Marrying a tourist?

[Max1985 0]

I am a US citizen living in Florida. My girlfriend is from China and will be visiting the US in Feb. I plan to marry her when she is here. I have a few questions about the process. Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

1. Is it legal to marry someone who is in the US on a tourist visa?

2. Can we get married in any state?

3. She visited here on a tourist visa once before and was granted 6 months stay at that time but only stayed 3 weeks. I've been told by an attorney that if we plan to marry when she is here as a tourist, then we should wait 3 months to get married when she comes here so it doesn't look too fishy. My question is what if she is granted less than 3 months next time? If she is granted less than 3 months but we still wait 3 months before getting married, would she be considered a illegal alien? Would she be in trouble, and what should we do if she is granted less than 3 months next time? Should we go ahead and get married before she has been here 3 months or what?

[SBB 74]

1. Absolutely

2. Subject to the restrictions of the state in question.

3. Do you plan to file for her to adjust her status while she is here, or would she be going back to China while you file for a spousal visa? Does she know you will be planning to marry here while she is here?

To the extent that it matters if you try to keep her here while she is on a tourist visa, any questions that arise will concern her intent at the time of entry. If she wasn't planning to get married and stay when she arrived, then there shouldn't be an issue.

[JayJayH 546]

I am a US citizen living in Florida. My girlfriend is from China and will be visiting the US in Feb. I plan to marry her when she is here. I have a few questions about the process. Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

1. Is it legal to marry someone who is in the US on a tourist visa?

2. Can we get married in any state?

3. She visited here on a tourist visa once before and was granted 6 months stay at that time but only stayed 3 weeks. I've been told by an attorney that if we plan to marry when she is here as a tourist, then we should wait 3 months to get married when she comes here so it doesn't look too fishy. My question is what if she is granted less than 3 months next time? If she is granted less than 3 months but we still wait 3 months before getting married, would she be considered a illegal alien? Would she be in trouble, and what should we do if she is granted less than 3 months next time? Should we go ahead and get married before she has been here 3 months or what?

1. Yes, no problem.

2. Yes, no problem, though if you have a particular state in mind, you might want to check how long it takes and what the requirements are to get a marriage license in that state.

3. That lawyer told you that because he is used to working with people who scam and fraud the US immigration system.

I'll explain further..

It is fully legal for any tourist to get married in the US, whether to an American or to a foreigner.

It is legal, once married, to decide to stay in the US, and adjust status from tourist to permanent resident.

It is very illegal to intend to enter the US to get married and then adjust status. No CBP officer will admit anyone into the US on a tourist visa if their intention is to get married and stay. So, the only way to get into the US as a tourist is to intend to be a tourist. Intending to stay while entering on a tourist visa, whether stated or not to the CBP, is fraud, willful material misrepresentation, and punishable by a lifetime bar from entry.

This attorney is basically advising people on how to cheat the system. He is suggesting that if you get married the day after she enters, and then adjust status, it will look like that was the intention all along, whereas if you wait three months, it will look like you decided after she entered to file adjustment of status, and will make it very hard for USCIS to prove otherwise (burden of proof is on USCIS).

You guys can get married at baggage claim immediately after she enters if you want to. If she returns to China after her stay, no fraud will be suspected by anyone. It's only if you then adjust status immediately after that fraud might be suspected.

In a nut shell, entering on a tourist visa:

1. Getting married = Legal.

2. Getting married and deciding after entry to stay = Legal.

3. Getting married and intending before entry to stay = Willful Material Misrepresentation.

If you intend for her to come to the US, get married, and then for her not to go back to China, the appropriate visa is a K-1 fiance(e) visa.

Edited November 10, 2013 by yang-ja

[Max1985 0]

Thank you all for the very informative replies. I have a couple more questions.

1. If my girlfriend is only granted a 2 or 3 month stay next time rather than 6 months like last time, after we get married (if she says yes), the process to change her visa status from a tourist to a spouse could take another 3 months. Will she be able to extend her visa to stay here during the process of changing from a tourist visa to a spousal visa?

2. When we get married, should we go to the local courthouse to get married like everyone else? Or is there another way that people with our circumstance will do it? Also, what documents would she need to get married here?

Thanks again.

[SBB 74]

Once you file the I-130 and I-485 she enters a period of authorized stay until the case is adjudicated. In the mean time, she cannot work or leave the country unless she applies for and receives her EAD and/or Advance Parole. As for the wedding, it doesn't matter how long you do it as long as you get a certified marriage license out of it.

For the marriage license itself, she should only need her passport. On the other hand, there is a pile of other documentation she will need if/when you apply to adjust status including vaccination records and her birth certificate (as your girlfriend is Chinese, this would be the "white book"). Getting a Chinese birth certificate can be problematic as the country doesn't (didn't?) regularly issue them. Your girlfriend will need to have her parents get a notarial birth certificate prepared for her and send it over here (assuming she is still on their hukou); in my wife's case we had to send her national ID card and some passport photos to her parents to get this requirement dealt with.

[SennaBrigante 92]

It depends on the state what they need from her to process the marriage license. All I needed was my passport.

[NickD 203]

Never know what mood that POE officer will be in when a person comes here as a tourist. Ran into this when I was dating my wife for that I-94, could be six months or the date on her return ticket. If a potential relationship is possible, sure don't want that person to overstay their I-94.

Is a I-94 extension form available at http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/C1en.pdf

I had one of the top US immigration attorneys advise me on this issue about that K1 and all that, said that is only if your intended does not have a visa to come here, since she has one, no problem. And she can travel with another 300 buck USCIS form.

For whatever reason, her POE gave her six months so we had that I-539 handy just in case. And she had to gather all the required information from her home country, like that police report for one. She also received her complete medical records. Our major problem was with that I-693 free form finding a USCIS approved doctor that would not rob us to death, not covered by health insurance and give us a timely appointment. I found one 300 miles away that charged us 600 bucks rather than 5000 bucks others closer wanted.

The only thing about this doctor, against his policy to FedEX this I-693 out, we had to spend a day driving an extra 600 miles to pick it up. Gave us a sealed envelop, and with a copy of what was inside, so we knew we were good. Heck we were in love so that didn't matter. Ha, still in love.

We filled out the top of that I-693 on the computer making sure everything was correct and printed out several copies. Took advantage of our UW medical school that did an AIDS test for 25 bucks instead of 500 bucks others wanted. Wife translated her medical records in English. Our doctor said this was the easiest I-693 he ever had to fill out.

Wisconsin is the only state in the union where I was forced to get a marriage license in my own county or face a $10,000.00 fine plus we had an additional two week wait for its approval. I found a federal judge in the next county to marry us, he was so honored I chose him, refused to take a cent, even to his charity. We just had to go downstairs and pay 8 bucks for the first marriage certificate they prepared immediately and 5 bucks extra for each duplicate. Also against our state law to make copies of your marriage certificate, so I laid out 28 bucks to get five duplicates. USCIS has three of them.

We spent our honeymoon filling out forms postponing this until it was clear, and also paid an extra 300 for an EAD card. Can't do anything here without that like a joint bank account due to the APA. We beat that I-94 deadline by three months, got the NOA and she was free to stay here, but couldn't work, we didn't pay for that travel document. The idea was for her to come here and not go back.

Did I mention she brought her young daughter here? Same exact forms, except she needed permission from her don't give a darn biological father to come here. Also paid for an EAD card for her. DOS says she could not attend school without it, supreme court says she could. For 300 bucks extra, didn't want to run into this problem.