Dont want to get married

[Barbara J 115]

my fiancée and I both have marriage issues and we want to live as partners not married. we want to have kids but as partners

We got our K1 visa some months ago.

I just arrived the US last week.

Can we file for EAD & SSN as non married civil law partners?

please adviced is needed

Peter

And if you both have issues about marriage then how can she be your fiancee? mmm You can go and live in her country and just be de facto as we call it in Australia but you can't do that in all states here in the US only USC and USC can do that lol You applied for a K1 do it or don't up to you and then your fiancee leaves if you don't. Your choice

[Harsh_77 718]

Actually they intend on staying together they just have some phobia about being married.

Should they have not talked about this before they filed their k1?

If US.govt started the partner visa it would be the easy way to fraud the system - ppl will start entering the country as partner and then 6 months later oops this partner thing is not working and we would want to split, yet the alien partner would want to stay in US.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Actually they intend on staying together they just have some phobia about being married.

Then perhaps filing for a Visa where the condition is to get married wasn't a good idea. This phobia didn't stop them from filling out the paperwork and signing letters of intent.

[Y&E 12]

There is no such thing as a "Shack Up Visa" only way to shack up with a partner is with another US Citizen, Resident, or perhaps an illegal alien.

A person in the USA on a K-1 that does not marry within the 90 days of the I-94 becomes an illegal alien, so perhaps can shack up with the illegal alien, however like any other illegal alien wont be able to get green-card SSN, DL or any other thing afforded to a US Citizen, or US resident.

K-1 can apply for SSN and EAD during the 90 days of the I-94, but EAD will expire when the I-94 card expires, and the SSN will be marked "Valid with DHS authorization only"

K-1 cannot adjust status based on a marriage to anyone other than the person who petitioned for the visa.

The US unfortunately does not recognise a de facto marriage (a relationship in the nature of a marriage lasting 2 years or more). Therefore they do not offer a visa for partnerships. This is a shame as marriage is not necessarily the route that everybody wants to take. Now that you are here on the K1, as others have said, you will have to marry within 90 days to fulfil the obligations of the visa. Does your home country not offer a visa for defacto partnerships? I know that mine does and I would expect that some others do too.

YuAndDan, I find it offensive that you refer to a defacto marriage or civil partnership as a 'Shack Up' as this is the path that many people prefer to take; I would have preferred that path if the US hadn't insisted that to be with my loved one I must sign a legal piece of paper to prove that we had a relationship. You are entitled to your views but it is quite rude to belittle views of people who prefer a defacto marriage for whatever reason they choose that path by calling it a 'shack up'.

Edited February 11, 2011 by Y&E

[Boiler 45,398]

There are many options to move to the US, not just marriage.

And if shack up is the requirement than the UK does offer it.

I am sure there are options the US offers that the UK does not, shack up is not one of them.

[KemalTuanaYalcin 16]

Then get married and later get divorced.

You will satisfy the USCIS and end up what you want to be - partners.

Agreed, but you have to follow the procedures as outlined for you in the K-1 which is to legally marry within 90 days.

[waitwaitwait 3]

I am guessing you are out of luck my friend

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

The US unfortunately does not recognise a de facto marriage (a relationship in the nature of a marriage lasting 2 years or more). Therefore they do not offer a visa for partnerships. This is a shame as marriage is not necessarily the route that everybody wants to take. Now that you are here on the K1, as others have said, you will have to marry within 90 days to fulfil the obligations of the visa. Does your home country not offer a visa for defacto partnerships? I know that mine does and I would expect that some others do too.

Nine states in the US actually do have provisions for the equivalent of a "de facto" marriage. It called a "common law" marriage. All states recognize a common law marriage which was established in another state. The IRS also recognizes them. What's usually required is a period of cohabitation, as well as representing yourselves publicly as being married. You can usually get the state government to issue a certificate solemnizing a common law marriage (this is sometimes necessary prior to divorce, which cannot be by common law, and must be judicially ordered). The certificate of solemnization is no different from a marriage certificate, and USCIS would accept it as such.

The problem in the OP's case is that a marriage based on common law can't be established and solemnized within the 90 days they've got for the K1 visa. What's more, it appears the OP does not want to be married, and so he and his girlfriend wouldn't represent themselves as married to other people - a prerequisite for a common law marriage to be valid.

You are correct about the visas. There are no visas for common law marriages, domestic partnerships, or any other unconventional domestic relationship.