Filing for fiance visa while fiance is in USA on tourist visa?

[sacramento 0]

Hello everyone,

I'm glad I stumbled upon this site. Here is my situation. I have been dating a girl from South America for about 3 years. We just got engaged a few weeks back when I went down to visit her. We first met in the USA when she was visiting on a temporary work visa while in college. After that, she got a tourist visa which she has had for about 2 years. I have been down there about 4 times and she has been up here about 4 times and has always left on time, no overstays.

So, I am an American citizen. I have been reading a few options. It seems as though the fiance visa or the i 130 are the most common ways. What I couldn't find is this....

Lets say she comes on her tourist visa in March. Can we file for a fiance visa while she is here? Then a month or so before it is ready she can travel back to her home country and then re-enter with the fiance visa and then we can marry within 90 days? Or when I file the fiance visa, does she have to be in South America? We want to be together as much as possible, as we have already spent years apart and it is difficult. We also want to do this 100% legally, which is why we want to get married on a fiance visa or get married abroad and file a i 130. We don't want to risk getting married on a tourist visa. Please let me know if what I described is feasible?

Thanks in advance!

[Ryan H 3,812]

You can get married on a tourist visa, there is nothing illegal about doing so, she would have to depart the US when her authorized stay expires.

[Kajikit 65]

You can file for your fiance visa while she's in the US if you want to do it that way... or you could get married while she's in the US, send her home, and file for a 'married' visa. You could even marry her while she's legally in the country and file from here before she goes home at all. The really important part is the 'legal' bit. If you've got proof of a three-year-relationship to show the USCIS, you've got the biggest hurdle done already.

[ceadsearc 516]

The above advice is accurate. She can be here for processing so long as she does NOT overstay. Depending on how long it takes and how much time she is given upon entry to the US, it could be a month or several she will be waiting in her country.

[mr and mrs 187]

it is also important to note that entering the US on a non-immigrant visa (aka tourist visa) with the intent to immigrate (aka marry in the US and then adjust status to STAY in the US) is immigration fraud.

[sacramento 0]

You can file for your fiance visa while she's in the US if you want to do it that way... or you could get married while she's in the US, send her home, and file for a 'married' visa. You could even marry her while she's legally in the country and file from here before she goes home at all. The really important part is the 'legal' bit. If you've got proof of a three-year-relationship to show the USCIS, you've got the biggest hurdle done already.

Thank you for the response. Just to clarify a few things, my fiance could come here on her tourist visa, we could file for the fiance visa and then she could return to South America when it is available, and then re-enter with the new fiance visa? (this all with no overstays of course). I know that people say marrying on a tourist visa and then adjusting is "visa fraud", but doesn't the fact that she is here legally, not overstayed on her tourist visa, and the fact that she has had it for 2 years and during that time has come and gone without overstay about 4-5 times...doesn't this all factor in to prove that her intention for getting the tourist visa 2 years back was not for the purpose of marriage?

Also, which option do you think would be better so that we would spend LESS time apart if we can't marry and then adjust? We would definitely file the new visa while she is still here, so would the fiance visa or the i 130 be better to lessen the time apart from each other?

[ceadsearc 516]

You are correct. She should bring strong evidence of ties to her country when traveling to prove she doesn't intend to stay.

The fiancé and spousal visa are similar in processing times. With a spousal visa she would enter as an LPR, be eligible to work immediately, and the cost is cheaper. With a fiancé visa she would need to adjust status when she arrives, but assuming you have seen each other in the last 2 years that could be filed right now before she even visits. Either way, she can continue to visit on her tourist visa at the discretion of CBP - hence providing strong ties to her country upon arrival.