Marriage to US citizen in USA

[hollywooduk11 0]

Hi, I've just found this forum and I will spend some time going through the advice already given. In the meantime I wonder if I could ask and see if anyone has any advice for me in my particular situation. 

 

I am British and my fiancée is American. We have been together for three years and have plenty of evidence to support our relationship. I currently hold a P-1 visa for the USA as I am a working musician. I also have Global Entry, and visit the USA on average once every 4 - 6 weeks. My fiancée visits Britain less often, but still regularly. We want to get married in the USA this summer, but we have no immediate plans after the wedding for us to live together in either country. I appreciate that sounds a bit weird, but we have personal reasons for this - I have children in school in Britain, and she has a well paid job which she enjoys. Because of my profession we make our relationship work very well - and we get to travel a lot! So - I wondered in these circumstances, would I be able to get married in the USA, entering on an ESTA? I would not want or need to then apply for a green card or residency straight away. Now - somewhere down the line, maybe after one or two years I may want to be able legally live and work in the USA, but right now, we just want to be married. There is no thought of "playing the system" here. So I'm looking for a way of us being able to do this with minimal paperwork, delay and cost. I guess I'm thinking about the "getting married in Vegas" model - I can't imagine every foreigner that gets married in Vegas applies for a K-1 first! 

 

In the UK we have the marriage visitor visa, which would be ideal if there was an equivalent in the USA, but I don't believe there is.

 

Are there any options open to us that don't involve the rather lengthy and expensive K-1 route?

 

Thanks, Nick

[Jojo92122 1,924]

It's legal to enter the US on the VWP/ESTA to marry.

 

If it was two foreigners, then no problem.

 

The problem is that coming to the US to marry a US citizen puts extra burden on you to prove that you don't intend to immigrate as many have done.

 

Bring plenty of proof that you intend to return to the UK after getting married.  That's your best chance to get into the US if you are asked further questions upon entry.

 

Good luck.

[geowrian 22,337]

Yes, you can get married on an ESTA fine. You cannot enter the US with the intent to marry and stay and adjust status (get a green card). As you stated, what you want to do is fine. As with any entry to the US, you should carry ties showing your need to return home.

 

There is not any such marriage visitor visa for the US. You can visit via your ESTA.

 

When you're ready to stay in the US, the USC can file an I-130 petition for you so you can apply for an CR-1/IR-1 visa. ETA: 12-14 months currently.

Edited May 24, 2017 by geowrian

[hollywooduk11 0]

Thanks both - so to clarify, I could enter on an ESTA (as I have Global Entry I rarely if ever have to speak to CBP anyway), I could then legally marry and return home.

 

Then, somewhere down the line, maybe a year later or whatever - there is a proper process I could follow (CR-1/IR-1) to apply to get a green card and residency etc, and my marriage under an ESTA earlier would not prevent this from being approved?

 

As I said before I have no desire to play the system, we just want to get married this summer and continue our long distance commute for a while! However we will eventually want to live together so we don't want anything we do now put that in jeopardy.

 

Thanks, Nick

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Your marriage while in the US on the VWP will not cause any problem with a future immigration visa.

 

The spousal visa takes about a year, so plan accordingly and file a year before you want to immigrate.  

[geowrian 22,337]

19 minutes ago, hollywooduk11 said:

Thanks both - so to clarify, I could enter on an ESTA (as I have Global Entry I rarely if ever have to speak to CBP anyway), I could then legally marry and return home.

 

Then, somewhere down the line, maybe a year later or whatever - there is a proper process I could follow (CR-1/IR-1) to apply to get a green card and residency etc, and my marriage under an ESTA earlier would not prevent this from being approved?

 

As I said before I have no desire to play the system, we just want to get married this summer and continue our long distance commute for a while! However we will eventually want to live together so we don't want anything we do now put that in jeopardy.

 

Thanks, Nick

Correct. No issues with that plan.