How does getting a work visa compare

[Ivelina_Andrew 0]

So I'm just about to send off my I-129F Petition for a fiancee visa and was wondering... if my fiancee could (I realize it's difficult but possible) get a job in the States, how would this compare to the K-1 fiancee visa? For example, if she was working in the States could we get married and then could she remain there? Does that make it much more complicated? I was just thinking about the different options and want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Any thoughts would be appreciated

Cheers

The suggestion you're making is considered to attempt visa fraud. If your fiancee was to come here on a work visa and THEN you two had met after her arrival, that would be a completely different story entirely. Since you two do know each other and are engaged, I think you would have to create a ton of lies to say how you've actually met in the last 2 years, etc. Getting caught lying on the visa application would quite possibly get the visa denied. I know it's a long process. Some thinks are just worth the wait to do it the right way.

I would consult an immigration attorney if you really wish to find out other alternatives.

If the fiance is here on a valid, legally obtained work visa, there's really not going to be a problem unless someone had the ability to fabricate an entire US corporation that could obtain the work visa and no employment actually existed - which I'm going to go ahead and assume is no where NEAR what the OP is asking about here. And I'm not sure what the met-within-2-years requirement has to do with the work visa question. All they have to have done for the K1 is to have been in the same geographic place together within the last 2 years. Not met as in formally introduced to each other, etc. And that requirement is for K1 which presumes the fiance is not currently present in the US. If the fiance were legally present under a valid work visa, then there'd be no K1 process, just an adjustment of status.

What the OP is talking about is not an attempt at visa fraud. A relationship with an American does not foreclose a foreign citizen's ability to seek a work visa to obtain employment. There are plenty of requirements and checks for legitimacy under those visa application procedures. We're trying to compare apples and oranges without the benefit of formal agricultural training, if you follow my analogy.

Honestly guys I do not see what all that fuss is about!

Is everybody trying to tell me that if I get a work visa and marry within 2 months after I arrive there this is visa fraud?

I have been to the states twice on a J1 visa and I have not heard of being issued a limited number of it. And I know 2 people who entered on a J1 visa got married and filed for AOS and it was fine. I was intending to go again for J1 this summer and see my boyfriend(now fiance).What if he propposed to me there and we got merried?Is this a fraud?How could they know what your intentions were?

And it is not true that the waiting period is the same - it is exactly the opposite - the whole process of J1 takes appr. 3-4 weeks. So there's no point in comparing them.

I would do it again honestly (if there were not other circumstances )- but think about it - u r legal to work for 4 months, u have a job and if u do not like it u can leave and find another one (not like H visas).

So I do not agree that everyhting else is a visa fraud.

[athena_ny 1]

J1 is an exchange visitor visa, not a work visa, per se. We are discussing work visas, such as the L1 (non immigrant intent necessary) or the H1B (dual intent).

If you got a J1 and married within 2 months, well at your interview you'd probably be looked at a little closer than someone who came on a K1. Also, a lot of J1s have a 2 yr residency requirement. You're the only one comparing J1s and K1s

So I'm just about to send off my I-129F Petition for a fiancee visa and was wondering... if my fiancee could (I realize it's difficult but possible) get a job in the States, how would this compare to the K-1 fiancee visa? For example, if she was working in the States could we get married and then could she remain there? Does that make it much more complicated? I was just thinking about the different options and want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Any thoughts would be appreciated

Cheers

The suggestion you're making is considered to attempt visa fraud. If your fiancee was to come here on a work visa and THEN you two had met after her arrival, that would be a completely different story entirely. Since you two do know each other and are engaged, I think you would have to create a ton of lies to say how you've actually met in the last 2 years, etc. Getting caught lying on the visa application would quite possibly get the visa denied. I know it's a long process. Some thinks are just worth the wait to do it the right way.

I would consult an immigration attorney if you really wish to find out other alternatives.

If the fiance is here on a valid, legally obtained work visa, there's really not going to be a problem unless someone had the ability to fabricate an entire US corporation that could obtain the work visa and no employment actually existed - which I'm going to go ahead and assume is no where NEAR what the OP is asking about here. And I'm not sure what the met-within-2-years requirement has to do with the work visa question. All they have to have done for the K1 is to have been in the same geographic place together within the last 2 years. Not met as in formally introduced to each other, etc. And that requirement is for K1 which presumes the fiance is not currently present in the US. If the fiance were legally present under a valid work visa, then there'd be no K1 process, just an adjustment of status.

What the OP is talking about is not an attempt at visa fraud. A relationship with an American does not foreclose a foreign citizen's ability to seek a work visa to obtain employment. There are plenty of requirements and checks for legitimacy under those visa application procedures. We're trying to compare apples and oranges without the benefit of formal agricultural training, if you follow my analogy.

Honestly guys I do not see what all that fuss is about!

Is everybody trying to tell me that if I get a work visa and marry within 2 months after I arrive there this is visa fraud?

I have been to the states twice on a J1 visa and I have not heard of being issued a limited number of it. And I know 2 people who entered on a J1 visa got married and filed for AOS and it was fine. I was intending to go again for J1 this summer and see my boyfriend(now fiance).What if he propposed to me there and we got merried?Is this a fraud?How could they know what your intentions were?

And it is not true that the waiting period is the same - it is exactly the opposite - the whole process of J1 takes appr. 3-4 weeks. So there's no point in comparing them.

I would do it again honestly (if there were not other circumstances )- but think about it - u r legal to work for 4 months, u have a job and if u do not like it u can leave and find another one (not like H visas).

So I do not agree that everyhting else is a visa fraud.

[TimsDaisy 0]

jvelina - you rightly highlight the limits of VJ knowledge. There's lots of visa categories out there, and we're only kinda sorta knowledgable about one of them. H1s have limited numbers. I don't know about Js or Fs or Ls or Vs or any of the other letters and how they get issued and how many!

And yeah, the speed with which various legal options get slapped with "FRAUD!" is dizzying at times.

[Ivelina_Andrew 0]

J1 is an exchange visitor visa, not a work visa, per se. We are discussing work visas, such as the L1 (non immigrant intent necessary) or the H1B (dual intent).

If you got a J1 and married within 2 months, well at your interview you'd probably be looked at a little closer than someone who came on a K1. Also, a lot of J1s have a 2 yr residency requirement. You're the only one comparing J1s and K1s

So I'm just about to send off my I-129F Petition for a fiancee visa and was wondering... if my fiancee could (I realize it's difficult but possible) get a job in the States, how would this compare to the K-1 fiancee visa? For example, if she was working in the States could we get married and then could she remain there? Does that make it much more complicated? I was just thinking about the different options and want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Any thoughts would be appreciated

Cheers

The suggestion you're making is considered to attempt visa fraud. If your fiancee was to come here on a work visa and THEN you two had met after her arrival, that would be a completely different story entirely. Since you two do know each other and are engaged, I think you would have to create a ton of lies to say how you've actually met in the last 2 years, etc. Getting caught lying on the visa application would quite possibly get the visa denied. I know it's a long process. Some thinks are just worth the wait to do it the right way.

I would consult an immigration attorney if you really wish to find out other alternatives.

If the fiance is here on a valid, legally obtained work visa, there's really not going to be a problem unless someone had the ability to fabricate an entire US corporation that could obtain the work visa and no employment actually existed - which I'm going to go ahead and assume is no where NEAR what the OP is asking about here. And I'm not sure what the met-within-2-years requirement has to do with the work visa question. All they have to have done for the K1 is to have been in the same geographic place together within the last 2 years. Not met as in formally introduced to each other, etc. And that requirement is for K1 which presumes the fiance is not currently present in the US. If the fiance were legally present under a valid work visa, then there'd be no K1 process, just an adjustment of status.

What the OP is talking about is not an attempt at visa fraud. A relationship with an American does not foreclose a foreign citizen's ability to seek a work visa to obtain employment. There are plenty of requirements and checks for legitimacy under those visa application procedures. We're trying to compare apples and oranges without the benefit of formal agricultural training, if you follow my analogy.

Honestly guys I do not see what all that fuss is about!

Is everybody trying to tell me that if I get a work visa and marry within 2 months after I arrive there this is visa fraud?

I have been to the states twice on a J1 visa and I have not heard of being issued a limited number of it. And I know 2 people who entered on a J1 visa got married and filed for AOS and it was fine. I was intending to go again for J1 this summer and see my boyfriend(now fiance).What if he propposed to me there and we got merried?Is this a fraud?How could they know what your intentions were?

And it is not true that the waiting period is the same - it is exactly the opposite - the whole process of J1 takes appr. 3-4 weeks. So there's no point in comparing them.

I would do it again honestly (if there were not other circumstances )- but think about it - u r legal to work for 4 months, u have a job and if u do not like it u can leave and find another one (not like H visas).

So I do not agree that everyhting else is a visa fraud.

Ok,

J1 is an exchange visitor visa but u can legally work on it.

And the one I was with was not subject to the two year residency requirement.

What do u mean I would be looked at closer?

I am legal, I am married, I live with him, I have a job, my documents are fine, I wouldn't say I intended to marry him when I entered US...

If that's not enough provide an affidavid stating u did not have that intention.

I relly do not think that the significance of the visa fraud staff should be so much enhanced.

And last does it matter what type of visas we compare?Aren't we talkin about entering legally on another type of visa and then getting married?

[athena_ny 1]

K1s have the chance of skipping the interview altogether - student, tourist, exhange visitor...you will always have the interview.

And visa fraud is the whole reason we have to go through this, so I see no reason why we shouldn't stress its importance. If we were talking about getting a J1, B1/B2, F1, or L1 with the intent of marriage - it WOULD be fraud. That's a good percentage of the visas out there for people to get. The H1B has dual intent - you can immigrate with it (whether you wind up marrying or your job sponsors you) so yes I agree people should know a little more about the visa before they yell THAT'S VISA FRAUD!

But yeah, you enter on a non-immigrant visa and marry within a month or two and it raises some red flags and you have to go the extra mile to prove that your intent when you came into the country was not immigration. My husband (an overstay) and I didn't even meet until 2 years after he entered the country and we still have to prove that he didn't intend to stay here (which is funny, because he'd rather have stayed in Peru than be here).

I'd rather be extra careful with the visa fraud stuff than be flippant about it and make a major mistake that results in a denied AOS application. While the government had made being together difficult, it's due to major abuse of the system so I can't really blame them.

J1 is an exchange visitor visa, not a work visa, per se. We are discussing work visas, such as the L1 (non immigrant intent necessary) or the H1B (dual intent).

If you got a J1 and married within 2 months, well at your interview you'd probably be looked at a little closer than someone who came on a K1. Also, a lot of J1s have a 2 yr residency requirement. You're the only one comparing J1s and K1s

So I'm just about to send off my I-129F Petition for a fiancee visa and was wondering... if my fiancee could (I realize it's difficult but possible) get a job in the States, how would this compare to the K-1 fiancee visa? For example, if she was working in the States could we get married and then could she remain there? Does that make it much more complicated? I was just thinking about the different options and want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Any thoughts would be appreciated

Cheers

The suggestion you're making is considered to attempt visa fraud. If your fiancee was to come here on a work visa and THEN you two had met after her arrival, that would be a completely different story entirely. Since you two do know each other and are engaged, I think you would have to create a ton of lies to say how you've actually met in the last 2 years, etc. Getting caught lying on the visa application would quite possibly get the visa denied. I know it's a long process. Some thinks are just worth the wait to do it the right way.

I would consult an immigration attorney if you really wish to find out other alternatives.

If the fiance is here on a valid, legally obtained work visa, there's really not going to be a problem unless someone had the ability to fabricate an entire US corporation that could obtain the work visa and no employment actually existed - which I'm going to go ahead and assume is no where NEAR what the OP is asking about here. And I'm not sure what the met-within-2-years requirement has to do with the work visa question. All they have to have done for the K1 is to have been in the same geographic place together within the last 2 years. Not met as in formally introduced to each other, etc. And that requirement is for K1 which presumes the fiance is not currently present in the US. If the fiance were legally present under a valid work visa, then there'd be no K1 process, just an adjustment of status.

What the OP is talking about is not an attempt at visa fraud. A relationship with an American does not foreclose a foreign citizen's ability to seek a work visa to obtain employment. There are plenty of requirements and checks for legitimacy under those visa application procedures. We're trying to compare apples and oranges without the benefit of formal agricultural training, if you follow my analogy.

Honestly guys I do not see what all that fuss is about!

Is everybody trying to tell me that if I get a work visa and marry within 2 months after I arrive there this is visa fraud?

I have been to the states twice on a J1 visa and I have not heard of being issued a limited number of it. And I know 2 people who entered on a J1 visa got married and filed for AOS and it was fine. I was intending to go again for J1 this summer and see my boyfriend(now fiance).What if he propposed to me there and we got merried?Is this a fraud?How could they know what your intentions were?

And it is not true that the waiting period is the same - it is exactly the opposite - the whole process of J1 takes appr. 3-4 weeks. So there's no point in comparing them.

I would do it again honestly (if there were not other circumstances )- but think about it - u r legal to work for 4 months, u have a job and if u do not like it u can leave and find another one (not like H visas).

So I do not agree that everyhting else is a visa fraud.

Ok,

J1 is an exchange visitor visa but u can legally work on it.

And the one I was with was not subject to the two year residency requirement.

What do u mean I would be looked at closer?

I am legal, I am married, I live with him, I have a job, my documents are fine, I wouldn't say I intended to marry him when I entered US...

If that's not enough provide an affidavid stating u did not have that intention.

I relly do not think that the significance of the visa fraud staff should be so much enhanced.

And last does it matter what type of visas we compare?Aren't we talkin about entering legally on another type of visa and then getting married?

[rika60607 215]

I would suggest to consider whether you have any potential problems with K-1 process... can you show that you can support your fiance? If not, but she has good education... she may have better chance with a work visa. She could come on B1/B2 visa, look for a job, may be even volunteer to convince potential employers... and who knows, may be they can get her H1 visa. That MAY be faster. Especially if she works for a university )) even if not as a scientist... then she will also get to live with you NOW, instead of 6 months from now.

She can not take J1 visa though...

Of course she may have to lie and say she does not have a fiance in the US in the visa application form, but what is there stopping you from temporarily breaking up?! Hehehehe... those things are hard to prove ))

Good luck...

Rika

[meauxna 15]

The suggestion you're making is considered to attempt visa fraud. If your fiancee was to come here on a work visa and THEN you two had met after her arrival, that would be a completely different story entirely.

While meeting after arrival WOULD certainly be a different story, the way you post it makes it sound as if that is the only legal way to combine a "work visa" and a marriage+AOS.

It is not necessary to meet one's beloved only after arriving in the US as some sort of non-immigrant.

I don't think it is fraudulent unless you get the work visa, come here, but there was never a job and you never start working.

Work visas are closer to fiance visas than tourist visas. You don't have to prove that you'll be leaving the country again in set number of days because - duh - you're coming here to work. Not to mention, I presume your fiance would need a job over here anyway. If your fiance wants to come to the US to work legally and finds a company that sponsors her, it's just a bonus that she has a support structure in place. I don't believe the two are mutually exclusive in the slightest.

Actually, they are in many cases. All the employment related visas require non-immigrant intent (two types are dual-intent and allow an opportunity to immigrate) and a "leave by date". TNs are one specific example that can not be issued once immigrant intent is even hinted at.

I think our VJ tendency to call everything "FRAUD" is where we separate ourselves from qualified immigration lawyers who would have a much better read on the situation.

"Fraud" is probably the most mis-used word on this site and other immigration discussion groups. However, I don't think one needs an immigration attorney to sort out most of it. A lot of reading, and some discussion for sure.

If the fiance is here on a valid, legally obtained work visa, <snip>

What the OP is talking about is not an attempt at visa fraud. A relationship with an American does not foreclose a foreign citizen's ability to seek a work visa to obtain employment. There are plenty of requirements and checks for legitimacy under those visa application procedures. We're trying to compare apples and oranges without the benefit of formal agricultural training, if you follow my analogy.

The big "IF" is, can the foreign fiance OBTAIN a valid, legally obtained work visa while disclosing their intent to immigrate, or more benignly (and common) disclosure of their fiance relationship with a US citizen (check the application for specific questions asked).

I'm in the US under a B2 visa, because I couldn't stand being away from my boyfriend anymore and neither of us are ready to tie the knot yet. I've been here for over 6 months (applied for an extension) and trust me, it's hell.

Curious what you gave as your reason for wanting an extension on your B? A tip: find out what you will need to do and when IF your extension is denied. This might be a good time for you to schedule a consult with an immigration attorney.

jvelina - you rightly highlight the limits of VJ knowledge. There's lots of visa categories out there, and we're only kinda sorta knowledgable about one of them. H1s have limited numbers. I don't know about Js or Fs or Ls or Vs or any of the other letters and how they get issued and how many!

Here is a good list of US visa types, in human language: Kevin Keenes' excellent website

Edited March 19, 2007 by meauxna