What visa is the best route my
I (F22) and my partner (M25) are looking into immigrating to the US and are wondering what options for visas would be our best path. We have been together for 2 years, met and live in the UK but are both not UK citizens.
I am a US citizen. I will be graduating with a doctorate level degree in 1 year and want to move back home to the US. I have a lot of student debt from my degree and it is unfeasible for me to pay the loans with a UK salary. I have job prospects for average $200k-280k yearly in the states, compared to £40k in the UK.
My partner works in finance and has a masters and has 1 year of work experience currently. They are a Malaysian citizen. They have intended to move to the US for a long time and have family ties there.
Our choices are (as I see it):
My partner attempts to get a H1B visa
My partner enrolls in graduate school and comes on a student visa
We get a K1 visa and get married in the states in 90 days.
We get married in the UK and get a spouse visa.
Now, I was not intending to get married this young/early in a relationship. My partner and I are very good together. Marriage has been discussed and we do intend on getting married eventually, however in my ideal world I would be ~25. We also have never lived together. We do not have the money for a wedding either. However, I would be open to getting “courthouse married” and waiting a few years for a big ceremony. To be clear we are in a real romantic relationship, I am fine with the legal implications of marriage.
It seems that getting a H1B is nearly impossible lately. The situation is constantly changing but I don’t see it improving by next year. My partner is not against going to school for another graduate degree (MBA most likely), and that would buy us more time but would make me the sole provider for awhile.
What realistically is our best option? Please be nice, but honesty is appreciated.