Possible to extend stay on a 90 day visa waiver?

[SantyAndAllie 155]

Being grilled is a terrible experience, believe me, as I've been on the receiving end of it in your fiancé's country. And I can understand the amount of fear it has instilled in you. But keep the following in mind, before panic sets in.

For all the mean and nasty stuff that went on, the fact is, they *did* let your fiancé into the country on the VWP. He wasn't banned. He wasn't chucked out. He legally came in. Therefore, I should think that there would be nothing on his record to reflect that he has done any wrongdoing. If he went back home for instance, and you filed a K1 and all the other documents, he'd never ever have to answer to the fact that he was chucked out -- as he never was. If he was ever questioned about it during his interview he has the right to explain the situation and judged fairly. There's a chance it may never even come up.

Now people here have given you advice of what to do, but I would raise a tiny point here: the IO's suspected your husband of trying to most likely marry you on the VWP, stay, and adjust which they were not happy about so this is why they gave you a hard time. As it turns out now, this is exactly what you are considering. You may not have planned it, but are now thinking about it. If that did ever come up during the adjustment process, wouldn't it stand to reason it doesn't appear favourable to you? And yes I know, what something looks like, isn't what it is, but that will always be left up to the official to decide. Remember the burden is on the couple to prove that they did not have any preconceived plan of marrying, something they suspected In the first place.

I know how hard and painful it is to say goodbye to someone you love in an airport. I think we've all pretty much been down that road... and it isn't pretty. Just make sure, if you are intending now to marry him, that you have enough proof because they are the ones making judgments on your motivations and actions. As the poster states above, I do not agree with some of the advice given here, even though you are able to do it. I will just say don't let fear motivate you if you do love each other, let informed decision making motivate you.

Amen! Wholeheartedly agree, yuna!. Maybe seek some legal help (a consulation with someone in the legal immigration field), Cassangel, as you dont want anything to steer you the wrong way. Seriously, you do NOT want to end up having more problems. Yuna & I are both in the same place waiting for our k-1 visas for our fiances. Not a fun wait, but worth doing it right. Ultimately your decision, but I hope you'll heed our warnings.... Even though youre reading that it's possible & that the one girl said she did it & it was fine, IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED!!! You're risking quite a lot, including your fiance to NOT be allowed back in the States. Pretty big risk considering.....

Edited November 10, 2014 by lovecometruex

[Boiler 46,202]

Normally I don't go through groups and respond, BUT I saw yours & thought I'd respond to this!

First of all- my fiance can also come on VWP with his Spanish passport, BUT our lawyers advised us to not marry during that time due to it looking 'fishy' and can cause problems down the road. Think about it- he comes legally on the VWP as a TOURIST only, which tells him he has 3 months to visit, and then gets married during that time? Looks to the gov like he's just marrying for the GC so he can stay longer, which you know is something they're always getting on people for. So just be careful for that. As much as you want to be together, I'd advise you to do it the legal and safe way of getting a K-1 visa or even K-2 visa after marriage in the US (but he'd have to return to UK). As much as it may hurt to wait a day more, that's what a LOT of us are doing in order to not have problems during your adjustment of status or anything like that. It can become an intent issue, as stated previously. They'll consider it "lying" if you have to convince them at the border that he'll be leaving after 90 days when your intent is to actually stay and marry. A whole lot of legal stuff basically to say that it's really not recommended to do anything but tourism on a tourist visa, EVEN if people still don't follow that rule. Just play that safe. Otherwise you risk problems later on. This is the reason K-1 & K-3 visas exist, and though an annoying & costly process, it is a better option for you. (We can all give you more info on that if youre interested in it.) I'd highly recommend it.

Second of all- honestly, it depends on the airport and the people working there. My fiance came into JFK his first time in the US with VWP. Absolutely no problems. Customs took 2 minutes. One question, and done. That was it. The SECOND time he came to Newark, NJ, and they took EVERY SINGLE PERSON on his flight to second immigration, where they grilled them, tried to trick them, and LIED to them. They then called me, didn't even tell me who they were, and started grilling me. And they LIED to me, telling me my fiance said a different thing that I did, when it wasn't true.

My point is- sometimes people in those positions are on a power trip. They have the ability to mess with people, unfortunately, so they sometimes do. It was so screwed up of them, especially seeing as my fiance did nothing at all suspicious and gave them everything they needed. It doesnt have to be about your fiance's looks, though it could be a factor. They did the same thing to everyone else on my fiance's flight, too, and they were all different. Also, the people in those positions also don't fully understand the VWP sometimes, so they give people a hard time when they come in on one. My lawyer explained this to us, because I, too, feared my fiance would have problems coming the next time, and asked why we got grilled.

That's exactly why you should do it the safe way and have him come on a fiance visa. That way, no matter what they do in the airport, you can call for legal help because he'll HAVE his visa in hand. He'll have been approved, and there won't be much they can do to taunt him.

Check out this site for some options for you, too:

https://immigrationidaho.com/can-i-get-married-on-tourist-visa/

An important point to bring home with this site:

"In most circumstances, you can enter the United States, get married and then return to your home country. But, getting a tourist visa, or entering the United States on a tourist visa or the visa waiver program, for the purpose of getting married can be difficult. This is because you cannot enter the United States in this way if you are planning to remain in the United States as an immigrant. If you plan to get married, it may be difficult to convince the consular officer and border control officer that you only plan to stay for your wedding and then will be returning to your home country."

Anyways, I wish you the best of luck to you both & message me if you have any questions!

-Allie

Or keep it simple and stay and adjust.

As has been mentioned in earlier replies.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,417]

Stay and adjust.

[SimonBelgium 49]

If you want to avoid immigrations showing up on your doorstep, send in all paperwork before the 90d is over. If you have your NOA-1 by the 90th day, you are never out of status. You can't wait a few months to file because the alien will be in the US illegally.

But as all said above, file for AOS, ideally the day after your marriage.

[Rosie1563 6]

My fiance is from Scotland and both times he came over to visit me he was grilled in Newark, The reason though is because he visited for 3 months each time. They called me to verify his story each time after holding him for close to 2 hours in secondary. It definitely wasn't his looks that got him sent to secondary. Each time he was asked if he was coming to work or get married and he wasn't.

Your fiance was asked specifically if he was here to get married and he said no.. Now you don't want him to leave and you want to marry, how do you think that will look in your interview? You could apply for adjustment of status and be denied and the fact that you got married while he was here on VWP, makes it so that you will not be able to appeal the denial and he will be banned,

Trust me none of us like airport goodbyes but it's part of being in a ldr. My fiance went back home and now we have applied for a K-1 visa for him. He went back home knowing I was pregnant and knowing he would miss out on a lot of my dr appointments, We chose for him to go back and do the things the right way because we didn't want to risk being denied and him getting banned from coming back.

Now I understand that this is entirely your choice to make but you can surely see why they grilled him so bad coming in. He is doing the very thing they thought he was going to after denying it. There is no reason he will not be allowed to visit you again, unless of course he lied on the ESTA questionnaire and that comes up. They could deny him entry if he comes back if he can't show strong ties back home. This is up to him to prove he is indeed going back home though.

I hope you decide on filing for the K-1 and waiting it out like the rest of us so you don't risk being denied without the possibility of an appeal.

[Pheebs1201 269]

I just wanted to point out, a lot of people are mentioning the K1 route if he does leave. But if you did get married prior to him leaving, and then he went home, it would not be a K1 you'd be applying for, it would be a spouse visa.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best of luck! God knows being apart is hard, but all worth it in the end.

[Shadaryia 11]

What if we marry before he leaves and he goes back to London as per the 90-day Visa Waiver? We didn't plan to marry when he came to see me; we didn't lie to the U.S. Customs but after being together decided we want to marry. It is our first time meeting face to face to answer someone's question. I do not want to break the law or have him be illegal. I know once in London he can file the K3 while I file the I-130. So much information has been given, it is appreciated but overwhelming. I appreciate everyone so much.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

What if we marry before he leaves and he goes back to London as per the 90-day Visa Waiver? We didn't plan to marry when he came to see me; we didn't lie to the U.S. Customs but after being together decided we want to marry. It is our first time meeting face to face to answer someone's question. I do not want to break the law or have him be illegal. I know once in London he can file the K3 while I file the I-130. So much information has been given, it is appreciated but overwhelming. I appreciate everyone so much.

Again, he's not "illegal" but simply out of status. Two separate things. His overstay is protected as spouse of a USC. If you want to adjust then file and adjust. I don't know how often ICE comes knocking for a simple overstay.

K-3 is now obsolete. You'd be filing for a cr-1 as I previous mentioned. It takes roughly a year.

[Shadaryia 11]

Thanks for your reply. I understand the K-3 is obsolete now, thanks for the information. I see that the Cr-1 takes roughly a year. Can anyone answer how long does the K1 fiancé visa takes? Thanks again!

[Asia 2,499]

Again, he's not "illegal" but simply out of status. Two separate things. His overstay is protected as spouse of a USC.

His overstay would be protected after AOS.

Simply being married to USC doesn't protect him from anything.

[landr 126]

For the K-1, since you're in Mississippi and will be processed at the Texas Service Center, it'll likely take approximately 5-6 months or more from filing to approval (NOA2). However, since your beneficiary will be going through London, the consulate stage could take just a couple of months from London receiving your file to visa in-hand and POE.

We decided to go via the K-1 route rather than the spousal visa route because we didn't want to spend the first year of marriage apart - spending nine months apart as fiance(e)s seemed more bearable.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

His overstay would be protected after AOS.

Simply being married to USC doesn't protect him from anything.[/quote

He is less likely to be placed in removal proceedings as spouse of a USC. It can still happen yes.

[cdneh 3,112]

Thanks for the Reply Iris <3 It is so nice to hear from someone that relates and has had a similar experience. My fiancé and I want to do things the correct way but do not want to be separated. I would go to London to be with him but I have 3 young children here in the U.S. from a previous marriage. I have never dated anyone from outside of the U.S. so all this is new to me. I have not a clue of what to do but just know that I love him with all of my heart and soul. The idea of being separated from him and see him walk off to board a plane back to London 5000 miles away absolutely kills me, especially not knowing when I will get to see him again. Ours is a deep love, soul mates - he is the air that I breathe. I say all this from one female in love to another and I am so glad for your reply. I hope all goes well for you and your husband as well as all the other people that are in love just wanting to be together.

He got here on October 30th? Not even two weeks ago? And it's your first meeting?

[GabsUSA 19]

Thanks for your reply. I understand the K-3 is obsolete now, thanks for the information. I see that the Cr-1 takes roughly a year. Can anyone answer how long does the K1 fiancé visa takes? Thanks again!

It was exactly 8 months to the day from the day we filed the I-129f to Visa Interview at the consulate.

I think the easiest route for you is definitely Get Married, Stay and Adjust... Just be very aware that this is not normally recommended as you have to be able to show you did not use the VWP to get married.

Good luck to you both!

[Shadaryia 11]

Thanks Gabs - Your reply is greatly appreciated. We did not have intentions of marrying when he came on this visit on this first trip. We wanted to meet each other face to face and then he was going to return to London- unmarried- and we were going to go from there. After meeting each other our connection grew even stronger and we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, no matter what country we are in together.

I am not sure how to show that we didn't intent on marrying while we was here on the VWP. He still has his computer at home, which he loves - we are both gamers. He still has a bank account in London which is open. He has his whole family in London and his other possessions. He only came with a small suitcase with some clothes in it because he had full intentions of returning to London after his visit to see me.

All this happened fast, yes - but we know we want to be together and not be separated.

Thanks again <3 All replies and feedback is so appreciated!