Many questions about I-130

[Krys & Nova 2]

I came to NYC to send Xmas and New Years with my boyfriend. As a surprise, my boyfriend "popped the question", of course I said YES!!! I've been looking through this site and have not really found any information or couples that got married without filling a I-129F.

What should we do? I've noticed the timeline for a I-129F is 6+mths. I still have my job in Canada, but I can work from anywhere.

My questions are as follows;

1. Should we just get married and file the I-130? Can we run into problems doing this?

2. Can / should I still work?

Thank you so much for any help.

Krys...the extremely happy Canadian ;-)

Happy New Year

[British_Cupcake 1]

Me and hubby got married without the K1 in florida..i live in germany and still have a job here and the k1 is if you intend to stay in the states once your married. Well thats how i understood it anyway. Its illegal to get married in the states when u intent to stay there too, thats when you will run into bigger problems.

I am back in germany now and hes in the states and we are going to apply for the CR-1 now..while we wait for the visa i will still have my job here in germany so we can save some money before i move out there. Its upto you what is best for you guys i guess but for me it wasnt an option to come over with the k1 because you cant wokr straight away on the k1 i dont think. You have a certain amount of time to apply for the spouse visa afterwards and you cant work until then i think. I may be wrong but for me and hubby this way was easier and we have applied for the CR-1 instead of the K3 as, as far as i have read it takes the same ammount of time and i can work as soon as i have where as with the K3 you need to file other stuff to..

Congrats by the way and good luck for the future

[mrs. wife! 3]

I came to NYC to send Xmas and New Years with my boyfriend. As a surprise, my boyfriend "popped the question", of course I said YES!!! I've been looking through this site and have not really found any information or couples that got married without filling a I-129F.

What should we do? I've noticed the timeline for a I-129F is 6+mths. I still have my job in Canada, but I can work from anywhere.

My questions are as follows;

1. Should we just get married and file the I-130? Can we run into problems doing this?

2. Can / should I still work?

Thank you so much for any help.

Krys...the extremely happy Canadian ;-)

Happy New Year

Hi, congratulations on your engagement!

The 129F is for fiancee visa. That means you have to go back to Canada and apply for the K1 visa and then once you are approved you can move to US and get married in 90 days.

The 130 is if you are already married to the US citizen. I'm guessing you are on a tourist status right now, so I'd recommend you either get married while still in the US and then leave and file the CR1 from Canada, or leave the US and apply for K1 (fiancee visa) from Canada.

Some people try to adjust status on a tourist visa, but then you will have to prove that you had no intentions to get married when you got there, and if they don't believe you, you can be banned to reentry the country. Adjust status while in a tourist visa is seen as immigration fraud.

I'd go back home and file the K1 or get married while still there and go back home to file the CR1.

Good luck in your decision!!!!

Happy new year =)

[FortLaudy 10]

I'd go back home and file the K1 or get married while still there and go back home to file the CR1.

Bravo !

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Congratulations on your engagement .

You have three options:

1) If you had no intention of getting married when you entered the US, you can get married and apply to adjust status from within the US. Your husband files the I-130 and you concurrently file I-485 and all of the other necessary forms. The up side is that you get to stay together during the process. The down side is that you can't leave the US until you receive either the green card (AOS approval) or an Advance Parole travel document. The time frame for the AP which is faster than the green card is around 3 months after you have filed for it with the I-485. You cannot work until you receive an EAD - also about 3 months after you file for it with the I-485. So, you would have to arrange for someone in Canada to tie up your loose ends for you and bring what you need to the US.

2) You can return to Canada unmarried and continue with your job, etc. while your fiance files an I-129f petition for you as his fiancee. His approved petition is transferred to either the Montreal or Vancouver US Consulate (depends on where you live in Canada). You receive a package of information from the Consulate, get the necessary documents, police check and medical done, attend an interview at the Consulate and if approved, get a K-1 visa and have 6 months in which to enter the US. Once in the US you have 90 days in which to get married and file for the I-485. The up side is that you get to tie up the loose ends in Canada, can still work and you can visit during the process. The down side is that you are separated during the process, then you cannot leave the US once you enter until you receive either your green card or your AP, and you cannot work once you enter the US until you get your green card or your EAD.

3) you can get married and return to Canada and continue with your job, etc. while your husband files an I-130 petition for you as his wife. His approved petition is transferred to the US Consulate in Montreal which then notifies you of what applications, documents, etc. you need to provide. You again have the police check, the medical done and attend an interview at the Consulate. If approved, you receive a CR-1 visa and have 6 months in which to enter the US. When you enter the US you immediately become a Permanent Resident and your green card will be sent to you in the mail. You are allowed to work and to travel without restrictions. The up side is all of the above; the down side is that you are separated during the process.

Hope this helps. Please remember - you can get married and adjust status on this visit only because you did not enter with immigrant intent. Future visits will not allow you this option because you obviously have immigrant intent and using a visitor's visa (or Canadian equivalent) to enter the US in order to stay in the US is considered visa fraud.

(and actually, you have 4 options - the other being a K-3 visa but it really isn't recommended anymore - it is the most expensive, takes the same amount of time as the CR-1, and you still have to apply to adjust status from within the US)

Edited January 2, 2010 by Kathryn41

[antda 13]

Hi Krys & Nova,

Congratulations on your engagement...Happy New Year...

Yes, VISITOR to AOS is perfectly LEGAL to do! (lol...I for one have done such...see my vj timeline...)

No, it's not illegal that you came to the US and get married while you were down here for a visit.

AS LONG AS YOU CAME HERE WITHOUT PRIOR INENTION TO IMMIGRATE ON YOUR VISIT and not do this as to avoid and/or break immigration laws, then it's fine and legal to do such.

I was in the same situation before too, as I came over to visit my boyfriend (now husband), on a tourist visa (which are rare for Canadians, as Canadians generally don't need visas to visit the USA) from Canada for 2 weeks, and then ended up getting married here in the USA, and overstayed, and then filed the paperwork with immigration. And yes, I did get approved and got my green card afterwards. For more information on my sitation, see my VJ timeline (the link can be found on my signature).

In fact, I had no clue about the immigration/visa process when I got married and afterwards and was 'stuck' in the USA...

Definitely no intention at all in my case....Just visited...got married..then realized..Uh Oh....Can I stay?

So I went to seek the advice of an immigration lawyer....

And it was the lawyer that said that I should do the Visitor to AOS route instead of the other immigrant visa routes....(no point in going back for me..)...

Definitely not a loophole here! It is legal! But yes, it does carry a lot of risk in this process!

For example, if there was a denial, it could not have been appealed (unlike the other visa routes), and would have been deported...scary....

But we took that risk anyways..and it paid off for me....Can't say that this works for everyone though...

Again, contact a lawyer if in doubt of your particular situation....Which I advise anyone to do in this and in any case...

Every situation is different...So don't pre-judge as to one way is better than another way......

As long as in the end it all works out well, then so be it...

Hope this helps too..Good luck on your journeys too..

Ant

P.S. If you of HAVE PRIOR INTENTION TO IMMIGRATE ON YOUR VISIT you're probably better off filing for:

-A K1 (fiance visa...go back to your former country of Canada, file the paperwork, get married in the USA, adjust status, get green card)

-A K3 (marriage visa...go back to your former country of Canada, get married in the former country of Canada, file paperwork, come to USA, adjust status, get green card)

-A CR-1 (marriage visa...go back your former country of Canada, get married in the former country of Canada, file paperwork, come to the USA, get green card...)

I came to NYC to send Xmas and New Years with my boyfriend. As a surprise, my boyfriend "popped the question", of course I said YES!!! I've been looking through this site and have not really found any information or couples that got married without filling a I-129F.

What should we do? I've noticed the timeline for a I-129F is 6+mths. I still have my job in Canada, but I can work from anywhere.

My questions are as follows;

1. Should we just get married and file the I-130? Can we run into problems doing this?

2. Can / should I still work?

Thank you so much for any help.

Krys...the extremely happy Canadian ;-)

Happy New Year

Edited January 2, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA

[Krys & Nova 2]

Thanks for all the responses!

It's crazy... All I wanna do is be with the man I love. I have SO much stuff to tie up in Montreal, QC. Has anyone been through the Lacolle border since the terror scare on Xmas day? I was speaking to my girlfriend whose husband just flew to the seattle and says the security is INSANE! I was wondering because I really need to go home.