Asked my Girlfriend to Marry Me while she was in USA on Travel.

[Itsmehi 0]

Hi,

 

My girlfriend has a travel visa to USA and she visited me last year for 40 days and this year(Currently with me on USA) since August and has to leave on her travel visa in February 2019

 

Last week I asked her to Marry me she said yes!!!! I have the following question:

                              >Can we Marry now in USA?If yes what do we do?She is her on a travel visa only to visit me.

I want to do this the correct way according to the law,I feel that the advice i will get  is that I have to do the K1 and she will have to go back to China and I can marry her when she comes back on the K1.

Any advice would be appreciated.

                              

[payxibka 10,045]

2 minutes ago, JaBe007 said:

Hi,

 

My girlfriend has a travel visa to USA and she visited me last year for 40 days and this year(Currently with me on USA) since August and has to leave on her travel visa in February 2019

 

Last week I asked her to Marry me she said yes!!!! I have the following question:

                              >Can we Marry now in USA?If yes what do we do?She is her on a travel visa only to visit me.

I want to do this the correct way according to the law,I feel that the advice i will get  is that I have to do the K1 and she will have to go back to China and I can marry her when she comes back on the K1.

Any advice would be appreciated.

                              

If you marry, k1 is off the table.  You can marry and adjust her status while she is here without a departure.   If you marry and she needs to depart,  you would petition for her as your spouse 

[Georgia16 2,858]

Congratulations 

 

yes ear you can marry and then AOS (adjust status) she can not travel or work for at least 6 months. 

 

You can also marry and then apply for a spousal visa CR1 then she can leave when her visitor visa is up and then come back when she gets her CR1 visa. She can work and travel right away. 

 

Since she problably ably has all her papers and stuff in china a CR1 visa might be good so she can travel home and finish want she need at home with where she lives and so on. 

[Itsmehi 0]

Georgia,

 

Would she be violating her Travel Visa? She has a 10 year Travel Visa that expires in 2025.

 

She has to leave in February 2019 as she will have been here 6 months by then a her B1/B2 Travel visa says she has to leave by then.

 

She would like to work and drive a car(not permitted in Massachusetts with a Chinese Licence)She would have to get Massachusetts License which she cant get unless she is a resident.

 

She would like to go back to China to visit her family in the next few months.

 

So it is legal to marry her now?She came here on a B1/B2 Travel visa just to visit me,she had no idea i was going to propose to her and i didn't plan this until after she arrived.

 

Can she still use her current travel visa to come back or do i have to apply for a C1  visa?

Edited December 24, 2018 by JaBe007

[payxibka 10,045]

2 minutes ago, JaBe007 said:

Georgia,

 

Would she be violating her Travel Visa? She has a 10 year Travel Visa that expires in 2025.

 

She has to leave in February 2019 as she will have been here 6 months by then a her B1/B2 Travel visa says she has to leave by then.

 

She would like to work and drive a car(not permitted in Massachusetts with a Chinese Licence)She would have to get Massachusetts License which she cant get unless she is a resident.

 

She would like to go back to China to visit her family in the next few months.

 

So it is legal to marry her now?She came here on a B1/B2 Travel visa just to visit me,she had no idea i was going to propose to her and i didn't plan this until after she arrived.

 

Can she still use her current travel visa to come back or do i have to apply for a C1 travel visa?

Getting married is not a violation of a visitor Visa.  

 

What is a C1 visitor Visa?  Visitor visas are B1/2

[Itsmehi 0]

payxibka,that was a typo sorry about that.

[Dashinka 24,500]

39 minutes ago, JaBe007 said:

Georgia,

 

Would she be violating her Travel Visa? She has a 10 year Travel Visa that expires in 2025.

 

She has to leave in February 2019 as she will have been here 6 months by then a her B1/B2 Travel visa says she has to leave by then.

 

She would like to work and drive a car(not permitted in Massachusetts with a Chinese Licence)She would have to get Massachusetts License which she cant get unless she is a resident.

 

She would like to go back to China to visit her family in the next few months.

 

So it is legal to marry her now?She came here on a B1/B2 Travel visa just to visit me,she had no idea i was going to propose to her and i didn't plan this until after she arrived.

 

Can she still use her current travel visa to come back or do i have to apply for a C1  visa?

Considering what you are laying out here, it seems the CR1 spousal visa is your best option.  You can get married legally while she is here (getting married on a visitor visa is not a violation as others have said), then you can start getting the package together for the spousal visa, there are handy guides here at VJ on the top blue ribbon on the page.  She can go home and visit her family, and she can still visit with her valid B1/B2 while the spousal visa is being processed however she may face a little more scrutiny by CBP at subsequent entires.

 

Congrats on the engagement and Good Luck with your upcoming immigration journey!

Edited December 24, 2018 by Bill & Katya

[lummo 61]

51 minutes ago, JaBe007 said:

She would like to go back to China to visit her family in the next few months.

You can marry now and do the Adjusrment of Status process if she is willing to wait about 6 months for the Advance Parole before leaving the US.

[Going through 5,671]

Since she crossed the border without immigrant intent---she can legally adjust status from within the USA, however that also means that she cannot leave the USA unless she has an approved travel document (which  you can also file for at the same time you file the AOS paperwork).  Even if her B1/B2 visa expires, she would be under "authorized stay" in the USA (allowing her to reside and work once permitted) while her application is pending.

 

Another option, the two of you can marry in the USA and she would go back to her home county and you would file the CR-1 spouse visa.  Yes, she can visit the US while the CR-1 is pending, however there is no guarantee she would be permitted across the border as she will have shown immigrant intent with the CR-1 filing (border officers may presume she is planning on not leaving the US after any vacation)---she may be asked to present evidence of strong ties to her home country when visiting you after the CR-1 is filed.

 

Congrats on your engagement!

[Georgia16 2,858]

1 hour ago, JaBe007 said:

Georgia,

 

Would she be violating her Travel Visa? She has a 10 year Travel Visa that expires in 2025.

 

She has to leave in February 2019 as she will have been here 6 months by then a her B1/B2 Travel visa says she has to leave by then.

 

She would like to work and drive a car(not permitted in Massachusetts with a Chinese Licence)She would have to get Massachusetts License which she cant get unless she is a resident.

 

She would like to go back to China to visit her family in the next few months.

 

So it is legal to marry her now?She came here on a B1/B2 Travel visa just to visit me,she had no idea i was going to propose to her and i didn't plan this until after she arrived.

 

Can she still use her current travel visa to come back or do i have to apply for a C1  visa?

Nope it is perfectly fine to get married on a tourist visa no problems there at all. 

 

CR-1 visa is definitely the way to go so she can get home now and such. 

[Ontarkie 14,225]

~~Moved to What Visa Do I Need, from K1 P&P - The OP is learning what his options are.~~

[bakphx1 789]

Keep in mind how long the CR1 takes.  You would be apart for a long time.  The visa options are all a bit unkind in their own way.  

 

If she adjusts status, she’s essentially in limbo for at least six months.  No ability to work, drive or go back home for any reason.

 

CR1-she leaves but can’t return to visit while it’s pending  (some do but it’s risky and expensive to apply for a visitor visa that is likely to be rejected) so you’d only see each other if you left the US to visit her.  This is acceptable if she has things to finish up to leave the country.  Work, studies, lease obligations, etc.  She’d return with all privileges.

 

K1-no marriage can take place.  Upon arriving she’d be also in a position of no work or anything for several months.  It’s currently not much faster than a CR1 and requires a subsequent AOS, which adds to the cost by quite a bit.

 

 

[NikLR 13,227]

Maybe ask her what kind of wedding she would want?

[K & R 343]

11 hours ago, JaBe007 said:

Georgia,

 

Would she be violating her Travel Visa? She has a 10 year Travel Visa that expires in 2025.

 

She has to leave in February 2019 as she will have been here 6 months by then a her B1/B2 Travel visa says she has to leave by then.

 

She would like to work and drive a car(not permitted in Massachusetts with a Chinese Licence)She would have to get Massachusetts License which she cant get unless she is a resident.

 

She would like to go back to China to visit her family in the next few months.

 

So it is legal to marry her now?She came here on a B1/B2 Travel visa just to visit me,she had no idea i was going to propose to her and i didn't plan this until after she arrived.

 

Can she still use her current travel visa to come back or do i have to apply for a C1  visa?

If I were in your shoes I would get married and file AOS before her B1/B2 expires in February. It is perfectly legal to get married and adjust status on a tourist visa if you did not intent to do that before she arrived on the tourist visa (which in your case you didn’t so it’s good!) for about 6 months things might not be easy but trust me the wait for AP and EAD is much better than having her leave and wait 12-14 months for the CR1 to be issued. If she can wait to visit her family for another 6 months your best option is to have her stay here and do the AOS process.

 

also if her visa expires in February that means she must have entered around August so getting engaged now won’t raise any red flags about intent to the IO. Ultimately it’s up to you guys what’s best for you! ☺️

[Itsmehi 0]

Thank you for the information, we are leaning towards marriage now and adjusting the AOS.Has anyone here done it this way? 

Is this just a 485 or do we also have to fill out the 130 as well? 

Thank you everyone for your help

Merry Christmas!