Change plans and marry while on VWP?

[Singers 0]

My husband and I were together for 6 years before we got married. The entire time he was in the States on different visas. (Student visa, VWP, H1-B1 etc). We got married and came back to the US. I was supposed to move to his home country. Things happened and we decided it was best to stay here. We adjusted from VWP with no problem.

To adjust from VWP you merely have to ask yourself this:

1. Did I intend to return? and do I have proof of this?

2. Why did I decide to stay? what happened to change my mind?

3. Can I stay in the US for at least a year without leaving until my greencard comes through?

If you can honestly answer these questions without the answer being: I didn't feel like waiting for the immigration process of a K3/K1 etc.. you should be ok. (SHOULD is the word. There is no guarantee).

[MrsD 0]

Edit:

DUH you clearly have it since you plan to get married

I am still waking up..... Good luck guys and don't worry

[pushbrk 12,898]

Edit:

DUH you clearly have it since you plan to get married

I am still waking up..... Good luck guys and don't worry

Yes, there is immigrant intent now but there wasn't when the last US entry occured and intent on entry is the key. That's the difference. Again, we seem to need to correct this misconception about once a week here.

[aravis227 1]

Edit:

DUH you clearly have it since you plan to get married

I am still waking up..... Good luck guys and don't worry

Yes, there is immigrant intent now but there wasn't when the last US entry occured and intent on entry is the key. That's the difference. Again, we seem to need to correct this misconception about once a week here.

I think mrsdarty was referring to her post about requiring the divorce decree. Which the OP WILL need.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I looked into this quite a bit and the major danger of doing it this way is that if you are denied coming from the VWP you have no appeal opportunities.

[rebeccajo 14]

Do you have the divorce decree now? What I see is you saying 'it is taking longer than it should have'. How much longer is it going to take? Till after his I94W expires?

Edited January 8, 2009 by rebeccajo

[Old Dominion 26]

Of course he can stay, with all that proof of reasons to return & a letter from his parents. There will be a special need to document a bona fide marriage (joint bank accts. rental agreements, insurances, etc.) come the time of the AOS interview about 8 months after you file. Meanwhile, he will need to take steps to burn his financial bridges in Germany to merge his assets with yours. The AOS is quite good about overlooking such things if the marriage appears to be solid in every respect, especially because he is from one of the low-fraud VWP nations. Plus you are parents. Unfortunately, if the same set of circumstances (not including the VWP, obviously) involved one of the high-fraud nations, there wouldn't be a chance in Hades that he could get his AOS.

[rebeccajo 14]

Of course he can stay, with all that proof of reasons to return & a letter from his parents. There will be a special need to document a bona fide marriage (joint bank accts. rental agreements, insurances, etc.) come the time of the AOS interview about 8 months after you file. Meanwhile, he will need to take steps to burn his financial bridges in Germany to merge his assets with yours. The AOS is quite good about overlooking such things if the marriage appears to be solid in every respect, especially because he is from one of the low-fraud VWP nations. Plus you are parents. Unfortunately, if the same set of circumstances (not including the VWP, obviously) involved one of the high-fraud nations, there wouldn't be a chance in Hades that he could get his AOS.

There wouldn't?

[Old Dominion 26]

Of course he can stay, with all that proof of reasons to return & a letter from his parents. There will be a special need to document a bona fide marriage (joint bank accts. rental agreements, insurances, etc.) come the time of the AOS interview about 8 months after you file. Meanwhile, he will need to take steps to burn his financial bridges in Germany to merge his assets with yours. The AOS is quite good about overlooking such things if the marriage appears to be solid in every respect, especially because he is from one of the low-fraud VWP nations. Plus you are parents. Unfortunately, if the same set of circumstances (not including the VWP, obviously) involved one of the high-fraud nations, there wouldn't be a chance in Hades that he could get his AOS.

There wouldn't?

Think Mexico, for starters.

[rebeccajo 14]

Of course he can stay, with all that proof of reasons to return & a letter from his parents. There will be a special need to document a bona fide marriage (joint bank accts. rental agreements, insurances, etc.) come the time of the AOS interview about 8 months after you file. Meanwhile, he will need to take steps to burn his financial bridges in Germany to merge his assets with yours. The AOS is quite good about overlooking such things if the marriage appears to be solid in every respect, especially because he is from one of the low-fraud VWP nations. Plus you are parents. Unfortunately, if the same set of circumstances (not including the VWP, obviously) involved one of the high-fraud nations, there wouldn't be a chance in Hades that he could get his AOS.

There wouldn't?

Think Mexico, for starters.

Ok. I thought about Mexico.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Of course he can stay, with all that proof of reasons to return & a letter from his parents. There will be a special need to document a bona fide marriage (joint bank accts. rental agreements, insurances, etc.) come the time of the AOS interview about 8 months after you file. Meanwhile, he will need to take steps to burn his financial bridges in Germany to merge his assets with yours. The AOS is quite good about overlooking such things if the marriage appears to be solid in every respect, especially because he is from one of the low-fraud VWP nations. Plus you are parents. Unfortunately, if the same set of circumstances (not including the VWP, obviously) involved one of the high-fraud nations, there wouldn't be a chance in Hades that he could get his AOS.

There wouldn't?

Think Mexico, for starters.

How about you stfu, for starters?

[MrsD 0]

Edit:

DUH you clearly have it since you plan to get married

I am still waking up..... Good luck guys and don't worry

Yes, there is immigrant intent now but there wasn't when the last US entry occured and intent on entry is the key. That's the difference. Again, we seem to need to correct this misconception about once a week here.

I think mrsdarty was referring to her post about requiring the divorce decree. Which the OP WILL need.

Yes, thank you, that is exactly what I thought. I know they didn't have intention of getting married when he entered the country and circumstances changed since, which is fine. My husband and I planned to do K1, and when I came here to do my journalist work his divorce was not finalised, though he's been separated for 10 years from his ex. While I was here, since I visa allows tourist stay after the work is done, his divorce was finished and he didn't want me to go back home and do K1. Instead, we got married and applied for AOS a few months later. The process has been smooth so far and we have interview scheduled for next month.

You have nothing to worry about. Just make sure you gather all the paperwork.

[emt103c 10]

The rule that governs this is the 30/60 day rule. If the marriage had happened in the first 30 days after his entry it would be assumed by USCIS/DOS/ConOff that the intent to immigrate was there.

The fact that you have all the supporting documentation to show he did not intend to immigrate is good too, but the fact that it will have been more than 60 days after entry before you're married and file will mean even more.

That is not to say this is without risk. There is always a risk that they will interpret badly, but it is not likely in this situation. There are several articles written on the 30/60 day rule and I've posted links to them on other threads if you want to google it or check around the forum.

[DeeBee 1]

No one can tell you what to do here, but I think we all stand firm on advising you to run this idea by some sort of legal council (someone specialized in immigration law).

I know how it feels to finally be together again and not want to ever have to part ways... Just make sure you know what you are doing. The consequences of doing this - should things go wrong, are far worse than a little more time apart. Just my opinion...

I wish you nothing but luck! Let us know what you decide to do.

[rebeccajo 14]

The rule that governs this is the 30/60 day rule. If the marriage had happened in the first 30 days after his entry it would be assumed by USCIS/DOS/ConOff that the intent to immigrate was there.

The fact that you have all the supporting documentation to show he did not intend to immigrate is good too, but the fact that it will have been more than 60 days after entry before you're married and file will mean even more.

That is not to say this is without risk. There is always a risk that they will interpret badly, but it is not likely in this situation. There are several articles written on the 30/60 day rule and I've posted links to them on other threads if you want to google it or check around the forum.

emt103c --

Check out post 19 in this thread for a better understanding of 30/60/90:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread....9045&page=2