TN-Visa/Marriage/Cruise

[Sweetness68 0]

Hello...

I am a Canadian citizen presently residing in the US, where I work under a TN-Visa. I have two years left on my current TN-Visa. I am wondering if it might be possible to get married on a Caribbean cruise and still be able to get back into the US..? Alternatively, is it possible to get married prior to going on the Caribbean cruise without having difficulties reentering the US? Once married, I would like to apply for a green card. Does anyone have any experience/insight/cautions to share with me?

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated...thanks!

Colleen

[HeatDeath 430]

My understanding is that, since the TN is a non-immigrant visa, and is not dual-intent, you cannot reenter the US with it intending to adjust status and become an immigrant.

Which means you can only adjust status to permanent residence if, at the last time you entered, you legitimately did not intend to immigrate. If you were to marry and adjust status now, you would be fine, because you were sincere and honest the last time you entered, when you told the border officer that you did not intend to immigrate.

If you were to leave the US, marry, and try to get back in on your TN visa, the border officer will ask you if you intend to immigrate, and you will either be denied entry [if you tell the truth] or be forced to lie to the border officer - telling him you do not intend to immigrate when you actually do. [it goes without saying that lying to a border officer is very very bad, and to never ever do this.]

So I would definitely not get married outside the US. Your second idea - getting married and then going on the cruise, will work, but you have to do certain steps in the right order.

What you would do in that scenario is get married and file your AOS, EAD, and AP packet. Once you have the AP documents, which will show up 6-10 weeks after you file, THEN you can go on the cruise, and everything will be fine. Once you file AOS, do NOT leave the US without an AP document or a GC in your hand!

I would not recommend going on the cruise [after getting married] without having filed AOS [and having recieved an AP document] first. If you try to reenter the US on a TN visa, having a USC spouse, they will be very rightfully suspicious that you have immigrant intent, and could deny you entry.

Edited December 31, 2010 by HeatDeath

[HeatDeath 430]

Having done a little more googling about TN visas, I woudl sya that, in that last sentence of my previous post, replace "could" with "almost certainly will". Having a USC spouse is probably the single most common reason TN holders get denied renewal or reentry.

Having a USC spouse is considered by many border officers to be incontrovertible evidence of intent to immigrate, and even if they're prepared to listen to you at all, there is still a presumption of immigrant intent that would be VERY difficult to overcome.

I would say that, overall, having now formed an intent to marry and adjust status, you should consider your TN visa unusable. Getting married and adjusting status ASAP is the best thing for you to do at this point.

Edited December 31, 2010 by HeatDeath

[canadian_wife 1,822]

I agree with HeatDeath. Don't play with this stuff - it can have serious consequences. Marry, adjust status, and go on your cruise.

Play it safe

Good luck