I am a US resident. How do I get my fiance here from the Philippines?

Question

I have been to the Philippines where I met my now fiance. I would like to find the fastest way possable to bring her here to the USA.

Answer 1

There are two legal ways to bring your wife over.



First and the officially approved way is to apply for a Finance visa (K1 visa). This is a very slow process and can take months to get approved. Once it is approved, she is free to come over to marry you here within a 3 month period of arriving.



A second method is to have your fiancee come over on a tourist visa. Once here, you can marry her and apply for an "adjustment of status." This is more difficult to obtained and can be refused. However, while they are making a determination, she is free to legally remain in the United States but it NOT permitted travel out of the country. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! If she leaves for ANY reason without first obtaining permission from immigration, she WILL be refused reentry into the United States.



Please note this process if very costly and takes approximately 2 years to get her permanent resident alien card (green card).

Answer 2

This is not a simple answer. Are you a US citizen. If so then you have two options. One go over there, get married - take pictures, obtain lots of proof, receipts, wedding certs, affidavit from priest (or similar) etc. Come back to the US and apply for a K1. Go to the USCIS web site - all the forms, instructions and fees are listed there. Second option, try and get her here on a tourist visa and get married. Apply for the adjustment of status (I-140 form). Technically she cannot come to the US just to get married - she is supposed to come as a tourist.



You should seek advice from an immigration attorney - the consult is cheap-ish.

Answer 3

You probably will not be pleased with this answer, but here goes. It sounds like you have a green card. If that is the case your options are somewhat limited.



You could get married (either here or abroad). If you get married here she can apply for an adjustment of status and go that route. If you get married abroad, she may qualify for a V visa (spouse of an LPR).



If you are a national of a country other than the Philippines, she may be able to get a priority date based on your nationality. Otherwise, she will be in for a long wait (you can see the estimated waiting times for immigrant visas at www.uscis.gov).



Another option is for your fiance to take advantage of the special programs offered to Filipinos for them to get their green cards based on employment. One that comes to mind is a program giving preference to Filipino RNs, although there may be others. Depending on her occupation and education, she can also apply for a regular non-immigrant work visa (h1 or others) and legally reside in the US in that status until her priority date comes up.



If you are an American citizen, then you can get married abroad and petition for her as the spouse of an American citizen or you can petition for her to get a K1 visa.

Answer 4

Buy her a plane ticket.

Answer 5

marry her. then she will be considered a us citizen