F-1 Visa To Green Card

[cecelist 0]

 I am an international student at US -f1 visa- and I am going to marry with my girlfriend -US Citizen- in this summer. My school in my country has this aggremeent that allows me to study 2 years in US and 2 years in my home country. My first year in my country was 2014 and after finishing my freshman year there I came to US in 2015 August. I met with my girlfriend in October 2015 and we fall in love quickly. We started living together and in January 2016 we came to my home country together to visit my family/meet with them. That was a great opportunity for her to see my culture. In July 2016 my sopmohore year in US was finished and because of my program I had to go home. That was the time we were considering marriage with my girlfriend. Anyhow my girlfriend decided to come to my country with me for the junior year of my college but she only stayed for the first semester because her school cancelled her study abroad program. Then I visited US with my F-1 visa again in January 2017 and we decided to get marry in this summer in july. I will get back to US in this june. My question is if we marry in june it is 20 days after I enter to the country would that effect our application bad? If we marry after waiting a month or so would that still be seen as a visa fraud because we knew each other before I entered the country? Do you think I would be deported due to a fraud marriage or something like that? What should we do to have a smooth process? I am really thankful for your answers. 

Thank you so much!

Edited April 24, 2017 by cecelist

[andy78 178]

The F1 visa is a non-immigrant visa for the purpose of studying in the US. If you plan to enter the US on an F1 visa, then the purpose of the visit has to be to attend classes (and meet the minimum number of hours per semester as required by the F1 visa). You also must not have an immigrant intent when you enter the US on an F1 visa. If you intend to meet these requirements, then it is ok to enter the US on an F1 visa. You can get married any time while you are on F1 visa. However, you cannot enter the US on an F1 with the intent to adjust status/immigrate.

If you want to travel to the US to get married and adjust status, then you need a K1 visa. The F1 is not appropriate for this scenario. You can also get married while on F1, leave the US after you finish your studies, and apply for CR1 visa if the two of you want to live in the US.

 

[cecelist 0]

3 minutes ago, andy78 said:

The F1 visa is a non-immigrant visa for the purpose of studying in the US. If you plan to enter the US on an F1 visa, then the purpose of the visit has to be to attend classes (and meet the minimum number of hours per semester as required by the F1 visa). You also must not have an immigrant intent when you enter the US on an F1 visa. If you intend to meet these requirements, then it is ok to enter the US on an F1 visa. You can get married any time while you are on F1 visa. However, you cannot enter the US on an F1 with the intent to adjust status/immigrate.

If you want to travel to the US to get married and adjust status, then you need a K1 visa. The F1 is not appropriate for this scenario. You can also get married while on F1, leave the US after you finish your studies, and apply for CR1 visa if the two of you want to live in the US.

 

I understand that but my intention is not marriage I'm going there for the school purposes. What would be the case if we decide to get marry when I got to the US? How would the officers differ those two options? When you think about it I didn't get the F-1 visa to marry because I got it at 2015. It's  just too complicated I can't understand. 

Thank you! 

[andy78 178]

2 minutes ago, cecelist said:

I understand that but my intention is not marriage I'm going there for the school purposes. What would be the case if we decide to get marry when I got to the US? How would the officers differ those two options? When you think about it I didn't get the F-1 visa to marry because I got it at 2015. It's  just too complicated I can't understand. 

Thank you! 

 

I assume you are talking about the officers at the point of entry. I don't know how often they ask people entering the US if they have girlfriends and if they plan to marry them. But if they ask, whatever they decide after you answer is obviously up to them. They might think that you want to adjust status on F1 and deny your entry.

 

You can get married on F1, but if your current plans are to both marry AND adjust status after you travel to the US, then the F1 is not the right visa. The date when you got the F1 doesn't matter. What matters is your intention while you are using the visa to enter the US.

 

[geowrian 22,337]

You are perfectly free to marry on an F-1 visa. However, if you plan to marry and then adjust status (i.e. get a green card), then that is visa fraud. You must use an immigrant-intent visa for that purpose (K-1 for fiances, CR-1 for spouses).

 

It's not unusual for CBP to ask about a girlfriend or plans to marry. Those are ties to the US and place you at a higher risk to stay and adjust status. You need to provide sufficient ties to show that you will return home and not adjust status, or else they will deny entry.