Getting married

[Tweety23 2]

16 minutes ago, Jens79 said:

No, I didn't miss a thing. I wrote about that in length. When she enters she has to tell the truth. But there's nothing illegal to marry someone who's out of status. The problem is that there is higher risk of her overstaying because of her BF/husbands immigrations status. That's why she might be turned around, not because she's doing anything illegal. Therefor she needs to be aware of that risk, and present her self in an honest way, and answer the questions truthfully. But if they let her in without extensive questioning, then it's fine, she hasn't done anything wrong in that case. She just has to leave the US in time.

And yes, she will face the same risk on future visits. It' not at all unlikely that she will have problems entering the country sooner or later, if they ask about her husbands legal status. But as long as they don't ask about it, and she's not overstaying, then it's fine. There no law aginst spending time with people who are illegally in the country.

or if the IO will ask about her husband she can just maybe say that her husband is in the phil.? They wouldnt know that her husband is in the US unless she tell so. am I right?

[geowrian 22,338]

Just now, Tweety23 said:

Probably if the IO will ask this question she can just say to visit a place or maybe visit a friend.

If it's to visit her boyfriend, then she needs to say so. The question immediately following that will be "Boyfriend?". They see this every day.

Just now, Tweety23 said:

or if the IO will ask about her husband she can just maybe say that her husband is in the phil.? They wouldnt know that her husband is in the US unless she tell so. am I right?

Never lie to CBP (or any immigration official). That's just digging a bigger hole.

[Jens79 64]

31 minutes ago, Tweety23 said:

Probably if the IO will ask this question she can just say to visit a place or maybe visit a friend.

No, that's NOT a good idea. You always have to give correct answers to the IO. It's up to the officer to choose how they ask questions and of what detail they ask. If you're visiting with the main purpose to visit your partner/husband/wife, then that is what you should say. It's technically true that you're "visiting" or "on vacation", but being vague on purpose is not a good idea, since most IOs will pick up on that and ask follow-up questions, and then you have already lost a lot of credibility.The way to do it is to say "I'm visiting my husband" and then just hope that the officer doesn't ask too much in detail. Then you haven't lied or misrepresented.

A likely follow-up question if you say that you're visiting your husband could be, "Ok, is he a US citizen?" (No, Phillipino.) Here they might be happy with that, or they may ask more about him. It can definitely get tricky. And while your friend is not doing anything illegal by just visiting, it's not sustainable to do a lot of those trips. Sooner or later your friend will face an officer who will question her more extensively, and that may be enough to refuse entry. 

Using the APC-kiosks is generally the quickest way, where you often face less questioning, so using those can be a good idea. But she will still need to see an officer face-to-face, who has the same rights to ask any question he or she wants. I really don't see that this is anything else than something temporary, and the way for your friend to live legally with her BF / husband is to go back to the Philippines.

Edited August 7, 2017 by Jens79

[Coco8 1,042]

38 minutes ago, Tweety23 said:

Probably if the IO will ask this question she can just say to visit a place or maybe visit a friend.

Lying will get you in trouble for sure. Everything gets recorded and so when this person comes several times to visit and always gives different explanations? Bad idea.

 

Getting a visitor visa is hard so why put the visa at risk due to lying? If she gets in trouble she won't be able to come into the US basically for years. 

 

So sure, everyone does stuff for love, but marrying someone who lives in another country illegally, and  maybe you can see that person a few days every year... That makes no sense. If the person who is illegally in the US cares for your friend then he would go back to the Philippines or they could move together to another country. He is never going to get status in the US. He has already overstayed so he has no way of being legal now (only exception is marriage to a US citizen). I am just putting that out there because he could be lying to her. Hopefully he is not trying to make her stay in the US illegally. 

 

Edited August 7, 2017 by Coco8

[Tweety23 2]

1 hour ago, Jens79 said:

No, that's NOT a good idea. You always have to give correct answers to the IO. It's up to the officer to choose how they ask questions and of what detail they ask. If you're visiting with the main purpose to visit your partner/husband/wife, then that is what you should say. It's technically true that you're "visiting" or "on vacation", but being vague on purpose is not a good idea, since most IOs will pick up on that and ask follow-up questions, and then you have already lost a lot of credibility.The way to do it is to say "I'm visiting my husband" and then just hope that the officer doesn't ask too much in detail. Then you haven't lied or misrepresented.

A likely follow-up question if you say that you're visiting your husband could be, "Ok, is he a US citizen?" (No, Phillipino.) Here they might be happy with that, or they may ask more about him. It can definitely get tricky. And while your friend is not doing anything illegal by just visiting, it's not sustainable to do a lot of those trips. Sooner or later your friend will face an officer who will question her more extensively, and that may be enough to refuse entry. 

Using the APC-kiosks is generally the quickest way, where you often face less questioning, so using those can be a good idea. But she will still need to see an officer face-to-face, who has the same rights to ask any question he or she wants. I really don't see that this is anything else than something temporary, and the way for your friend to live legally with her BF / husband is to go back to the Philippines.

Thank you for your advice Jens.. I've learn alot from this post. And will talk to my friend surely. Good luck to you! 

[Tweety23 2]

1 hour ago, Coco8 said:

Lying will get you in trouble for sure. Everything gets recorded and so when this person comes several times to visit and always gives different explanations? Bad idea.

 

Getting a visitor visa is hard so why put the visa at risk due to lying? If she gets in trouble she won't be able to come into the US basically for years. 

 

So sure, everyone does stuff for love, but marrying someone who lives in another country illegally, and  maybe you can see that person a few days every year... That makes no sense. If the person who is illegally in the US cares for your friend then he would go back to the Philippines or they could move together to another country. He is never going to get status in the US. He has already overstayed so he has no way of being legal now (only exception is marriage to a US citizen). I am just putting that out there because he could be lying to her. Hopefully he is not trying to make her stay in the US illegally. 

 

For all I know she doesnt want to stay illegally in the US thats for sure. She has something going on also somewhere in another country not really sure where. I think shes on process to have a PR somewhere. Maybe they do have a better plan after they get married. 

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

****** This thread is asking advice about illegal immigration activity, and Visajourney does NOT support such. As Op has been given the correct legal advice, this thread is locked and not to be re-started. ******

Edited August 7, 2017 by Penguin_ie