Can you get married without a K1 visa?

[Caz307 0]

Hello,

I'm getting married in June in the states, I'm from the UK and my fiance is from the US. I was told ages ago that I didn't need a fiancee visa to get married.

Is this true? Will the marriage be legal? I believe it is from what I've read. I started looking into the K1 visa, but with the time frame, I'm worried that I'm too late.

I'm not planning on staying in the US straight away, because I have work commitments back in the UK, but I will need to apply for a green card at some point fairly soon after we get married. Is applying for a green card when you're outside of the country more difficult?

Thanks in advance for any help

[YecaCruz 379]

There might be probs in the future, although someone with more insight will be able to answer in detail.

What kind of visa are you coming over on at that time? From similar threads that I've read, if you are coming to the states on a "tourist visa" with full intention of getting married that is a form of visa fraud/visa abuse. Like mentioned, this is what I've seen elsewhere on this form, so anyone correct me if I'm wrong

There's a reason why they have a fiancé visa option. It may actually go faster than you imagine if you have all your ducks in a row. It did for me :-) From the time I filed til visa approval was 65 days (a lot better than the projected 6-8 months)

In any case, after marriage you would file a spouse visa (CR-1 I think) and THAT can take up to a year or more from the time you file until you get approved. The advantage being that you get a green card right away instead of filing AOS and waiting for that

Edited February 4, 2016 by JJGussiaas (Gush)

[Tracy-->NY 40]

You can get married on a visitor's visa but you would not file a I-129 which is for fiancés. You will file an I-130 which is for spouses of citizens or green card holders.

I (gc holder) got married to my spouse visitor visa holder, we returned to our home country after and I filed an I-130 for him.

[Kastrs 723]

The short answer is yes, you can come here and get married without needing a K1

The long answer, you say you need to return to the UK after marriage, but then will come to the US shortly after

There is no shortly after in immigration

If you want to come to the US and get married and then return to the UK, you would need to file for a spousal visa, I130 petition in order to be granted a green card. This process takes about a year and during the processing time you will be able to visit the US but cannot move to the US.

If you want to come to the US quickly and get married and then be able to adjust your status, knowing you will not be able to leave the US until you get advance parole (after getting married and applying for it and getting your card in the mail) then you should apply for a K1

Read the guides on this site from a computer to get an idea of what each process entails

[Tracy-->NY 40]

also if you file as k-1 you will have to stay and wait for advance parole to leave the country if you don't all your application fee etc. will be wasted. As a spouse of a citizen the filing process can take about a year, as spouse of lpr it can take approximately 2 years

There was someone here with a similar situation this week, will see if I can find that post for you

[Alaska2012 462]

It's perfectly fine to get married here on a tourist visa or such. Many of us have done so! Then you'll go back home and start the process

[YecaCruz 379]

Apologies on my previous post...I stand corrected

[MacUK 983]

There might be probs in the future, although someone with more insight will be able to answer in detail.

What kind of visa are you coming over on at that time? From similar threads that I've read, if you are coming to the states on a "tourist visa" with full intention of getting married that is a form of visa fraud/visa abuse.

There's a reason why they have a fiancé visa option. It may actually go faster than you imagine if you have all your ducks in a row. It did for me :-) From the time I filed til visa approval was 65 days (a lot better than the projected 6-8 months)

In any case, after marriage you would file a spouse visa (CR-1 I think) and THAT can take up to a year or more from the time you file until you get approved. The advantage being that you get a green card right away instead of filing AOS and waiting for that

Wrong, entering the US on a tourist visa to get married and then go home is perfectly fine. It's using a tourist visa to enter the US with the intent to get married and then stay is fraud.

OP, just go over using the VWP to get married. Be prepared to show proof that you will be returning home afterwards and you should be ok.

Then, when you're prepared to make the move over the pond then your US spouse would petition for you to be able to apply for a CR-1 visa. This process would take about a year.

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

Coming to the US through the VWP (I am assuming this is what you will be using since you didn't mention the existence of an actual visitor visa) and getting married is not illegal, as long as you don't have any intent to immigrate. You made it clear that you do not intend to stay in the US, so for that you should be fine.

The issue you will most likely run into after that is that you will have to file and I-130, to begin the spousal visa process, which from what others here have reported can take up to a year. You will be able to visit during this time through the VWP, but with a wife in the US, you will most likely receive scrutiny at the border and will need to prove ties to your country.

Both the K-1 and the Spousal visa have their pros and cons, you should use the guides to further look into which process fits your needs better.

[Caz307 0]

Thank you all so much for your help i really appreciate it.

With what I do for work, I'll always need to spend about half of my time in the UK anyway, so based on what everyone has said I think it should be all ok. Phew.

Thank you everyone!

[baron555 934]

Hello,

I'm getting married in June in the states, I'm from the UK and my fiance is from the US. I was told ages ago that I didn't need a fiancee visa to get married. No, considering your country, no visa is required to come to the US.

Is this true? Will the marriage be legal?Yes

I believe it is from what I've read. I started looking into the K1 visa, but with the time frame, I'm worried that I'm too late. You would be.

I'm not planning on staying in the US straight away, because I have work commitments back in the UK, OK, anyone can leave the US, no permission required........but there's more.....

but I will need to apply for a green card at some point fairly soon after we get married. Yes, of course, if you intend to permanently live here.

Is applying for a green card when you're outside of the country more difficult? Yes. This is for permanently living in the US. What address would you put? More importantly, if you are called for an interview, how will you re-enter the US?

You may not be able to use the ESTA or VWP process. Your marriage may show up in their computers and now here you are, at the border, with intentions of staying in the US, which is not the rules for the ESTA or VWP process.

You could be turned away and then your spouse would have to file for a CR-1 Spousal Visa for you (takes about a year).

Thanks in advance for any help

Thank you all so much for your help i really appreciate it.

With what I do for work, I'll always need to spend about half of my time in the UK anyway, so based on what everyone has said I think it should be all ok. Phew.

Thank you everyone!

Part of the GC requirements is that you maintain at least 6 months of residence in the US. There may be more to it; you need to learn up on that.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Penguin_ie

[mallafri76 1,012]

Yes you can enter the US under the VWP, get married and then return home. My husband and I got married in Texas in May 2013 and didn't file the I-130 until about a year and a half later. During that year and a half, I visited my husband under the VWP six times without incident. And every time CBP asked me why I was coming to the US, I was truthful and said to visit my husband. If you already have a strong track record of visiting the US (a few weeks at a time as opposed to the full 90 days) and then leaving on time, I doubt you'll have any issues when visiting your husband once you're married either. But better safe than sorry, so bring ties to the UK just in case.

The CR-1 visa takes about a year on average, some of us spend longer time in the visa journey (we're 17 months and counting) while others go faster. It's also a bit more paperwork before you can move over. If you're gonna continue your job once you move to the US then I doubt the K-1 is for you, as you can't just leave once you've entered on the K-1, like you can on the CR-1.

[Pennycat 880]

I think the confusion here (and with that poor woman the other day, also from the UK) is that the UK has a "marriage tourist visa" which you must get if you plan to enter the UK to get married, even if you're not planning to stay (or I believe this is the case). I think that some people think that the US fiance visa is the same.

Not the case. OP, the fiance visa is if you want to use that visa to immigrate. It is perfectly fine to come and get married and go home. From there, you would apply for a spouse visa (which comes with a green card automatically) which takes about a year.

Your other option is to apply for a fiance visa now, and only use it when you are ready to immigrate. NOTE (and this is of critical importance): if you get married before you immigrate on the fiance visa, the fiance visa is VOID and you must start all over again with a spouse visa.

Essentially, it boils down to:

Not married= fiance visa which is ~4 month process. However, you must plan to immigrate on the fiance visa, and be prepared to live in the US for up to 6 months after while green card/work authorization and green card are processed (work/travel authorization takes about 3 months to come in-- it depends how quickly you apply for it).

Married= spouse visa which is ~12 month process. However, you have a green card automatically and can work and travel immediately.

It's totally up to you and what your priorities here are.

If that June wedding is the priority and you are able to immigrate in June, I'd apply for a fiance visa immediately and hope it comes through in time. If it doesn't, however, you'll be faced with postponing the wedding (NOT FUN, I just had to do it myself because there was a massive blizzard on what would have been our wedding weekend), or throwing the fiance visa money away, coming here, marrying then starting over with spouse visa.

If the June wedding is the priority and you can wait a year (or so, they do seem to be going a bit faster these days) to immigrate (remember: you can visit during this time), then just proceed with June wedding followed by spouse visa.

If immigrating as quickly as possible (as soon as you're ready) is the priority, I'd apply for the fiance visa soon, scrap the June wedding, immigrate when you're ready and *then* have the wedding.

[Miki28 91]

Hello,

I'm getting married in June in the states, I'm from the UK and my fiance is from the US. I was told ages ago that I didn't need a fiancee visa to get married.

Is this true? Will the marriage be legal? I believe it is from what I've read. I started looking into the K1 visa, but with the time frame, I'm worried that I'm too late.

I'm not planning on staying in the US straight away, because I have work commitments back in the UK, but I will need to apply for a green card at some point fairly soon after we get married. Is applying for a green card when you're outside of the country more difficult?

Thanks in advance for any help

Hey!

My husband and I got married while I was visiting on my valid B2, after that I returned to my country of residency and we filled for I-130 (CR1).

As long as you intend to go back to the UK it's fine and legal. If you came and got married with intend to immigrate that's ilegal. It's visa fraud.

[TBoneTX 45,329]

*** Thread moved from K-1 Process forum to the "What Visa Do I Need" forum. ***