AOS after marriage to USC and entry with ESTA while K1 pending

[NikLR 13,227]

9 minutes ago, Calicolom said:

They are visitors visas, not marriage visas. 

You do not need a specific visa to be married in the USA.  

[TBoneTX 45,329]

Stop the bickering, please.  The post in question can only serve to indirectly promote unauthorized work (whether the OP's case is actually unauthorized or not is not clear).  Avoid recommending anything potentially against the law.

[Loren Y 2,755]

Why wait 2-3 weeks, I can have you married and certificate in hand in under an hour. Time for a visit to Vegas!!! people in LA have been waiting over 6 weeks for their marriage certificate, not sure where you live, PM me if you need married quickly. And the remote work thing is a really grey area as even though it may be possible or even allowed thru USCIS and in the eyes of immigration they are the least of your worries. The IRS has no grey areas or leeway in their rules. I will have to check again, but I believe if you are a foreigner and make more than 3000 US dollars or so while on US soil, you are required to report the income, and pay taxes on it. I would be more concerned about the IRS than USCIS. I am not sure the exact amount, but it is a low amount. Getting on their bad side is not good.

[GoodThinking 9]

3 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

Why wait 2-3 weeks, I can have you married and certificate in hand in under an hour. Time for a visit to Vegas!!! people in LA have been waiting over 6 weeks for their marriage certificate, not sure where you live, PM me if you need married quickly. And the remote work thing is a really grey area as even though it may be possible or even allowed thru USCIS and in the eyes of immigration they are the least of your worries. The IRS has no grey areas or leeway in their rules. I will have to check again, but I believe if you are a foreigner and make more than 3000 US dollars or so while on US soil, you are required to report the income, and pay taxes on it. I would be more concerned about the IRS than USCIS. I am not sure the exact amount, but it is a low amount. Getting on their bad side is not good.

Haha! You're the first one telling me that. I live in LA, the governer issued an order to allow marriage licenses to be issued remotely, that was on april 30...yesterday, in LA, they still hadn't "processed" the order (their words! no kidding!), they told us to go to Orange County and there's a 3 week wait there...so we're hopping LA gets their together by the time my esta expires otherwise we'll definitely consider Vegas!

As for work, I never ever planned on not reporting the income to the IRS. If anything I just wanted to know if it was allowed and if doing it would get my AOS denied. I will not play dangerous games with the IRS 😉
Thank you for your reply Loren!

[Scandi 4,166]

43 minutes ago, Decourty said:

Haha! You're the first one telling me that. I live in LA, the governer issued an order to allow marriage licenses to be issued remotely, that was on april 30...yesterday, in LA, they still hadn't "processed" the order (their words! no kidding!), they told us to go to Orange County and there's a 3 week wait there...so we're hopping LA gets their together by the time my esta expires otherwise we'll definitely consider Vegas!

As for work, I never ever planned on not reporting the income to the IRS. If anything I just wanted to know if it was allowed and if doing it would get my AOS denied. I will not play dangerous games with the IRS 😉
Thank you for your reply Loren!

It's not just about the marriage license, it's also about marriage certificate. In L.A. county it takes 6-8 weeks just to have your marriage recorded and to get the marriage certificate. This certificate is needed to file for AOS. So this means that if you decide to get married in L.A. then you won't be able to file for AOS until ~2 months after the wedding. 

 

It's DEFINITELY worth a trip to Vegas if you can get your certificate right after the wedding, it's just ~4 hours to get there by car.

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

13 hours ago, Decourty said:

Certain adjustment bars do not apply to an immediate relative, including the spouse or child (unmarried and under 21 years old) of a U.S. citizen, and the parent of a U.S. citizen older than 21.

An adjustment applicant applying as an immediate relative may be eligible to adjust status even if:

• The applicant is now employed or has ever been employed in the United States without authorization;
• The applicant is not in lawful immigration status on the date he or she files the adjustment application;
• The applicant has ever failed to continuously maintain a lawful status since entry into the United States;
• The applicant was last admitted to Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) as a visitor under the Guam or CNMI Visa Waiver Program and is not a Canadian citizen;
• The applicant was last admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant visitor without a visa under the Visa Waiver Program; or
• The applicant has ever violated the terms of his or her nonimmigrant status.

@portorusa That's what I read here and it's been confirmed by people in my case before

Why would you want to complicate your case by doing something that goes against the conditions of AOS just because it may be forgivable if married to a USC?

 

Immigration is hard and long enough for straight forward cases without having to explain why you kept working, overstayed or the need to applie for waivers etc?

 

I think the other point to remember is the word “MAY” it dosent necessarily mean “CAN” and is left up the officer finalising your case to accept the reasons provided by you for not following the rules 100%. 

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

3 hours ago, Calicolom said:

They are visitors visas, not marriage visas. 

You don’t need a visa to get married 

[geowrian 22,337]

If working soon after arrival to the US is a priority or critical to one's career or financial status, then AOS is probably not the optimal way to go (and neither is a K-1 since it has AOS as well).

Whether one believes it is in their individual or even the nation's interests to continue work is a moot point.

[Ryan H 3,812]

***Posts violating the TOS (profanity, abusive language) removed along with posts quoting; Administrative Action taken.***