Will it be difficult to bring my Trans fiancé to the USA?

[dspiker]

She is transgender and is from Cambodia. They do not recognize same sex marriage, name changes, or gender marker changes on documents. I worry this will make the K visa process much more difficult, long and expensive, having to get expensive immigration lawyers, because maybe immigration thinks there is fraud or something, because she looks female and has a male name and documentation. I also live in the state of Ohio.

If I could just get a simple "It shouldn't be a problem" or "This will be very difficult, it isn't even worth it" I would appreciate it.

 

[SusieQQQ]

Is your only concern the way she looks, or is her current gender listed anywhere different from her birth gender?

 

[dspiker]

Is your only concern the way she looks, or is her current gender listed anywhere different from her birth gender?

I suppose? She has had a complete sex reassignment and everything. Her passport and all documents have her male name and male sex listed. I was planning to consult an actual immigration lawyer but I didn't want to pay 600 just to be told this will be time-consuming and cost thousands of dollars. Just from simple internet research, asking one reddit, etc it seems it could be a huge issue and cause delays and rejections. I guess the way she looks is my concern. Immigration sees a woman with a male name and male sex and thinks it's some fraud or something and having to battle that out. I guess also just with trump in office and all the trans executive orders makes me wonder if the agents will judge our cases more harshly. I did hear from one of my fiancé's friend did the same thing in America and they just did as gay marriage and had no problem but that was 2 years ago. Again, No idea if trump's influence could make this process take way longer and cost way more.

I guess I'm asking if our situation will cause the process to be longer than the 12-18 months for a k1 visa and have to have immigration lawyers and spend like 20,000 and there isn't a guarantee it could even happen. If it will be that difficult, I will probably just end up moving to her then.

 

[SusieQQQ]

avvo might (might) be a better option to ask than Reddit, but be aware they will almost always tell you you need to hire an immigration lawyer. Personally if it’s just looks I don’t see an issue. Having a different gender on, say, birth certificate vs passport would be problematic (and yes, probably more so now). The docs she provides - including birth certificate, passport, and police certificate (which usually require fingerprints ) -should be enough to establish her identity. Regarding the medical exam, there is a physical exam, but they say “The medical examination is not a complete physical examination. Its purpose is to screen for certain medical conditions relevant to U.S. immigration law. The panel physician is not required to examine you for any conditions except those the U.S. Public Health Service specifies for U.S. immigration purposes“ (this is mainly for communicable diseases).

If you think getting married is easier (and it might be, in general not just in this situation), any place that gay marriage is legal will be fine. Doesn’t have to be in the US. Not sure how easy it is for foreigners to get married in Thailand but that seems an easy/close option to Cambodia.

 

[dspiker]

Ok, this makes me feel pretty optimistic. So her having a sex change and everything shouldn't affect anything, We can just apply as a same sex couple to for a k1 visa?

I was thinking of getting married in Thailand because a spouse visa is much faster than a fiancé visa and I believe you get a green card immediately instead of waiting months after marriage. She is a busybody and doesn't want to sit around for months doing nothing waiting for work permission. It's easy for foreigners to marry in Thailand and the USA would recognize it. I just got back from Cambodia yesterday. Maybe when I go see her again in couple months we'll take a trip to Thailand and get married and start the K-3 spouse visa process.

 

[SusieQQQ]

Ok, this makes me feel pretty optimistic. So her having a sex change and everything shouldn't affect anything, We can just apply as a same sex couple to for a k1 visa?

I was thinking of getting married in Thailand because a spouse visa is much faster than a fiancé visa and I believe you get a green card immediately instead of waiting months after marriage. She is a busybody and doesn't want to sit around for months doing nothing waiting for work permission. It's easy for foreigners to marry in Thailand and the USA would recognize it. I just got back from Cambodia yesterday. Maybe when I go see her again in couple months we'll take a trip to Thailand and get married and start the K-3 spouse visa process.

If it’s easy for foreigners to get married in Thailand it sounds like the ideal option.
It will be a CR1 vIsa for a spouse of less than 2 years. The processing will take some months before she can get a visa but it’s an immigrant visa so yes, as soon as she lands in the US on that she becomes a green card holder.