Some general advice please

[KandysMan 0]

Hi all

I'm looking for some help in deciding what to do - and how to go about it - in relocating from the UK to the US to live with my USC girlfriend.

Firstly, my general circumstances at the moment are:

1. I'm 59 (60 next month), retired with a good pension (roughly $35K annually), currently married but will be amicably divorcing, joint owner of the marital home (to be split 50/50, no mortgage), no children from this or any other relationship. My mother and 4 brothers live in the UK; I have a cousin in Philadelphia though we aren't close.

2. My GF lives in PA and is a USC from birth; she has never married.

3. Our intention was that, once the divorce was in process, I would move across to the US to live with my GF using a 1 year tourist visa. Once my divorce was finalised we would then look to marry and I would duly seek adjustment of status. In doing that I already knew that I would have to exit the US and return with the correct visa (either spousal or fiancé depending on the actual situation).

Having read through the forums for a few days, it looks like I may well be taking the wrong approach. I want to do this right; having worked in the law enforcement field for 40 years I also have no interest in trying to "get round" the rules; it always ends badly, imho. BTW I have submitted the visa application but have yet to schedule the consular interview.

This is my first posting, so if I've missed anything out that would be helpful or if this post should go somewhere else, please let me know.

Thanks in advance for any advice

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

No such thing as a one year tourist visa.

What visa application did you send?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Getting a tourist visa could be a problem. London doesn't hand those out easily since it's a Visa Waiver country. If the tourist visa is denied, then your ESTA won't be approved because of a denied visa. So what's the back up plan?

Once my divorce was finalised we would then look to marry and I would duly seek adjustment of status. In doing that I already knew that I would have to exit the US and return with the correct visa (either spousal or fiancé depending on the actual situation).

Some misunderstanding here. If you stay and adjust status successfully from a tourist visa, then you have a greencard...permanent residency. People do that but it is not the intended/upfront way for immigration. No visa to get.

If you want to follow the visa path, then you--

Go home >Get a fiancé visa> enter> marry >adjust status to get a greencard..or

Marry> go home> get a spouse visa> enter> you have a greencard immediately.

[Boiler 46,338]

To move to the US you need an immigrant visa.

You can use the VWP for visiting up to 90 days.

There is no 1 year visitor visa.

[KandysMan 0]

Thanks for the info so far; guess I must have misunderstood the tourist visa length, I thought that was - or could be - valid for a year. Are there set time periods or is it up for decision by the consular staff once they've interviewed you? Harpa - I sent in a B2 visa application.

What concerns me most is the presumption of intended immigration. Effectively I have no job, no immediate family ties and will have no property in the UK but plenty of cash on hand; to me it seems that overall that would be a major red flag for the consular staff and a B2 visa could well be denied. The impact of that (i.e. no visa/VWP at all for several years) is certainly something I want to avoid.

From my forum reading I didn't think you could adjust status from a B2 visa once in the USA, do I have that wrong? Given my circumstances, which I would be open about from the start, would I even get a B2 visa?

Thanks

[Boiler 46,338]

You can adjust status.

We were also wondering about your situation.

[Mbrennan 15]

You can adjust status I believe.

People can skip the k1 visa process by entering on an esta (I'm unfamiliar if a B2 would also be ok, so can't say yes) with a return flight booked, then decided 60/80 days in to get married (the timing is critical, you have to convince the immigration people that your intentions changed & that marrying was not your initial intent when you first entered...otherwise you'd be deemed to be carrying our fraudulent behaviour and sent on your way)

Personally I wouldn't recommend this approach, as it's essentially fraud, but I also have been told it's not illegal.

This was actually suggested to me and my fiancé by a lawyer we met with in November. We didn't hire him, nor did we go down this approach, instead we filed for a K1 visa and I'm extremely lucky to say my visa was delivered to my home yesterday.

[rjm_cmyk 75]

OP: Can't help thinking you'll get asked a lot of questions about why you need a B2 Holiday visa when you can enter on ESTA for 90 days. Filing for a K1 and visiting while doing so is fine - and some have done it for repeated extended periods .

Re: Job/money - the UK is unusual in allowing applicants to self-certify - I hadn't even sold my house and they accepted it (my wife was student nurse at that point). I'm 56 by the way so not a dissimilar position. Took us 10 months from application to visa in hand last year. The last three months go very quickly....

Oh and if you are going to enter the US several times on VWP while doing K1 - make sure you can demonstrate commitments at home...