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

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

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.

I agree that going to a different city hall to get married is a better plan. But, the bf hasn't even accepted proposal yet!

[Beth & Achraf 328]

There is always Vegas to get hitched....

[Allison/Robert 43]

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.

Wow, very well said!

[Teddy B 17,252]

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.

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.

Good to see a voice of reason in this thread. Welcome back Hapra.

To those people saying this is fraud, it is not. The op's boyfriend is already in the US, at most he may be in a short period of overstay if there wedding goes as planned, and that overstay will be forgiven with marriage to a USC. They will be fine to AOS without problems.

[Pennycat 880]

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

I forgot about the I-130 (adjusted from fiance visa). So, OP, you're looking at $1490 just to file, and add in medical costs ($200-$300 for the exam and possibly more, depending on the vaccination situation). And more than just the money (which isn't always a big deal) it is the pure logistics of getting paperwork together and filing and being "stuck" in the US while the process moves along, and the fact that a temporary visit doesn't always lend itself to turning into a permanent move without going home first or having necessary paperwork readily available (I have a friend AOSing from a student visa and they've been working for over a month trying to get a copy of his birth certificate-- likely individual and country-specific but still!)

Really think about what you're asking him to do when you make this decision. You'd hate to get married *and then* discover that you're "stuck" in the US and have pressing business abroad, or that leaving the US means signing up for a year long separation from your new spouse.

[templeton 120]

Good to see a voice of reason in this thread. Welcome back Hapra.

To those people saying this is fraud, it is not. The op's boyfriend is already in the US, at most he may be in a short period of overstay if there wedding goes as planned, and that overstay will be forgiven with marriage to a USC. They will be fine to AOS without problems.

Agreed. Some people on this forum just love to shout "No. Fraud!" at everything.

All this ever really boils down to is, "Did the person enter legally?" The answer seems to be yes, so the overstay, whether it begins before or after the actual wedding, will be forgiven. While I'm certainly not suggesting anyone do so, there are many examples of people who have overstayed for years before getting married and then successfully adjusted to residents.

However, to reiterate to the OP what some others have said, just being married to a US citizen conveys no special rights or legal status. If he goes into overstay at any time before the actual green card application is received by USCIS, he would still subject to the consequences of being in the country illegally. In other words, he'd want to avoid any potential random contact with ICE during that time. That risk may be minimal, but best to get the necessary documentation together and apply as quickly as possible after marriage. He also won't be allowed to work or travel outside of the US until Employment Authorization and Advanced Parole are granted - usually 2-3 months after the green card application is received.

Edited August 10, 2016 by templeton

[mindthegap 2,610]

It is illegal. Both, overstay

yes - an overstay is illegal, but as many have noted is generally forgiven in the case of AOS due to marriage. No-one has encouraged the OP to overstay - quite the opposite in fact.

and marriage on tourist visa.

No, no and thrice no - it is absolutely not illegal to get married in the US on a tourist visa, VWP, in transit, or any other visa - either to a US citizen or an alien, resident or otherwise.

Also, how is the tourist surviving being a tourist for such long duration and planning for overstay? I'm sure the tourists must have noted in the visa interview that he doesn't have an intent to immigrate.

You have no idea of peoples personal circumstances - financial and otherwise.

If the commitment is next to total, why not get married in tourist's country? Then, plan for legally immigrating.

Have you ever been in love before? Or a long distance relationship? Ever done anything spontaneously?

Plans can and do change.

Moderators should report the IP address of the person (or their significant other) planning on overstay to USCIS. This could be preventative measure to help future tourists not commit the same violation and/or not have to go through unnecessary scrutiny because certain tourists incline on illegal activities.

Were you bullied at school?

[Meg&Andrew 297]

And I meant site* not sight. I couldn't edit again, and sorry for making another post, but that mistake is killing me.

[yuna628 9,747]

Majority of "tourists" enter legally and then change the intent (well, it cannot be proven if they had intent before).

It is illegal. Both, overstay and marriage on tourist visa. Also, how is the tourist surviving being a tourist for such long duration and planning for overstay? I'm sure the tourists must have noted in the visa interview that he doesn't have an intent to immigrate.

If the commitment is next to total, why not get married in tourist's country? Then, plan for legally immigrating.

Moderators should report the IP address of the person (or their significant other) planning on overstay to USCIS. This could be preventative measure to help future tourists not commit the same violation and/or not have to go through unnecessary scrutiny because certain tourists incline on illegal activities.

This post is an absolute mess. The OP and the OP's s/o has done nothing illegal, and will do nothing illegal should they decide to get married right now. Heck, we don't even know if the s/o will accept the proposal yet! Even if the OP gets married in a period of overstay and is illegal for a time, if the OP acts to protect their status in this country, you know very well such overstaying would be forgiven. The OP could also marry them, and the foreign spouse could also choose to return home and file a spousal visa if they so wished to. The USCIS offers these methods of legality to navigate the system in various situations. Are these gray areas and are they heavily abused? Yes. But the OP's s/o will undergo just as many checks as they would if they entered on a K1, and will have to cough up an even larger sum of funds + the medical costs.

Perhaps your complaint is that for each 'illegal' activity or 'gray area' taken by a person on a tourist visa, it makes it that much harder for a tourist visa to be obtained by a person merely seeking to visit in the first place. It's a fair criticism, but I suspect it has more to do with outward clear abuse of the system - such as those who obtain these visas and fraudulently work and remain here illegally in the shadows, or those who use it as a free pass to live in the US forever. It is the intent of use of the visa before entering, that is the issue, and not spontaneous behavior. If this is a sore point for you, I'd suggest contacting your elected officials and then watch as nothing changes. Because there are a lot of gray areas, loopholes, abuse, over-bureaucracy, and redundancy in the USCIS. They know it, and have no want to fix it.

What you or I feel is the 'right way' to go about things has no bearing if there is a legal route the OP can take for their situation. For 10+ years me and my husband had the option to do exactly as the OP, and chose not to. Because we did not feel comfortable taking that route, because we preferred not to tread 'gray areas', and because a K1 worked for us. There are numerous couples, that cannot marry in the foreign spouse's home country and that is precisely why there are legal methods of marrying in the US. The feds have no say in impeding a USC's right to liberty and happiness, and this falls under the domain of marriage and states rights. The feds can have a say on marriage discrimination matters only - but if the OP wishes to marry their s/o they have the absolute right to do so, but they had better study up their options correctly, protect their spouse's status, and actually talk it over as to how the spouse feels about the situation.

Lastly the suggestion of reporting an IP to the government has to be the strangest suggestion I have heard on this forum. There are rules on this forum which everyone has to abide by. We cannot suggest illegal activity. Therefore OP if you and s/o had prior intent to - overstay, remain in the US illegally, obtain a visa by fraudulent means these are all visa fraud, and no one here can actively encourage you on that. If overstaying is even a remote possibility we should all be encouraging you to avoid this by all means and if your s/o accepts your proposal find every means to marry before any overstay happens (even if there are means to protect oneself). To suggest that a moderator use their authority to report an IP really suggests you have no idea how IPs work, what a moderator has authority to do, and that the USCIS cares one iota to begin with.

[Ontarkie 14,563]

~~Thread locked and multiple post removed. The OP's question has been answered multiple times. A new thread may be started when the OP has questions about starting the process.~~