Future Fiance Visiting US & Pregnant - Marry Now or Later?

[didopage 337]

I think the easier/cheaper path is also to get married now, and apply for AOS right after. You will have an interview at your local USCIS office in the US that should be scheduled in the next few months, if your case is all good, she will be granted a green card and you can both go back to France in the last months of her pregnancy. Once you both are ready to come back, she will already have a green card so no problem to reenter. You will also have to file a report of birth abroad document so that the baby can get a US passport.

As milimelo said, you only get married once, so if you get married now in the US, she will have to contact the French consulate in the US and send them a bunch of documents so that France knows you guys are married. It's pretty easy to do.

Edit: What are the issues about the return dates? If you get married and apply for AOS now, she will be in a new period of authorized stay until a decision is made on her AOS case. It doesn't matter anymore if her VWP stamp date is december.

Edited October 29, 2013 by didopage

[frenchiedre 0]

That is really great info didopage. Thank you again.

For the sake of the others, these are some things I'm considering for expense purposes:

We both have tickets already to return to France Dec 10th. We have our first OBGYN visit scheduled for Thursday here in the US. The initial OBGYN is ~$500. We'll have a couple of more if we stay for an AOS and I'm just guessing they'll be about $300 - $400 each. The initial OBGYN is unavoidable, we are at 10 weeks on Thursday, remove that from the decision. During the AOS, we'll have 2 to 3 more self-pay visits, between $800 - $1200. 2 new 1 way tickets will be $400 - $600 each.

So, if we stay for an AOS it's an additional $1,400 to $2,000 for airplane and OBGYN visits. More than that for OBGYN if it takes longer than 3 months for a AOS meeting. If we return to France, no new tickets and no other OBGYN visits to pay for.

My (soon to be) fiance seems to think that we have to wait 80 days for her current visit to get married, any truth to that?

What would happen if we got married, didn't apply for AOS and left the country?

Side note: I'm calling the baby Versailles to tease the mother, if you've seen the documentary "queen of versailles" you'll know at least one reason why she doesn't think it's funny

[milimelo 4,554]

What would happen if we got married, didn't apply for AOS and left the country?

You can get married tomorrow and leave as scheduled - no repercussions. Just file I-130 sooner rather than later given how long it takes for approval these days. Your wife will process in Paris embassy and for your child you'll do a CRBA and get his/her passport.

[didopage 337]

The 80 days thing is not true. Especially if she keeps her current plan of leaving the US before her VWP stamp expires. You guys can get married whenever you want.

If she files for AOS though, let's say that getting married a few days after entering the US on the VWP is suspicious (it would seem like the intent to get married and staying in the US was already there when she entered the country). But there is no need to wait 80 days.

If you get married now, not file for AOS and leave before her VWP stamp date, well, you would not do anything illegal at all.

If you get married now, file for AOS and leave before a decision is made on her AOS though, her AOS case would be considered abandoned.

In any case where you get married in the US, just don't forget to contact the French Consulate in the US to transcript the marriage.

Let's say that if you get married now, you can petition her for a spousal visa right after. Plus once her visa is granted, she would become a permanent resident as soon as she enters the US with her visa.

If you petition her for a fiance visa, you can do it now (no need to wait for december), but there will be more paperwork (AOS) to do once she enters the US with the K-1 visa. She won't be authorized to work/travel for at least 2 months. The K-1 route is more expensive in the long run.

I think in the end, you guys have many choices. I agree that it's all about comparing how much would each path cost, if you want to get married in the US now (AOS or spousal visa) or later (K-1 visa), or in France (spousal visa), how much would the pregnancy cost in the US/France. Also if you really want to both live in the US, or in France...

[jaycali 415]

As mentioned there is absolutely no requirement that she has to stay for 80 days before she can get married. She can have a wedding at the airport terminal immediately after arrival in the US if she wants to. She's misunderstanding a commonly held belief/rule of thumb; that if she gets married before 90 days of arriving in the US as a tourist, immigration will believe she planned to get married and then adjust status. As long as her intention when arriving as a tourist was not to stay - you're good.

Also, if you did go back to France, there is no reason you can't visit the US, is there? As long as she's eligible for the VWP/ESTA, jumping on a plane, even if married to a US citizen isn't really a big deal. I visited three times on the VWP after marrying my USC wife.

[frenchiedre 0]

Thanks for the help everyone. We are going to meet with someone (non-lawyer) on Monday. It's only a $60 consultation and it's a friend of the family. I'll report back on what is advised.

[spectrrr 14]

I think the easier/cheaper path is also to get married now, and apply for AOS right after. You will have an interview at your local USCIS office in the US that should be scheduled in the next few months, if your case is all good, she will be granted a green card and you can both go back to France in the last months of her pregnancy. Once you both are ready to come back, she will already have a green card so no problem to reenter. You will also have to file a report of birth abroad document so that the baby can get a US passport.

To add on to that, if you get married now, then file AOS and get her green card now, and then return to France to finish the pregnancy, you might want to ask your lawyer about filing for for a re-entry permit before she leaves. If there are complications with the pregnancy/delivery that would require her to stay in France for a while longer after the delivery, she could face increased scrutiny on reentry at the border to prove that she had not abandoned her US residency. (I imagine the medical records would be pretty good evidence, but having a preponderance of evidence prepared ahead of time usually doesn't hurt!).

[Ryan H 3,834]

I think we can prove that we had no plans to marry on this visit of hers. I actually don't know how we could prove that other than the fact that we found out she was pregnant days after she got here. Maybe we could show emails to our friends of the excruciating decisions we have been having to contemplate. Unplanned pregnancies can certainly be stressful.

You don't have to prove that you had no plans to marry on this visit. If USCIS suspected something was up, the onus is on them to prove Material Misrepresentation.

[frenchiedre 0]

All, the advice we got was to marry & file an I-130. The guy want's $400 to manage the filing of the only the 1-130 paperwork. Does anyone think it is worth it to have representation? I feel like it's pretty straight forward.

It's good to finally be settled on the visa path we are going to take. Thanks for all of the advice everyone contributed.

[Boiler 46,086]

Do it yourself.

Already wasted $60.

PS Non lawyer doing legal stuff is not allowed in most States.

[didopage 337]

All, the advice we got was to marry & file an I-130. The guy want's $400 to manage the filing of the only the 1-130 paperwork. Does anyone think it is worth it to have representation? I feel like it's pretty straight forward.

It's good to finally be settled on the visa path we are going to take. Thanks for all of the advice everyone contributed.

I'm on the DIY side too. If you know how to read/follow instructions, make photocopies, fill in forms, you can do it easily. If you need help, there's VJ.

[frenchiedre 0]

Update: we were married on Wednesday and leave for France on the 10th. Bit of a Snafu as we had to get married in Miami so the French consulate could process my extended stay Visa more quickly. Both husband / wife have to be present when presenting the marriage certificate and applying to transcribe the marriage in France at the consulate. Since my wife is leaving and won't return until after around November 2014, we were in a rush to get this done. We obtained a marriage license in a different county than Dade so they could not give us a copy of the wedding immediately to take to the consulate. Bought a Dade county license and that took care of that problem, albeit after much duress.

We were given mis-information by someone at the French consulate who told me I could not travel to France on a tourist Visa anymore because we are now married. I called 2 consulates in different states and they both confirmed that this is NOT the case. As long as I don't stay for more than 90 days, I can visit. Quite frustrating because I almost listened and would have lost an airline ticket and Christmas with my wife and her family.

I'll register here on the site once we submit the I-130 forms.

Wallah, the journey begins!