not married yet but time is running out fast!

[jessicarabbit1981 0]

hi vj dudes!!

been reading this forum for a while and i love all the happy endings. i just wanted to put my heart at ease before we start filing.

i've already started filling out all the forms necessary (i've checked and rechecked everything we need). but here's the twist... oh wait let me start from the beginning .

met my fiance in march '10 in SA. came to visit him in massachusetts in july '10 (valid B2 visa, no intent, just a visit). was supposed to head home oct '10 (return ticket) but hung around for a bit longer. come dec i started hunting for new jobs back home and even applied to a university to study again (i have a letter about registration payment). he proposes on new yrs eve. so we were going to do the AOS from here cos my i-94 expires on the 28th of jan '11. but then (the twist) he got called away to work in st john for 2 weeks. so here we sit in st john, trying to plan everything before time runs out.

i've lined up a dr's appointment for friday (i understand it takes 3 visits) and we're going to get a marriage licence the same day (takes 3 days in MA). then we're gonna get married next wednesday (god willing) and send in all the paper work by thursday (i-94 expires next friday). gosh as i'm writing all this down it seems impossible and it's difficult not to freak out.

i dont have any specific questions. i know that if nothing goes according to plan we'll just go with plan B (i leave and we do the CR-1 visa). i guess im just looking for a teeny tiny bit of reassurance and good luck wishes as i know that filing and getting married this close (i mean almost on the day) to my i-94 expiring looks a lot like i'm just doing it so that i can stay which is kinda true BUT it's not like a sham marriage we're really love each other and we dont want to be apart (we hav all kinds of pictures and proof and stuff). the 3 months that we were apart last yr were tough and we'd like to avoid that if at all possible.

another thing that worries me (apologies for rambling) is how the H does one prove no intent to get come on a visitor's visa and get married. i mean that really wasn't our intention. that's the one issue that i can't find an answer to on the forums .

anyway, if any of you have been this anxious before getting married and filing. please holla. i think i just need a shoulder. my fiance works all day so i sit indoors alone on the internet reading up on stuff and i'm not even going outside to enjoy the island and the heat even tho it's so beautiful. i just want to get on the plane on thursday to go back to the snow and icy coldness of mass so we can start working on our own happy ending... HOW CRAZY IS THAT???!!

... thanx for reading tho.

hope i hear from someone, anyone, soon

xxx

ps i also wanna start a timeline up in hurrr

*why can't two trans-continental ppl who genuinely love each other just be together without any legal or financial uphill???*

[Darnell 8,479]

*why can't two trans-continental ppl who genuinely love each other just be together without any legal or financial uphill???*

They Can ! Move into Singapura or Malaysia, buy in - you'll get the visas you need there to reside permanently.

Don't like that? Both of you move to Australia !

oh sorry - no legal uphill? unknown, unless Swedish citizenship on one spouse

doubly sorry - no financial uphill? everything costs money - I know of no barter system, worldwide, for 'being married'.

---

from what I understand about the I-94, though - it's for 'one duration in the USA' - so if you leave, and return to USA, you'll have a new I-94 issued at the POE - unless the IO decides that 2 weeks out of country is just an attempt to get a new I-94 and stay in USA longer.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Darnell

[jessicarabbit1981 0]

They Can ! Move into Singapura or Malaysia, buy in - you'll get the visas you need there to reside permanently.

Don't like that? Both of you move to Australia !

oh sorry - no legal uphill? unknown, unless Swedish citizenship on one spouse

doubly sorry - no financial uphill? everything costs money - I know of no barter system, worldwide, for 'being married'.

---

from what I understand about the I-94, though - it's for 'one duration in the USA' - so if you leave, and return to USA, you'll have a new I-94 issued at the POE - unless the IO decides that 2 weeks out of country is just an attempt to get a new I-94 and stay in USA longer.

hehe some very good ideas but i think we've done enough running around for now ... oh btw he's the USC in case u haven't picked that up already.

and we have spoken to a lawyer who advised me not to leave the country. the way i understand it if i leave and come back on the B2 visa (it's a 10yr visa that allows me to stay 6months at a time) it would be better to stay out of the country for as long as, if not longer than, i've been in it... that's 6 months. we're trying to avoid all that. the lawyer said to get married and do the AOS, the over stay will be forgiven, but he said this on the 3rd of jan so i'm assuming he thought we'd get married closer to the beginning of the month and not have to rush. it's the rushing and unncertainty that has me in a tizz...

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

If you're sending the AOS package the day before your I-94 expires then it's pretty certain it won't be officially accepted by USCIS before your I-94 expires. You'll probably have at least a few days of overstay. This won't affect your AOS process at all, but it will mean that your B2 visa is canceled. You won't be able to use it again to return to the US if the AOS happens to be denied.

You don't have to prove you didn't intend to immigrate. It's the other way around. USCIS would have to prove that you DID intend to immigrate when you entered. Further, if that ended up being the only negative factor they had against you then it's highly unlikely they'd deny your AOS for it, though it might prompt them to look deeper for a more serious reason to deny it.

Do you have to pass through immigration returning from St. John? I ask because if you only have a little time left on your I-94 then CBP might refuse to admit you unless you can prove without a doubt that you'll leave again before the I-94 expires. That would be tough to do since you don't intend to leave again.

[Darnell 8,479]

my apologies - the gist I'm getting -

is that yer in St. John Island -

and when you return to USA, you will go through Customs and Immigration at the airport, be re-evaluated all over again.

Perhaps is some bypass to NOT go through Customs and Immigration at the airport?

What are your thoughts?

Edited January 18, 2011 by Darnell

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

my apologies - the gist I'm getting -

is that yer in St. John Island -

and when you return to USA, you will go through Customs and Immigration at the airport, be re-evaluated all over again.

Perhaps is some bypass to NOT go through Customs and Immigration at the airport?

What are your thoughts?

I've never been to St. John, so I have no clue. That's why I asked. In some cases, if you fly from a US territory on a direct flight to the continental US then it's handled like a domestic flight. If the flight started in a foreign country, and if the passengers were processed through US immigration when the flight arrived in the US territory, then it wouldn't be necessary to make anyone go through immigration when arriving in the continental US, including people who initially boarded the flight in the US territory.

[Darnell 8,479]

i'm assuming he thought we'd get married closer to the beginning of the month and not have to rush. it's the rushing and unncertainty that has me in a tizz...

A better assumption is that he said that, unawares of the travel plans to St. Johns. If if knows anything about USA Immigration Law(and I'm praying he does) then IF he had known about the trip to St. Johns, he would have advised YOU not to leave the USA. Yer really close on the I-94 expiration date, and out of country for 2 weeks usually means (at first blush to CBP officer, the goon that matters, here) that yer trying to get around US Immigration laws by making a border run (leave USA for short period of time, return within 30 days). Even the dumbest of the dumbest CBP officers have been trained to look out for potential border run folksen - so be aware, yes?

Perhaps you'll get a new stamp in the passport that says 'no adjustment allowed' since you match the pattern of a 'border runner'- and if that's the case, will be the 'kiss of death' for attempting to file an adjustment of status case (as opposed to a visa case) as CBP/DHS will have already found you ineligible, and marked yer passport to SHOW THAT, when you return to the USA (and play with US Customs and Immigration at the Point of Entry in the Airport) from St. John's Island.

But hey - that's just my opinion, based on reading stuff here - in yer particular case, I could be dead wrong, as well, as St. John Island is a US Territory, part of the US Virgin Islands. I guess it will be depend on IF the flight back originated from the US Virgin Islands or the British Virgin Islands (next door). If from BVI, then that's an international flight, for certain, with US CBP POE processing.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Darnell

[matuk tuokan 2]

First of all your thread is too long and im so lazy to read it all now if you want to take a risk go for it at least everybody are given 180 days grace period to come up with your filing of AOS.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

A better assumption is that he said that, unawares of the travel plans to St. Johns. If if knows anything about USA Immigration Law(and I'm praying he does) then IF he had known about the trip to St. Johns, he would have advised YOU not to leave the USA. Yer really close on the I-94 expiration date, and out of country for 2 weeks usually means (at first blush to CBP officer, the goon that matters, here) that yer trying to get around US Immigration laws by making a border run (leave USA for short period of time, return within 30 days). Even the dumbest of the dumbest CBP officers have been trained to look out for potential border run folksen - so be aware, yes?

Perhaps you'll get a new stamp in the passport that says 'no adjustment allowed' since you match the pattern of a 'border runner'- and if that's the case, will be the 'kiss of death' for attempting to file an adjustment of status case (as opposed to a visa case) as CBP/DHS will have already found you ineligible, and marked yer passport to SHOW THAT, when you return to the USA (and play with US Customs and Immigration at the Point of Entry in the Airport) from St. John's Island.

But hey - that's just my opinion, based on reading stuff here - in yer particular case, I could be dead wrong, as well, as St. John Island is a US Territory, part of the US Virgin Islands. I guess it will be depend on IF the flight back originated from the US Virgin Islands or the British Virgin Islands (next door). If from BVI, then that's an international flight, for certain, with US CBP POE processing.

Yes, she will have to go thru immigration in St.John's even thru it is US territory. St. Croix, St. Thomas and St, John are all part of the Virgin island. But when I left St. Thomas I had to show my US passport to board the plane. So if she don't already have a GC or AP parole, i don't know if they will let her board the plane back to the mainland(Mass).

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

Yes, she will have to go thru immigration in St.John's even thru it is US territory. St. Croix, St. Thomas and St, John are all part of the Virgin island. But when I left St. Thomas I had to show my US passport/ or any US govt issued ID to board the plane. So if she don't already have a GC or AP parole, i don't know if they will let her board the plane back to the mainland(Mass).

Even through the OP may have a visa it may no longer be valid for re-entry.

Edited January 18, 2011 by LIFE'SJOURNEY

[jessicarabbit1981 0]

Even through the OP may have a visa it may no longer be valid for re-entry.

we're flying back on thursday (before the i-94) expires. i also have a return ticket to SA booked for the 27th of jan. so i do have proof that i'm definitely leaving the country at that time. i've read all bout coming to USVI and that's not an issue. i go thru customs but as long as i have a valid passport/visa/i-94 it wont be a problem getting back into Mass... (i'll just take off my engagement ring just in case *wink*)

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

I have never been more scrutinized than when returning from the VI via Puerto Rico. If your I-94 is expired before leaving St. John or St. Thomas, you won't be coming back to the US mainland.

[jessicarabbit1981 0]

I have never been more scrutinized than when returning from the VI via Puerto Rico. If your I-94 is expired before leaving St. John or St. Thomas, you won't be coming back to the US mainland.

it won't be expired. i've checked and rechecked on this... and now that i'm reading all of this. i'm rechecking again ... it's fine, i hav aaall the papers i brought with me when i got to the states in case anything goes wrong, even a return ticket to SA on the 27th (my i-94 expires on the 28th). this really is the least of my worries.

oh, and i didn't go near the British VI coz i know there'd be issues if i did that. i stayed only in st john, in the room, reading forums and posts on visajourney ...

Edited January 18, 2011 by jessicarabbit1981

[silvana.toma 15]

Yes, she will have to go thru immigration in St.John's even thru it is US territory. St. Croix, St. Thomas and St, John are all part of the Virgin island. But when I left St. Thomas I had to show my US passport to board the plane. So if she don't already have a GC or AP parole, i don't know if they will let her board the plane back to the mainland(Mass).

That is correct.

[silvana.toma 15]

A better assumption is that he said that, unawares of the travel plans to St. Johns. If if knows anything about USA Immigration Law(and I'm praying he does) then IF he had known about the trip to St. Johns, he would have advised YOU not to leave the USA. Yer really close on the I-94 expiration date, and out of country for 2 weeks usually means (at first blush to CBP officer, the goon that matters, here) that yer trying to get around US Immigration laws by making a border run (leave USA for short period of time, return within 30 days). Even the dumbest of the dumbest CBP officers have been trained to look out for potential border run folksen - so be aware, yes?

Perhaps you'll get a new stamp in the passport that says 'no adjustment allowed' since you match the pattern of a 'border runner'- and if that's the case, will be the 'kiss of death' for attempting to file an adjustment of status case (as opposed to a visa case) as CBP/DHS will have already found you ineligible, and marked yer passport to SHOW THAT, when you return to the USA (and play with US Customs and Immigration at the Point of Entry in the Airport) from St. John's Island.

But hey - that's just my opinion, based on reading stuff here - in yer particular case, I could be dead wrong, as well, as St. John Island is a US Territory, part of the US Virgin Islands. I guess it will be depend on IF the flight back originated from the US Virgin Islands or the British Virgin Islands (next door). If from BVI, then that's an international flight, for certain, with US CBP POE processing.

you have a point here. A very good point. I remember when i left ships i flew from florida to st martin and then i came back to us the very next day(this is a long story short), because i wanted to take a vacation with my hubby in vegas. We went to the customs together, and even if we told the guy we are engaged he stamped my passport for 6 months(and no we did not get married in vegas ). So it depends on the Customs agent, some are a real pain, but some don't care too much.

But in her case, i think it's more questionable because her visa will expire soon, so I would suggest coming up with a good story for the customs to let you back in...like you have most of your clothes and stuff still in us, so you have to go back for them and say good bye to all of you friends before you leave us...

i know it's wrong to lie ..but who doesn't lie ...ever?