I am here in US why not marry?

[Krikit 1,164]

Moving this to a more appropriate forum: Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas

[bluegreen 0]

I think you'd be fine doing this, as long as you genuinely had no intent to stay and can show you were planning on returning. I came to stay last winter for a few months, then we got married after 60 days and we adjusted status. I was a freelancer and winter was my slow time so I had no problem leaving on a three month vacation! But I did show I had a mortgage and contracts booked for my return.

It doesn't really matter if your intent NOW is to get married but wait three months, as someone previously mentioned. It matters what your intent was when you entered. I have heard that there is a 30/60/90 day rule, where your case is more closely scrutinized before 30 days, less so after 60 and even less after 90, but I think, from what I have heard, it is just a kind of guideline. I have to admit, when I did the math, we decided to wait one more day till it was 61 days, just in case, but I don't really know if it made a difference.

Another misconception people have is that you will get denied if you have a relationship before you entered the country. That's not true. We were engaged with a wedding date set when I came to visit. A wedding date far into the future! The onus is on the officer admitting you initially to decide if they feel you are planning on returning.

Good luck in deciding what to do! You are not skipping the line or doing anything wrong, but you have to decide if it is the right path for you. I can tell you that there were some problems I didn't think of when I could not go back to Canada for 6 months. Just financial things that were hard to sort out from the US, things to do with my car, and some family stuff I missed out on. But all in all, it was a great choice for me.

[rubyred 0]

hi guys,

this is an interesting thread, and i'm hoping to get some more advised opinions on my situation:

i met my fiance (we announced our engagement on new year's day this year) in march 2007, became very close and then i decided to come to the US (i'm from new zealand) on a J-1 one year work visa. it made sense that i would come to the city he lived in, since he's the person i know best in this country, and also stay with him. we fell in love, decided we want to spend the rest of our lives together.

we haven't decided if we should get married before the end of my visa and apply for AOS so we don't have to be apart (and also save a lot of $$) or if i should go back to nz and apply for a K-1 and return after that has been approved, get married, apply for AOS. there are two main reasons we're feeling indecisive:

1. will it appear 'suspicious' that we knew each other for close to 18 mths before i came here? we had never met in person before i arrived.

2. will it also appear 'suspicious' that we have lived at the same address since i arrived here? which they have on their records because J-1 visa holders have to keep their sponsor agencies updated with contact info at all times.

intuitively, i feel like we should be fine because we hadn't met in person, and i come from a 'safe' country. but we're so scared of the AOS being declined and me being banned from the US for years. going the K-1 route guarantees my approval and reentry, but it means being apart for at least 6 mths (judging from the timelines) and it's going to be a financial hardship.

any advice is appreciated.

Edited January 15, 2009 by rubyred

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I will reply here as well. To the OP, a few months ago you were all over these forums asking questions about how to marry an American, how to import your car to the US, how to get a K-1 visa. I replied to a number of your posts in the Canadian forum and elsewhere. You obviously have had the intent to marry for quite some time. Going to the US and getting married, then applying to adjust status now will be visa fraud as you obviously had intent to marry when you entered. I suspect you will have a hard time to convince USCIS that you had no intent to marry and remain in the US due to your past 'correspondence' here. It is good to remember that if you apply for your green card from a visitor's status and it is denied, you have no right to appeal the decision. If you wish to be with your American partner, your best course of action - whether you marry in the US or in Canada would be to process the visa through the US Consulate in Montreal (I believe you are from Quebec). Don't try for illegal short-cuts.

Edited January 15, 2009 by Kathryn41

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Here is a link to your previous posts: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...ghlite=%2Bfeejo

[Bobby+Umit 161]

People should be very careful about telling other people to go home and do the right thing, as the right thing is for them to do is have a meeting with a Immigration Lawyer and discuss their case in detail.

Actually, I met with a Lawyer, and we discussed this very thing.

She said the safest way was to allow the person to go back to there country and do the K-1/K-3/CR-1. Less chance to get in trouble.

They can come over, marry, but return home to do the paperwork.

Yes, some people come over, visit, fall madly in love... then marry, adjust status. But all it takes is one CO who doesn't think that is possible, and if you can't prove it, visa denied.

It's a risk, but if people want to do it - more power to them.

Now imagine if the CO for the OP is a member here, and they read all the OP's post(s), (now and before), and sees that the OP always intended on visiting to get married and stay to adjust. (somehow the CO made the connection)

What would you think would happen?

[Kez/JWolf 6]

People should be very careful about telling other people to go home and do the right thing, as the right thing is for them to do is have a meeting with a Immigration Lawyer and discuss their case in detail.

Actually, I met with a Lawyer, and we discussed this very thing.

She said the safest way was to allow the person to go back to there country and do the K-1/K-3/CR-1. Less chance to get in trouble.

They can come over, marry, but return home to do the paperwork.

Yes, some people come over, visit, fall madly in love... then marry, adjust status. But all it takes is one CO who doesn't think that is possible, and if you can't prove it, visa denied.

It's a risk, but if people want to do it - more power to them.

Now imagine if the CO for the OP is a member here, and they read all the OP's post(s), (now and before), and sees that the OP always intended on visiting to get married and stay to adjust. (somehow the CO made the connection)

What would you think would happen?

If you have proof that you did intend to return to your home country and you were admitted to the US then you have nothing to fear, the law allows for this option and as everyone knows Lawyer have been known to give inaccurate advice before.

But each to his own, just not a good idea to tell people they should go home and do it the right way as this implies they are doing something wrong.

[CA dreamer 3]

listen my friend,u can marry and get a green also no problem go ahead,not vegas or cali...any place in usa,my friend from egypt made it 5 months ago he got a tourist visa with intention no returning back to homeland,he married last month before the visa expires went to a lawyer to adjust his status proved that this woman hit this man with her car and took him home then a relation began and decided to marry,he is now a green card holder,also i wanted to do the same as i can get a tourist visa but my situation became different cos i plan to marry next month and file for a k3,also u can file for a k1 or k3 no problem at all,but dont keep on believing what official sites write that u have intention to marry on a tourist visa cos a lawyer will prove that it came by accident and not previously planned and its so easy godspeed my friend:)

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Be careful. The OP has been planning on getting married since last Spring. Here is a post where he is asking where to get the marriage license in Atlanta from last April:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...91&hl=feejo

I think he would be hard pressed to say he had no intention of getting married and that this was just a regular visit, and oh, well we just fell in love and decided to get married while I was here on the spur of the moment. He has been planning this trip for several months and he has been asking questions about marriage and visas for 10 months now. He can get married while he is here, but if he tries to adjust status there are many indications that he will be committing visa fraud. If he wants to risk it, that is his choice, but we shouldn't be encouraging him.

[Krikit 1,164]

What really bothered me back then was all his questions. He certainly didn't give the impression that he would be filing based on a spur-of-the-moment impulse. But that's okay. Based on this post USCIS already has his data.

[Melian 0]

Be careful. The OP has been planning on getting married since last Spring. Here is a post where he is asking where to get the marriage license in Atlanta from last April:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...91&hl=feejo

I think he would be hard pressed to say he had no intention of getting married and that this was just a regular visit, and oh, well we just fell in love and decided to get married while I was here on the spur of the moment. He has been planning this trip for several months and he has been asking questions about marriage and visas for 10 months now. He can get married while he is here, but if he tries to adjust status there are many indications that he will be committing visa fraud. If he wants to risk it, that is his choice, but we shouldn't be encouraging him.

It was my understanding that the problem was if the person entered the US with the intent to marry during that visit and remain in the country, not with the intention to marry ever at any time!

From what I've heard, the proof needed is that he planned to return to Canada after this visit, not that he never met her before or didn't have a relationship.

Edited January 16, 2009 by Melian

[conquest 0]

How do you prove that you married on a tourist visa but really intended on going back to your home country? So you bought a return ticket? That doesnt prove that you intended on returning in some cases a return ticket is cheaper than a one way. So you spent $500 to make it look like you were going to return? BIg deal!! Only in the mind of the person will they know what they really intended to do.

To prove that you were going to return home and not stay would dificult at best. This case is already fraud.

It really torques me to think that as VJers for the most part we are trying to do imigration for our loved ones leagally and honestly the right way and some one comes along to ask us questions on how to beat the system. We all suffer the seperation from our loved ones and at times it hurts like hell. Get married if you want to there is nothing wrong with that.

DO IT THE RIGHT WAY!!! get married then go back to your country and wait your turn like we all have to. One of the reasons our country is great is that the people here for the most part follow the laws we have made. We dont need any more law breakers

Edited January 16, 2009 by conquest

[Y's_habibitk 2]

Marrying is no problem, whether it's with a tourist visa or under the vwp, people do it all the time like in Vegas. It's the marrying with intent to stay and adjust status (without a valid visa) that is the problem as it is classed as fraud.

Wow, it was Thursday before this week's need to correct this misconception came up. The problem isn't marrying with the intent to stay and adjust status. The probem is entering the USA with the intention to marry and adjust status. As long as the decision to marry and stay occurs after entry, (not before) there is no fraud. The fraudulent intent must be present at entry. Visas, visa waivers and Canadian visitor privileges are "used" at entry so it is intent at entry that matters. People's intentions often change later. That's not fraud.

Obviously my post didn't come out the way I wanted it to. I was aiming to highlight that it was fraud as in if they were intending on entering to adjust status after being married. But no, obviously my little fingers were typing too fast for me.

I knew what you meant

listen my friend,u can marry and get a green also no problem go ahead,not vegas or cali...any place in usa,my friend from egypt made it 5 months ago he got a tourist visa with intention no returning back to homeland,he married last month before the visa expires went to a lawyer to adjust his status proved that this woman hit this man with her car and took him home then a relation began and decided to marry,he is now a green card holder,also i wanted to do the same as i can get a tourist visa but my situation became different cos i plan to marry next month and file for a k3,also u can file for a k1 or k3 no problem at all,but dont keep on believing what official sites write that u have intention to marry on a tourist visa cos a lawyer will prove that it came by accident and not previously planned and its so easy godspeed my friend:)

thanks for advocating visa fraud

editted- and misuse of USC's

Edited January 16, 2009 by Y_habibitk

[Bobby+Umit 161]

People should be very careful about telling other people to go home and do the right thing, as the right thing is for them to do is have a meeting with a Immigration Lawyer and discuss their case in detail.

Actually, I met with a Lawyer, and we discussed this very thing.

She said the safest way was to allow the person to go back to there country and do the K-1/K-3/CR-1. Less chance to get in trouble.

They can come over, marry, but return home to do the paperwork.

Yes, some people come over, visit, fall madly in love... then marry, adjust status. But all it takes is one CO who doesn't think that is possible, and if you can't prove it, visa denied.

It's a risk, but if people want to do it - more power to them.

Now imagine if the CO for the OP is a member here, and they read all the OP's post(s), (now and before), and sees that the OP always intended on visiting to get married and stay to adjust. (somehow the CO made the connection)

What would you think would happen?

If you have proof that you did intend to return to your home country and you were admitted to the US then you have nothing to fear, the law allows for this option and as everyone knows Lawyer have been known to give inaccurate advice before.

But each to his own, just not a good idea to tell people they should go home and do it the right way as this implies they are doing something wrong.

I would say, after looking at the other posts made by the OP, he is "doing it wrong" and he is risking his stay in the US.

It would be wrong to advocate "Sure, come on down, they don't care!" when we all know that can catch you in the end....

I will point out again, look at the K-3 guide here. Notice the BIG warning on the top of the page, it's there for a reason.

To the OP, you have been giving tons of pointers, advice, experiences.

You will make your choice.

"choose wisely...."

[alexpapa 4]

agreed with everyone's warnings - this is not to be taken lightly unless a length/lifetime ban is worth the risk for you.

one thing I don't agree with is that this has anything to do with "jumping the line", it has nothing to do with how long anyone else has to wait, because of course marrying on many other visas without returning home is legal.

This has got to do with immigration law and the obvious and blatant circumventing of visa processes.