Wife to begin AOS process, are there any risks?

[Dakota06 0]

My wife has a visitors visa. We got married in Mexico (both legally and religiously) in August and she came with me to the US, (Portland, OR) and stayed with me through December when we both flew back for the Holidays and we both came back last week.

Both times that she has come in, she has said that she's coming to visit friends and to look at information to study her masters in Portland -- she never mentioned she was married.

Right now we're thinking about going through the AOS process so that she can get her green card and eliminate the risk of her going in and out on her visitors visa. There is a risk due to the way she came in (saying she wants to study when shes already married) and her not having a K1 or K3, but a visitors visa. From reading there seems to be a 50/50 of her visa getting approved and that it all depends on who takes a look at the application.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and/or have any tips?

Thanks in advance!

[no name 1]

You need to file a K3, not AOS.

[ChristinaM 0]

My biggest concern would be that it could be considered a material misrepresentation at the POE that she failed to disclose that she was married, and also saying that she wants to study when from your post it appears that she has no intentions of doing so (and visiting friends, which again, from your post, appears to be a downright lie).

I would recommend talking to an attorney and seeing what they suggest.

[Miranda&James 8]

Talk to an attorney! Also, I'm under the impression that you cannot come into the US and file for AOS if you got married in another country. Had you married in the USA on the VWP then you could have filed for AOS.

[ChristinaM 0]

M&J, not strictly true. Provided you were granted legal entry, you can change your mind and apply for AOS given that you are married to a USC.

My issue is that she would likely not have been granted entry if the POE officer knew she was married. As such, is that "I'm here to look for info about my Masters" a material misrepresentation - can it be seen as a lie by ommission? That's what I would want to check out.

[Miranda&James 8]

M&J, not strictly true. Provided you were granted legal entry, you can change your mind and apply for AOS given that you are married to a USC.

My issue is that she would likely not have been granted entry if the POE officer knew she was married. As such, is that "I'm here to look for info about my Masters" a material misrepresentation - can it be seen as a lie by ommission? That's what I would want to check out.

O right ok, so they would file I-130 then and it would be ok? Why do people bother getting the K3 then if they can just get married wherever and apply for AOS and never have to be apart?.....

[ChristinaM 0]

Because if you disclose that you are married to a USC, it's not very easy to get into the country as a visitor! Think of it as being like why people don't come in on the VWP instead of getting a K1 - there's no chance of being accused of doing something you shouldn't have. You have to be able to show that you have significant ties to your home country, and even people with a K3 in process have been turned away at the POE because they are believed to have immigrant intent. It's also fraudulent to enter the country as a visitor with intent to immigrate - hence the term "material misrepresentation". Telling fibs to the POE officers is generally frowned upon, I believe. Like, really seriously frowned upon.

This is why I think the lack of disclosure and what looks to me to be lies about visiting friends and checking out study opportunities might come back to bite these guys on the azz.

And yes - they would file the I-130 instead of using a previously approved I-130 (IR/CR1) or I-129 (K3).

Edited January 19, 2007 by ChristinaM

[TimsDaisy 0]

This is NOT legal advice - but according to a congressional staffer I spoke with who handles immigration work for a congresswoman (and the chat was friend-to-friend, not as part of her job): if the person can get in safely and be in the country, then have her come in, and petition to adjust status. The K3 visa will probably get her stuck in Mexico until it processes since then they'll all be on to her. So even if she isn't doing the things the government fears (stealing american jobs! sucking away welfare money for americans! boo! scary!), she'll get trapped anyway.

Count your blessings that she can come and go freely so far and then make sure you're both safe together on the right side of the border when you start changing things. There's no prohibition, for example, on someone being in the US on vacation, falling instantly in love, and then getting married, and then adjusting status. You have gone a bit in the wrong order, sure, but if you can safely do it, don't risk the separation with the K3.

This is coming from someone who's fiance can't use the VWP right now and is envious of anyone who can.

[ChristinaM 0]

TimsDaisy, that would be all well and good if they had been straight up with the POE and told them that she's married to a USC. If it's decided that she was let in under false pretences, they could be in for a whole world of trouble.

[Dakota06 0]

first off, both times my wife has come in after we've been married she has never been asked if she's married. niether on the piece of paper nor from an officer.

secondly, she really does want to study her masters degree here and have been looking at possible options.

on that note, would getting a student visa be easier?

thanks for the help!

[DelcoCouple 1]

first off, both times my wife has come in after we've been married she has never been asked if she's married. niether on the piece of paper nor from an officer.

secondly, she really does want to study her masters degree here and have been looking at possible options.

on that note, would getting a student visa be easier?

thanks for the help!

She will have been asked "what is the purpose of your visit to the USA?" I seriously doubt if she answered "To visit my husband", she would have been admitted without at least a secondary inspection. But I may wrong

[Nancy2015 2]

first off, both times my wife has come in after we've been married she has never been asked if she's married. niether on the piece of paper nor from an officer.

secondly, she really does want to study her masters degree here and have been looking at possible options.

on that note, would getting a student visa be easier?

thanks for the help!

I would go a K3 route. It is safe and legal.

Were you engaged when she applied for her tourist visa?

[ChristinaM 0]

Getting a student visa would not be any easier than the K3, given the financial requirements one has to be able to show, and I suspect that she would also have to disclose her marriage on the application and they may well ask why she is applying for an F1 instead of a K3.

[tiberonsuave 0]

Getting a student visa would not be any easier than the K3, given the financial requirements one has to be able to show, and I suspect that she would also have to disclose her marriage on the application and they may well ask why she is applying for an F1 instead of a K3.

If you weren't asked then you didn't lie. Did she misrepresent the facts? Doesn't seem like it to me. Just plan on not leaving until AOS is complete.

t

[Dakota06 0]

shes had her tourist visa since she was young and actually studied in canada for a year and had a student visa for that.

she really does want to study here and we really have been looking at her options. we're just wondering if going the AOS route right now and then going to school afterwards or getting a student visa now would be easier.

we are planning to be in the states for another two or three years.