To travel or not to travel - eventual AOS process

[malgyver 0]

Hello all,

I have done some research on this topic, and am curious to ask some questions about a possible AOS down the road.

In November of 2014, I, a US Citizen, met a foreign woman here in the US who was here studying English on a B2 visa, and we have managed to fall in love. She had already been in the US studying for about 3.5 months when we met on a train between cities.

Her plan was to finish studying around february and return to her home country, but she has now decided to stay longer in order to study more, and continue our relationship. We have strong feelings for each other, and given our ages, we are both near the end of the timeline for starting a family, so it feels like meeting each other was a long awaited blessing.

I know that if we were to marry while she is here on a legal visa, we could pretty easily go through the AOS and provide her with residency. She is currently deciding whether to simply re-enroll in more school to continue her student visa, or to briefly leave the country and come back on her B1/B2 visa that she already has, which would likely get stamped for 6 months. That way, she could have a wider range of schools and options in terms of studying here. Clearly, she had no intention of marrying anyone when she first came to Brazil, we met for the first time after she was here, and she holds a return flight back there.

Where my question comes in is this: We had decided to make a romantic travel trip to Mexico and beyond, as a way to switch to her tourist visa, as well as have a nice trip together. Say we go to Mexico, and we return, and she is admitted on her B1/B2, and a few months down the road we decide that things have continued to go great, and its time to get married, will there be a complication in the AOS process? Might they assume "intentionality to marry" was her reason to return on the B1/B2 visa?

For the record, we have not made steps toward marriage at all...and if we did, it would be some time after the trip to Mexico, after giving the relationship more time to develop, as it is too early to make that decision.

If there is any danger at all in this scenario, then we would cancel the Mexico trip and she would simply re-enroll in school to continue her stay on the student visa. But in all reality, we really want to take a trip together, and she doesn't want to be bound by schools that will sign the I-20 in order to sponsor her student visa.

Many thanks in advance!

[Hypnos 6,578]

I doubt it will be an issue. You're juggling a lot of unknowns, so it's wise to keep all legal options open.

[MacUK 983]

Is she on a student visa or a B2?

[Newbie608 103]

Hello all,

I have done some research on this topic, and am curious to ask some questions about a possible AOS down the road.

In November of 2014, I, a US Citizen, met a foreign woman here in the US who was here studying English on a B2 visa, and we have managed to fall in love. She had already been in the US studying for about 3.5 months when we met on a train between cities.

Her plan was to finish studying around february and return to her home country, but she has now decided to stay longer in order to study more, and continue our relationship. We have strong feelings for each other, and given our ages, we are both near the end of the timeline for starting a family, so it feels like meeting each other was a long awaited blessing.

I know that if we were to marry while she is here on a legal visa, we could pretty easily go through the AOS and provide her with residency. She is currently deciding whether to simply re-enroll in more school to continue her student visa, or to briefly leave the country and come back on her B1/B2 visa that she already has, which would likely get stamped for 6 months. That way, she could have a wider range of schools and options in terms of studying here. Clearly, she had no intention of marrying anyone when she first came to Brazil, we met for the first time after she was here, and she holds a return flight back there.

Where my question comes in is this: We had decided to make a romantic travel trip to Mexico and beyond, as a way to switch to her tourist visa, as well as have a nice trip together. Say we go to Mexico, and we return, and she is admitted on her B1/B2, and a few months down the road we decide that things have continued to go great, and its time to get married, will there be a complication in the AOS process? Might they assume "intentionality to marry" was her reason to return on the B1/B2 visa?

For the record, we have not made steps toward marriage at all...and if we did, it would be some time after the trip to Mexico, after giving the relationship more time to develop, as it is too early to make that decision.

If there is any danger at all in this scenario, then we would cancel the Mexico trip and she would simply re-enroll in school to continue her stay on the student visa. But in all reality, we really want to take a trip together, and she doesn't want to be bound by schools that will sign the I-20 in order to sponsor her student visa.

Many thanks in advance!

B1/B2 visa is to visit. F1 &J1 is to study. If she's here studying on a B1/B2 visa, that's a big problem.

[malgyver 0]

She has both Visas in her passport, but is currently here on her Student Visa studying. Her school finished, and she has 2 months from the time the school finished (Dec 19) to reenroll in school or leave the country. At that time, she can leave the country and come back in on her Tourist visa (B1/B2) without waiting any significant time out of country.

She would not be able to come back on her student Visa without returning to BRazil, enrolling in a new school from Brazil, and waiting for authorization to return to the US. So, we would like to take this fun and romantic trip, but she technically can't leave the country and return easily unless she returns on the B1/B2. So far, she has done all of her travels legally, and is actually not willing to do anything against the law. She knows that we may not work out, and she doesn't want to jeopardize any future plans to come to the US if she eventually decides to return to her life in her home country.