Getting married while being on a tourist visa

[★PinK ButTerfLy★ 0]

Hello everyone, My name is Alba and i came to the US when i was 17 as an exchange student and met the love of my life. However i had to go back home and go to college, a year after attending college in my home country i decided i wanted to come back and finish school in the States...

My fiancee and i moved in together, we've been living together for 5 years, after i graduated i applied for OPT optional practical training and was able to work for a year. The year was up December 2008, i went back home for the holidays and came back on a tourist visa to attend my bestfriend's wedding and look for some colleges to apply to do my masters degree. My fiancee proposed to me and we want to get married! we went to see the lawyer and she said that since i entered the country legally and i don't have criminal background we won't have any problems... how ever what are some things that i need to do so they don't think its fraud...

The lawyer told me not to say that we've been living together since 2005 and just ask for a letter from the landlord stating that we live together... When we were filling out form i-130 asks how long we've been living together... what should i write down...? i don't want to lie but i don't want to get denied either

Thank you in advance!

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Hello everyone, My name is Alba and i came to the US when i was 17 as an exchange student and met the love of my life. However i had to go back home and go to college, a year after attending college in my home country i decided i wanted to come back and finish school in the States...

My fiancee and i moved in together, we've been living together for 5 years, after i graduated i applied for OPT optional practical training and was able to work for a year. The year was up December 2008, i went back home for the holidays and came back on a tourist visa to attend my bestfriend's wedding and look for some colleges to apply to do my masters degree. My fiancee proposed to me and we want to get married! we went to see the lawyer and she said that since i entered the country legally and i don't have criminal background we won't have any problems... how ever what are some things that i need to do so they don't think its fraud...

The lawyer told me not to say that we've been living together since 2005 and just ask for a letter from the landlord stating that we live together... When we were filling out form i-130 asks how long we've been living together... what should i write down...? i don't want to lie but i don't want to get denied either

Thank you in advance!

ANY lawyer that advocates lying to immigration authorities is not worth one cent. Either you tell the truth and do things right; or lie through your teeth and face the consequences.

Since you are not yet married; you should go back home and apply for a K-1 fiance visa. Once the visa is granted, you come back in, get married within 90 days and apply for Adjustment of Status. In this case, your long and bona fide relationship will HELP your case

Don't risk it chica

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Agree with *Len* - do not lie.

If USCIS finds out, your in trouble. Plus - unless you wrote this wrong The lawyer told me not to say that we've been living together since 2005 and just ask for a letter from the landlord stating that we live together

you just told a lie and gave them proof of it.

Say you didn't live together since 2005, but get a letter from the landlord stating you lived together?

_____

You can get married on a visitors visa, as it is allowed, as long as you have no adverse factors, and from what you posted, you seem not to have any. So your AOS will probably be approved.

Your previous history should not really be a big factor - other than show you had a relationship prior to marriage.

Just be honest and go with the truth.

The other thing you can do is the K-1 or the CR-1 - to see what may appeal for you!

good luck and congrats on the engagement!

[bantam 0]

If your lawyer is telling you to lie you should get another lawyer ASAP. Don't give yourself the added stress of having to create an alternative reality for your interview.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Just to reinforce the non-lying part - lying to USCIS and being found out carries a lifetime ban of ever being allowed to enter the US for any reason again. Don't expect that they won't find out - there are lots of opportunities for them to discover it including tripping yourself up with inconsistencies that you can't prove. Don't lie. It is better to have to wait for a while - and even be apart for a while - than to face a life time ban and never being able to be together in the US. If you do it the right way - a K-1 or a CR-1 - you are unlikely to face a denial.

Edited May 2, 2009 by Kathryn41

[rebeccajo 14]

I don't understand why your lawyer would suggest you 'omit' that you lived together. USCIS doesn't give a damn about that.

[Gemmie 142]

I don't understand why your lawyer would suggest you 'omit' that you lived together. USCIS doesn't give a damn about that.