Getting married to a F1 visa student

[JaysonM 0]

My girlfriend is from China and we want to get married but she wants to continue her education, my question is will there be any problems if we did as long as she continued to be a full time student?

If not what steps do we need to take after getting married?

Please I understand fraud is a big problem but I'm looking for shorter but legal way to do this.

Don't insult me or blame me for anything I'm just asking for advice.

Thanks anyway for reading I look forward to reading everyonesome post.

[Cheezees 1,514]

I am not sure what you are asking. I am assuming your girlfriend is currently in the US. So,

1. Why would getting married stop her from continuing her education?

2. What problems are you anticipating post-marriage if she were a full-time student?

3. What fraud are you talking about?

4. You are looking for a shorter legal way to do what exactly?

Thanks!

[mallafri76 1,012]

If your girlfriend is in the US legally under a student visa, you can get married and file for adjustment of status. During the AOS process, you will need to show bona fida proof of your relationship and that you meet the financial obligations.

I'm not too familiar with studying in the US so someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but OP, if you and your girlfriend gets married and adjust status, your then wife will be a US permanent resident and pay tuition fee as a US resident and not as a foreign student.

Edited December 2, 2015 by mallafri76

[JaysonM 0]

To Cheezees

1. Why would getting married stop her from continuing her education?

would she be able to work and continue her studys?

2. What problems are you anticipating post-marriage if she were a full-time student?

I want to know if getting married to soon would couse any problems with the interview

3. What fraud are you talking about?

I lack evidence of our relationship but i do have screen shots of our chats from the beginning of 2014 and 3 photos of us at her graduation last year

will this be enough, can all get friends to give a statement of days we went out together. so far thats all i got.

4. You are looking for a shorter legal way to do what exactly?

we thought of the K1 visa but the processing takes to long so i thought why not wait and get married once she is her on the F1 visa.

[JaysonM 0]

to mallafri76

I have friend and a bit of evidence of our relationship the problem at the moment is that im unemployeed at the moment do to the fact that i was in mexico helping my father with his house. my parent live here in chicago for the moment and i wanted to know if my father can sponser my girlfriend so that we meet the required finacial support??

[DeKi 10]

to mallafri76

I have friend and a bit of evidence of our relationship the problem at the moment is that im unemployeed at the moment do to the fact that i was in mexico helping my father with his house. my parent live here in chicago for the moment and i wanted to know if my father can sponser my girlfriend so that we meet the required finacial support??

JasonM -- you should provide a little more detail before people on the thread can give you better answers. In general there should be no problem with any of your plans, but the process might differ depending on what the current situation is exactly.

1) Is your girlfriend currently in the US?

2) If so, is she here legally? On what visa?

3) If not, where is she and when is she planning to come to the US/on what visa?

4) If she has been in the US before or is currently, has she ever been out of status? Has she received public education (elementary through secondary) in the US as a foreigner?

5) What is your own status? (US citizen - by birth or naturalized; US permanent resident; something else)

6) When do you plan to marry and are you flexible on when/where (in or out of the US) you do it?

7) Has either of you been married before? If so, are you divorced and have the divorce decrees?

I will happily respond back with how I think you should approach the process once I see more info on these specifics -- they determine the options you have.

[Cheezees 1,514]

To Cheezees

1. Why would getting married stop her from continuing her education?

would she be able to work and continue her studys?

2. What problems are you anticipating post-marriage if she were a full-time student?

I want to know if getting married to soon would couse any problems with the interview

3. What fraud are you talking about?

I lack evidence of our relationship but i do have screen shots of our chats from the beginning of 2014 and 3 photos of us at her graduation last year

will this be enough, can all get friends to give a statement of days we went out together. so far thats all i got.

4. You are looking for a shorter legal way to do what exactly?

we thought of the K1 visa but the processing takes to long so i thought why not wait and get married once she is her on the F1 visa.

I read through your entire response and still have questions about #1-#3. However, #4 is what I would like to address.

You said "once she is her(sic) on the F1 visa?

1. Does she not currently have an F1 visa?

2. Is she going to apply for an F1 visa?

3. If yes to either of the above, and you are hoping to bypass the K1 process and apply for and obtain the F1 visa with the intention of adjusting her status after she arrives, this is EXACTLY what is known as IMMIGRATION FRAUD! Why do you think you are entitled to some shortcut? The legal way is the K1. You may think it takes too long but your thoughts are fortunately not the law.

4. I would suggest you reread the Terms of Service of Visa Journey. In no way will we condone or assist you with immigration fraud. If you didn't know that is what it was, now you know.

Moderators, I would suggest closing this thread.

[JaysonM 0]

To cheezees

I'm sorry for the trouble but I ask so I don't cause any fraud that why I'm trying to get informed as much as possible to know what I can do and what I cant.

In many reports I have read most people committed fraud do to the fact that the person with the F1 visa stop going to school. So this is were my question comes in : if we get married but my girlfriend continueso to be a full time student would this still be considered fraud?

Either way thanks for you help and support.

[JaysonM 0]

JasonM -- you should provide a little more detail before people on the thread can give you better answers. In general there should be no problem with any of your plans, but the process might differ depending on what the current situation is exactly.

1) Is your girlfriend currently in the US?

2) If so, is she here legally? On what visa?

3) If not, where is she and when is she planning to come to the US/on what visa?

4) If she has been in the US before or is currently, has she ever been out of status? Has she received public education (elementary through secondary) in the US as a foreigner?

5) What is your own status? (US citizen - by birth or naturalized; US permanent resident; something else)

6) When do you plan to marry and are you flexible on when/where (in or out of the US) you do it?

7) Has either of you been married before? If so, are you divorced and have the divorce decrees?

I will happily respond back with how I think you should approach the process once I see more info on these specifics -- they determine the options you have.

1) Is your girlfriend currently in the US?

No

2) If so, is she here legally? On what visa?

N/a

3) If not, where is she and when is she planning to come to the US/on what visa?

Fall to continue her education PhD

4) If she has been in the US before or is currently, has she ever been out of status? Has she received public education (elementary through secondary) in the US as a foreigner?

yes she has been here and no she has never been out of status. she studied in a university

5) What is your own status? (US citizen - by birth or naturalized; US permanent resident; something else)

Im a Citizen by birth

6) When do you plan to marry and are you flexible on when/where (in or out of the US) you do it?

we want to wait about 3 months after she gets here

7) Has either of you been married before? If so, are you divorced and have the divorce decrees?

neither of has ever been married

thank you for thanking time to help me out.

[Cheezees 1,514]

Again, applying for an F1 visa with the intent of getting married to adjust her status is immigration fraud. The fraud is not just in the "ceasing to go to school" phase but foremost in your intent. You are trying to bypass the K1 process because in your own words it "takes too long". She may also want to continue her education but your intent is to bring her here on a non-immigrant visa, wait 3 months (so it hopefully doesn't look like the fraud that it is?), then adjust her status. That is immigration fraud. Yes, you could make the fraud more obvious by not going to school anymore but that does not mean the previous fraud won't count.

Again, the legal way is the K1. Do not entertain fraud, even if you innocently thought it was a viable alternative.

[DeKi 10]

1) Is your girlfriend currently in the US?

No

2) If so, is she here legally? On what visa?

N/a

3) If not, where is she and when is she planning to come to the US/on what visa?

Fall to continue her education PhD

4) If she has been in the US before or is currently, has she ever been out of status? Has she received public education (elementary through secondary) in the US as a foreigner?

yes she has been here and no she has never been out of status. she studied in a university

5) What is your own status? (US citizen - by birth or naturalized; US permanent resident; something else)

Im a Citizen by birth

6) When do you plan to marry and are you flexible on when/where (in or out of the US) you do it?

we want to wait about 3 months after she gets here

7) Has either of you been married before? If so, are you divorced and have the divorce decrees?

neither of has ever been married

thank you for thanking time to help me out.

OK, I had assumed she is in the US (meaning she had already obtained the F-1 visa), which is the situation I am personally familiar with. The details you gave mean that when she applies for an F-1 now/soon there might indeed be the perception of fraud if you two in fact are more interested in getting married after she arrives to the US. If she is more interested in pursuing her education (admirable!), I would say there is no need to rush into marriage and both of you should just take your time.

Trying to keep an open mind and just lay out a variety of ideas, here is how I see things:

On the one hand, there is no requirement to NOT get married while on an F-1. Furthermore, the OP describes the other person as a "girlfriend"; there is no engagement that has taken place and that is quite important. There is the possibility that they do not marry at all, for one reason or another, while she is on the F-1. No immigration fraud will have taken place in that case.

There is still a possibility that the person coming in to study on an F-1 (a PhD is not a trivial pursuit after all and getting accepted in the first place shows major intent to pursue education) gets married to this USC (could be at a variety of points during her studies, not necessarily right away), but does NOT attempt to adjust status for a while, continuing with her studies and maintaining the F-1 by meeting all its requirements. Potentially, the family could even depart the US and choose to live abroad after the end of her studies. Of course, traveling and returning back to the US will be more difficult for her, since customs officers will take into account the new marital status and might decide that this puts the F-1 entrant into immigration risk category, but that is for the OP and girlfriend to worry about. Renewing an F-1 will also be impossible after the original one expires for the same reason.

In both those cases, there is no intention to adjust status or fraud, but just life taking its course.

I personally do not see why the potential PhD student should interrupt immediate study plans and / or delay her arrival for school, assuming she is in fact already offered a place in a doctoral program (that seems to be her top priority from what the OP wrote and that purpose is exactly what the F-1 application is based on). That scenario does make eventual adjustment of status somewhat more problematic for the people involved, but -- again -- that is their choice to make and risk to take.

The K-1 path would be advisable if the person has not yet been admitted to their intended graduate program (which to me means marriage and not education is the top priority) and can potentially wait until Fall 2017 to become a student. In that case, there seems to be enough time to progress through the K-1 stage, marriage and AoS stage. In this scenario, the new wife will be able to apply to schools as a permanent resident, which might even be beneficial financially if a public university or financial aid are in the picture.

I think what the other responders were trying to suggest similarly, is that the path you are considering (F-1 and an almost immediate marriage) might seem like a shortcut but it comes with its own challenges.

[JaysonM 0]

OK, I had assumed she is in the US (meaning she had already obtained the F-1 visa), which is the situation I am personally familiar with. The details you gave mean that when she applies for an F-1 now/soon there might indeed be the perception of fraud if you two in fact are more interested in getting married after she arrives to the US. If she is more interested in pursuing her education (admirable!), I would say there is no need to rush into marriage and both of you should just take your time.

Trying to keep an open mind and just lay out a variety of ideas, here is how I see things:

On the one hand, there is no requirement to NOT get married while on an F-1. Furthermore, the OP describes the other person as a "girlfriend"; there is no engagement that has taken place and that is quite important. There is the possibility that they do not marry at all, for one reason or another, while she is on the F-1. No immigration fraud will have taken place in that case.

There is still a possibility that the person coming in to study on an F-1 (a PhD is not a trivial pursuit after all and getting accepted in the first place shows major intent to pursue education) gets married to this USC (could be at a variety of points during her studies, not necessarily right away), but does NOT attempt to adjust status for a while, continuing with her studies and maintaining the F-1 by meeting all its requirements. Potentially, the family could even depart the US and choose to live abroad after the end of her studies. Of course, traveling and returning back to the US will be more difficult for her, since customs officers will take into account the new marital status and might decide that this puts the F-1 entrant into immigration risk category, but that is for the OP and girlfriend to worry about. Renewing an F-1 will also be impossible after the original one expires for the same reason.

In both those cases, there is no intention to adjust status or fraud, but just life taking its course.

I personally do not see why the potential PhD student should interrupt immediate study plans and / or delay her arrival for school, assuming she is in fact already offered a place in a doctoral program (that seems to be her top priority from what the OP wrote and that purpose is exactly what the F-1 application is based on). That scenario does make eventual adjustment of status somewhat more problematic for the people involved, but -- again -- that is their choice to make and risk to take.

The K-1 path would be advisable if the person has not yet been admitted to their intended graduate program (which to me means marriage and not education is the top priority) and can potentially wait until Fall 2017 to become a student. In that case, there seems to be enough time to progress through the K-1 stage, marriage and AoS stage. In this scenario, the new wife will be able to apply to schools as a permanent resident, which might even be beneficial financially if a public university or financial aid are in the picture.

I think what the other responders were trying to suggest similarly, is that the path you are considering (F-1 and an almost immediate marriage) might seem like a shortcut but it comes with its own challenges.

Would getting a lawyer help with this process and help avoid any problems that might show up?

i want to wait to get married so that we can accumulate proof of our relationship we also plan to get a joint bank account and ill be adding her to my insurance 1 month after her arrival.

is there anything else i can do to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible?

one more question she sometime has vacation time during her school year we plan to go to mexico together, I have a dual citizenship and wanted to know if it would be better to get married in mexico?

[Pitaya 2,577]

~I would remind all posters on this thread of the VJ Terms of Service (TOS): http://www.visajourney.com/content/terms . We all agreed to abide by the TOS when we joined this forum. This thread is wandering very close to the point where VJ members should be concerned about a possible TOS violation:

Condone or instruct, either directly or indirectly, others on how to commit fraudulent or illegal immigration activities in any way, shape, manner or method.

An F-1 student visa is a non-immigrant visa for those foreign students wanting to study in the US. To have immigration intent when applying for a F-1 student visa could likely be considered immigration fraud.~

~After careful review by several members of the moderation team, this thread will remain closed. ~

~The OP may start a new inquiry thread, provided the OP is careful not to violate any VJ Forum TOS. The OP is strongly encouraged to read and heed the TOS (link provided above)~

~Any subsequent TOS violations will be dealt with administratively~

Pitaya

VJ Moderation

Edited December 3, 2015 by Pitaya