I was wondering if I have to visit my girlfriend's country first?

Question

My girlfriend and I have know each other for 3 years nw. I was told by my immigration lawyer that since we have never met I would have to go there first before we could get married. I was looking to save money since the both of us don't have a lot of money. I want to know if this is true or can she visit here and can we get a fiance visa after we have gotten to know each other. Let me know if you need more info.

Answer 1

Dude u have to come here!!! Her parents will have more respect for u if u come visit her first!!

Answer 2

Iam married now to a Ghanian from Ghana,Africa and Iam an American citizen. We met online but chatted and talked to eachother for 3 years before I went there to meet him.My answer to your question is that if your a U.S citizen it would be a good Idea if you go there to meet and get to know her better in her country first because it would look better on your behalf when you go to the Immagrations office and file papers for her to come here with you,because if you dont give them some kinda information that says this is truly a sincere relationship than you could be denied for her coming here,so go and get to know each other totally and than when you return here file your Fiance papers but In my case I just married him there and filed papers when I returned to the U.S and now planning to go back in November and been married just over 1 year and I love him more than anything.If you wanna chat more about it contact me at my yahoo messanger address or e-mail me @ [e-mail] and Goodluck.

Answer 3

Randy, I don't know how much you are paying you Imm. Atty., but he hasn't told you what you’re in for. I'm doing the same thing, mine is in Singapore, I have filed my petition and it's no fun and not easy. And after I downloaded thier forms and filled them out and got them sent off to the Service Center, they changed the format and rejected the petition and then the waiting time starts over while you resubmit, so don't lose heart and stick it out. My first advice is to get on the net and go to one that gave me some of, not all, of the info I needed, Immihelp.com and the USCIS site and download the forms for a K-1 visa, look over the I-129F and the I-134 forms to get an idea. It took me several months to get all the info together just to submit the petition. You have to prove you know her and have had more than just an e-mail relationship, you will have to have passport stamps and air plane tickets and photos of the two of you and records of any mail or phone correspondences between you to prove your relationship. As well as evidence that you have a place for her and the ability to support her. That is the easy part, you know when you take her away from everything she knows and is comfortable with, and put in the middle of your comfort zone your job has just begun. The culture shock and adjustments she will have to make is a terrible strain on no matter how much you love each other. Has your Atty. told you of the rate of devorce and the one's that just went home. My gal is Chinese living in Singapore and we have been together on and off as my job demanded for a year here before I went back to the states and put the petition together. So I will know her and the difference in our ways and backgrounds, I have taken the time off that it will take for our petition to be approved, which is between six months and a year and have come back to S'pore and taken a low paying job to help offset the cost so I can learn enough about being a Chinese in S'pore, and have had a day to day life experience with her to insure that I can help her make the change and that our relationship will withstand the adjustment as she learns to be a Chinese in the US. When I take her back to the states at least I will know what to feed her as you can guess she hasn't enjoyed the diet we do. I will have learned to adjust to her way of life and introduced her as best as I can to my way. Believe me as I tell you that as westernized as S'pore is there are times that I have felt a little of what she will. If she was from someplace that was remote or backwards to our standards it would really be hard on me, I admidt that I love the good life and all the world doesn't have that good.

Best of luck to the two of you, and may you live a long and good life and have lots of grandkids.

Answer 4

I know with the US, you have to prove that you have met in the past 2 years.

Look up your governments immigration laws...they should be on the net somewhere.

Also, If you've never met, how do you know you want to marry her? I have met about 6 people off the net and every one of them, I thought was gonna be GREAT for me. Only one stuck and we now facing immigration/marriage issues too. (only we've seen each other 5 times in 4 yrs)

Best of luck to you and just be careful.

Answer 5

I was just scanning the US Department of State website for information about Zimbabwe, and randomly by clicking on lots of links came upon this: (It's from the State Department's page entitled How Do I Bring My Fiancee to the United States?)

"Who is Eligible
U.S. citizens who will be getting married to a foreign national in the United States may petition for a fiancé(e) classification (K-1) for their fiancé(e). You and your fiancé(e) must be free to marry. This means that both of you are unmarried, or that any previous marriages have ended through divorce, annulment or death. You must also have met with your fiancé(e) in person within the last two years before filing for the fiancé(e) visa. This requirement can be waived only if meeting your fiancé(e) in person would violate long-established customs, or if meeting your fiancé(e) would create extreme hardship for you. You and your fiancé(e) must marry within 90 days of your fiancé(e) entering the United States.

You may also apply to bring your fiancé(e)'s unmarried children, who are under age 21, to the United States."

There's lots of great information on that page, and you can also search by country for specific information about marriage. However, they don't have any links for African countries. I hope this is a good situation for you, and good luck!

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/fiance.htm

Answer 6

Why not just meet your girlfriend in South Africa. Come here to her home country! You wont regret coming here and it is a great experience! I dont however know much about immigration and all that,,,i've stayed in one country my whole life. Sorry!

Answer 7

Before you even contemplate a visit to South Africa visit the site www.crimexposouthafrica.org. South Africa is an extremely violent Country and all Tourists need to take extreme precautions and equip themselves with knowledge prior to making the journey. The US tourist authorities are issuing warnings to all US citizens regarding South Africa and I suggest you consult with them.

Answer 8

if you never meet, how come you are engage? are you a Muslim?
if you are from an African country, better stay were you are and let her come to you.
if you are from the stats, you know the answer.
if she is an Afrikaans girl, go! her mother will make for you very good food.

Answer 9

you should rather come to south africa to meet her!!!!