Tourist Visa vs. K1

[Edi & Sua 1]

Just wanted to clarify something. I read everything i could regarding the visa process and i became very familiar what to do and what not. i just filed K1 packet few days ago for my fiancee. But the question is, rather statement than question

First of all, i know this is illegal what I'm going to say but just want yours opinion. I know couple folks that brought their fiance(s)'s on tourist visa (2 months process), got married in US after staying couple months and got their green cards without a question asked. If it can be done this way, why do we have to go through the long process? Like i said, i know it's illegal but none of these folks got caught, and i know lots of them.

Feel free to put in you 2 cents

[san diego 407]

Just wanted to clarify something. I read everything i could regarding the visa process and i became very familiar what to do and what not. i just filed K1 packet few days ago for my fiancee. But the question is, rather statement than question

First of all, i know this is illegal what I'm going to say but just want yours opinion. I know couple folks that brought their fiance(s)'s on tourist visa (2 months process), got married in US after staying couple months and got their green cards without a question asked. If it can be done this way, why do we have to go through the long process? Like i said, i know it's illegal but none of these folks got caught, and i know lots of them.

Feel free to put in you 2 cents

It is done a lot. However, basically, when you apply for the tourist visa and from the beginning have intent to marry this is considered a visa fraud. Yes, people do it. The chances are that during AOS interview your fiancee will be asked a question if she had intent to marry when crossing the border on tourist visa. She would have to lie. You can see that there are a lot of people on VJ that can come on visa waiver but chose to go K1 route. There is a reason for it. Basically, you are taking chances: you can chose the route that you described which carries possibility of lifetime ban and your fiancee never entering the country again. This is really your personal choice. The bottom-line is that this is illegal.

[Ning 619]

Just wanted to clarify something. I read everything i could regarding the visa process and i became very familiar what to do and what not. i just filed K1 packet few days ago for my fiancee. But the question is, rather statement than question

First of all, i know this is illegal what I'm going to say but just want yours opinion. I know couple folks that brought their fiance(s)'s on tourist visa (2 months process), got married in US after staying couple months and got their green cards without a question asked. If it can be done this way, why do we have to go through the long process? Like i said, i know it's illegal but none of these folks got caught, and i know lots of them.

Feel free to put in you 2 cents

What is important is intent at the time of entry. Using a tourist visa as means to circumvent the immigration process is fraudulent. That may result in a lifetime or extended ban. It simply isnt worth the agony of trying to fool USCIS or the price that is paid when caught. Those that you know that broke the law should be ashamed of themselves.

We go thru the process in a effort to respect the laws of the USA & retain our own self respect in doing so. We earned the privilage of immgrating here without having to worry about the future. I for one look forward to the day I become a citizen of the USA. Even today I enjoy the freedom granted to me by being here.

[Casprd 167]

Just wanted to clarify something. I read everything i could regarding the visa process and i became very familiar what to do and what not. i just filed K1 packet few days ago for my fiancee. But the question is, rather statement than question

First of all, i know this is illegal what I'm going to say but just want yours opinion. I know couple folks that brought their fiance(s)'s on tourist visa (2 months process), got married in US after staying couple months and got their green cards without a question asked. If it can be done this way, why do we have to go through the long process? Like i said, i know it's illegal but none of these folks got caught, and i know lots of them.

Feel free to put in you 2 cents

To say "none of these folks got caught" isn't correct, but regardless, it is still illegal, and given the current climate regarding immigration and immigrants, I wouldn't count on the practice being given a blind eye for much longer. For me personally there is the ethical and moral aspect. Just because I can do something with no consequences, doesn't make it right.

[delidana 0]

I will have to tell you my situation: I came to US on a tourist visa. I was dating but not engaged to my boyfriend then. I was not sure if I wanted to move to US and all that. I never saw his house, his friends and his life. I felt I neded to do that before I could decide he was the person I wanted to marry. So, I have come to visit on B2 visa, then I liked it here and decided to stay to marry him.

In essence, I really did come to check out the country and I told the interviewing officer exactly that! I told him I was not sure what my intentions were, and i cannot declare an intention if I am not sure of it. He asked why I did not return to my origin country and apply for immigrant visa, I simply told him I did not have the finances to make this happen and spent all my money at the time.

The only thing I had to do was to pay a $1000 fine for having married while on a tourist visa, which was the fee in effect back then ( 11 yrs ago) This is an old story I know and things change all the time with laws.

Also, more recently, a friend of mine was in a similar situation, he actually overstayed his tourist visa by couple of months, then got married to his GF who is USC, now he is removing his conditions to be a 10 yrs card holder.

Hope these experience samples help. But remember, they are experiences, not what the law says. I don't claim to know the negative consequences one may encounter in this circumstance just because I have not heard any.

[Boiler 45,482]

Just wanted to clarify something. I read everything i could regarding the visa process and i became very familiar what to do and what not. i just filed K1 packet few days ago for my fiancee. But the question is, rather statement than question

First of all, i know this is illegal what I'm going to say but just want yours opinion. I know couple folks that brought their fiance(s)'s on tourist visa (2 months process), got married in US after staying couple months and got their green cards without a question asked. If it can be done this way, why do we have to go through the long process? Like i said, i know it's illegal but none of these folks got caught, and i know lots of them.

Feel free to put in you 2 cents

As you surmised entering on another type of visa, visitor whatever and adjusting is the most common route and the one that most Lawyers would used recommend.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Yes, it is illegal - and it is a violation of the Terms of Service for Visa Journey for anyone to suggest that you pursue any sort of immigration fraud.

As was mentioned above, intent is everything. Entering with the intent of getting married and staying is visa fraud - using one type of easier to get visa to get around applying for the harder-to-get but more appropriate visa. If you do not have the intent of getting married and staying when you arrive you are allowed to 'change your status' based upon an unanticipated change in your circumstances . It is interesting to note in the case posted above where there was a $1000 fine, it was for an individual who did not even have a clear cut 'intent' to stay at entry, only a recognition that it might happen - and when it did, USCIS assigned the penalty of a fine. It is quite likely that if she had not been so forthright with the border authorities when she entered and admitted she was considering marriage, it is likely the penalty would have been more than the fine.

While some may appear to 'get away' with it - at least at the time - you need to remember that there is no time limitation on immigration or visa fraud. If the fraudulent act is discovered even 25 years afterwards, even if one has become a US citizen, one can still be stripped of that citizenship, deported and banned for life. Is that a weight you want to have always hanging over the head of your loved one and your family?

We may all know someone who 'got away with it for now' - but guaranteed, there are many who did not get away with it and are now facing long separations from their loved ones in the US - or the whole family is waiting out a ban in a foreign country. There are definitely some members here on Visa Journey who are dealing with those circumstances.

So, yes, not only is it illegal, it is just not worth it. The 'easier' path is a deception only - and that is why, for those of us to whom our loved ones' security and happiness are as important as our own, we follow the legal immigration processes. They are worth waiting for - and worth doing it legally and right.

Edited June 17, 2011 by Kathryn41

[delidana 0]

Kathryn has laid it it out very well. This is precisely why I am following the K1 route this time around. Back then I did not know the laws and did whatever my ex said was ok. Now I am more informed and I know how USA and laws work. Last year when we decided that we wanted to get married, we automatically ruled out tourist/student visa routes, because we had a clear intention of marrying and immigration. I recommend anyone who intends to migrate to US to take laws serious, as the consequences of not doing so can be severe and irreversible.