canadian wants to marry american asap :)

[kittyandpipit 0]

I want to marry my boyfriend living in hawaii. I am canadian and i live in canada now, I have been away from him for almost two months now and my plan is to go back in jan/feb and get married. im not super interested in attaining citizenship in the US, currently, it would be great to be able to work there, but it looks like that could take up to a year and we're ok with leaving the states after august, so im not sure the paperwork is worth all the time that has to go in it. Basically i just dont want to make the US gov't mad so that they deny me entry at another time. so i know as a canadian i can go to the states for six months without any visa, so i can do that and we can leave after that. im also ok with starting paperwork once i get there/get married. any advice/warnings? thanks

[hikergirl 277]

Because a lot of people get married in the US and try to adjust status there, they may not let you in and certainly not for that amount of time. If you are going for that long, chances are you have no significant ties to Canada to show that you are going back. You will need to show that you have strong ties to Canada i.e. lease agreement, pay stubs, etc. In all likelihood they will want you to show proof that you can afford to be there that long without working. Being admitted to the US from Canada for 6 months in NOT a right nor is it guaranteed.

I suggest you start by looking at the guides here on VJ. I would start with: http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

You have a K-1 Visa on your profile, but if you are married that is not what you will be applying for.

Please keep in mind that if you lie to the border guard, you can be barred for life for misrepresentation. Which means not only can you not ever visit the US again, you can never even transit through the US to go to Mexico or the Caribbean even.

[kittyandpipit 0]

Ok so I won't book my trip for as long...and if we can't get married, we can't get married. I am planning on coming back here, so I will still have my job/lease. That being said...I do want to marry him. If I get into the states, can I marry him, or is that illegal/a problem?

[Jen and Jon 14]

Like Hikergirl had stated, you would be able to marry him within the United States. However if that is your intention you would need to make that clear at the point of entry. If you say you aren't getting married and you do than you are misrepresenting yourself and that can result in a ban. Not saying it would but can. Don't lie to the guards. Worst thing you can do.

[kittyandpipit 0]

Okie dokie...so is my only way the fiance visa?

[hikergirl 277]

There is nothing wrong with going to Hawaii and getting married there. But the burden of proof that you are not intending to stay when you talk to the border guard is on you. If they feel your plan is to stay for whatever reason they will not let you board the plane.

I spent a month down south this summer and got married down there. I was not asked at the airport if I was intending to get married and I did not offer that info, however I carried with me: my lease agreement, a letter from my employer on letterhead stating when they were expecting me back, my daughter's school registration for here, and my itinerary showing when I was going home.

You should also keep in mind that if you spend too many days outside of your province you could lose your provincial health care.

[YpsiFella 20]

It was a few years ago when my wife and I did the same thing. She was the USC. I flew down and we married and I was never asked about it so said nothing. I brought along proof that I had a return ticket - that was all they were ever interested in.

Once married she actually moved to Canada with me about six months later. Three years after that we moved to the US (after a year of wait time for my green card).

[TBoneTX 45,319]

*** Thread moved from CR-1 Process forum to General Immigration Discussion -- OP hasn't decided on a visa path or whether to live in the U.S. ***

[mozplay 29]

Pamela, there are two relevant routes available to you. 1. apply under the fiance visa (K-1) which means that after obtaining the visa, you enter the US with the INTENT of marrying in a short space of time and then STAYING in the country and setting up residence or 2. get married, and file for a spousal visa, in which case you generally stay in your home country (Canada) until the visa is processed, then you move to the US and set up residence here. Either avenue will get you a green card which will enable you to work. Neither prevents you from traveling to the U.S. or anywhere else during the long months that the visa is being processed. But ... border crossings are often more highly scrutinized. Lots more info about these paths in their respective threads.

However, WHERE you get married is completely up to you. There is nothing illegal about getting married in Hawaii and then staying for the full length of time before returning home. Immigration will not see this as fraud. What other posters have said is true. Don't lie to them. But also don't volunteer information they aren't asking for. What really matters is your INTENT upon entering the U.S. If you enter the U.S. with the intent to stay permanently during that trip, without obtaining the proper visa first, that is fraud, and yes, that will make them mad as hell. In other words, you can't fly to Hawaii in February saying it's just for a vacation/visit, knowing full well you are going to have a private wedding on the beach, and then once your feet hit the sand, lo and behold, "spontaneously" get married and decide to stay. That's a no, no. USCIS does not appreciate fake spontaneity, lol.

Everyone chooses a different path. Me? I decided to visit my then boyfriend in the US while we filed the K-1. I actually mailed the package a few days after moving into his place down here. Then I stayed the allowed 6 months (and I counted those days and all the days I'd been in the U.S. that year over and over to make sure I was not overstaying) and went back home for the processing of the K-1 (medical, interview etc.) then returned here with all my stuff in a U-haul and a fiance visa in hand. I do NOT know if what I did would have been possible if I had come here and gotten married - I had other reasons at the time for filing under K-1 status. But that would be a question to ask in the appropriate forum.

Regardless, good luck and have a lovely wedding ... whenever you decide to do it

Mo

[Ms Hogan 295]

It sounds to me like you don't even want to stay/live in the U.S. right? You just want to get married in Hawaii? If that's the case then you can just tell them you're going to have a wedding in Hawaii and come back home to Canada. Is that what you're wanting to do? You will definitely need to show them that you are coming back to Canada.

You don't have to have a fiancee visa in order to travel to the U.S. as a Canadian to get married. We don't require visas for our visits. I got married in New York and just told the border guard I was going to get married and coming back. End of story, nothing more than that HOWEVER I was not asking permission to stay long as you would like to.

I realize I'm not giving you all the information you need but hope to help on some level.