Esta and marriage

[Codee 0]

As per the title .

 

Please no judging please i am only here for some advice 

 

Im currently a single mom of 2 living in North Carolina . Working for American Airlines .

The guy im in love with is in the Uk .

I visited a few months back .

I want him to  spend time with me in the US

We are in love  and we would love to get married .

 

Now comes the hard part 

 

We want to marry but he has separated from his wife and they have only just mentioned divorce proceedings . Both in the UK and both UK citizens

I was not the reason they originally split by the way . But we came across each other . One thing lead to another and we are in love 

 

Were not kids . He is 43 and i am 47 and im US Citizen

 

Apart from waiting for the divorce to come through is there any way he could go for divorce while here . Stay and once divorced we get married ? 

Uk divorce proceedings say 2 month to 6 month so that would mean a big over stay on his esta .

 

Or have we no choice but to stay quiet . He goes home in a few weeks and hopefully he can get back in a month or two .

I can afford to support him financially while he is here uf needed . $ are not an issue . I just want him to stay . Get his divorce through and get married .

 

Any advice would be great . Google is  a mine fiels and havenot came across  situation like ours 

 

Thanks in advance 

 

C 

[EmilyW 1,547]

Quote

 

Apart from waiting for the divorce to come through is there any way he could go for divorce while here . Stay and once divorced we get married ? 

Uk divorce proceedings say 2 month to 6 month so that would mean a big over stay on his esta .

 

 

Coming in on his ESTA with the intention to marry and adjust is visa fraud.

 

What you can do is:

 

a) wait for his divorce to be final.  He can visit using the ESTA but not overstay.

 

b) once he is free to marry, file for a K1 Fiance Visa and you two marry here in the US and adjust his status for a green card OR

 

c) once he is free to marry, you two marry (here or any other destination) and he returns to the UK and files for a CR1 Spousal Visa.

 

Whether you pick option (b) or (c) he can still use his ESTA to visit.

 

Edited December 31, 2019 by EmilyW

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

5 minutes ago, Codee said:

Any advice would be great

1. In order to marry you, he has to be legally free to marry, meaning his divorce has to be finalized. The logical place to do it, is in the UK, where he actually is currently living. 
 

2. When his divorce is final, then you and him can get married. At this point, you have two choices: if you want to get married in US, you can file him as fiance (K1), he comes, you two get married. He can file for adjustment of status to permanent resident.

 If you want to get married in the UK, then go over there and get married. Then you file for him as spouse (CR1). 
 

K-1 route: slightly faster time to being together in the US (4-10 months), but longer time until the foreigner can get a green card and more expensive in terms of fees. Big disadvantage: he will not be able to work or travel internationally after he arrives on K1 for 6-10 months until he has EAD/AP. Some people have troubles getting SSN, open a checking account or get driver license until they have the green card.

 

CR1 route: slower time until being together, but faster for the foreigner to get the green card (12-16 month). The spouse will enter and immediately become a Permanent resident. No adjustment of status needed and therefore less fees. Green card and SSN arrive automatically after entering makes getting driver license, bank account ... very easy.

[Ontarkie 14,552]

~~Moved to What Visa Do I Need, form Visitor Visa- as the OP is asking about marriage and moving to the US.~~

[LilyJ 1,258]

4 hours ago, USS_Voyager said:

CR1 route: slower time until being together, but faster for the foreigner to get the green card (12-16 month). The spouse will enter and immediately become a Permanent resident. No adjustment of status needed and therefore less fees. Green card and SSN arrive automatically after entering makes getting driver license, bank account ... very easy.

While it’s implied by the fact that he would be immediately a permanent resident, the very huge plus is; ability for working immediately

[ohcoffeeeyes 120]

18 hours ago, EmilyW said:

 

Coming in on his ESTA with the intention to marry and adjust is visa fraud.

 

What you can do is:

 

a) wait for his divorce to be final.  He can visit using the ESTA but not overstay.

 

b) once he is free to marry, file for a K1 Fiance Visa and you two marry here in the US and adjust his status for a green card OR

 

c) once he is free to marry, you two marry (here or any other destination) and he returns to the UK and files for a CR1 Spousal Visa.

 

Whether you pick option (b) or (c) he can still use his ESTA to visit.

 

You say "Coming in on his ESTA with the intention to marry and adjust is visa fraud." but then you say "once he is free to marry, file for a K1 Fiance Visa and you two marry here in the US and adjust his status for a green card OR."

 

edit: I see what you were saying now. Silly me.

Edited December 31, 2019 by ohcoffeeeyes

[Codee 0]

Thank you soo much for the replys it is a mine field out there .

Yes i understand coming over with the intention to eventially marry without declaring it is fraud .

 

I was just wondering if it was possible to do it all from here when he is over .

Get as much time as possible to apply and sort divorce etc and get married once through .

But i suppose that then becomes intention and fraud on its own

 

Is it classed a s fraud if he comes over while waiting on divorce . Do we have to declare he is filing for ir and seeing me ? .ia that nkt to them a clear indication to marry and possibly affect him coming over on esta visa in the future .

He is on my benefits at work and can fly him over regarly 

 

We realy need to get our acts together and get things sorted . I love this guy 

 

Thank you for all the help so far honestly its a minefield out there with right and wrong infomation .

 

 

[EmilyW 1,547]

He can visit so long as he abides by the terms of his ESTA, which includes him spending more time outside of the US than within.  If he is asked why he is wanting to enter the US, he has to be honest.  Long periods in the US may be seen by the officers at the border as him attempting to live in the US, which may result in him losing his privileges.

 

The reality is, some separation is inevitable.  We get it: you love him.  You will find thousands on this site who also love their partners and have to tolerate separation for a period of time until they can be together.

 

My suggestion.  He gets his divorce sorted. In the meantime, you two continue to make judicious use of his ESTA privileges while you identify which visa you want to use (K1 or CR1).

[LilyJ 1,258]

10 hours ago, Codee said:

Thank you soo much for the replys it is a mine field out there .

Yes i understand coming over with the intention to eventially marry without declaring it is fraud .

 

I was just wondering if it was possible to do it all from here when he is over .

Get as much time as possible to apply and sort divorce etc and get married once through .

But i suppose that then becomes intention and fraud on its own

 

Is it classed a s fraud if he comes over while waiting on divorce . Do we have to declare he is filing for ir and seeing me ? .ia that nkt to them a clear indication to marry and possibly affect him coming over on esta visa in the future .

He is on my benefits at work and can fly him over regarly 

 

We realy need to get our acts together and get things sorted . I love this guy 

 

Thank you for all the help so far honestly its a minefield out there with right and wrong infomation .

 

 

He can visit. It’s not fraud for one to visit a girlfriend/boyfriend/fiancé(e) or to marry said person. What would be fraud, is him coming over with intent to adjust status after getting married, meaning he cannot come and marry you with the intent to stay in the US and not go back to the UK. THAT is the part that is fraud. He can come and visit you for sure. But before you can proceed with any visa, he must first get his divorce sorted out. Then your options will be K1 or CR1.

Time apart is unavoidable in this process. The reality is that you will have to spent some time away from each other as he cannot come to the US with intent to stay here. He can visit but he can’t stay. So time apart is going to happen. We all go through it and it sucks. But we all survive. If you truly love each other and really want to be together then you will be able to pull through the process no matter how difficult it may be. It is trying and it requires a lot of patience but all of us here go through it