years from now. Most of the issues regarding my current application stem from just one poorly-worded question that the bf answered wrongly in HIS residence application a few years back. It has caused us hundreds of hours of headache, so... yeah. Better to be sure.
Recommended Posts