babbs45:

Yeah, she can't petition I-130 for you if she lives in Lagos. K-1 visa suits your situation but not really guarantee like the I-130. Denial rate especially in Nigeria is on the high side with the K-1 visa.
If you package your application well you should scale through.

Good luck!

Thanks a million.

babbs45:
My guy, you said you were getting married in a few months, so this is my advice to you, of all the available options of going to the United States ( b1/b2, F1 and IV ) your best bet is IV. Your chances of getting the IV after your I-130 has been approved by USCIS is very high. Depending on how quickly your spouse submit all necessary documents and pay all the fees, this whole process can take less than a year after filing.
Questions asked during IV interviews are basic questions about your spouse that anybody in a genuine relationship should know. You must also show other evidences of your marriage like pictures, means of communication etc.
But then again you can also give the B1/B2 a shot, it's 50/50. Just be careful what you conceal when filling for DS 160 cos it might come back to hunt you when you are denied the visa.
In short, get married, have your spouse file the I-130 get your immigrant visa, come to the states, pursue your education and start living the American dream. Lobatan!
All the best.

Thanks so much bro.

This has been very helpful and I have done some googling to get further information.

I realized there is the K1 non-immigrant visa for fiances (who will then get married in the US) and there is also the spouse immigrant visa (IR-1 or CR-1). It seems the spouse one can only be done while the US citizen is currently living in the US, and it also takes quite some time. Whereas the fiance one will just require that we get married within 90 days of my arrival there.

A third option is to get married here and then get the non-immigrant K3 visa which would enable us relocate while we then process my papers while in the US (I guess this might be the option you are talking about above).

The thing is that my fiancee is currently working and living here in Lagos as well, so I guess the spouse immigrant visa will be a longer thing, and the fiance visa may make more sense; so we can do our traditional one here before we go, and do the church wedding when we arrive in the US. What do you think?

Also someone told me the K1 (fiance/fiancee) visa is generally harder to get in Nigeria cos Nigerians have damaged the reputation of the process. Do you know if this sounds close to the truth?

Thanks so much again. I really appreciate all your assistance.

Any hints, guys?

Hello great people in the house. I'm not 100% new on Nairaland but I lost my account due to the NL attack.

Please I need advice. My fiancee (girlfriend of 3 years) is a US/Nigerian dual citizen, we are in Nigeria and we want to relocate to the US after our marriage in a few months. I have never left Nigeria before (a virgin passport), and she doesn't know anything about the US visa process.

My best friend lives in the US so I am thinking of getting a visit visa to see him (and maybe add a software conference to my travel reasons), so if I can get a 2 year multiple entry visa I don't mind coming back to Nigeria as often as I need to (I don't plan to overstay or do anything illegal or stupid). The plan is for her to come along once I get a visa, and for us to begin processing residency papers (for me) once we get to the US.

Background: I have a B.Sc. and I have been working as a self-employed software developer. I'm also in some contract partnerships with software companies in Lagos. One of them has promised that they can provide me an official letter for visa purposes if necessary.

Besides just relocating for its own sake (and for the sake of my wife to be, who wants to return to the US), I am actually interested in pursuing postgrad studies in the US (Ph.D. preferably but due to studying in Nigeria I lack some research experience and may need to do an MSc first). I have been admitted for MSc before but couldn't go because I didn't get funding - and I couldn't defer it. If i get into the US I will definitely apply for postgrad studies again.

Someone said mentioning my fiancee's citizenship will likely be a bad move (I think so too, so I was not really going to do that). Another said I should try to visit another country first to increase chances of getting US visa. Yet another person said for a first-timer I will likely be given only single-entry and like maybe 1 month or 3 months!

How do you advice I should go about this process? I am totally clueless.

Thanks a lot.