- Thread starter johne
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US Visa for Dominican Spouse
Bingo on that exact point!
Good advice on the second part. Just make sure you remain in the USA and very much limit any travel for a spouse with a green card out of the USA while on the path to citizenship.
Yes, they told me at a meeting of US Embassy staff I was advised by a friend to attend at Sea Horse Ranch that virtually NO spouse of a US citizen living in the DR would get a US vistor visa. And I found that out the hard way trying 3 times and failing.
Then the US Embassy staff advised me of how to do it via the green card route and exhanging it for a 10 year renewable visitor visa. (expensive and time consuming) and I followed their advice. Countless times now she gets pulled into the back room when we arrive in the USA and they check on what happened. I explain that she turned in a green card for a visitors visa and we are on our way. I ask them if they can clear this flag on her information, they try to, but it keeps coming back and we expain again and again.
Now you know one more reason why I want all illegals deported from both countries where I am a citizen.
US immigration is no joke and they are not fools, as of January 20, 2025
Did the law change regarding common law marriage in the DR? This is from DR1's legal team:
Common law marriages do not exist in the Dominican Republic. Living together is never equivalent to a normal marriage. However, certain provisions in the Labor Code, the Minors Code and the Criminal Code acknowledge that living together has legal consequences. For example, a worker has the right to a few days off work if his concubine gives birth to his child; domestic violence to a concubine is treated the same as domestic violence to a wife. A Supreme Court decisiion in 2001 gave a surviving concubine the right to sue for the wrongful death of her companion in an automobile accident under very restrictive conditions: a) the couple must have lived as if they were husband and wife, in a public relationship, not hidden or secret; b) the relationship must be stable and long-lasting; c) the relationship must be monogamous and non-adulterous since its origins ; and d) the couple should be of different sexes. The ruling goes on to say expressly that "marriage and extra matrimonial companionship are not . . equivalent realities”.
A bill was introduced in Congress some time ago to create common law marriages. I doubt it will ever pass since the Catholic Church is dead set against it.
Fabio J. Guzman
Guzman Ariza
Attorneys-at-Law
Sos?a, Santo Domingo, San Francisco de Macor?s, Cabrera
Las Terrenas, Saman?, B?varo (Punta Cana) and La Romana
Dominican Republic
Common law marriages do not exist in the Dominican Republic. Living together is never equivalent to a normal marriage. However, certain provisions in the Labor Code, the Minors Code and the Criminal Code acknowledge that living together has legal consequences. For example, a worker has the right to a few days off work if his concubine gives birth to his child; domestic violence to a concubine is treated the same as domestic violence to a wife. A Supreme Court decisiion in 2001 gave a surviving concubine the right to sue for the wrongful death of her companion in an automobile accident under very restrictive conditions: a) the couple must have lived as if they were husband and wife, in a public relationship, not hidden or secret; b) the relationship must be stable and long-lasting; c) the relationship must be monogamous and non-adulterous since its origins ; and d) the couple should be of different sexes. The ruling goes on to say expressly that "marriage and extra matrimonial companionship are not . . equivalent realities”.
A bill was introduced in Congress some time ago to create common law marriages. I doubt it will ever pass since the Catholic Church is dead set against it.
Fabio J. Guzman
Guzman Ariza
Attorneys-at-Law
Sos?a, Santo Domingo, San Francisco de Macor?s, Cabrera
Las Terrenas, Saman?, B?varo (Punta Cana) and La Romana
Dominican Republic
You can check the USCIS website for processing times, it is pretty accurate.
I myself have done two "green card" applications, pretty simple, straight forward. Both were done in two different US locations, one took longer than the other. Some cities have quicker processing times than other cities. If there are some issues that may need to be addressed, then I would use a lawyer. Also did a visa application for my niece, that was a bit more complicated. Took longer, needed more documentation, etc., in the end she received the visa.
I myself have done two "green card" applications, pretty simple, straight forward. Both were done in two different US locations, one took longer than the other. Some cities have quicker processing times than other cities. If there are some issues that may need to be addressed, then I would use a lawyer. Also did a visa application for my niece, that was a bit more complicated. Took longer, needed more documentation, etc., in the end she received the visa.
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The current USCIS processing time is 15 -17 months, but I had just two approved in 12 months (spouse and stepchild of a U.S. citizen). There´s a couple of other ones I filed before that one which still haven't been approved.
I also do responses for RFE (Request for Evidence). Cases that take longer or get a RFE are usually the ones with a big age difference, and also when the couple doesn´t have much in common, no joint bank account, no property or big purchases together, no insurance together, nothing. Your processing center also can make a difference on how long it gets your for your case to be approved.
Right now, the fastest petitions are k1 visas. For spouses of US citizens who have already submitted their I-130, you can submit a k3 petition and that will help speed up your case.
I also do responses for RFE (Request for Evidence). Cases that take longer or get a RFE are usually the ones with a big age difference, and also when the couple doesn´t have much in common, no joint bank account, no property or big purchases together, no insurance together, nothing. Your processing center also can make a difference on how long it gets your for your case to be approved.
Right now, the fastest petitions are k1 visas. For spouses of US citizens who have already submitted their I-130, you can submit a k3 petition and that will help speed up your case.
All I know is that there was no such marriage in the DR unless the law changed. You actually had to get married. Did that change?
A green card holder is allowed to be out of the country for up to one year continuously without immigration considering it abandonment. Note that you can request more time under special circumstances.
There are a number of paths one can take with a fiancée or spouse, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. Everyone should carefully assess those strengths and weaknesses and determine the right path forward for them.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
Technically a person on a US visitors visa can stay for up to 6 months as well. Just don't do it or you won't be renewed. So, those rules are not really rules. That is why I advised shorter times out of the USA until you become naturlaized.
Yes, non immigrant visas allow an individual to stay in the US for up to 6 months.
It should also be noted that those who have filed and had approved K1 and k3 petitions are not permitted to travel outside the US until an adjustment of status has been approved, unless there are extraordinary circumstances I.e., death etc.
Immigrant and non immigrant visas have come under much closer scrutiny under the new administration. That may likely affect timelines for approvals.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
My wife was renewing her 10 year visitor's vias in the US Embassy. Directly in front of her was a woman that had remaind in the US for 3 months and then for 4 months on a different visit. The immigration officer denied her US visa renewal. He said, very loudly, that 3 or 4 month stays in in the USA were not visits nor vacations. So, don't stay for 6 month unless you don't want to go back again.
For those becoming naturalized, best to stay in the USA until that is done.
Many wrongly believe that the 6 months rule applies as to only one stay, it is an aggregate amount in a year and thus her 4 and 3 month stay’s may have exceeded the 6 month rule.
Noting further that wide discretion is given to the interviewing officer as to whether to renew or not renew.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
The fastest petition I´ve worked on was a k1 visa for a same sex couple. We were surprised how soon it was approved. In 9 months the applicant had his visa. And that even included about two months trying to schedule an appointment, which at the time were difficult to get.
I applied for a K1 visa for Mr AE in 1976 (!). It was approved in 4 months, but he did already have a tourist visa, I don’t know if that sped the process. We were married same year (and they said it would never last 😂).
My spouse already had a US visa. When I did the permanent residency application, it took maybe 6 months. The interview lasted maybe 10 minutes. We were already married over 2 years when I did the permanent residency application, his was permanent not conditional. Funny thing, at the time he really did not want a "green card". I am the one who convinced him to get it.
The good old days.
If I had only one piece of advice to cut down on paperwork and complications, it would be to get married in the DR, wait 6-9 months, then start the application process to come to the US. That advice goes double if there is a significant age disparity.
Ideally your approval would come close to the two year marriage window whereby the non US spouse would enter with a permanent green card (avoiding the renewal process for the provisional and allowing for a citizenship application to be processed with three years residency instead of five.
But alas, many Dominicans want everything yesterday and are often times unwilling to wait to get to the US, not realizing or not caring about the additional steps they need to take later or the time and expense involved..
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2