F-1 to AOS and traveling before marriage

[FRJ 0]

So you plan to get married next year but you're not engaged? What exactly would you call that?

Don't try to out lawyer a lawyer (or USCIS/CBP), they have a nose for these kinds of things.

that means nothing.. they're obviously students.. so whats the difference. dude.. listen, u're fine.. don't listen to all these people with there bs. (i plan on buying another house next year, i havent started looking-- what do u call that? nothing!!!!) u plan on getting married.. the end. u have absolutely nothing to worry about. if what u said is true.. and you took the same trip before, and her status is str8 then u're good. don't bother with all this intent and all that #######. there are people who really need to worry about fooling CBP and you definitely don't seem to be one of them..the end

[Tor 0]

Hahaha thanks

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I am a USC and my gf is from canada here on an F-1 ( Expires May 2011). We would like to get married and then do AOS. I have several questions

We are planning to spend our Christmas break from school in Canada( 3 weeks in January 2011), which we have done before while she was on a F-1.

My main concern is if we get married in Feb-March 2011 time frame will our Christmas trip look strange when the forms are processed due to her having just left and re- entered the country over Christmas??

Your GF is from Canada which is a low-fraud country. That's good.

The fact that she's been in the country so long and (hopefully) dating you is also good. HOWEVER, sometimes there's a risk with marrying so close to the visa deadline. It can be looked at in two ways:

1. Don't wanna be apart so got married to stay together

2. she doesn't wanna leave the country, marriage fraud

Going on a trip shouldn't be a problem. The problems will arise if you are questioned at CBP and what your answers are. If you are asked "who are you travelling with" and you say "this is my boyfriend/girlfriend", at that stage CBP could ask whether they're engaged, or he's a US citizen or whatever. It's important to NEVER lie. So, if they're honest the entire time and one of two things could happen:

1. She's denied as an AOS risk (or told she cannot AOS etc as someone mentioned previously)

2. No problem.

The chances, as slim said, are small. I personally wasn't even asked when I was on VWP to show ties to my home country, some people are. Someone suggested calling your boyfriend/girlfriend a "friend" when you enter. When you apply for AOS there's the problem. Suddenly you married "your friend" so you either married for fraud, or you lied at the border. Never lie. Ever. It catches up with you.

that means nothing.. they're obviously students.. so whats the difference. dude.. listen, u're fine.. don't listen to all these people with there bs. (i plan on buying another house next year, i havent started looking-- what do u call that? nothing!!!!) u plan on getting married.. the end. u have absolutely nothing to worry about. if what u said is true.. and you took the same trip before, and her status is str8 then u're good. don't bother with all this intent and all that #######. there are people who really need to worry about fooling CBP and you definitely don't seem to be one of them..the end

You are being incredibly reckless with someone else's life.

FRJ's "buying a house" example is redundant as it doesn't affect immigration.

In all honesty you're probably going to be fine, just be careful you NEVER lie at the border, yet don't reveal anything unless asked, and you'll be fine. As you are so close to her visa expiring, which means she's not going to be a student for much longer they might look at you a little bit closely but like I said, it's rare and I honestly doubt you'll have too many issues at the border, it's at AOS that it matters.

[FRJ 0]

Your GF is from Canada which is a low-fraud country. That's good.

The fact that she's been in the country so long and (hopefully) dating you is also good. HOWEVER, sometimes there's a risk with marrying so close to the visa deadline. It can be looked at in two ways:

1. Don't wanna be apart so got married to stay together

2. she doesn't wanna leave the country, marriage fraud

Going on a trip shouldn't be a problem. The problems will arise if you are questioned at CBP and what your answers are. If you are asked "who are you travelling with" and you say "this is my boyfriend/girlfriend", at that stage CBP could ask whether they're engaged, or he's a US citizen or whatever. It's important to NEVER lie. So, if they're honest the entire time and one of two things could happen:

1. She's denied as an AOS risk (or told she cannot AOS etc as someone mentioned previously)

2. No problem.

The chances, as slim said, are small. I personally wasn't even asked when I was on VWP to show ties to my home country, some people are. Someone suggested calling your boyfriend/girlfriend a "friend" when you enter. When you apply for AOS there's the problem. Suddenly you married "your friend" so you either married for fraud, or you lied at the border. Never lie. Ever. It catches up with you.

You are being incredibly reckless with someone else's life.

FRJ's "buying a house" example is redundant as it doesn't affect immigration.

In all honesty you're probably going to be fine, just be careful you NEVER lie at the border, yet don't reveal anything unless asked, and you'll be fine. As you are so close to her visa expiring, which means she's not going to be a student for much longer they might look at you a little bit closely but like I said, it's rare and I honestly doubt you'll have too many issues at the border, it's at AOS that it matters.

redundant? how is that redundant.. in any case i'm not being reckless.. im sure the OP is aware that no one on here is an immigration officer. all the posts are highly alarmist in nature..he wants to go on a trip..she's in good standing thats that..all the scenarios that you guys bring up are irrelevant at best.

and its this same alarmist nonsense that almost caused me to walk away from this site after my first post. i explained that to the OP so he can see why i responded the way i did..

[VanessaTony 3,567]

redundant? how is that redundant.. in any case i'm not being reckless.. im sure the OP is aware that no one on here is an immigration officer. all the posts are highly alarmist in nature..he wants to go on a trip..she's in good standing thats that..all the scenarios that you guys bring up are irrelevant at best.

and its this same alarmist nonsense that almost caused me to walk away from this site after my first post. i explained that to the OP so he can see why i responded the way i did..

It's redundant because, as I said in the post, it doesn't relate to his/her immigration. It's obvious that you don't know too much about immigration or this site. There ARE USCIS officers on here, and immigration lawyers. Saying at the border "this is my USC boyfriend, my visa ends in 5 months" looks bad and the OP needs to be aware of that.

You are being incredibly reckless to say there is NO chance of issue. There have been posts upon posts of people having issues. The most recent, a girl HAS to leave to file AOS because she told CBP she was just visiting her "friend" and that they both had jobs in her home country but in reality she planned to marry and AOS. It's now in her file and her AOSing will most likely trigger a misrepresentation charge. You yourself admitted you haven't been here in a while so you obviously don't know how many people have been denied or have issues lately.

We're simply saying what she says at the border CAN affect her. Going on the trip and coming back shouldn't be a problem at all. It's when she tries to AOS that what she said at the border could come back to haunt her.

Your reckless "she'll be right" opinion can put many peoples immigration at risk. We're simply asking the OP be aware that at the border, what they say WILL matter when it comes to AOS and that yes, it is likely she will be looked at at the border as having dual intent. Will it matter? Unlikely, but still possibly.

Edited October 29, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[FRJ 0]

all the scenarios ur bring up are hypothetical.. the OP never brought them up. im just being real.. i was in those shoes too so i know what his situation entails.. and like i said before i explained to the OP privately why i made my statements.

and PS..my analogy is not redundant..u might wanna look up the meaning of the word and use it in the right context before calling me out. just saying...the end.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

all the scenarios ur bring up are hypothetical.. the OP never brought them up. im just being real.. i was in those shoes too so i know what his situation entails.. and like i said before i explained to the OP privately why i made my statements.

and PS..my analogy is not redundant..u might wanna look up the meaning of the word and use it in the right context before calling me out. just saying...the end.

Redundant = superfluous, unneeded, unnecessary. It served no purpose to the conversation as it did not involve immigration and was therefore redundant/superfluous/unnecessary.

You got lucky. Good on you. People used to have no issue AOSing after overstaying on the VWP. Now they're being denied and it's no longer possible in most states.

The situations we bring up ARE hypothetical of course. The OP has not made his/her trip. The OP has not made his/her comments to CBP. We're making hypothetical scenarios on order to protect the OP when the situation comes. Your advice only differs to ours in that we're saying "make your trip but be careful what you say" and you're saying simply "make your trip, won't be any issues". You are not the OP, you are not CBP and your are not an Immigration Officer. You can't possibly know for 100% certainty that there won't be any issues.

[FRJ 0]

Redundant = superfluous, unneeded, unnecessary. It served no purpose to the conversation as it did not involve immigration and was therefore redundant/superfluous/unnecessary.

You got lucky. Good on you. People used to have no issue AOSing after overstaying on the VWP. Now they're being denied and it's no longer possible in most states.

The situations we bring up ARE hypothetical of course. The OP has not made his/her trip. The OP has not made his/her comments to CBP. We're making hypothetical scenarios on order to protect the OP when the situation comes. Your advice only differs to ours in that we're saying "make your trip but be careful what you say" and you're saying simply "make your trip, won't be any issues". You are not the OP, you are not CBP and your are not an Immigration Officer. You can't possibly know for 100% certainty that there won't be any issues.

omg go away u freak.. u made ur point.. i made mine.. go away!

[William33 110]

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