Getting married while on Tourist Visa?

[ThinkerBelle 5]

Is it possible to get married with a tourist visa? I have a B1/B2 visa valid for 10 years and have already when to visit bf and met his family in the states. Im originally from the Philippine but met my military bf overseas while he was stationed in Bahrain.

BF has this unrealistic perception that fiance visa takes just about 6 months to a year, and we are currently discussing about me moving to the states by april 2017 exactly a year from now. He wants me to quit my job and move there. I Think chances of that happening is slim.

Does he still need to apply for a fiance visa for me to go there and marry him? Will i need to leave the US after we get married?

Will a spouse visa have a shorter processing time?

I really have no idea about different visa and immigration-related issues. I hope someone can shed light on these for me. Thanks

[A'n'L 735]

Actually, your boyfriend is right. Currently the K1 (fiancé visa) takes about six months from petition to visa in hand. If you plan on moving in April 2017, this sounds like the way to go for you guys.

The spouse visa on the other hand, takes almost a year.

Travelling to the US on a visitor visa with intent to stay is considered fraud, so don't do that. You have plenty of time to go the proper way :-)

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

***** Moving from General Immigration to What Visa do I Need forum *****

Your boyfriend is right about the timeframe.Yo

You have a couple of options; you CAN come to the USA on a tourist visa and marry- many foreigners get married in Las Vegas every day, for example- but you cannot stay; you'd need to leave and then your USC husband can petition you for a spousal visa which, as mentioned, takes just over a year on average. The advantage is that the CR-1 spousal visa is cheaper, and you can travel and work right away when you enter the USA with it. But if the April 2017 date for moving is important to you, you'd be cutting it fine.

Or, do the K1 fiance visa. It takes about 6 months to get, and then you have 6 months to use it, so this works well with the April 2017 date. The negatives are that it is more expensive than the spousal visa, and once you arrive in the USA, it takes a couple of months minimum until you can work, or travel back home should there be a family emergency or similar.

You can visit with the tourist visa during either process.

[ThinkerBelle 5]

Thank you everyone for the replies.

[ThatAnneGirl 4]

Definitely go for the K1 visa! Once you get the visa, you can come and get married and stay! If you get married on a tourist visa you will have to leave and he will have to petition for you to come - it will take more than a year.

My Husband and I actually asked at the USCIS what the best route was. They told us K1. It took 6 months. We applied in April, and were married in September. Actually, it took less than 6 months to get the visa, but we had already settled on the wedding date in September. It was hard to be away from each other for 6 months, but it was much better than a full year.

FYI - when you go to the embassy for your visa interview, they will cancel your tourist visa - 'cancelled without prejudice' will be stamped over it. It's okay, because they will be giving you the K1. Just telling you because I remember my heart stopped when they did that. :-D