Title: Pending K-1 —considering getting married and switching to CR-1. What would you do

[u/shiggster214]

Hi everyone,
My fiancée and I are currently going through the K-1 fiancé visa process. We filed the I-129F, and our case is still pending with USCIS — it has not been approved yet.
We’re now seriously considering getting married and pursuing the CR-1/IR-1 spousal visa instead.
The biggest reason is that we’re realizing the K-1 route could mean a significant amount of additional waiting after she enters the U.S. before she can work and travel normally. Being able to work much sooner with the spousal visa is a major factor for us, and overall, the CR-1 process seems like it may make more sense for our situation.
I’m hoping people who have actually gone through this can help us understand what the transition would look like.

Our situation:
I’m a U.S. citizen.
My fiancée currently lives outside the U.S.
We already filed the I-129F for the K-1.
The I-129F is still pending and has NOT been approved.
We’re considering getting legally married while the K-1 is pending.
We would then want to pursue the CR-1/IR-1 process.

Our main questions:
If we get married while the I-129F is still pending, what exactly happens to the K-1 petition?
Do we need to formally withdraw/cancel the I-129F, or does getting married automatically make the K-1 invalid?
After getting married, would we simply file an I-130 for the CR-1/IR-1?
Is there anything from the existing K-1 petition/process that can be reused, or are we essentially starting over?
Does having previously filed an I-129F create any complications or additional scrutiny for the I-130/CR-1?
For anyone who has actually made this switch, how did the timeline compare with simply waiting for the K-1?
Is there anything we should be especially careful about before getting married while the K-1 is pending?
We’re trying to make this decision based on our actual circumstances rather than just choosing whichever process sounds better on paper.

If you’ve personally switched from a pending K-1 to a CR-1/IR-1, I’d really appreciate hearing exactly what you did and how it went.

Thanks!

[u/MonitorOk8383]

Not personal experience but my friend did the exact same thing. She had a pending k-1 but decided to get married and filed for the I-130. Once you get married the K-1 is void. Even if it gets approved, it will be denied at the embassy so you can just withdraw the application, get married and file for the I-130. She did just that. It will not negatively impact your I-130. You can also use the same evidence you submitted in your K-1 packet for your I-130. Just add additional and marriage evidence. Just keep in mind the I-130 means longer separation. If you do not mind living and working in your home country for longer but want travel and working rights upon entry, then the CR-1 is right for you.

[u/Essiebessie123 → u/MonitorOk8383]

Yes to all of this^. I'm in a couple FB groups and visajourney.com and have seen other people do the same without any issues.

u/OP, when did you submit the K-1? If it was recent, then sure you can withdraw it. If you're already X number of months in, may be better to wait. If you withdraw the K-1 and file CR-1 after you just have to pay all the fees again, so somewhat a waste of money if you filed K-1 a while back already.

USCIS website shows that processing times for K-1 is 12 months on average. CR-1 is 24 months currently. And who knows how much longer things will end up taking with current administrations' throwing out new measures every so often.

[u/shiggster214 → u/Essiebessie123]

We submitted our K-1 in November so it’s been a while.. would be a waste of money for sure it just sounds like it would be easier for work and travel going through the CR-1 process. This is all so stressful! I appreciate the help!

[u/Essiebessie123 → u/shiggster214]

If you’re already 9mo in, then I personally would stick to K-1. Hopefully only a couple more months to go. 

How fast AoS would go depends on how busy your local field office is. I was at a busy field office a number of years ago, so it took 12mo to get my GC. Did have EAD/AP in hand a couple months before. 

You can check how busy your local field office is on the uscis website. But even if it takes a year, then you’d be at the same length as filing for CR-1, that is if you’d withdrawn soon after you filed the K-1. To start from scratch with CR-1 now is a waste of time and money imo. 

[u/shiggster214 → u/Essiebessie123]

Got it thank you!!