got married while waiting for k1 visa

[Boiler 45,525]

All a K1 does is get you in the country legally with immigrant intent.

Not everybody has easy access to the US.

AoS from a K1 is essentially the same as for say a Visitor, there are some minor differences.

[Calicolom 266]

Chile, the new vwp

[blueniv 5]

My question is how do they know it was premeditated or not? It's easy to say we got drunk and stupid and decided to get married. Do they ask for proof? Not only that but most people have lives back home. I could not imagine myself visiting my fiance for 2 weeks and then not having to go back home I mean I have to bring all my shoes with me for crying out loud This just doesn't make sense!

Life and relationships are not always as clear cut as this. I myself came to the US for three weeks to visit my now husband (we had broken off our relationship because he got a job offer in Seattle and moved back to the US, something I was not willing to do at the time) to figure out where we stood with our relationship, how we felt, etc. and after two weeks I decided that going back to Holland by myself to the apartment we lived in for two years would be horrific and we found out we did not want to be apart any more, so we looked into our options for me staying, got married and now I'm adjusting my status. The last couple of weeks I've been making arrangements for my apartment to be cleared out, my things to be put into storage etc. which is costing us a small fortune, but it's worth it, I haven't been this happy in quite some time. My parents weren't too happy with the news that I wasn't going to return any time soon, but my mother is now coming to visit us next week.

I read a lot about folks who are applying for K1 and CR1 visas and I feel very bad for them, right now I couldn't imagine being apart from my husband for 6+ months. And it's certainly a strange system, in Holland for example, citizens from the US, Canada, the EU, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand who are married to Dutch citizens can simply enter the country on any kind of visa they want, head to the nearest immigration office and say "hello, I'd like to apply for a residency permit please".

[Boiler 45,525]

Effectively the US and Dutch systems are similar, the UK used to be like that as well, but now you nee the appropriate visa. Having said that the processing is a few weeks not a year or so.

[blueniv 5]

kind of shocked. Whenever discussing my upcoming move to the U.S and our wedding most people, Americans just as much as Canadians, think we can just get married in the US and be over with it. I always tell them they are wrong, that this is not legal and not the way to do it. I've basically been lying to them! So lets say hypothetically I go visit in December, get through customs fine like I always do, prepared with proof that I am coming back to Canada. And then we go on a cruise and are overtaken by an unstoppable desire to become husband and wife right then and now. We can get married and I can stay there and live happily ever after without ever being considered illegal? Afterwards, do you go through the regular IR-1/CR-1 visa, or just AOS as if you had entered with a k-1? I need to stop lying to people!

It's not legal, yet it's legal, yet it's not... The more I read about it, the less I understand it. I think immigration cares more about people having bona fide relationships and clean backgrounds than how they entered the country, as long as they entered legally. I've even read accounts of lawyers and CBP officers telling people to "just come over on a tourist visa and get married, spare yourself the hardship". Not that I'm advising anyone to lie to any officials, that would be illegal. But entering the country, having life throw you a curve ball and adjusting your status is perfectly legal.

And most people who never have to deal with immigration have no clue how it works My in-laws seem to think that now I'm married I'm automatically an American citizen :S

Edited August 11, 2014 by blueniv

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Chile, the new vwp

Well, if enough people come on the VWP and do this and generally overstay, the VWP will be taken away. It has happened to some other South American countries.

[Boiler 45,525]

Well, if enough people come on the VWP and do this and generally overstay, the VWP will be taken away. It has happened to some other South American countries.

Pretty sure adjusting does not count, I think the problem was that they were coming, staying and not adjusting.

[NikLR 13,227]

False.

Spouses of US citizens are not going to get lifetime bans.

Preconceived intent to immigrate is almost a non-issue for an Immediate Relative of a USC.

If misrepresentation "is proven" it can be a possibility, which is what I said. Please read fully next time. Thanks! 99% of the time, nothing occurs and the person has a life with their spouse in the USA.

Don't say something is false when I did not say something was a forgone conclusion. Basically, once the person enters the point is moot unless they dig themselves a hole at interview.

[Boiler 45,525]

If misrepresentation "is proven" it can be a possibility, which is what I said. Please read fully next time. Thanks! 99% of the time, nothing occurs and the person has a life with their spouse in the USA.

Don't say something is false when I did not say something was a forgone conclusion. Basically, once the person enters the point is moot unless they dig themselves a hole at interview.

1% means there must be thousands of such cases, the last time I remember seeing one was many many years ago. 8 years ago?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Pretty sure adjusting does not count, I think the problem was that they were coming, staying and not adjusting.

You are right that general overstaying is the much larger problem. People on this site think the problem is adjusting when it is a tiny fraction of cases. I think it counts, a little, but I am not sure.

[r060106 109]

It's not legal, yet it's legal, yet it's not... The more I read about it, the less I understand it. I think immigration cares more about people having bona fide relationships and clean backgrounds than how they entered the country, as long as they entered legally. I've even read accounts of lawyers and CBP officers telling people to "just come over on a tourist visa and get married, spare yourself the hardship". Not that I'm advising anyone to lie to any officials, that would be illegal. But entering the country, having life throw you a curve ball and adjusting your status is perfectly legal.

And most people who never have to deal with immigration have no clue how it works My in-laws seem to think that now I'm married I'm automatically an American citizen :S

Some couples, like my wife and I, can't just "spare" ourselves "the hardship" because the beneficiary is not from a VWP country. Entering on the VWP and then marrying followed by AOS should be gotten rid of to level the playing field so some people don't have to wait undully long while others can just walk right in and basically start their lives together.

Edited August 11, 2014 by r060106

[blueniv 5]

Some couples, like my wife and I, can't just "spare" ourselves "the hardship" because the beneficiary is not from a VWP country. Entering on the VWP and then marrying followed by AOS should be gotten rid of to level the playing field so some people don't have to wait undully long while others can just walk right in and basically start their lives together.

"I had to be apart from my spouse for months, so everyone has to"? No need to be resentful. Immigration should be made easier for people with bona fide relationships, not harder. You're suggesting this purely out of spite.

[Boiler 45,525]

You are right that general overstaying is the much larger problem. People on this site think the problem is adjusting when it is a tiny fraction of cases. I think it counts, a little, but I am not sure.

Outside of the confines of VJ, I have never seen it mentioned as an issue.

The impression given is that it is not, not that I expect an official pronouncement to that effect.

I think, not certain, that it could be stopped by Executive Action.

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Some couples, like my wife and I, can't just "spare" ourselves "the hardship" because the beneficiary is not from a VWP country. Entering on the VWP and then marrying followed by AOS should be gotten rid of to level the playing field so some people don't have to wait undully long while others can just walk right in and basically start their lives together.

No point arguing here.

Some countries are just more privileged than others.

So why compare and make yourself unhappy?

US can't even fix the illegal immigration problem! Don't expect legal immigration to be fixed either.

[Mollie09 1,543]

And most people who never have to deal with immigration have no clue how it works My in-laws seem to think that now I'm married I'm automatically an American citizen :S

This. So much this