Consequences for overstay and partner?

[Alina~ 0]

Hi, i have some urgent questions regarding tourist visas and overstaying.

let's say i have a gf from europe who stays on a visa waiver,
she absolutly hates her life and country and refuses to go back, she wants to
stay with me badly, its not really about the usa but she loves me and wants to be with me.

I can understand her situation and feel the same way for her so i thought it's okay to let her stay,

but now her esta is really close to expire and im worried.

What are the chances she get caught at all?Her name is on the lease from
our apartment as the landlady allowed her rent it with me,(she gets money from her mom
to help paying the rent and she makes some money online) will that raise the
chance of her getting caught?

And in case she gets caught are there any consequences for me too,as i let her hide
and live with me?

Also what should we do once she overstayed,would it help if we marry (same sex marriage should be fine here) after her overstay?

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Are you in genuine relationship or you are just trying to help her to stay in US?

[Boiler 44,855]

No work allowed on the VWP.

[soulstriker 274]

do you really want to risk it with immigration ? why would anyone want to help you go against the law

[Unlockable 7,314]

Consequences is that she will remain illegal.

Marriage would not be an instant fix. Meaning she won't be legal status on Tuesday if you marry on Monday.

[KierenHby 897]

Smells like immigration laws violation somewhere.

[Alina~ 0]

Are you in genuine relationship or you are just trying to help her to stay in US?

Yes,as i said she wants to overstay to not be sepreated with me again,it's not really about the country, i just cant move to her country, so she wants to stay here.

Consequences is that she will remain illegal.

Marriage would not be an instant fix. Meaning she won't be legal status on Tuesday if you marry on Monday.

I know but would it help at all to marry her so she can stay with me?

Edited October 3, 2016 by Alina~

[Jojo92122 1,924]

If you are a USC, then get marry, file for AOS, and make her legal.

No one is going to tell you it's okay to keep her in the US illegally. Advising you and helping you to do this is a TOS violation since it would be helping you to violate US laws.

[az2014 381]

So she is already working illegally and now she wants to overstay?

A few months apart is not the end of the world.

Sounds like you both have a lot of growing up to do you sound like little kids.

[KierenHby 897]

I know but would it help at all to marry her so she can stay with me?

Doesn't sound like a bonafide marriage.

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

Tell her you will go with her to her home country to handle processing, then when she answers you know if she loves you or prefers the US.

[JFH 12,189]

She absolutely hates her life? Sounds like some therapy is in order. If she's from a VWP country she's not from an impoverished or war-torn region of the world. Basically she's got a dream about living in America and you are the one who can make that dream come true. I'd do as someone else has suggested and offer to move to her country and stay with her there. If it's you she loves she will jump at the chance. If she doesn't want that, it's not you she loves but her fantasy of the American dream. Let me guess, it's her first time in the country. It seems that marriage is only being considered if it will result in an immigration benefit. Not a reason to marry and not a sign of true love.

[Pennycat 880]

You all found and rented an apartment together in less than 90 days? She clearly intended to move on that VWP and is playing a dangerous game.

What's going to happen if she continues living here is that she'll be an illegal immigrant and deportable (and because she's on VWP, she'll be deported without even seeing a judge. When you use VWP, you waive your rights to a hearing). Likely no ability to get driver's licence and eventually her passport will expire so that won't be a valid form of ID either. She won't be able to get on even a domestic flight or a train or do anything that requires a valid, unexpired ID. People choose to overstay or to enter without inspection because they don't understand the full consequences and/or because they feel like they've got nothing to lose. But the thing is, the longer you live here, the more you DO have to lose (and the greater the consequences become, and usually the more laws you have to break to be able to stay here, making yet more consequences for yourself.. You make friends, you get a job, a pet, furniture, etc etc and all that can disappear in a blink of an eye).

The consequences are that she'll never have VWP privileges ever again and she's unlikely to ever be approved for a tourist visa. Depending on how long she overstays, she will also receive a ban from any US visa, including a spouse visa, for either 3 or 10 years (10 years if she overstays one year or more). They will know that she overstayed. They may not come looking for her, but she will effectively be stuck in the US because the moment she leaves, she won't be able to come back (the VWP loss is automatic. They track entries and exits. They'll know. She leaves and tries to come back, they turn her around at the border and put her on the next plane home).

It's really not worth doing it this way. Even if it's not because of the US, only because of you. Probably half of the foreign spouses/fiances on Visajourney wouldn't be in the US at all if it wasn't for the American. They don't care what the reason is! The consequences are exactly the same.

Here-- this young Australian didn't realize how serious the 90 day VWP thing was. And apparently didn't realize that you can'd do a border run to Canada and get another 90 days (any time in US, Canada, Mexico or Caribbean counts against your 90 VWP days). Also, don't believe her for one second that it was "11 hours overstay". She got a 10 year ban. She was here for more than a year. It is *possible* that she successfully pulled off a border run to Canada and no one noticed (or let her slide) but it is more likely that she's just lying for sympathy. I wouldn't want to spend one hour in one of those detention centers, nevermind weeks!

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

If it's love just do it the right way, 6 months apart vs a lifetime of hiding. Why chance it

[JFH 12,189]

Here-- this young Australian didn't realize how serious the 90 day VWP thing was. And apparently didn't realize that you can'd do a border run to Canada and get another 90 days (any time in US, Canada, Mexico or Caribbean counts against your 90 VWP days). Also, don't believe her for one second that it was "11 hours overstay". She got a 10 year ban. She was here for more than a year. It is *possible* that she successfully pulled off a border run to Canada and no one noticed (or let her slide) but it is more likely that she's just lying for sympathy. I wouldn't want to spend one hour in one of those detention centers, nevermind weeks!

Interesting story. The ban was serious too. The couple are now married and living in Canada. When the US government says "banned", they mean it.