B1/B2 to Spouse Visa in Texas

[AmericanGuy 0]

B1/B2 to Spouse Visa. Is this possible? An immigration lawyer quoted us $4000 and a 4 month process.

 

Would she be able to begin working during the process? Could we start a business together?

 

I married (Civil Union) my wife in Colombia 1.5 years ago. She is a civil engineer so I want to get her a job asap in Texas. We entered the US in NY from Paris on March 3rd. We got married here in Texas on March 19. This wasn't our intention when we entered the US. We were deciding between going back to Colombia or trying to get an HB1 visa for her to work. Things got hairy and now we are just trying to ride out this situation at my parents house. 

 

Thank you for your wisdom.

 

May god bless you and your family.

[SalishSea 18,169]

She can adjust status (see the guides here on VJ).  She cannot work until she has a work permit, which, pre-pandemic, was taking 5.5 - 7.5 months on average.  No one can say what wait times will be, going forward.

 

The fee is $1225.  Do you have a job and are you up to date on your US taxes?  You will need to read up on the financial requirements for sponsoring her.

 

No lawyer is needed, if it is a straightforward case.  Most of us here have done it all ourselves, with the help of this website.

 

Good luck!

[SalishSea 18,169]

17 minutes ago, AmericanGuy said:

I married (Civil Union) my wife in Colombia 1.5 years ago. She is a civil engineer so I want to get her a job asap in Texas. We entered the US in NY from Paris on March 3rd. We got married here in Texas on March 19.

Btw, I don't understand this.  Married is married, regardless of where it takes place.  You will need your marriage certificate and her birth cert from Colombia.

[arken 4,197]

Did she put married or unmarried during B2 visa application?

[Boiler 46,198]

I do not think Texas allowed you to marry somebody you were already married to? I believe NY does, however the Colombian marriage is the one that counts for Immigration purposes. Was she married when she applied for the B2 and if so did she declare her marital status.

[AmericanGuy 0]

I do have a job and am up to date on my taxes. 

 

I read that our type of marriage didn't count for some reason. 

 

Thank you so much.

 

We will file and hopefully keep you posted

[AmericanGuy 0]

2 minutes ago, arken said:

Did she put married or unmarried during B2 visa application?

She put unmarried. She got that visa to visit my family 1 year before we got married.

4 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I do not think Texas allowed you to marry somebody you were already married to? I believe NY does, however the Colombian marriage is the one that counts for Immigration purposes. Was she married when she applied for the B2 and if so did she declare her marital status.

We made it happen. We were not married when she applied for the B2. This was a year before we got married

[TBoneTX 46,206]

Thread is moved from the K-3 Process forum to the "AOS from WS&T Visas" main forum.

[Diane and Chris 651]

The way I see it is that you were already married when she came to the US. Was she asked anything related to that when she entered?  Good luck. 

[Sparkle Sparkle 914]

It does not matter since she was unmarried when she got the visa... And she was not asked if she was married at POE... She can do AOS. However what matters is what was her intent when she entered? She was and I believe the 90 days rule applies here. 

[Boiler 46,198]

90 day rule is a myth that refuses to go away.

[geowrian 22,338]

10 minutes ago, Sparkle Sparkle said:

It does not matter since she was unmarried when she got the visa... And she was not asked if she was married at POE... She can do AOS. However what matters is what was her intent when she entered? She was and I believe the 90 days rule applies here. 

No such thing as a 90 day rule for AOS.

I have no idea how you can know that she was not asked about her marital status at POE. It's unlikely IMO (I was never asked but I have heard a handful of people asked this over the years), but it is a potentially relevant question to their admissibility for AOS purposes.

[AmericanGuy 0]

9 hours ago, Diane and Chris said:

The way I see it is that you were already married when she came to the US. Was she asked anything related to that when she entered?  Good luck. 

She wasn't asked about her marital status when she entered.

8 hours ago, geowrian said:

No such thing as a 90 day rule for AOS.

I have no idea how you can know that she was not asked about her marital status at POE. It's unlikely IMO (I was never asked but I have heard a handful of people asked this over the years), but it is a potentially relevant question to their admissibility for AOS purposes.

She was not asked about her marital status when she entered.

[geowrian 22,338]

45 minutes ago, AmericanGuy said:

She was not asked about her marital status when she entered.

I see no known issues with doing AOS then.

[carmel34 3,657]

12 hours ago, AmericanGuy said:

a 4 month process.

 

Would she be able to begin working during the process?

She's looking at a much longer period of time than 4 months, not able to work, not able to leave the country and re-enter, most likely 6-8 months minimum, while waiting for EAD/AP.  It could be much longer than that because of the backlog that is currently piling up in UCSIS offices.  And it's amazing to me that attorneys routinely collect $4,000 for filling out forms and sending them in when you can easily do them yourselves.  Good luck!