Last Updated on May 28, 2022
I’m going to share a secret with you. I purchased a book that became my LIFESAVER when filling out my USA Marriage visa. It was literally my guide, I referred to it each time I had a form to fill out and it obviously worked as all of my forms were accepted first time and I never had any ‘corrections’ to fill in and return.
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USA Fiancé & Marriage Visas Guide Book Review
I give you…
Fiancé and Marriage Visas: A Couple’s Guide to U.S. Immigration (Fiance and Marriage Visas)
Different Visa Options (i-130 and K1)
It is good for both the CR1 (i-130) and the K1 visas…basically for anyone engaged to a USA Citizen or married to a USA Citizen or Permanent Resident.
The book gives advice and tips on the best route to take depending on your current situation. For example, I was able to fill in a shorter ‘EZ’ form as my spouse earned enough money to be the sole sponsor. If joint sponsors are required it explains how is the best way to do it.
Step by Step Guide
It literally holds your hand through the whole process, telling you the right way to prepare, collect and manage the paperwork and how to obtain the needed documents and where to find all of the forms. The government don’t like blank spaces left on the application, they think if there’s nothing there you may have missed it by mistake so it tells you what to do if a question doesn’t apply and what to write in the box. Usually N/A was fine.
Tips on Completing the Application
It gives tips on what to do before you mail the application. MAKE COPIES! That way if anything gets lost you’ll know what you had sent. A lot of the forms were editable PDF files so I just saved copies in a folder on the computer. The book then explains what happens after you complete each step and what comes next, which is nice as you could start to prepare for the next stage or at least get your head around it so it wasn’t so much of a surprise when the time comes!
Examples
My FAVOURITE and most useful feature was the examples of filled out versions of the different forms. It explained what to write in what box, exactly who was the petitioner and who was the applicant (I was confused, I thought I, the British person was applying for the visa, but it was actually the American citizen which is applying to get ME over there).
I’m holding onto my copy, even though I’m now in the States. It even gives advice on how to lift the ‘2 year temporary’ condition on my Green Card that I may need to refer back to at some point in 2018!
This book is not an official government book. I also used the checklists and the information provided on the government websites, this was just an awesome way to double check that I was understanding things correctly. Plus we had scribbled notes all over the pages and stuck Post It Notes on certain pages that were important or particularly helpful. I’m happy to try and help if anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me, I know what it’s like to be in the same situation!
You can find all my visa resources on the blog here: Our CR1 Spouse Visa Journey
or you can purchase the ebook here:
