Easiest U.S. visa to get for a Belarus citizen married to a U.S citizen

[slim 1,525]

FYI our friend that arrived on the tourist visa DID have the intent to marry and stay in the country. Yes, it was visa fraud. No, they had no problem adjusting status.

See, this is what I should've posted since stating facts is not a TOS violation.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My point was that it doesn't matter how or what visa they entered the country on, the procedure for marrying is the same and quite legal. We all should know that.

FYI our friend that arrived on the tourist visa DID have the intent to marry and stay in the country. Yes, it was visa fraud. No, they had no problem adjusting status.

Yes, the procedure is the same and is not related to immigration. Your firend broke the law and USCIS failed to enforce it. The problem is that USCIS fails to enforce the law. If they said to a few "Denied...barred from future visas for 10 years, go home" to a few people as they should, by law, this practice would end toute suite!

If they EVEN said "Adjustment denied, go home and apply for a CR-1" this nonsense would stop. But in any case, it is not a matter for the issuers of marriage licenses.

See, this is what I should've posted since stating facts is not a TOS violation.

American women are the best.

[SMR 368]

Marriage has nothing to do with immigration. why should people from other countries been forbidden to come here, spend money and get married and honeymoon in the US? You don't like foreigners spending money here?

the VISA is a means to enter the country, the clerk selling the marriage license is not charged with whether your fiancee entered the country legally or not. Why WOULD they care?

IF your fiancee WAS illegal, would marrying you change that? NO! She would still be illegal. So what business is it of the marriage license people?

I think you've misunderstood what I was trying to say. I don't think there should be a check of a K-1 visa to get a marriage license. I do think that there should be a check to make sure that an individual is not married already. I'm just making the general point that in the US I don't think we do enough checking of documents. Which means that you can go and get all your documents in order and do it the hard way. Or you can just walk through the front door and no one will ask you.

That's why we have a problem with illegal immigrants and voter fraud. You don't even have to show ID to vote.

[slim 1,525]

I'm just making the general point that in the US I don't think we do enough checking of documents.

Are you suggesting we create another government agency that does checks?

You don't even have to show ID to vote.

I had to show ID to vote.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I think you've misunderstood what I was trying to say. I don't think there should be a check of a K-1 visa to get a marriage license. I do think that there should be a check to make sure that an individual is not married already. I'm just making the general point that in the US I don't think we do enough checking of documents. Which means that you can go and get all your documents in order and do it the hard way. Or you can just walk through the front door and no one will ask you.

That's why we have a problem with illegal immigrants and voter fraud. You don't even have to show ID to vote.

I don't know. In some states you have to show divorce papers...if you say you were ever married before. If you don't. you don't. Marrying someone when you are not free to marry is illegal and has consequences. It seems a fairly well self enforcing law, better than most for whatever reason. If someone says they have never been married...how do you check? Hard to prove a negative, at least for now. I suppose spmeday all the various marriage records may be assembled together but given that lots of states handle that on a local basis, by town or county...YIKES! Thats a lot of places to gather data from and a lot of places to try and keep it updated. Responsible people just don;t do it wrong because they love and respect the person they are marrying and would not want to endanger their future. To be honest, if I were a foreign fiancee and my USC guy said "hey lets just get married on a tourist visa and skip all this" I think I would dump the guy for having so little respect for me that he would risk my future like that. Then again, they may both just be ignorant. In which case, they deserve each other. For my money, I am glad we did it right. I have no fear for the future of my wife and the kids.

We have a problem with illegal aliens because our government WANTS them here and REFUSES to enforce laws against people hiring them. Until they make it absolutely a bad decision to hire an illegal, they will continue to do it. But as long as Republicans want cheap labor to avoid the labor laws and Dems want future voters, nothing will really be done.

I think yes, people should have to show ID to vote.

Are you suggesting we create another government agency that does checks?

I had to show ID to vote.

Actually I had to show ID to vote also. I know some states do not.

[visaveteran 1]

I'll have to own my ignorance of Americans marrying aliens in the US. I am obviously uninformed that getting married here is comparable to buying a Big Mac. Walk in, put down your money, and start throwing confetti.

It certainly is not so easy to marry in Russia...or many other countries that require you visit the US Embassy and obtain a certified oath you are free to marry. And there would be a presentation of a birth certificate, divorce papers, a "marriage letter of intention"...all translated and requiring apostile stamps. Oh...and there's that 30 day waiting period once you file for a license. Yes, I know, money fixes all things, at least in the FSU but still...there is some intention to monitor and verify who is in the country and what they're up to...and to have the marriage process move a little slower.

It seems awfully unfair to me that women (men) can lie their way into the US, find the nearest American man (woman) and get married before the tourist or work visa expires. Yes, that is the paradoxical USA...making the straight shooters wait for nearly a year to immigrate while the liars and cheaters take the dishonest short cut. OK, to not seem too cynical, maybe one in twenty visiting aliens actually falls in love and marries as a consequence of this situation before their visa runs out.

And the honest folks sit and wait...and wait...and wait.

Edited January 12, 2011 by visaveteran

[Used to be broken 147]

I'll have to own my ignorance of Americans marrying aliens in the US. I am obviously uninformed that getting married here is comparable to buying a Big Mac. Walk in, put down your money, and start throwing confetti.

It certainly is not so easy to marry in Russia...or many other countries that require you visit the US Embassy and obtain a certified oath you are free to marry. And there would be a presentation of a birth certificate, divorce papers, a "marriage letter of intention"...all translated and requiring apostile stamps. Oh...and there's that 30 day waiting period once you file for a license. Yes, I know, money fixes all things, at least in the FSU but still...there is some intention to monitor and verify who is in the country and what they're up to...and to have the marriage process move a little slower.

It seems awfully unfair to me that women (men) can lie their way into the US, find the nearest American man (woman) and get married before the tourist or work visa expires. Yes, that is the paradoxical USA...making the straight shooters wait for nearly a year to immigrate while the liars and cheaters take the dishonest short cut. OK, to not seem too cynical, maybe one in twenty visiting aliens actually falls in love and marries as a consequence of this situation before their visa runs out.

And the honest folks sit and wait...and wait...and wait.

I vote to start a new thread on this topic.. its gone sideways bigtime.

Wow. Did somebody step on your spit-shine today Col. Grumpy?

I have traveled to these wonderfully ordered countries with miles of red tape and where they make you sign zee papers. I was forced to sign one upon entry to the FSU, oops I don't read Cryillic. I could have confessed to the most henious crime, but I was trapped in the Airport with a mean looking person with a weapon and a vehicle ready to transport me to goodness knows where. I prefer to live here, where DMV officials are my most "scarey" public officials. TSA is enjoying all kinds of interesting press, don't touch my junk, don't taze me bro. In the FSU last week, Journalists are being put in jail or being "disappeared" by the government because they didn't have the proper "registration" documents to attend the news event taking place.

Hmmmm, Do I think as an American Citizen, I should turn over the most private and personal life decision as to who, when, where under what circumstances I can marry the person I freely decided to spend the rest of my life with? And regarding the circumstances of "introduction" and our silly concept of Marriage motivated by love which we stubbornly maintain is an affair of the heart, well I for one am not ready to scrap that concept either. I know this may sound like an old fashioned concept, but not so long ago humans met in person often through a social introduction by a friend or co-worker. "Virtual" introductions have been taking place for ages, "I have a cousin who lives in America, she is a wonderful gal and still has all her teeth". But, its equally as common for if not more common for a personal connection to develop in a chance personal encounter.

Suffice to say, the government needs to take care of business, but the marriage business in so much as possible they should stay out of.

Call me old fashioned but the idea of meeting a kind, attractive foreign visitor to my country is pretty darn romantic. Harliquin is making a fortune on that story line. VJ is a place to learn our Governments bueracracy and its navigation but don't assume for a second everyone in the US swallowed the INS Code. Mistakes and spontaneous situations will arise.

I'm glad to hear your documents are in order, if you go visit the FSU you will be well prepared. Hope your feeling better soon.

Edited January 12, 2011 by brokenfamily

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I'll have to own my ignorance of Americans marrying aliens in the US. I am obviously uninformed that getting married here is comparable to buying a Big Mac. Walk in, put down your money, and start throwing confetti.

It certainly is not so easy to marry in Russia...or many other countries that require you visit the US Embassy and obtain a certified oath you are free to marry. And there would be a presentation of a birth certificate, divorce papers, a "marriage letter of intention"...all translated and requiring apostile stamps. Oh...and there's that 30 day waiting period once you file for a license. Yes, I know, money fixes all things, at least in the FSU but still...there is some intention to monitor and verify who is in the country and what they're up to...and to have the marriage process move a little slower.

It seems awfully unfair to me that women (men) can lie their way into the US, find the nearest American man (woman) and get married before the tourist or work visa expires. Yes, that is the paradoxical USA...making the straight shooters wait for nearly a year to immigrate while the liars and cheaters take the dishonest short cut. OK, to not seem too cynical, maybe one in twenty visiting aliens actually falls in love and marries as a consequence of this situation before their visa runs out.

And the honest folks sit and wait...and wait...and wait.

Yes it would seem so and I wish they WOULD scrutinize more carefully the people that marry on tourist visas. There is this abiding belief that Americans are free to marry whoever they want and you cannot separate families. I guess this is good. The theory of the waiting is that they are making sure your bride to be is not some sort of terrorist or threat to the rest of us. OK, that ought to take 30 seconds. I suspect a large part of this is to support a bloated government department employing a lot of government workers. D'ya think?

At any rate, I do not risk such things for my own family even at the expense of waiting. I would be the guy they try to make a poster-boy of for the issue.

But getting married, itself, is very simpe and easy and IMO it should be. The marriage has nothing to do with immigration and delaying it or requiring onerous paperwork is just silly. Besides, other countries have a more centralized system (in Russia left over from the USSR) for those records. Our system, being set up to AVOID centralized government, has no such ability.

[visaveteran 1]

Didn't we just catch a bunch of Russian spies in our country who had merged very well with our culture, including beautiful young women. They got visas too. Maybe some were an American's girlfriend or fiancee? And didn't we in the last few years break up a large "marriage ring" in Norfolk, VA involving American sailors having bogus marriages to Russian women for money. Bad people keep getting inside. And alien marriage does seem to directly relate to immigration.

Personally, I don't care who marries whom...and soon I guess even Vladimir can come over here and marry William...but, given the tragic events from the past, I do care about what any alien is up to my homeland. Ronald Reagan said it best: Trust, but verify.

[slim 1,525]

Ronald Reagan said it best: Trust, but verify.

Let's bring him back!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Didn't we just catch a bunch of Russian spies in our country who had merged very well with our culture, including beautiful young women. They got visas too. Maybe some were an American's girlfriend or fiancee? And didn't we in the last few years break up a large "marriage ring" in Norfolk, VA involving American sailors having bogus marriages to Russian women for money. Bad people keep getting inside. And alien marriage does seem to directly relate to immigration.

Personally, I don't care who marries whom...and soon I guess even Vladimir can come over here and marry William...but, given the tragic events from the past, I do care about what any alien is up to my homeland. Ronald Reagan said it best: Trust, but verify.

They didn't catch Alla.

I guess the point I am making is...these people did not get into the US by way of the marriage itself. Perhaps they were brought in by someone promising to marry them...fiancee visa, or perhaps they lied and fabricated enough evidence they would return and got a tourist visa and then married someone and filed for AOS. The problem does not lie in the marriage itself.

The problem is we HAVE laws that are not enforced and when there is a problem, some people say we need MORE laws. I guess one could just flat out say that you cannot adjust status from a tourist visa. I personally would not care anout that. get married and then return to your country and await the CR-1

Most Russian and other illegal immigrants are no different than any other illegal. They come here for econmic opportunity and our government REFUSES to enforce laws against exploiting illegals by US businesses for profit. 1) eliminate the economic incentive, 2) eliminate the possibility to adjust status from any visa not specifically designed for that. That means tourist, business, student, religious, etc. They can come, they can get married but they can't just stay if that wasn't agreed to up front.

[Ban Hammer 13,335]

Ronald Reagan said it best: Trust, but E-verify.

he was misquoted, i fixed that above to what he really said.

[tom&tanya 48]

I vote to start a new thread on this topic.. its gone sideways bigtime.

Wow. Did somebody step on your spit-shine today Col. Grumpy?

I have traveled to these wonderfully ordered countries with miles of red tape and where they make you sign zee papers. I was forced to sign one upon entry to the FSU, oops I don't read Cryillic. I could have confessed to the most henious crime, but I was trapped in the Airport with a mean looking person with a weapon and a vehicle ready to transport me to goodness knows where. I prefer to live here, where DMV officials are my most "scarey" public officials. TSA is enjoying all kinds of interesting press, don't touch my junk, don't taze me bro. In the FSU last week, Journalists are being put in jail or being "disappeared" by the government because they didn't have the proper "registration" documents to attend the news event taking place.

Hmmmm, Do I think as an American Citizen, I should turn over the most private and personal life decision as to who, when, where under what circumstances I can marry the person I freely decided to spend the rest of my life with? And regarding the circumstances of "introduction" and our silly concept of Marriage motivated by love which we stubbornly maintain is an affair of the heart, well I for one am not ready to scrap that concept either. I know this may sound like an old fashioned concept, but not so long ago humans met in person often through a social introduction by a friend or co-worker. "Virtual" introductions have been taking place for ages, "I have a cousin who lives in America, she is a wonderful gal and still has all her teeth". But, its equally as common for if not more common for a personal connection to develop in a chance personal encounter.

Suffice to say, the government needs to take care of business, but the marriage business in so much as possible they should stay out of.

Call me old fashioned but the idea of meeting a kind, attractive foreign visitor to my country is pretty darn romantic. Harliquin is making a fortune on that story line. VJ is a place to learn our Governments bueracracy and its navigation but don't assume for a second everyone in the US swallowed the INS Code. Mistakes and spontaneous situations will arise.

I'm glad to hear your documents are in order, if you go visit the FSU you will be well prepared. Hope your feeling better soon.

Well said.

[dashaoz 0]

Wow, it has been more than 2 years since my post and things did change in a different way.

But before all, Gary, visaveteran, I respect your thoughts. Everyone has different backgrounds, experiences, friends who had awful experiences. So, I understand if you guys felt that way back then (and probably still is), but fact of the matter is not all Russians come to U.S to get a quick fix. Plus, a person like me, who swore to God that I was not going to get married again for a few years! But then destiny called and I did what I did.. It's easy to get a license in MD, DE or NJ. Not like overseas.. Also, my wife was on a J-1 visa, work & travel. And NO, SHE DID NOT want to stay in U.S.

Therefore, now we are living in Turkey for the last 16 months. Truthfully, the wages, food, healthcare is much more better than U.S for me in Turkey, however I miss U.S a lot! I mean a lot!! All my professional life I was in U.S. and believe me it's really hard to get adjusted to the business life in Turkey. Dog eat dog world here! Things run in a very different way. You have to know somebody to have something done to be at somewhere.

So, now I will be pursuing other options. After spending all this time in Turkey, my wife is realizing that you have to have perfect language in the country where you live.. Turkish.. Hard to learn, and truthfully I would not want her to deal with this.

I used to think having a dual citizenship is a good thing, but see sometimes you do feel the heaviness on your shoulders. If things don't work out in country A, then yes you have country B option, but... what about all the time and effort you gave for all that time? Is it really easy to give up everything and start all over again.. We'll see..

"Brokenfamily" is now "used to be broken", so I hope things worked out good for you. Also, Slim, tom&tanya, neonred and all others hope you have a great year filled with happiness and good luck with your paperwork.