Getting married on a Tourist Visa

[Divalicious 2]

I would like to come to the US on a Tourist Visa, marry my fiance and return home. The reasoning for this is because I do not want to give up my job and my apartment here in the UK until I know that we will definitely be accepted for me to live there permanently. Has anyone ever done this?

Please share your experiences so I can decide whether this is the right route for me and my fiance.

[seanimo 32]

I would like to come to the US on a Tourist Visa, marry my fiance and return home. The reasoning for this is because I do not want to give up my job and my apartment here in the UK until I know that we will definitely be accepted for me to live there permanently. Has anyone ever done this?

Please share your experiences so I can decide whether this is the right route for me and my fiance.

Pretty sure to come here as a tourist with the intention of getting married is fraud. You probably would want to get a fiancé visa.

[Penguin_ie 5,992]

Yes you can absolutely do that.

Your then-spouse can apply for the CR-1 spousal visa as soon as you have the marriage cert, and once you have that visa, you can immigrate with it and work and travel right away.

[blk 87]

Pretty sure to come here as a tourist with the intention of getting married is fraud. You probably would want to get a fiancé visa.

No it's not fraud, people can enter the US with the intention to marry then return home lots do it every year, the fraud only comes in if at the time of entering you have the intention to stay & adjust status. Even then it can be hard to prove it.

Brian

[Ning 619]

Pretty sure to come here as a tourist with the intention of getting married is fraud. You probably would want to get a fiancé visa.

It is not illegal to enter to marry as long as the person leaves. Entering with the intent of marrying and staying is illegal. Once married they could file for a CR1 type visa.

[Divalicious 2]

Thank you. I am glad it is possible.

If I was planning to do this, what kind of proof should I take with me to prove I am not planning on staying? Also, is it likely that I will be denied access to the US if I tell them i am here to marry but leave afterwards?

[blk 87]

Thank you. I am glad it is possible.

If I was planning to do this, what kind of proof should I take with me to prove I am not planning on staying? Also, is it likely that I will be denied access to the US if I tell them i am here to marry but leave afterwards?

Hi you should have prof of strong ties ie :- job, home, anything that will show you still have a life back in the UK to go back too for the moment, until you are then ready to start the process to come over to the US.

Brian

[seanimo 32]

I do stand corrected. We actually did this ourselves. When my wife came here we didn't intend on getting married though. Didn't realize you could come on a tourist visa intending on getting married. Please disregard my previous post.

[Adslip 6]

Yes you can enter and marry as long as you do go back home and do not over stay your visa.

My husband and I did this and when I went home he filed an I-130.

[Mjf88 0]

Hi there,

No it's not illegal. My partner and I did this just this past march. The only problem is if they ask you at immigration your intentions and you tell them marriage they may ask you to go back to your home country and get a fiancé visa. My fiancé and I brought evidence showing our apartment tenancy agreement, job letters from our employers and any mail showing recent dates that we were still living there (i.e, bills, TV license, water and electricity, counsel tax ect).

When we go to the POE however, the immigration personnel did not ask my fiancé (a British citizen) a single question so therefore we did not tell them our intentions. I would just come fully prepared with documentation just in case they ask directly if you are there to get married.

keep in mind my lawyer told me if I lie at the POE as in if they asked my fiancé any intentions of marriage that they document every word you say and this can later come up when you apply for your next visa. This was not the case with us.