where to begin?

[Mariz0528 12]

Hi everyone! I just joined recently in this community, I just have a question, any information would be a great help. I am from the Philippines. I got here in the United States last September 2013 using the B1/B2 visa. It expired after a month. This January 30, me and my fiancé is getting married, he is an American citizen based in California. I plan to adjust my status right away I just don't know where to start? What are the forms and will I have a problem since my visa expired 3months before we get married? Thank you very much in advance..

Mariz

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from Family-based AOS to WST-based Forum~

~Adjusting from visitor visa~

[Mariz0528 12]

thank you for the info.

[GusandCrys 3]

Hi there

Did you meet your fiancée when you arrived in the USA or did you know him before you arrived? If you knew him before you arrived and came in on a b1/b2 visa, it is fraud to get married on that visa with an intent to adjust status, and you could be deported (and banned from USA forever) and your fiancée could go to jail. Being as you overstayed your visa, it could raise some red flags in a visa if you wish to do this the correct way. It is fine to get married on B2 visa but if you came with intent to get married, you must leave and file for CR-1. It is also OK if you by chance met in the US just RANDOMLY and by CHANCE (with no pre made plans) and decided to get married and adjust status, but that must be very hard to prove (or fake) and I might not take any chances with that, because they will ask you to answer under oath in interviews, and if you already knew your fiancée with intent to immigrate, it would be lying if you said you didn't. Safest route is getting married and returning to your home country and filing the CR-1. You can also go back to your home country now, without getting married, and file for K-1 Fiancee visa. that generally takes less time than the CR-1 then you can come to the USA and legally get married and stay with your fiancée. Being that you overstayed your visa, that could mean trouble at an interview stage, but that doesn't necessary mean you will be denied.

[Mariz0528 12]

I knew him before i got here... we have been together for 6months before i cme here..

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Read the guide carefully:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

[ManCharsey 254]

GusandCrys just to correct a few things in hat you said and to add clarity, it is NOT a problem if you come to the US with a B1/B2 visa, overstay and marry. No, the USCIS forgives overstays in spouse based visas. The issue has to do with intent to marry and immigrate prior to arrival in the US. So as long as she is able to prove that there was no intent to marry and immigrate prior to her arrival, she is entirely fine to adjust status. They do not have to have met prior to her coming here. She could have come over to her boyfriend, fiancé etc and that is entirely fine. It is the prior intent to marry and migrate which USCIS pries into. As long as she is able to show that any decision regarding their marriage only came after she came to the US they should be perfectly okay.

And in this case, if there was no intent to marry and immigrate prior to her coming, leaving the country now would rather be more harmful than good to her as she has overstayed by over 3 months and she would face an automatic ban of some years. So again IF there was NO intent to marry and immigrate prior to her arrival, then the best thing now would be for her to adjust her status here in the US. She should just be truthful and indicate there was no intent and she would be perfectly okay.

Now to answer your question. Please read the guide suggested by Merrytooth. It contains all the information you need.

[Mariz0528 12]

Thank you all for the infos, I appreciate it. May God bless us all!

[exogenesis 2]

Hi everyone! I just joined recently in this community, I just have a question, any information would be a great help. I am from the Philippines. I got here in the United States last September 2013 using the B1/B2 visa. It expired after a month. This January 30, me and my fiancé is getting married, he is an American citizen based in California. I plan to adjust my status right away I just don't know where to start? What are the forms and will I have a problem since my visa expired 3months before we get married? Thank you very much in advance..

Mariz

Did you plan to marry BEFORE you came to the United States? If yes, then you can get in trouble with the USCIS and sent back home without being able to come back for 10 years or more.

However, if you decided to get married AFTER you came to the US, then you can get married and file for the Adjustment of Status following this guide very carefully:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

My wife and I did this and she now has her green card. You have to have patience because the process can take many months. Good luck!

[GusandCrys 3]

You can get married and file for AOS, but it becomes a lot trickier to prove that you did not have intent to get married prior to the foreign national arriving in the U.S if you were already in a relationship. I'd say this is very tricky to prove in an interview that you had no intention of being married before you came to US.

If any foreign fiancee could come to the US and file for AOS and simply say they only decided to get married after the foreign national arrived, wouldn't everyone go this route instead of bothering to go back to their country and spend months away from their fiancée as the k-1 is processed, or if you did get married the cr-1.

[ManCharsey 254]

GusandCrys I understand what you are saying and it's true but when USCIS is making their decisions they consider so many things not just on one thing. An example would be someone with a B1/B2 visa who is in a relationship with someone here in the US. She might have visited the fiance on about 5x and on the 6th time here they decide to get married and she adjusts her status. Despite the fact that they were in a prior relationship, the question is, if she wanted to game the system she wouldn't have waited for the 6th time to marry and adjust status. She would have done it the very first time she was here but looking at her immigration history trend, it is evident that in the previous times there was no such intent but on the 6th time something came up and they decided to get married. So yes, that's why USCIS conducts interviews and looks at the matter as a WHOLE not just base their decisions on one factor. I know immigration is tricky and while the rules are not well defined, it benefits others who seem not to use the correct route and is quite unfavorable to others who use the right channel..but hey that's how the world is lol.

That was just an example though..The whole point is she just needs to show that there was no prior intent to marry and immigrate and that's all. She would be PERFECTLY okay. There have been tons and tons of such cases here and they have all been approved.

[christeen 966]

Technically SHE does not have to prove no intent, rather it is USCIS that mut Prove she DID have intent... The loophole in the law easily allowes for people to change their minds and decide to get married, the burden of proof lies with the govt to prove otherwise. Overstays are forgiven al long as the petitioner does NOT exit the USA and adjusts status in the USA ... Good luck

[ManCharsey 254]

Great answer Christeen. Thanks for the clarification!

[GusandCrys 3]

I'm no immigration expert. All my advice is based on personal experience and search over the last few months. The k-1 is obviously there for a reason. While AOS are within the scope of the law, those cases are approached with a skeptical eye by the USCIS adjudicators. Its up to you to decide whether its worth risking your relationship over AOS. My fiancé and I could have gotten married in the US but we just wouldn't take the chances of running into trouble at AOS. The k-1 takes longer, and it requires a lot of documentation, but in the end its the best path for fiancés. I know ALL cases are different, and I'm not sure about this one, but I would not advise anyone to come here with a pre meditated plan of marriage.

[christeen 966]

I would never recommend coming with the intent of marrying and adjusting, that would be illegal. However, she is already here, and they decided to get married... She is on an expired visa so if she goes back she would have a ban (waiver able). However, if they decided spontaneously now to have her stay and adjust status, that overstay would be forgiven. So as long as they did not have the intent to marry and adjust, they are perfectly legal to do so now... The law allows for people to change their minds and plans... Depends on the situation. But in years and years here n VJ, I have yet to see a denial or lifetime ban being enforced (although I am sure that there are cases) as I said, the burden of proof is on the govt to prove they planned to enter and adjust... Which is a difficult threshold...