Pre-emptive application for K-1 visa - Good idea? Better ideas?

Palois

New Member
Hi,

I’m a UK citizen and my fiancée is a US citizen. I have work commitments in Europe until the end of April 2014, but after that I would like to be over in the US with her as soon as possible. I intend to apply for a graduate program at the same university she is studying at, and this would begin in August 2014. If I were to be accepted, I would presumably be able to enter the US on a student visa.

However, I am of course far from guaranteed to be accepted by the university. In that case, the plan would be to enter on a K-1 fiancé visa, and get married shortly after I arrive in the States.

In order to account for processing times and still stand a chance of moving over next summer, we had thought about applying for the fiancé visa in the next couple of months – before knowing, of course, the result of my university application.

My question is this: if, sometime around February, I found out that I had indeed been accepted onto the grad school program, would I be able to cancel the fiancé visa and still get a student visa without any problems? Or would this be an issue? Alternatively, would it be possible – if it had been processed in time – to enter the US on the K-1 visa next summer, get married, and then begin studying? What’s my best option?

I’m still very new to all of this, and am feeling quite overwhelmed by it all, so if any can see any other glaringly obvious options that I haven’t thought of, please do let me know! The grad school option would of course be the best all round, but the main priority is being with my fiancée as soon as possible after I finish working here next April.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!
 
Having a US citizen as a fiancee' may result in your F-1 visa being denied. In my opinion, just persue a K-1 visa and keep things simple. You can study as soon as you apply for AOS based on your K-1 visa.

My question is this: if, sometime around February, I found out that I had indeed been accepted onto the grad school program, would I be able to cancel the fiancé visa and still get a student visa without any problems? Or would this be an issue? Alternatively, would it be possible – if it had been processed in time – to enter the US on the K-1 visa next summer, get married, and then begin studying? What’s my best option?
 
Thank you very much for your reply. Much appreciated!

So just to confirm, are you saying that even if all I've done is apply for AOS, my K-1 visa alone would be enough to begin studying? That is to say, if I hypothetically got married at the end of July then immediately sent of the paperwork for AOS, I could enrol and begin studying just a couple of weeks later?
 
K-1 status and pending AOS status both allow one to study.

So just to confirm, are you saying that even if all I've done is apply for AOS, my K-1 visa alone would be enough to begin studying? That is to say, if I hypothetically got married at the end of July then immediately sent of the paperwork for AOS, I could enrol and begin studying just a couple of weeks later?
 
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