married and K1 visa

[pinoy43v3r 0]

Hello,

I guess my situation doesn't fit any of the forums so here I go. I am married in the Philippines but we are separated. Almost a year ago, I met a former classmate of mine and to make it short, we fell in love with each other. Although it's long distance relationship, she's in New York and I'm in the middle east, our relationship lasted this long.

Now the problem is since my current wife won't sign the papers for marriage annulment, my fiancee in NY can't get me visa to able to join her. I've mentioned to my fiancee before that if I will join her in NY it'll be at my own expense and everything. So I thought if I could get a visit visa to the states then we could at least be together for some time. We will just have to figure out how to make my stay permanent. Now I don't want to do anything illegal because she only got her citizenship less than 10 years ago and I don't want to jeopardize that.

My question, is there a future for us with regards to what I'm planning? I'm just so frustrated at this point because there are lots of people who manage to get to the US by deceitful means (and even fly a plane to a building!) why are they making it difficult for honest people to enter?

[sachinky 465]

Unless you're legally free and able to get married, you do not qualify for a K-1 visa.

Unless, you're legally divorced, you cannot get married again and file for a CR-1 visa.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hello,

I guess my situation doesn't fit any of the forums so here I go. I am married in the Philippines but we are separated. Almost a year ago, I met a former classmate of mine and to make it short, we fell in love with each other. Although it's long distance relationship, she's in New York and I'm in the middle east, our relationship lasted this long.

Now the problem is since my current wife won't sign the papers for marriage annulment, my fiancee in NY can't get me visa to able to join her. I've mentioned to my fiancee before that if I will join her in NY it'll be at my own expense and everything. So I thought if I could get a visit visa to the states then we could at least be together for some time. We will just have to figure out how to make my stay permanent. Now I don't want to do anything illegal because she only got her citizenship less than 10 years ago and I don't want to jeopardize that.

My question, is there a future for us with regards to what I'm planning? I'm just so frustrated at this point because there are lots of people who manage to get to the US by deceitful means (and even fly a plane to a building!) why are they making it difficult for honest people to enter?

Two problems.

First, you can't adjust status as the boyfriend of a US citizen. You have to be married, and you aren't legally free to marry if your marriage in the Philippines has not been annulled. Is there any way you can obtain an annulment without the cooperation of your current wife?

Second, you can't enter the US with a non-immigrant visa if you have the intention of attempting to immigrate. It's called preconceived intent, and it's a violation of US immigration law. If you're otherwise qualified to adjust status based on a marriage to a US citizen, then the preconceived intent alone would not be enough to deny your green card, but any statement you make to an immigration officer that contradicts your actual intent could be determined to be a material misrepresentation. That WOULD be enough to deny your green card, and potentially ban you from the US for life.

Your best bet is to do whatever you can to obtain the annulment. That's your biggest impediment right now. Once you have the annulment, then you can pursue either a fiancee or spousal visa and avoid the whole "preconceived intent" thing.

The rules are somewhat difficult because the US is the biggest immigration destination in the world by a wide margin. More than 1/5 of the immigrants in the world come to the US. The rules are difficult for everyone, and not just for honest people. The problem is that dishonest people don't follow the rules, which makes it easier for them to stay here but much more difficult to do so legally.