Arriving on esta to possibly marry. Any advice would be outstanding.

[Ilovedogs 0]

So, i am flying in 8 weeks to see my partner of a year and stay with my fiancés family.

I have some questions and i am very keen for any advice. 

We had planned to be married by proxy as his tribes head judge has given up the aproval to since my partner is incarcerated in south dakota. He may not be released for another 2 years which is fine as i have a child, job and home here in Australia and i have no plans or desires to move to the usa for at the least that period of time. 

I am flying in on a esta visa and was unaware of the k1 visa as we are unsure if we definately will go through with the wedding or not, although i feel it is the right thing to do to honor these feelings, i understand it isnt the perfect situation for it and i have nothing but time. 

I am unsure which K visa i will need and i see they all take a minimun of 2 months to prepare and the interviews are in another state to me so i will need to fly there and back for an interview i fear will be rail roaded into the ditch due to my fiancés situation. 

What advice can anyone offer of what the right thing to do is sincd i do not wish to be barred from the states and have any future plans to wed and immigrate legally and when the time is right be dashed. 

I am whole heartedly planning to be honest and open with any of the border staff and am worried by being honest i will bar myself from this happiness and future by not having the correct visa if we choose to go ahead with the judges offer to provide the proxy marriage recognised in the tribe. 

What advice can anyone offer? I plan on coming home and applying to immigrate through the right channels and not over stay my visa over the next 2 years with no rush.

If he were able to immigrate here i wouldnt be needing to even consider moving so its definately not because im chasing a green card lol. 

Many thanks in advance for your honesty and replies.

I dont even know how i should go about proving im definately coming back to my child and homeland.

X

[JFH 12,190]

Coming here on the VWP (visa waiver program) to marry is perfectly fine. I did the same in 2014. The K-1 visa is only needed if you intend to remain in the country permanently after the wedding. In your case, you are returning home so no K-1 is needed. 

 

You may may not need to mention the wedding at the border. Answer only the questions that are asked. If you are asked if you are getting married then you must answer truthfully. If you are not asked if you are getting married, you don't need to volunteer that information. You are not doing anything wrong by visiting, marrying and returning home. 

 

If the marriage is a proxy marriage this won't be recognized for a spousal visa unless it is subsequently consummated. Since SD does not permit family visits or conjugal visits this won't happen until he is released. 

 

Good luck.

[JFH 12,190]

*~*~*moved from "K-1 fiance visa case filing and progress reports" to "tourist visas" - question about marrying on the VWP*~*~*

[kris&me 572]

First of all it would be the USC (in jail) that would apply for the K1 or spouse visa

and he would need asscess to all his documents such as passport and passport photos of himself along with his birth certificate and at some point police records

not knowing why he is there we will try not to judge but your changes of coming under a visa from him probably are slim 

we love australians 

so wishing you the best 

 

[JFH 12,190]

There have been incarcerated USCs who have successfully petitioned for their spouses here before. Her chances are only reduced if the marriage is not consummated, unless they marry in person. A proxy marriage doesn't cut it with USCIS. But other than that, her chances are no different than anyone else's. Of those who have posted here with spouses who are incarcerated, there have been no denials for that reason. 

[kris&me 572]

and in most prisons (as my sister and brother both work in prisons in different states) the prisoner does not have access to driving licence birth certificate and passport / those are kept for him till he gets out of jail 

so, again, how will he apply for the visa if he can not get documents

and what of the affadivit of support he needs to prove income? 

think of all this

doesn't really matter why he is there unless it is under sex crime rules but income is important 

[Caterpillar8 62]

I just came back from the USA when traveling there with esta exactly to marry! I got married in July 7th and filed I130 August 7th. So no problem about it. The only thing is that with esta you cannot stay there but come back to your home country.

[geowrian 22,337]

Many people have immigrated while the petitioner was in prison. A number of them are still on this site. I won't tag them out of respect for their cases, but it's been done numerous times.

 

I'm not familiar with the process to get the necessary paperwork while incarcerated, but it's absolutely possible. As for the I-864, he either needs sufficient assets or a joint sponsor.

 

The beneficiary needs to know the circumstances of the crimes. Not just what they were convicted for, but the circumstances surrounding it. They may be asked about it in the interview.

Edited August 20, 2017 by geowrian

[Boiler 45,575]

Those documents could easily be replaced but begs the question why somebody jailed would take them to jail in the first place.

[Ilovedogs 0]

I have enquired and the documentation is with his mother, the income estimate probably isn't going to look too crash hot but he works every job he can, even doing trades so im hoping that it counts for something. Also he may be coming home sooner so that can be amended when he gets employment. 

 

I am so very grateful for all the helpful advice. We both very much wanted to thank you all for contributing your knowledge towards helping me to better understand the process. 

[JFH 12,190]

On 8/19/2017 at 0:41 PM, kris&me said:

and in most prisons (as my sister and brother both work in prisons in different states) the prisoner does not have access to driving licence birth certificate and passport / those are kept for him till he gets out of jail 

so, again, how will he apply for the visa if he can not get documents

and what of the affadivit of support he needs to prove income? 

think of all this

doesn't really matter why he is there unless it is under sex crime rules but income is important 

My husband has done time in state prison. You'd be surprised at how rich some prisoners are - completely legitimately. Inheritances, land rights, tribal payments, and so on. Unless they owe for restitution or LFOs then the money is theirs to keep. My husband worked as a garbage sorter in prison for 25 cents an hour. This was some years ago but even now I think a similar position still makes less than a dollar an hour. However those that get jobs with the correctional industries can earn state minimum wage. As their outgoungs are low, many are able to send considerable sums home to their families. 

 

But you probably knew that already if your family work for the DOC.

[kris&me 572]

prisoners in US are not so rich as many times they have committed a crime that means assests are seized / drug crimes are like this

also. a victim can sue and would if the person had legimate money such as an inheritance