Is intent to marry a problem on an F-1 Visa?

[Shanghai Steve 1]

My Vietnamese girlfriend and I recently got engaged overseas (I am a US citizen).  We were planning for her to go to graduate school on a one year program, figuring we could get married sometime during that and adjust her status and apply for a green card.  I understand that this is possible, but typically, the prospective student has no intent to marry when they arrive.  In our case, it could be shown that we were already engaged before she arrived, especially because I am the one paying for her graduate school.  Do you think that will cause us a problem and be classified as visa fraud?  She does truly have the intent to go to graduate school, but it would be lying to say we weren't also planning to get married and have her stay.

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

Why would you plan it all now and worry about it? Focus on getting student visa first and go from there.

[TNJ17 1,329]

That is immigration fraud. If you are intending to get married and live in the states, file for a K1, wait out the process like everyone else and when she adjusts status after getting married she can apply to go to school. It will financially be better that way because as an F1 student they pay out of state tuition fees which are much more expensive than in state. 

[mc962 55]

One other alternative (although that doesn't mean you should necessarily put of grad school just for this), is either to do a K1 visa, or get married and do the CR1 visa, and then start grad school when she gets here.

That's not necessarily the best path forward for what you may want right now, but it might be an option that satisfies both things you are looking for.

[geowrian 22,337]

Intent to marry is not an issue. Intent to enter on most non-immigrant visas with intent to stay is.

 

She can enter on the F-1, marry at some point, and then start the process for a CR-1 visa where she will interview abroad. Or if you don't marry in the US yet, you can file for a K-1 visa so she can re-enter on that to marry and AOS.

[jdaveh 58]

10 hours ago, geowrian said:

Intent to marry is not an issue. Intent to enter on most non-immigrant visas with intent to stay is.

 

She can enter on the F-1, marry at some point, and then start the process for a CR-1 visa where she will interview abroad. 

This is still visa fraud. I think the whole point here is she is engaged and already planning to immigrate. I realize technically she can study, get married and go home for CR1 but as it stands her intent is to immigrate and you cannot do that on the F1. 

[geowrian 22,337]

1 hour ago, jdaveh said:

This is still visa fraud. I think the whole point here is she is engaged and already planning to immigrate. I realize technically she can study, get married and go home for CR1 but as it stands her intent is to immigrate and you cannot do that on the F1. 

The issue is intent to immigrate on the visit. One is allowed to use the visa for its intended purpose with intent to immigrate later. It does make showing non-immigrant intent difficult at the border, but people with a pending I-129F or I-130 visit all the time perfectly fine and legally despite wanting to immigrate eventually. The key point is they must return home for the visa, not stay in the US to AOS.

Edited July 19, 2018 by geowrian

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

The issue is intent to immigrate on the visit. One is allowed to use the visa for its intended purpose with intent to immigrate later. It does make showing non-immigrant intent difficult at the border, but people with a pending I-129F or I-130 visit all the time perfectly fine and legally despite wanting to immigrate eventually. The key point is they must return home for the visa, not stay in the US to AOS.

Agree with this, this is exactly - and explicitly - why I got a renewal of a 10 year B visa with an I130 in progress. Circumstances around doing the same with a student visa and shorter processing time than I had under F3 may make it trickier to prove though.

[Shanghai Steve 1]

Wow -- you all are so helpful, thank you!  I see that arriving on the F-1 visa is a problem if she ends up staying and applying for an AOS, but seems to be OK if she leaves after she graduates and comes back on a valid immigrant visa (either CR-1 or K-1).  And, it seems like those applications can be started while she is here studying, which would shorten the wait time.  Does this seem accurate?

 

Just musing, when she enters the country, I have to assume they will find out that I'm her fiance and I'm paying for her degree (either that or they'll find out when she applies for her F-1 visa).  Is there a problem with telling immigration at that point that we plan to get married and apply for a CR-1 visa while she is studying, and then she will leave the country at the end of her study to finish that process and return on the appropriate immigrant visa?  I see people talking about "proving" her intent to leave again, and I'm not sure how we would do that.

 

Thanks again!

[Unidentified 2,930]

37 minutes ago, Shanghai Steve said:

Wow -- you all are so helpful, thank you!  I see that arriving on the F-1 visa is a problem if she ends up staying and applying for an AOS, but seems to be OK if she leaves after she graduates and comes back on a valid immigrant visa (either CR-1 or K-1).  And, it seems like those applications can be started while she is here studying, which would shorten the wait time.  Does this seem accurate?

 

Just musing, when she enters the country, I have to assume they will find out that I'm her fiance and I'm paying for her degree (either that or they'll find out when she applies for her F-1 visa).  Is there a problem with telling immigration at that point that we plan to get married and apply for a CR-1 visa while she is studying, and then she will leave the country at the end of her study to finish that process and return on the appropriate immigrant visa?  I see people talking about "proving" her intent to leave again, and I'm not sure how we would do that.

 

Thanks again!

If you're the one who is paying for the degree the questions about your relationship will most likely come up during her F1 interview. 

 

 

[TNJ17 1,329]

That’s a red flag to be honest. I think she will have a hard time getting an F1 approved when she has so many ties to America. You paying for her school will be a red flag for sure. And they will know about your relationship. 

[Dashinka 24,494]

52 minutes ago, TNJ17 said:

That’s a red flag to be honest. I think she will have a hard time getting an F1 approved when she has so many ties to America. You paying for her school will be a red flag for sure. And they will know about your relationship. 

I agree, I think getting an F1 in this situation would be difficult.

 

To the OP, I would also suggest looking at either the K1/CR1 and doing that first, then doing the school route.

[Shanghai Steve 1]

This is disappointing news.  Is there any potential problem with just going to the F-1 interview and crossing our fingers?  It seems to me that if she gets it, we might be OK for the rest of the plan (to apply for a K-1 or a CR-1 while she is here studying, then she goes home after graduation to wait out the rest of the time). ?

[Unidentified 2,930]

2 minutes ago, Shanghai Steve said:

This is disappointing news.  Is there any potential problem with just going to the F-1 interview and crossing our fingers?  It seems to me that if she gets it, we might be OK for the rest of the plan (to apply for a K-1 or a CR-1 while she is here studying, then she goes home after graduation to wait out the rest of the time). ?

She can certainly try. But I think there are two big red flags: she is engaged to a USC and she is not paying for her own degree. 

[geowrian 22,337]

6 minutes ago, Shanghai Steve said:

This is disappointing news.  Is there any potential problem with just going to the F-1 interview and crossing our fingers?  It seems to me that if she gets it, we might be OK for the rest of the plan (to apply for a K-1 or a CR-1 while she is here studying, then she goes home after graduation to wait out the rest of the time). ?

I concur that it may be difficult, but the only thing to lose by trying is the application fee.

As long as she's honest in the process, a refusal would not impact her K-1 or CR-1 process later.