Fiance visa to expire

[CarolineM 0]

When you post a personal question on an internet forum....you can expect unsolicited advice...nature of the beast...

[diadromous mermaid 36]

My personal view on this is that the OP gained the information he needed and that's one perquisite of a forum like this. Granted, the K-1 visa is supposed to work to reunite people that wish to marry but the limitation of 90 days placed on the visa, and the inability for a K-1 to adjust through any other petitioner guard against its misuse. Frankly, I don't view anything in the OP's post to suggest that his fiancée is attempting to misuse the K-1, if she enters the country and chooses not to marry. If the marriage does not occur, there are specific requirements, either to leave, or to remain and adjust later ~ an option places more restrictions on her freedom and a few more doubts on her future than perhaps following the K-1 visa process might have incurred. Nonetheless, that is an option that is far better to opt for than to be pressured to marry when one or both parties are the least bit uncertain.

With the only requirement being a personal meeting in 24 months and nothing specified that this meeting occur in the future country of residence, it's conceivable that a beneficiary that hails from an area in the world where tourist visas are hard to come by might find other factors weigh in on the ease of making a decision as important as marriage. It's quite possible that she arrived here with all of the best intentions and yet feels cultural differences, distance, the absence of family member interactions and support, contemplation of a lengthy process prior to the ability to work or exit the country are playing more of a role than she anticipated. What's more important to the issue is that both parties enter the marriage with bona fide intent and with a view to making the marital union work for the long term.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

It sounds to me like you have about 30 days for the two of you to make up your minds. If she is not sure about marrying you now, it could be a huge source of pain down the road. Talk, talk, and talk some more.

I would agree with the posters who feel your fiance is not misusing the K-1, if she was, she would feel how she feels and not tell you but marry you anyway.

Having been through an ugly divorce and ongoing custody dispute etc. I know that I could not even use the "M" word if I was not absolutely positive about my fiance. I have asked over and over if she is sure herself, and she is. Still, we will use some of the 90 days to see how she does in the new environment, and then marry. I would disagree that some of that time given before marrying is not well spent seeing how life under one roof goes, that is a wise way to use the time.

As with everything else, the decision to marry is up to you two. Not a fun situation to be sure, but communication with her is the only way to resolve where you are at right now, and where the two of you should go in the future. Good luck! Make her understand though, wating is not a valid option without restarting the process, and your misgivings about doing so if that is what she chooses.

I am a sucker for a good love story, and truly hope yours turns into one down the road!

[Caladan 19]

Lots of good advice, and yeah, can we please stop assuming because the guy says 'hey, we're uncertain' he mean 'omg visa-grubbing #######/woman-purchasing f00b!!/took my spot in line and it's sooo unfair.' Just because it's the way of life on the Internet doesn't mean its right. Lots of American-American couples get cold feet at the thought of marriage!

One thing I wanted to point out, though. So people have outlined a few options:

1) Marry within 90 days.

Upside: no legal problems.

Downside: if you're having problems, might be best not to rush into it.

2) Go home within the 90 days.

Upside: legal, gives you time to think it over.

Downside: dealing with applying for a K-1 later if necessay.

And the third option.

3) Stay in the U.S. past the 90 days, get married, and adjust status.

Upside: gives you time to figure out that you want to get married.

Downside: have to start the whole AoS process from scratch, can face some questions, can't leave until the AoS is complete.

But one caveat about the third option: suppose you two decide to wait a while, and on day [90 + x] you two decide it's not working and she goes home. Now she's been out-of-status with an overstay, and that can incur a ban (depending). That could be a problem if she overstayed, then left, and then you two reconciled and wanted to be together.

[rebeccajo 14]

And the third option.

3) Stay in the U.S. past the 90 days, get married, and adjust status.

Upside: gives you time to figure out that you want to get married.

Downside: have to start the whole AoS process from scratch, can face some questions, can't leave until the AoS is complete.

But one caveat about the third option: suppose you two decide to wait a while, and on day [90 + x] you two decide it's not working and she goes home. Now she's been out-of-status with an overstay, and that can incur a ban (depending). That could be a problem if she overstayed, then left, and then you two reconciled and wanted to be together.

And that my friends is why PETITIONERS need to be damn certain before they file a marriage based visa for someone.

The beneficiary gives up their entire life to move to America. Filing shouldn't be done on a whim. We as citizens have the potential to ruin someone's life if we non-chalantly 'send them back home'.

Not a comment directed at the OP at all. Just a rumination.

[TucsonBill 0]

And the third option.

3) Stay in the U.S. past the 90 days, get married, and adjust status.

Upside: gives you time to figure out that you want to get married.

Downside: have to start the whole AoS process from scratch, can face some questions, can't leave until the AoS is complete.

But one caveat about the third option: suppose you two decide to wait a while, and on day [90 + x] you two decide it's not working and she goes home. Now she's been out-of-status with an overstay, and that can incur a ban (depending). That could be a problem if she overstayed, then left, and then you two reconciled and wanted to be together.

And that my friends is why PETITIONERS need to be damn certain before they file a marriage based visa for someone.

The beneficiary gives up their entire life to move to America. Filing shouldn't be done on a whim. We as citizens have the potential to ruin someone's life if we non-chalantly 'send them back home'.

Not a comment directed at the OP at all. Just a rumination.

In this case, it did not appear that the PETITIONER was the one that started expressing uncertainty, but the BENEFICIARY.

Bill

[mercy 1]

cris77, it's hard for us to completely answer your question without more details, mainly what country your fiance is from. For example, I've heard it's near impossible for say a Russian woman to get a tourist visa. Not getting married within the 90 days will make it harder for you, regardless of what course of action you both decide on. You've been given some very good advice so far, and I just wanted to add that I think the best thing you can do is just sit down with her and have a serious heart to heart talk and find out what you both want, why she doesn't want to marry, what her fears are, etc and hopefully you'll both end up on the same page or at least come to a decision. Best of luck..

[rebeccajo 14]

And the third option.

3) Stay in the U.S. past the 90 days, get married, and adjust status.

Upside: gives you time to figure out that you want to get married.

Downside: have to start the whole AoS process from scratch, can face some questions, can't leave until the AoS is complete.

But one caveat about the third option: suppose you two decide to wait a while, and on day [90 + x] you two decide it's not working and she goes home. Now she's been out-of-status with an overstay, and that can incur a ban (depending). That could be a problem if she overstayed, then left, and then you two reconciled and wanted to be together.

And that my friends is why PETITIONERS need to be damn certain before they file a marriage based visa for someone.

The beneficiary gives up their entire life to move to America. Filing shouldn't be done on a whim. We as citizens have the potential to ruin someone's life if we non-chalantly 'send them back home'.

Not a comment directed at the OP at all. Just a rumination.

In this case, it did not appear that the PETITIONER was the one that started expressing uncertainty, but the BENEFICIARY.

Bill

Exactly. That's why I added the concluding statement.

There is considerable discussion in this community about marriage fraud or marriages of convenience, especially as it relates to beneficiaries from underdeveloped or troubled nations. There's little ever said about failed engagements when it comes to VWP beneficiaries.

Suppose a beneficiary of a VWP nation (such as the UK) arrives over here on a K1 visa. The relationship begins to fail (for whatever reason) and the beneficiary stays on past the 90 days in hopes of resolving his or her issues with the petitioner, and then adjust status. Things don't work out and eventually the beneficiary returns home.

Ban? Possibly. One thing is for certain though. This beneficiary will never be able to use the VWP again. Suppose that later in life they go to work for a company that requires international travel, with frequent visits to the US. What then?

We often assume the worst in our discussions around here. Fact is that when crossing borders, it should never be done lightly by either party. No matter what nations are involved.

Just another wrinkle to this discussion - not meant to be a hijack - but food for thought.

[EBONY_SEAN 1]

WOW I READ ALL OF THE REPLYS AND ALL I CAN SAY IS I AGREE WITH THE MAJORITY. I MEAN TO ME SHE IS UNGRATEFUL AND YOU SHOULD JUST SEND HER BACK. OBVIOUSLY SHE DOESNT LOVE YOU AS SHE ONCE SAID SHE DID. AND THINK OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE BEHIND HER IN LINE. WAITING AND WAITING AND POSSIBLY STILL WAITING. AND MOST OF ALL THE PERSON WHO GOT THE MESSED IMMIGRATION OFFICER AND HAD TO GO THRU SO MUCH HELL TO GET THE VISA. JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE BEHIND HER INSTEAD OF IN FRONT OF HER AND SHE GOT THE EASY OFFICER.......... DAMN!!!!!!!!

In less than a month my fiance's K1 visa will expire. She want's to be sure about the marriage and does not want to marry just because of the 90 day requirement. I was ready to go ahead with the marriage but of course I am now worried if she is not ready.

She was thinking that she could staya and marry later. But she now understands that on day 91 she will be out of status and must return to her home country, or she is an illegal with probably no chance of ever getting permanent residency. If she returns to her home country, she is thinking that she can apply for a fiance or spouse visa later. I cannot imagine going through this process again, not to mention the expense.

Many questions arrise.

Can she request an extension of the K1?

If she returns to her home country, and we cancel the current K1, what is the likelyhood that another K1, or K3 spouse visa will be approved later on?

What is the likelyhood of her being approved for a tourist visa, so that we could see each other?

If she over stays and we marry a few months from now, I would think an application for adjustment of status would be shot down and she would be deported?

[rebeccajo 14]

WOW I READ ALL OF THE REPLYS AND ALL I CAN SAY IS I AGREE WITH THE MAJORITY. I MEAN TO ME SHE IS UNGRATEFUL AND YOU SHOULD JUST SEND HER BACK. OBVIOUSLY SHE DOESNT LOVE YOU AS SHE ONCE SAID SHE DID. AND THINK OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE BEHIND HER IN LINE. WAITING AND WAITING AND POSSIBLY STILL WAITING. AND MOST OF ALL THE PERSON WHO GOT THE MESSED IMMIGRATION OFFICER AND HAD TO GO THRU SO MUCH HELL TO GET THE VISA. JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE BEHIND HER INSTEAD OF IN FRONT OF HER AND SHE GOT THE EASY OFFICER.......... DAMN!!!!!!!!

In less than a month my fiance's K1 visa will expire. She want's to be sure about the marriage and does not want to marry just because of the 90 day requirement. I was ready to go ahead with the marriage but of course I am now worried if she is not ready.

She was thinking that she could staya and marry later. But she now understands that on day 91 she will be out of status and must return to her home country, or she is an illegal with probably no chance of ever getting permanent residency. If she returns to her home country, she is thinking that she can apply for a fiance or spouse visa later. I cannot imagine going through this process again, not to mention the expense.

Many questions arrise.

Can she request an extension of the K1?

If she returns to her home country, and we cancel the current K1, what is the likelyhood that another K1, or K3 spouse visa will be approved later on?

What is the likelyhood of her being approved for a tourist visa, so that we could see each other?

If she over stays and we marry a few months from now, I would think an application for adjustment of status would be shot down and she would be deported?

Huh?

Oh...all capitals looks like screaming too. Did you mean to?

[Caladan 19]

What, they should get married though having doubts just to shut up other visa petitioners? That sounds like a stunning recipe for success!

[cris77 0]

The viciousness of some people on this forum is really amazing.

"She is ungrateful"

"Obviously she doesn't love you as she once did."

"You should send her back."

What completely moronic things to say. She is very grateful for this opportunity and you know nothing of our feelings for each other. And she got her visa not out of luck, but because we did everything correctly in applying for it.

If your fiance arrives in the U.S. and later says she has some reservations you are going to send her back? Good luck to him/her.

Her intentions when applying for the visa were good and still are. And I have absolutely no reason to think that she came here just to move to the U.S. So why some people are coming up with this is beyond me.

And if our minds or feelings change about getting married, which they have not, we have a right to this, regardless of signing letters of intent.

Perhaps some people screwed something up on their petitions/applications, explains some of this hostility.

Not that I would take any advice from "EBONY" or some of the other cretins that are unfortunately on this forum (hopefully just a handful), but I will again explain the things that I would like to learn.

1. Can the K1 be extended? (seems it can not.)

2. What is the likelyhood of a visa being approved for fiance or marriage visa if she returns to her home country. (seems risky from what I've heard so far.)

3. If we do not marry within the 90 days, and she stays and we marry later, what is her chance of getting the permanent visa based on marriage? Will application for the visa based on marriage be a difficult process and uphill battle with the government? I would really like to hear from anyone that has knowledge of this scenario.

I appreciate the decent people on this forum that have tried to answer these questions, and those that have expressed good wishes, but she and I will work out the personal stuff and decide if we should go ahead with the marriage within 90 days. I would just like to get answers to the above, and the less opinion/more knowledge the better.

The other hostile folks that want to vent about something, go do it somewhere else please.

Cris

WOW I READ ALL OF THE REPLYS AND ALL I CAN SAY IS I AGREE WITH THE MAJORITY. I MEAN TO ME SHE IS UNGRATEFUL AND YOU SHOULD JUST SEND HER BACK. OBVIOUSLY SHE DOESNT LOVE YOU AS SHE ONCE SAID SHE DID. AND THINK OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE BEHIND HER IN LINE. WAITING AND WAITING AND POSSIBLY STILL WAITING. AND MOST OF ALL THE PERSON WHO GOT THE MESSED IMMIGRATION OFFICER AND HAD TO GO THRU SO MUCH HELL TO GET THE VISA. JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE BEHIND HER INSTEAD OF IN FRONT OF HER AND SHE GOT THE EASY OFFICER.......... DAMN!!!!!!!!

In less than a month my fiance's K1 visa will expire. She want's to be sure about the marriage and does not want to marry just because of the 90 day requirement. I was ready to go ahead with the marriage but of course I am now worried if she is not ready.

She was thinking that she could staya and marry later. But she now understands that on day 91 she will be out of status and must return to her home country, or she is an illegal with probably no chance of ever getting permanent residency. If she returns to her home country, she is thinking that she can apply for a fiance or spouse visa later. I cannot imagine going through this process again, not to mention the expense.

Many questions arrise.

Can she request an extension of the K1?

If she returns to her home country, and we cancel the current K1, what is the likelyhood that another K1, or K3 spouse visa will be approved later on?

What is the likelyhood of her being approved for a tourist visa, so that we could see each other?

If she over stays and we marry a few months from now, I would think an application for adjustment of status would be shot down and she would be deported?

[Mew 0]

3. If we do not marry within the 90 days, and she stays and we marry later, what is her chance of getting the permanent visa based on marriage? Will application for the visa based on marriage be a difficult process and uphill battle with the government? I would really like to hear from anyone that has knowledge of this scenario.

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but here it goes.

If you could not get married within 90 days for unexpected reasons and if you still want to get married, get married as soon as possible. However, your spouse would need to file Form I-130 along with Form I-485, Adjustment of Status application. Don't leave the United States if you are late by 6 months or more as you would be subject to 3 years (more than 180 days illegally) or 10 years (more than 1 year illegally) bars for re-entering the US.

If you are late in getting married and filing green card application, and USCIS catches you and puts you into removal proceedings, you will have to file the green card in immigration court. Application paperwork is same but the immigration judge will look harder at your case to make sure that the marriage is bona fide, and you had genuine reasons for delay.

- from http://www.***removed***/visas/kvisa/k1-fia...on-process.html

I would think that you'd get better chances of getting replies to the third question if you posted it to the AOS forum: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=7

2. What is the likelyhood of a visa being approved for fiance or marriage visa if she returns to her home country. (seems risky from what I've heard so far.)

See "filing limitations" here: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/han...IMBRA072106.pdf

Edited October 2, 2006 by Mew

[sabaidee 0]

First of all, I think some of the responses have been extremely judgemental and way out of line.

I totally understand being bitter about having to wait through this whole f'ed up process (I haven't been waiting anywhere near as long as most folks here and I already feel like I'm losing my sanity) but jumping down someone's throat because they're having relationship doubts is really rude.

In a perfect world, every fiancee would be able to come and spend a year with their future partner here in the United States so they could truly know what it's like to live together and in another country away from their family and everything they've ever known. That's just not possible for most people so the K1 is the only freakin' option. If his fiancee was just trying to screw the system then she would either marry him anyway and leave later, or she would just disappear right now and live here illegally. Besides, roughly half of all marriages end in divorce even when there is no 90-day time limit and no cultural differences, etc. It's hardly unusual for people to discover they have doubts even if they thought they didn't at one time.

To Cris77, I don't have a recommendation since I don't have the required expertise but I do have a question. What would the ramifications be if you got married officially (no ceremony, just the certificate and possibly a very tight pre-nup) and then later when/if you're both comfortable with each other and your marriage, have a true wedding and tear up the prenup? You would essentially be creating your own "extension" but I don't know how this would affect yours and her future immigration options, etc.

Please note, I am not a lawyer or immigration expert and I am *NOT* "recommending" this. Just something to think about.

Good luck figuring this issue out together and I hope it works out for the best.

:Sabaidee:

[TucsonBill 0]

You might consider calling Lawyers Referral Service, and for about $25 you can get an 'initial consultation' with a immigration attorney. (I dont think a pre-nup would circumvent the financial obligation to the government you already signed).

Bill

Edited October 2, 2006 by TucsonBill