AOS after religious ceremony

[gthang 0]

Hi all,

I recently had a religious marriage ceremony with my wife in the US. We've been dating for a number of years, and I entered the US with the intent to have this ceremony with our family and friends, and planned to leave back to Canada and do long distance while we figured out who was moving where (I am a permanent resident there, with a fulltime job etc).

After having spent some time with her this month, and having spoken to an attorney about my AOS options, we are considering getting legally married in the US, and applying for AOS shortly after.

The religious ceremony happend 2 weeks after my entrance into the US, and the legal marriage would happen 60 days after me being here. I understand that we may have some issues proving that I had no intent to stay in the U.S. upon my entry, and I am concerned that the 'religious ceremony', legal or not, will be preceived as an intent to do so and apply for adjustment.

Our second option is for me to go home, get legally married in Canada, and then apply for my CR-1. This would of course take over a year.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Your help is appreciated!

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

You can stay and file for AOS. Follow this guide > http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

~ Moved from AOS from Family Based Visas to AOS from Work, Student & Tourist Visas ~

[gthang 0]

Thanks for the quick response Jay-Kay!

Just to be clear - the religious ceremony was pre-planned and happened within 2 weeks of me entering the US, but as I mentioned, I had no intention of staying and adjusting status.

1) Is there a distinction between religious wedding ceremony and a legal court marriage? If there is no distinction, then even if I wait 60 days and get my legal marriage certificate, my actions may still be perceived as entering with the 'intent of marriage and immigration'.

2) Is determining 'intent' at the discretion of the immigration officer that interviews us? i.e. do I have to somehow prove that I had no intent of immigrating when I entered?

Thanks again

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Was there a signed marriage license? Was the license turned into the court to register your marriage? If not, then you are not legally married yet.

You don't even have to wait 60 days to legally marry. If you entered without the intent to stay and then changed your mind once here, then you can marry and stay.

The religious ceremony won't be an issue. People are allowed to enter the US with intent to marry. You just cannot enter with the intent to marry and stay. As long as you were honest in answering the questions when you entered the US, then you should be fine.