Marry and apply for the AOS?

[Tater&Bugger 3]

I have been reading tons on this site and have noticed several members mention that if you are in the US and married you can file for the AOS... and more or less bypass some steps. What is stopping us from getting married and applying for the AOS while I am still there? It just makes too much sense, so it cannot be right. My man is home in May and will have 45 days leave, which we intend on spending together... if we are going through this petition and etc... I may not be able to see him, after we've just spent over half a year apart due to deployment.

I am working on a contract w/ CFPSA overseas and am home in April. My worry is that since I am not working nor do I have a permanent address or legal ties to Canada when I get back that they won't let me into the country once this process starts.

side question... why does my profile picture never pop up? What the eff! haha.

Thanks.

T

[trailmix 77]

Hi,

So you are where right now? Which country? If it is not the U.S., then no, you can't file for AOS in the U.S. You can't enter the U.S. with immigrant intent, unless you already have a visa.

So, what you will need to do is either file for a K1 (fiancee via) or CR1 (if you want to get married now - this is a spousal visa). Click the Guides tab at the top of this page for details of each visa.

As for the profile picture, they just revamped the site a couple of days ago, I believe the pic must meet certain size criteria.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

I have been reading tons on this site and have noticed several members mention that if you are in the US and married you can file for the AOS... and more or less bypass some steps. What is stopping us from getting married and applying for the AOS while I am still there? It just makes too much sense, so it cannot be right. My man is home in May and will have 45 days leave, which we intend on spending together... if we are going through this petition and etc... I may not be able to see him, after we've just spent over half a year apart due to deployment.

I am working on a contract w/ CFPSA overseas and am home in April. My worry is that since I am not working nor do I have a permanent address or legal ties to Canada when I get back that they won't let me into the country once this process starts.

side question... why does my profile picture never pop up? What the eff! haha.

Thanks.

T

You won't find people here in favour of this method. Mostly because if you tell the Border guards you're going to visit in the US and then you stay (knowing you were intending on marrying) you've basically lied since you had intent to immigrate. There are a few people who have successfully gone this route (ie: visit the US , stayed and got married) but it is not recommended since you basically have to lie. Lying to Immigration is never a good idea to begin with.

You can't apply for the AOS and then return to Canada either...I see that you've noted that your fiance has 45 days leave (and then I assume returns somewhere). Where would you live once he returns to his deployment (I'm assuming)? There are folks here who have every intention of returning after they visit and the border guy is having a bad day and they get denied, there is never a guarantee that you'll be let in even with a return ticket and lots of ties.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I have been reading tons on this site and have noticed several members mention that if you are in the US and married you can file for the AOS... and more or less bypass some steps. What is stopping us from getting married and applying for the AOS while I am still there? It just makes too much sense, so it cannot be right. My man is home in May and will have 45 days leave, which we intend on spending together... if we are going through this petition and etc... I may not be able to see him, after we've just spent over half a year apart due to deployment.

I am working on a contract w/ CFPSA overseas and am home in April. My worry is that since I am not working nor do I have a permanent address or legal ties to Canada when I get back that they won't let me into the country once this process starts.

side question... why does my profile picture never pop up? What the eff! haha.

Thanks.

T

If you enter the US as a visitor, a student or a worker with no intentions of getting married to a US citizen, then while you are in the US decide you are going to get married to a US citizen and do on that same visit, then you are allowed to remain in the US and adjust status. If you enter the US as a visitor, a student or a worker with the intent to get married to a US citizen and remain in the US to adjust status from non-immigrant to immigrant based on that marriage, it is considered visa fraud - using a visa meant for one reason for a totally different reason as a way to circumvent the proper immigration process. It carries significant penalties which can include up to a life time ban on ever entering the US if certain types of misrepresentation are also involved.

It sounds like you are not in the US and will be returning to Canada in April. As you already have the intent to marry, if you come to the US without a visa specific for a fiance or a spouse of a US citizen, and apply to remain in the US, you will be committing visa fraud. Once you decide to marry, the 'spontaneous' "I was already here so let's get married and I can apply to stay" option no longer exists.

Re, the Profile picture - it stays in the profile. If you wish an avatar you can select one by going to your profile, selecting the edit button in the upper right hand side, then in the left side menu select 'edit avatar'. You can use your profile picture for your avatar if it meets the size requirements. The information you need is listed when you go there.

Hope this helps.

Edited March 19, 2010 by Kathryn41

[Tater&Bugger 3]

Thank guys! You pretty much answered what I already assumed. I was wondering why anyone would suggest it... don't see the point of jeopardizing anything, and if it were possible it would be way too easy and anyone without a job or home (like me) would do it. I am not in North America at the moment, but will be soon and so will my 'fiance'. He is posted in NY and will get 45 days leave, once those 45 days are up he just goes back to work (US Army) in NY and I would stay with him. We've been saving our money since Oct because we know I won't be able to find work for a while. Last time (Oct) he had his pre-deployment leave we almost up and decided to marry in the US but then realized we better wait since we were both leaving for a while.

K-1 route it still is! I am just so worried, we wanted to marry on July 31 since he may have Aug off and it's all just perfect timing. Let's see if the military can get him expedited since he is deployed.

T

[Hugglebuggles 60]

It's definitely risky. There have been a few people here that were caught attempting to visit, marry and go the AOS route and ended up being denied entry.

Regular processing times for K-1 visa here in Canada is generally 7-10 months. If you don't get the military expedite for some reason, or if the expedite takes a while to be processed, you probably won't be able to marry when you would like. Even with an expedite, and even if you file tomorrow, 4 months really isn't a lot of time to get it done. But, its not impossible- I believe Inky was successful in being processed that fast. But good luck!! Hopefully it works out.

Visiting with or without starting the K-1 process might be a little tricky for you if you don't have strong ties to Canada. Sometimes it is really a matter of luck. All you can do is try! It won't hurt your visa process in anyway.

I see you figured out the avatar! Cute!!

Edited March 19, 2010 by Hugglebuggles

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Duplicate threads merged and duplicate posts and posts related to same have been removed

[Tater&Bugger 3]

Luckily we only live two hours apart, so he can still come see me on the weekends if I don't get let in to visit. Just sucks after being away from one another over 6 months.

I never had problems visiting before when I moved back home after the company I worked for went bankrupt. I was on EI and told them that and visited all the time. Never even remotely had an issue. They are actually really nice haha. Apparently since I only went 2 nights at a time it's ok (I never asked, it's just what people seem to tell me). I actually get asked more questions returning. Weird. I plan to always drive with my own vehicle and will bring my bank statements showing I have money saved away in Canadian accounts, my phone bill, car payments. I don't pay rent BUT I'll be on EI again and can only get paid by being in Canada, so will show that proof too. They used to know me there so too bad it's been so long. I'll just be up front and explain the situation. I have no intentions of being sneaky about this haha.

It will be too bad if they don't let me in this summer though because a) I intend on going when he arrives from his deployment and being denied that will pretty much kill me b) my mom and her bf have a place just across the boarder and I spent my weekends boating with them. It's how I met my fiance!

I think I have it covered the best I can, and hopefully they'll see the honest in that and it will all go smoothly.

Thanks guys!

T

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

Yes, visitor to aos is perfectly to do...(lol...I for one have done such...see my vj timeline...)

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 this situation before too, as I came over to visit my boyfriend (now husband), on a B2 tourist visa and an I-94 for 2 weeks (which are rare for Canadians, as Canadians generally don't need visas to visit the USA), 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...

However in the OP's situation....Don't do what I did! Do not go from visitor to aos! Because....

YOU HAVE PRIOR INTENTION TO IMMIGRATE ON YOUR VISIT so you're probably better off filing for:

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

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

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

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

Ant

P.S. To the OP-If you don't mind me asking, what part of NYS are you in? Just curious...(as I'm from NYS too...)

Edited March 21, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA

[Tater&Bugger 3]

Ya we decided last summer that we would get married this summer. Almost did it on a visit last Sept which could have worked for this situation (except I got called for deployment a week later, to leave 2.5 weeks afterwards) but since we have intentions to marry and me stay there for who knows how long we'll go the K-1 route. He has a friend who married a Canadian and she just went, they married, went to drum to sign the papers and BOOM it's all good. I'm jealous haha.

NYS-Fort Drum... Alexandria Bay to Watertown area. You?