Change Q visa to a fiancee visa

[zatarra 1]

Please let me know I'm posting this in the wrong place.

There's a lot of info out there and I'm a bit overwhelmed, so I'm looking for some direction on these forums.

Here's my situation. I am an American Citizen. I recently got engaged to my Japanese girlfriend. Currently I'm working in Korea, and she's working in Japan, but we will both be moving to the US in September. She got hired by Disney for the cultural exchange program. She will work for one year with a Q visa. We want to get married without her having to leaving the US. I know once she leaves the US, the marriage visa process takes more than a year, and that's definitely something we don't want. From what I read, changing a Q visa is possible, but I don't know what the process is. What steps can I take right now to be ready to do this in the future? Also, currently we don't have any wedding plans, because we don't know what happens in terms of immigration laws when we do get married. We've discussed getting married in Japan. Or maybe going through the legal stuff of marriage here in the US, but have the actual wedding in Japan.

If anybody has any information that would make our thinking about this easier, please let me know.

[Asia 2,498]

If she wants to change a visa, she will have to leave the US, because you can only apply for a visa from outside the USA.

[zatarra 1]

If she wants to change a visa, she will have to leave the US, because you can only apply for a visa from outside the USA.

I read that its possible for a visa status change, in which leaving the US is not necessary. I don't have the source on hand right now, but when I find it I'll post a link.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

You won't need a visa, you'll need to change her status

Although using a non-immigrant visa, such as the Q visa, when one has intentions of immigrating is visa fraud

Visa fraud can carry a lifetime ban

Good luck

[Asia 2,498]

I read that its possible for a visa status change, in which leaving the US is not necessary.

Yes, she can change her status, but she won't be able to get K1 that way.

[zatarra 1]

You won't need a visa, you'll need to change her status

Although using a non-immigrant visa, such as the Q visa, when one has intentions of immigrating is visa fraud

Visa fraud can carry a lifetime ban

Good luck

Ah, that's what I mean. I thought the term used for that is a "visa status change."

This is not visa fraud. She applied for this job independently, on her own, before I even proposed to her. I proposed to her after she got the job. Now we're trying to find a way to stay together and changing her status seems to be the best option, unless I get a job in Japan, but that's a whole other story. We know that one year apart would be too much strain on the relationship, unless we had the money to visit each other frequently, which we don't.

How can I find out about status change? Can you direct me to some information?

[zatarra 1]

Yes, she can change her status, but she won't be able to get K1 that way.

What can she get? Would she be able to stay in the US longer?

[Asia 2,498]

What can she get? Would she be able to stay in the US longer?

She can gat any of the non-immigrant statuses, I guess. Tourist (B2), student (F1) - if she has enough money to pay for a school. Maybe she could extend her Q status...

She'll be able to stay longer, but if she's denied of the extension, she has to leave, I guess.

Os she could AOS thought marriage.

Edited August 17, 2012 by Asia

[zatarra 1]

Os she could AOS thought marriage.

I don't know what you mean here, AOS?

Here's what I found, which doesn't match up with what people are telling me here.

http://www.justanswer.com/immigration-law/4bzau-boyfriend-q1-visa-june-want.html

[C-ma'am 684]

I don't know what you mean here, AOS?

Here's what I found, which doesn't match up with what people are telling me here.

http://www.justanswe...-june-want.html

AOS means Adjustment of Status http://www.visajourn...i/index.php/AOS

It doesn't match up because what Canadian Wife explained is how it works:

You already know that your fiancee will be here working on a certain visa and you already have the intention to marry her; therefore, she would be entering the US to work but with the intention to marry and stay. While a person can AOS through marriage to a USC while coming into the country on a visa (other than a fiance(e) ) the government will ask you to prove that you she had no intention to marry you while she was here on the Q visa (which you already do).

On your link, what that lawyer is answering to that person is correct; because (unlike you) she's stating that the boyfriend is already in the US on that visa and she thought it would be easier to marry him while he's already here. You have established the intention to marry when she comes on a different visa, and THAT is what can result in misinterpretation causing a possible lifetime ban. THAT is the fraud part.

Since you already know she would come on this visa, what you can do is. She can work for as long as you want (say the entire year of this visa), you can marry her and then she would need to return to her home country so you can apply for an spousal visa and return to you once that visa is granted.

That would be the proper way to do things. You will not find answers in this forum that would suggest trying to go around the system.

Edited August 17, 2012 by Celeste & C

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Entering the US on a non-immigrant visa with the intent to immigrate is illegal. It's visa fraud. Her Q visa is not meant for immigrating.

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

Here's where you're going to run into trouble and I propose that you don't place any self identifying info on your posts.

Basically you have expressed an interest to immigrate on a temporary visa.

The common them is you can adjust status when you don't have that staying intent but you have expressed that now.

[Anh map 2,098]

Please let me know I'm posting this in the wrong place.

There's a lot of info out there and I'm a bit overwhelmed, so I'm looking for some direction on these forums.

Here's my situation. I am an American Citizen. I recently got engaged to my Japanese girlfriend. Currently I'm working in Korea, and she's working in Japan, but we will both be moving to the US in September. She got hired by Disney for the cultural exchange program. She will work for one year with a Q visa. We want to get married without her having to leaving the US. I know once she leaves the US, the marriage visa process takes more than a year, and that's definitely something we don't want. From what I read, changing a Q visa is possible, but I don't know what the process is. What steps can I take right now to be ready to do this in the future? Also, currently we don't have any wedding plans, because we don't know what happens in terms of immigration laws when we do get married. We've discussed getting married in Japan. Or maybe going through the legal stuff of marriage here in the US, but have the actual wedding in Japan.

If anybody has any information that would make our thinking about this easier, please let me know.

Does the Q visa contain a home residency requirement(HRR)? I see that a Q visa holder must wait a year to apply for another Q visa, but do not see anything clear about the HRR. If there is a HHR then she would have to request a waiver in order to adjust status.

[zatarra 1]

n[/u] to marry her; therefore, she would be entering the US to work but with the intention to marry and stay. While a person can AOS through marriage to a USC while coming into the country on a visa (other than a fiance(e) ) the government will ask you to prove that you she had no intention to marry you while she was here on the Q visa (which you already do).

On your link, what that lawyer is answering to that person is correct; because (unlike you) she's stating that the boyfriend is already in the US on that visa and she thought it would be easier to marry him while he's already here. You have established the intention to marry when she comes on a different visa, and THAT is what can result in misinterpretation causing a possible lifetime ban. THAT is the fraud part.

I think I'm a little confused about the info on the link I posted. First the person says that her boyfriend is in the US on a Q-1 Visa. Then she says that her boyfriend is in the US on an A visa. I'm not sure what the differences are between those two. If her boyfriend was on a Q-1 visa, then her situation is pretty much exactly the same as mine. There's no telling from what she said when the intention to marry was established. It's possible that they decided to get married before her boyfriend came to the US and found it convenient that they could get married in the US and shortcut the process.

I could have waited to propose later this year, which I had considered, but I decided to do it this summer so my girlfriend could break the news to her parents while she is in Japan, rather than calling them up one day from the US and saying "Hey, I'm getting married!" She got accepted for her job in the US long before I proposed. The timing of all this is unknown to US immigration staff.

Since you already know she would come on this visa, what you can do is. She can work for as long as you want (say the entire year of this visa), you can marry her and then she would need to return to her home country so you can apply for an spousal visa and return to you once that visa is granted.

That would be the proper way to do things. You will not find answers in this forum that would suggest trying to go around the system.

I don't believe what I'd like to do is "going around" the system. I guess it depends on how you look at it. The one piece of information that would determine whether I'm going around the system or doing things properly is when the intention to marry was established. So if I was posting on these forums 6 months from now, saying I just got engaged and I want to stay in the US with my fiancee, the response would be completely different. I think that's a bit silly. I'm guessing a lot of people here are going to disagree with me on this. Well, to each his/her own.

[Krikit 1,164]

Moving from K-1 Process to AOS From Other Visa.