Staying in the U.S. while waiting to tie the knot!

[LORIEandPHIL 123]

As he had no intent to stay and marry, I wonder if he has his birth certificate with him? without it you can not get the licence to marry. I would think it is very unusual for people visiting to bring their birth certificate with them.

[Cheezees 1,514]

As he had no intent to stay and marry, I wonder if he has his birth certificate with him? without it you can not get the licence to marry. I would think it is very unusual for people visiting to bring their birth certificate with them.

Only some counties in California require a birth certificate in addition to other photo ID.

[Cheezees 1,514]

Right which is why I said go to the courthouse and get married now. Which would not be fraud. By ceremony reservations I was assuming OP was talking about having the ceremony in a venue some where which couldn't be reserved at the time. People here can go get their Marriage Certificate in the same day.

Oh, from my understanding it was the courthouse that did not have any appointments. If it is your interpretation, then it is smooth sailing for the OP and her boyfriend.

[Mrs. Wild 87]

I don't think you need a birth certificate to get married in most places. A picture ID is usually all they ask for.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,417]

I don't think you need a birth certificate to get married in most places. A picture ID is usually all they ask for.

This was in TX, but I only needed my passport to get a marriage license/get married.

[gpiper 77]

All of this is so true.

As long as she had no prior intent this isn't immigration fraud. Go to a courthouse and get married ASAP, Then have your ceremony. No one will know the difference. Overstay is forgiven to any American spouse. Don't let these people discourage you. People tend to get upset when they are waiting on their spouses, and someone comes on a tourist visa and gets married. Go get married, and adjust status. As long as he didn't come here with intent to immigrate you will be fine.

Yes this place is full of sour people who only wish they had done the same in adjusting status rather than one they seem is the "correct way to do things"

The constant arguement is that if the govt prohibited it then they would close the route currently open. That would clarify matters instantly. For some the CR-1 route is the best option and others the K1 route, each to their own I say and as the AOS route is legitimate there is nothing to feel guilty about.

When you go through the AOS process and return for guidance here, expect people to pounce on you and reprimand the method you have chosen to stay together. Easy fix is to put those in ignore and just take advice from those that answer your questions on the various forms that need completing ok.

It's a small minefield but you will get there!

Ps he will need his birth certificate when filing AOS so at some point in the future after you are married he will need to have someone back home mail it to him. Obviously not now as that will raise suspicions in the boyfriend as to what you are up to. Let's hope he says yes to your proposal! Haha

Edited August 10, 2016 by gpiper

[Unlockable 7,316]

All of this is so true.

Yes this place is full of sour people who only wish they had done the same in adjusting status rather than one they seem is the "correct way to do things"

The constant arguement is that if the govt prohibited it then they would close the route currently open. That would clarify matters instantly. For some the CR-1 route is the best option and others the K1 route, each to their own I say and as the AOS route is legitimate there is nothing to feel guilty about.

When you go through the AOS process and return for guidance here, expect people to pounce on you and reprimand the method you have chosen to stay together. Easy fix is to put those in ignore and just take advice from those that answer your questions on the various forms that need completing ok.

It's a small minefield but you will get there!

Ps he will need his birth certificate when filing AOS so at some point in the future after you are married he will need to have someone back home mail it to him. Obviously not now as that will raise suspicions in the boyfriend as to what you are up to. Let's hope he says yes to your proposal! Haha

Actually, it IS prohibited. The problem is it is too difficult for the government to prove intent. Immigration just has bigger fish to fry. So, in a sense, it gets overlooked. That does not make it ok.

The reason spousal and fiance visas take a while is because they have o do background checks, medicals, vaccinations, etc. They have to be sure the person that is migrating is legit. Claiming you are only coming here to see Micky Mouse then starting a family bypasses a lot of the processing. What if something comes up during the background check? What if a man has an estrange wife in his home country but comes here on a visitor visa and marries (bigamy) an American so he can stay? He totally bypassed the immigration process to investigate that because he is already in the US.

The problem is that it is getting more difficult for people to get visitor visas and this method contributes to it. And because they know they can likely get away with it many visitor visa holders abuse it. We even here lawyers advising their clients to do it.

The OP was ignorant of this process and I believe she had no idea of what she was doing. In fact, I think it was just a loving gesture. But it is best to educate her so she now know to the full extend and be able to proceed correctly. The last thing we want her to do is to advise others who want to do the same like it is perfectly ok to plan on using a tourist visa to migrate. I don't see anyone here as bitter. I just see them as trying to prevent this from getting out of hand.

[Meant2B 8]

Knowingly overstaying is intent to commit fraud. Just file for K1 and do it legal to prevent any roadblocks down the road.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Actually, it IS prohibited. The problem is it is too difficult for the government to prove intent. Immigration just has bigger fish to fry. So, in a sense, it gets overlooked. That does not make it ok.

The reason spousal and fiance visas take a while is because they have o do background checks, medicals, vaccinations, etc. They have to be sure the person that is migrating is legit. Claiming you are only coming here to see Micky Mouse then starting a family bypasses a lot of the processing. What if something comes up during the background check? What if a man has an estrange wife in his home country but comes here on a visitor visa and marries (bigamy) an American so he can stay? He totally bypassed the immigration process to investigate that because he is already in the US.

The problem is that it is getting more difficult for people to get visitor visas and this method contributes to it. And because they know they can likely get away with it many visitor visa holders abuse it. We even here lawyers advising their clients to do it.

The OP was ignorant of this process and I believe she had no idea of what she was doing. In fact, I think it was just a loving gesture. But it is best to educate her so she now know to the full extend and be able to proceed correctly. The last thing we want her to do is to advise others who want to do the same like it is perfectly ok to plan on using a tourist visa to migrate. I don't see anyone here as bitter. I just see them as trying to prevent this from getting out of hand.

You are naive if you think that the US does not do extensive background checks on ALL applicants. Coming here and AOSing off a tourist visa is not a pass for bigamy. All the same background checks and medical are done, and an in-country AOS is just as rigorous as a visa process.

OP: You are asking the wrong question. You ask, "Is it okay to overstay?" Well, no. Each day that you overstay your SO risks being caught and deported. Being in a relationship with you is not a free pass and gives him no benefit. Further, being married to you also gives him no benefit. The risk of anything happening is low, but it is there.

However, when you eventually marry and file for AOS then the overstay will be "forgiven" or more accurately, it will be irrelevant in the Greencard application. Or, to put it another way, his overstay will not be a bar to him successfully adjusting status.

So, if you were to ask, "If we got married a month after his legal stay expired, could we still AOS and get him a Greencard" the answer is yes.

[Pennycat 880]

As long as you get married before his legal stay expires, you're ok. While YES, if he overstays and then you get married, that overstay will be forgiven, you should not plan for even one day out of status, and people here CANnot, by terms of service, advise you to do so. Because overstaying is illegal, and even though you will be getting married and therefore it will be forgiven, it's still an immigration offense, and people cannot advise immigration offenses here. Anyone telling you otherwise is telling you what you can get away with, not what is strictly legal, and there is a difference.

Just know that it is a lot more complicated than just marrying and staying. There's more logistics and a ton more money than you're probably realizing, so seriously consider your options and potential problems with your plan.

Once you marry, you need to apply for Adjustment of Status. This is $1070 and includes a medical appointment which is usually between $200 and $300. He also needs his vaccination records so unless he's traveled with those, he'll need them sent over or get all of his childhood vaccines again (ballpark $300). He'll also need his birth certificate for AOS (passport will not suffice they need the actual birth certificate) so again unless he's traveled with that, that will need to be sent over, or possibly ordered through his consulate if they do such things.

In addition, he won't be able to travel back home before you file all this paperwork, and then he'll have to wait a few months for Advance Parole to be able to travel home (or, specifically, to leave and come back. If he leaves before he gets AP, you'll have to file for a spouse visa and those take a year or more. He won't be able to come back to live on the tourist visa--only visit while the spouse visa is pending. That there absolutely is fraud otherwise). Our AP took 111 days, or nearly 4 months. It can happen quicker, but don't plan on it. So that means that whatever loose ends he's got in his country (does he rent an apartment, have a car, have a job, need his winter clothes etc) will have to be dealt with by someone else or wait a few months before he can do it himself.

So even if you get married tomorrow, and your marriage certificate in hand next week (that would be fast) and his medicals done by next week, and get his birth certificate and vaccination record in hand by then as well (all of that would be fast), you'd still be looking at several months before he can go home. And honestly, it takes a lot of people a LOT longer than a week to prepare the AOS paperwork.

Honestly, I very rarely believe people who suddenly change their minds and decide to marry and stay specifically because of these logistics. I'm absolutely sure it's possible that circumstances line up correctly, and I'm sure that it happens legitimately quite often, but the stunning frequency of people letting out apartments and quitting jobs right before a 3 week "visit" is pretty uncanny. Fortunately, it's not much of my business, or any of ours here and people will do what they're going to do. For a big picture on why people get upset about it, though, and why it ruffles so many feathers it's that whenever people adjust from a tourist visa, it does make it more difficult for other people from that country to get a tourist visa, and people who could have skirted the law like this and are paying thousands of dollars to be separated from their loved one, it just sort of irks. And when the reasoning is "but we don't want to be apart, we love each other so much", the implication is that those going through the fiance/spouse process somehow don't love each other and don't mind being apart. Something to keep in mind. But again, people are going to do what they're going to do.

Edited August 10, 2016 by CatherineA

[Unlockable 7,316]

You are naive if you think that the US does not do extensive background checks on ALL applicants. Coming here and AOSing off a tourist visa is not a pass for bigamy. All the same background checks and medical are done, and an in-country AOS is just as rigorous as a visa process.

OP: You are asking the wrong question. You ask, "Is it okay to overstay?" Well, no. Each day that you overstay your SO risks being caught and deported. Being in a relationship with you is not a free pass and gives him no benefit. Further, being married to you also gives him no benefit. The risk of anything happening is low, but it is there.

However, when you eventually marry and file for AOS then the overstay will be "forgiven" or more accurately, it will be irrelevant in the Greencard application. Or, to put it another way, his overstay will not be a bar to him successfully adjusting status.

So, if you were to ask, "If we got married a month after his legal stay expired, could we still AOS and get him a Greencard" the answer is yes.

Wasn't trying to imply that the process is bypassed all together. Just that it would be skipping ahead of the investigation process to get here. Many think that getting on US soil is the biggest obstacle.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Once you marry, you need to apply for Adjustment of Status. This is $1070 and includes a medical appointment which is usually between $200 and $300.

A Concurrent I-485/I-130 case costs $1070 + $420 + Medical.

Edited August 10, 2016 by Harpa Timsah

[USC1961 251]

Actually, it IS prohibited. The problem is it is too difficult for the government to prove intent. Immigration just has bigger fish to fry. So, in a sense, it gets overlooked. That does not make it ok.

This is spot on. In addition USCIS doesn't have to prove intent. Why? Quite simply immigration isn't a court of law, it is an agency. It is the onus of the petitioner and beneficiary to prove there was no intent to marry and immigrate before entering the USA. Even if USCIS suspects foul play, that is enough to deny a petition to stay. Or what if the agent assigned to the case is having a bad day? Case denied.

Just because others have been successful in the past doesn't necessarily mean it is legal or that it will work in your favor. Almost without exception it is always better to follow the law. That way you can mitigate your risk of being denied as much as possible. Sour grapes?? No, just the facts ma'am.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

This is spot on. In addition USCIS doesn't have to prove intent. Why? Quite simply immigration isn't a court of law, it is an agency. It is the onus of the petitioner and beneficiary to prove there was no intent to marry and immigrate before entering the USA. Even if USCIS suspects foul play, that is enough to deny a petition to stay. Or what if the agent assigned to the case is having a bad day? Case denied.

Just because others have been successful in the past doesn't necessarily mean it is legal or that it will work in your favor. Almost without exception it is always better to follow the law. That way you can mitigate your risk of being denied as much as possible. Sour grapes?? No, just the facts ma'am.

Except your "facts" are patently false.

A petition cannot be denied because someone is having a bad day and it cannot be denied based on suspicions.

USCIS cannot, by law, deny a case based on intent becasue that negative factor is not enough to overturn the overwhelmingly positive factor of being the spouse of a USC. They can, however, deny a case based on lying at the border or in an interview.

Edited August 10, 2016 by Harpa Timsah

[Pennycat 880]

Except your "facts" are patently false.

A petition cannot be denied because someone is having a bad day and it cannot be denied based on suspicions.

USCIS cannot, by law, deny a case based on intent becasue that negative factor is not enough to overturn the overwhelmingly positive factor of being the spouse of a USC. They can, however, deny a case based on lying at the border or in an interview.

I suspect the issue here is what you're allowed to say on VJ (which would not include telling someone "go ahead and make a plan to overstay, it'll be fixed by AOSing") and what the reality on the ground of what USCIS will/can actually do is. Like working before EAD. I think we're all perfectly aware of what the consequences of that are, and yet, we're not allowed to encourage or condone it. Besides, It's simply foolish to plan to overstay even if you know you'll be fine/ get away with it/ etc, when there is a perfectly reasonable option (go to a different city hall without a wait list) available.