marrying an american

Hello,
I am a Canadian citizen and am a student in University. My girlfriend lives in The United States. In the foreseeable future we are considering getting married.

Now I understand that the best way to get married to an American citizen is to go through the process of getting a K-1 visa and then getting married, and receiving American citizenship afterwards.

However the question that I have is: would it be possible to get a work permit to go and live in the United States for a year (or less) before going ahead and getting engaged? I would assume that this would cause a lot more complications and it would take a lot longer to get the EAD this way rather then getting engaged first. The only thing is that we would prefer to live in the same area for a short while before getting married. What the implications of this be?

What would the process be for this? Would I need to already have proof that I am going to get some kind of job or could I just apply for an EAD and then head over to the US and try to get a job. How long would I be able to stay in the US before possibly getting engaged?

Basically I would like to know if it would be best to forget living in the same area for a while before getting engaged or if this would actually be feasible.

I realize I’m asking a lot of questions here. I have read up on a bunch of forums what I can on the process of a Canadian marrying an American, but I think that this situation varies from those. So any help would be greatly appreciated!

I find K-3 to be the better option, in which case you would marry outside the U.S. and then file, enter on a K-3 visa, then file for adjustment of status. You could work in the U.S. prior to applying for immigrant benefits. (e.g. TN or H-1b)

K3 requires that the couple be actually married before petitioning and applying. And depending on which area of Canada you live in, the CR1 spouse visa may be the better option over the K3. (both are taking about 1 year ot process out of Montreal if you are an Eastern Canadian [Ontario and eastward]). K3 is a very expensive option, and you would not be able to work for 3 to 4 months after you enter the US, making it even more expensive.

btw, you don't need the K1 just to get engaged, you would need it however to get married and stay in the US.

If the issue is rather you're not sure about marriage and living in the US so you don't want to leap to that committment yet, maybe a one year TN is the way to go? Are you eligibe for any of the TN categories? (check the Immigration sub-forum at the top of this forum)