immigration

Once you become a US Citizen, you can sponsor your fiancé for a K visa which is taking about 18-24 months before he can enter. Work with an attorney to make sure the process goes smoothly. 

In filing as a permanent resident, the September 2023 visa bulletin shows that the final action date by which sponsored spouses can immigrate is now backed up to January 1, 2018. Although timing can change, this would appear to be a long wait. Your choices are to marry and put in a petition at this time with the idea of later going through a second step of trying to upgrade the petition to the immediate relative category when you become a US citizen; or wait until you become a US citizen in order to either file for a K-1 fiancé petition or to marry and file an immigrant visa petition. It cannot be is said with any certainty whether marrying and filing now or waiting and taking the other options would be faster – but taking into account that USCIS I-130 processing for permanent residents sponsoring spouses is usually slower than for US citizens sponsoring spouses – I suspect that waiting until you become a US citizen will be easier. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.