Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by a.foertsch on April 20, 2014 at 1:46am

I don't know about the petition. But as far as any spouse going with you it doesn't matter what rank you are, you guys have to be married and it's a lot better and easier to be married before u go to boot camp, I would assume this applies to him coming to the country as we'll that u guys be married. Navy has rules and is very complicated, it's not as simple as just being a certain rank. I encourage you do a lot of research to help you better understand.

Permalink Reply by maby12 on April 20, 2014 at 4:27pm

I don't understand. You talk as if I can't be with him. It's so discouraging. That's the point of getting him to USA through a fiance visa -- for us to get married, for him to become my husband, for us to be together.

Permalink Reply by lemonelephant on April 20, 2014 at 5:01pm

It will all depend on where you are stationed. He may be able to pay on his own (or you pay for him) to join you once you have the fiancé Visa, but the Navy will not pay BAH (the housing allowance) and you may not be able to openly live together since you will be required to live in BEQ since you are not married.

The US does not make it easy for people to be married to people who are not US citizens and live in the US. The US is a country that does not guarantee access to a spouse and so even after you are married there will be a LOT of paperwork and fees for him to remain in the US each year.

The Navy gives first choice of orders to those who are married, but not all orders offered will be accompanied orders. The Navy does not care if you have a fiancé, he is not your spouse so he needs no consideration when you are offered orders--that is true whether you are to be married the day after orders are cut or a year or more later.

Permalink Reply by lemonelephant on April 20, 2014 at 5:03pm

The petition is for a fiancé Visa for him to join her in the US so he can stay in the US for a year and so they can be married here.

Permalink Reply by EmilyNicole98 on April 20, 2014 at 8:32pm

I'm not sure I'm understanding...why can't you marry him before you join the Navy? It will be a thousand times easier to do so from every aspect. If you join the Navy without marrying him first, do not expect to see him for several years.

I see that you did not like EmCHammer's response - but what she said is true. It may sound harsh to you, but the military is harsh. If you're going to join, you need to know this. They really do not care that much about you personally or your relationship or anything related to you that isn't directly relevant to your job as a Sailor. You are much more likely to get overseas orders if you go into A-school unmarried...they do not count fiances as anything and will consider you a single Sailor. These orders would be for several years and it is next to impossible to get your significant other sponsored to come live with you (also you need to be a higher rank).

Also if rank plays a part in any of this process you're talking about, I do not think an E-3 will be high enough. You will most likely need to be an E-5 which will take you at least 2.5 to 3 years minimum to reach from E-3.

Another thing to consider is cost - they will not pay to move him to you. There's a saying - if the military wanted service members to have spouses, they would issue them. 

I just did some quick research about this specific visa...and the rules are very complicated. I do hope you've already figured out the legal process of it? You're going to need near-perfect timing to get this to work...and hope you don't get deployed immediately after A or C school or aren't out to sea at all during the 90 day window. You also have to prove income and it's quite a lot, much more than the majority of young people have. Do you have all this in order?

Permalink Reply by lemonelephant on April 20, 2014 at 8:44pm

She can't marry him before she ships because there is less than a month before she ships and she is not a US citizen and neither is he and so if she were to go ahead and get married that would mean she probably would not be able to ship on her current ship date, if at all, because there is probably not enough time for a DAR to be approved. She will go through the naturalization process in BC. She also has training, not "A" School, since she has a contract for A-PACT and that training is about 4 weeks and she will also receive her orders to her first duty station while in BC not after as those with a contract with a particular rating do.

Permalink Reply by maby12 on April 21, 2014 at 6:51am

Thanks lemonelephant. I can't marry him because I'm here in the US, and he's in the Philippines. Plus, I don't have a citizenship yet. As far as I know, spouse visa is more difficult, complicated, and consumes a lot of time than FIANCE visa. According to visajourney members, people who are already citizens can instantly petition for their fiance. I did not expect that military has a different case regarding that.

Permalink Reply by Anti M on April 21, 2014 at 8:11am

maby, I have had a friend who brought his fiance to the US, although from Thailand, not PI.  It took roughly a year.  Right now the best thing you can do is have him line up all his paperwork (birth certificate, passport) on his end, and you should concentrate on getting through boot camp and finalizing your citizenship.  Once you have orders after your PACT training, then you can begin the process of getting him to the US.  

It can be done, but not knowing where you will be stationed makes giving concrete advice very difficult.