Questions about Adjusting an F1 to Marriage visa

[US-Ecuador 0]

I feel like my situation is rather complicated, so I will try to describe it as concisely as possible before my questions. My girlfriend came as a an exchange student in HS for the 2010-11 school year, and this is when we met and started dating. At the end of it, we decided that it would be a mutual break-up and said that we would need to meet again by the time we both finished college and see if we still had feelings for each other. She started college in Ecuador and I finished college here and am now in graduate school. Well during that summer, we kept talking online and decided that we both still wanted to be together, and she decided that she should get come to college here so we would have the opportunity to be together and she would get an internationally recognized education. We moved in together and she started at a community college in the spring 2012 semester and has an F1 visa that is valid until the end of 2013, which will need to be renewed when she applied to a university. She has done very well in school and will have enough credits to go to the university in fall 2013, before her original visa expires.

We have been dating for 2 years now (I am 23 and she is 20), and both of us feel like we are ready to get married. I have been reading about how to do this and it all seems very complicated. I first found the site easy fiance visa, but their prices seem ridiculous especially considering the visa application itself costs and extra $1,500.

I found instructions here (i130guide2 ) and on ehow, but it will not let me post the link. Are both of these valid for what we are trying to do?

So here are my questions. Could this be taken as a dual-intent problem? We did not talk about getting married before she came here, but we both felt like we wanted to be together at the time so she decided to come. I don't know what they classify as this and I want to know if it is worth getting a lawyer or using the easyfiancevisa site for my situation.

Another thing, if we do get married when she returns from winter break in January, will she not be able to go back to see her family in Ecuador over the summer? Not until the entire process is complete, which could even take up to a year or so? She is planning to spend the summer there with her family and I would not want that to cause a problem.

I want to marry her because I love her. Additionally, if we got married, she would qualify for in-state tuition which would cut her cost 75% and she would finally be able to work here. If we decide to do this, would her family need to know? Her dad has said before that he wants her to graduate college before getting married, but both of us know that we want to be together forever and that we should not have to wait if we know what we want.

I am starting to feel like the adjustment of status will be hard to do and if she somehow became banned from completing her degree here I would be devastated because I know that she really wants it. We have both decided that we want to move to another country, probably Germany or Australia, after we both finish here. One of our main aspirations is to travel the world, so we would obviously want to come and go as we please from my home country, but I don't know if her becoming a resident is a big issue for the future.

I can provide any more info if necessary but hopefully I can get some good advice from this so I can make a decision. I have seriously been considering buying her a ring and surprising her when she gets back here in January.

[US-Ecuador 0]

I forgot to ask, would it be alright for me to be an affidavit of support for when she re-applies for the F1 visa or to the new university? Since she wants to start there in fall 2013 before he first F1 visa expires, they are requesting that she show proof of funds around $30,00 for a year but if she has an affidavit that supports her for meals and housing, she would just need to show $24,000. I know I could support her for this because I essentially have been already, but I am wondering how this will affect things if we decide to get married now. Also, will the fact that we have been living together (though she is not on the lease, only I am) ever since she came here as a student have any impact on the application?

[mymarriagejourney 113]

Follow this guide to adjust her status: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

Our process took less than 3 months, which is common, and would allow her to visit her family this summer.

[Jahwaree 83]

Get a co-sponsor and marry her dude, just make sure u get an acct . with your names & lease along with other proofs to show

bonified marriage

[US-Ecuador 0]

Thanks for the support on this. What is the co-sponsor? Someone that will sign as financially backing us or someone who knows the marriage is legit?

I have a different direction that I've also been contemplating that I wanted to ask about. I may finish with a Master's degree in US and go to either Germany or Australia to get my PhD, but I would only do this if she could come with me. I talked to a representative from a German university that said that she could come if we were married. Would anyone have an idea how this would be made official? Could we just get married in US (or Ecuador?), she finishes her Associates (what her original F1 visa is for, ending Dec. 2013) and move to Germany without doing all of this paperwork and filing everything? If we did this, would it be possible for her to enter the US with me at a later time?

If this is not the place for this type of question could anyone point me in the right direction?

Many thanks.

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

If you wanted to go to Germany then yes, just marry wherever (Vegas is quick if time is an issue). She would need a tourist visa to visit the US with you for vacation, and once you are ready to move back for good, you'd apply for a spousal visa for her (IR-1 if married more than 2 years by then, CR-1 if not). We have a forum for spousal visa questions here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/110-ir-1-cr-1-spouse-visa-process-procedures/

[AnotherLostSoul 167]

In terms of tuition lots of states (including mine:CA) does not grant you immediate residential fee. From the point she became a resident she would have to be (from that exact date) reside in the state for another 366 days before she could be considered for resident tuition. But this varies by state, check your state, it might be different. The rest is what they wrote above...the co-sponsor could be anyone...your dad, your mom, your brother...whoever. They would just need to include their tax returns preferentially for the last three years and that should be showing that she can be supported. Her income, and pocket money can also be used, but not advised. She also needs to have her medical exam that checks if she has all the vaccinations that are required here, and if not, she needs to get them. Additionally, she would need to be tested for other stuff such as TB, clamydia, gonorrhea and tons of other #######. And you guys would need to get tons of "evidences" of bona fide marriage such as joint bank account, car insurance on both of your names, health insurance on both of your names, proof of living under the same roof (lease agreement, rental agreement, house ownership) although that itself cannot be a denial case. And yes, the price is not cheap....one of the form involves $1700 the other one is another $480 or something close to this. It is not cheap at all! And honestly, you guys are quiet young for an IO to believe that you guys meant to be together. I am not judging here, I am just saying that you guys will have to have a strong case otherwise the IO might think of a "teenager love". If you know what I mean....Good luck to you guys!

[mymarriagejourney 113]

My husband is now on resident rates based on his marriage to me. Because I have been a resident of this state for more than a year, he is automatically considered a resident for the school's purposes. It was a simple paperwork procedure. Check with your school on how to prove residency for tuition purposes.