UK to US Visa Free, IS marriage allowed

[FFXImomma 0]

He is waiting on his passport in the UK now, we were told he could come to the US Visa Free for 90 days, is this true? And if so can we get married if we decide then and he apply to stay from here? Another thing is there is a big age difference me being the older, will that be a problem? We are buying a round trip ticket as it says we have to do for Visa Free, and he is not leaving his job just incase he has to go back.

so Question #1. Is Visa Free from the UK to the US legal?

Question #2. Can we get married and him apply from the US and stay or will he have to return does anyone know?

Question #3. Will our age difference play a factor?

[jundp 191]

Hi FXI, I'll try to help until someone with vastly more knowledge than I comes in and saves the day

In answer to number 1:

Fact Sheet

The Visa Waiver Program and

Biometric and Machine-Readable Passport Requirements

Visa Waiver Program (VWP) travel will soon be affected by several changes concerning passports valid for travel to the United States and U.S. port of entry processing. These measures are aimed at improving security and facilitation of travel. Additionally, the deadline by which VWP countries must produce biometric passports has been delayed for one year.

The following 27 countries are currently in the VWP: Andorra, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (for citizens with the unrestricted right of permanent abode in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man).

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1256.html

Question 2: He can enter and get married, but then he should return to UK and you apply for a K3 spousal visa. I have read on here that it's possible for him to stay, but you may have problems proving that you didn't commit visa fraud when it comes time to adjust status. Coming to the US and intending to get married and stay here (i.e. immigrate) without using a fiance visa, is visa fraud.

QUestion 3: I suppose it depends on many factors. How big is your age difference? I am 10 years older than my fiance, but I'm not worried about the age difference. We have an established relationship and plenty of proof of this. I have read quite a few people on VJ say that their age difference didn't cause problems, but I've also read the opposite.

Again, if I didn't really help, I am sure someone else will come along who can help you more. I'm just beginning my journey and the people here have been a great help. But nothing replaces doing lots of research on your own! The guides here are really helpful, and actually, so is the USCIS website (or it was for me anyway). Good luck!

[FFXImomma 0]

Thanks so much for your answers, we were hoping he could stay once he got here, because of the financial burden but if not then he will return.

[MargotDarko 0]

Thanks so much for your answers, we were hoping he could stay once he got here, because of the financial burden but if not then he will return.

It would be illegal for him to stay if he did not enter on the appropriate visa. Some people, even some lawyers, will tell you it's possible - and it is possible, as people have done it - but it's not the right thing to do.

Depending on your job/financial situation in the US, you could consider returning to the UK with him after the wedding in the US. This is what my English husband and I did. The US to UK immigration process is pretty expensive but exceptionally fast and easy for legitimate couples. If you did it by mail, it would take around a month after the wedding. If you went in person (Chicago, LA and New York are the only places with offices), you could do everything, even the wedding, within two weeks. Then there wouldn't be any separation after the wedding.

Once in the UK, you could either immediately file with a US service center as long as you have a friend or family member with a US address you can trust. Or you could wait six months and then file directly with the London USCIS office, which would then take around another six months for your husband to have an immigrant visa.

Living expenses in the UK are higher, and your situation in the US may just not allow for that, but perhaps it's something to consider.

[homesick_american 1]

He is waiting on his passport in the UK now, we were told he could come to the US Visa Free for 90 days, is this true? And if so can we get married if we decide then and he apply to stay from here? Another thing is there is a big age difference me being the older, will that be a problem? We are buying a round trip ticket as it says we have to do for Visa Free, and he is not leaving his job just incase he has to go back.

so Question #1. Is Visa Free from the UK to the US legal?

Question #2. Can we get married and him apply from the US and stay or will he have to return does anyone know?

Question #3. Will our age difference play a factor?

He can come to the USA without a visa; it's called the VWP, or visa waiver program, and the UK participates. However, he DOES need a passport. They won't even let him on the plane in the UK without one, or at least they shouldn't.

He can marry you in the USA without a fiance visa but it can't be the primary purpose of his visit. If he tells the immigration folks that he's getting married and doesn't have a fiance visa, they may send him home.

He will have to return to the UK for the K-3/CR1 process. He cannot stay in the USA to adjust status.

Your age difference won't be a factor right now, but it could be down the road. How big of an age difference are we talking about?

Another poster recommended relocating to the UK. Having just left the UK after spending six years there, I would not recommend it at all. Living expenses are obscene there.

Edited July 5, 2007 by homesick_american

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Another poster recommended relocating to the UK. Having just left the UK after spending six years there, I would not recommend it at all. Living expenses are obscene there.

The UK is a wonderful place to live and work.... it has a lot of history and culture and the people are friendly... do let one persons bad expirence put anyone off thinking about the UK as a option of somewhere good to live....

Kez

[homesick_american 1]

Another poster recommended relocating to the UK. Having just left the UK after spending six years there, I would not recommend it at all. Living expenses are obscene there.

The UK is a wonderful place to live and work.... it has a lot of history and culture and the people are friendly... do let one persons bad expirence put anyone off thinking about the UK as a option of somewhere good to live....

Kez

Well if it's that great, maybe she should just relocate there permanently.

Personally I think it's silly to move to another country just to speed up a visa application by a few months because it's extremely expensive and stressful to move overseas. I know a bit about this, having done it twice already.

The USA is also a wonderful place to live and work...it ALSO has a lot of history, since things did happen here before Europeans arrived, and we have a massive variety of cultures, languages, etc. here. I think the USA is more diverse than the UK. Dallas is certainly more diverse than York!!!! I'll never live in the UK again; couldn't pay me enough money.

[MargotDarko 0]

Another poster recommended relocating to the UK. Having just left the UK after spending six years there, I would not recommend it at all. Living expenses are obscene there.

The UK is a wonderful place to live and work.... it has a lot of history and culture and the people are friendly... do let one persons bad expirence put anyone off thinking about the UK as a option of somewhere good to live....

Kez

I agree. Depsite the living cost (which I've found it only really bad for housing, eating out and electricial goods), I've loved my experience here in the UK these past two years getting to know my husband's culture and spending time with his family and friends.

When my husband came to the US and we married and then returned to the UK, he bluntly told the immigration officer that he was there to marry me and then we were going to go live in the UK. He brought a letter from his uni and copy of our lease, but she didn't even ask to see it.

[MargotDarko 0]

Another poster recommended relocating to the UK. Having just left the UK after spending six years there, I would not recommend it at all. Living expenses are obscene there.

The UK is a wonderful place to live and work.... it has a lot of history and culture and the people are friendly... do let one persons bad expirence put anyone off thinking about the UK as a option of somewhere good to live....

Kez

Well if it's that great, maybe she should just relocate there permanently.

Personally I think it's silly to move to another country just to speed up a visa application by a few months because it's extremely expensive and stressful to move overseas. I know a bit about this, having done it twice already.

The USA is also a wonderful place to live and work...it ALSO has a lot of history, since things did happen here before Europeans arrived, and we have a massive variety of cultures, languages, etc. here. I think the USA is more diverse than the UK. Dallas is certainly more diverse than York!!!! I'll never live in the UK again; couldn't pay me enough money.

It wasn't a suggestion to speed up the process. It would actually take roughly the same time. It was a suggestion to not be separated and to have the experience of the country where her future husband grew up and lives.

[homesick_american 1]

Another poster recommended relocating to the UK. Having just left the UK after spending six years there, I would not recommend it at all. Living expenses are obscene there.

The UK is a wonderful place to live and work.... it has a lot of history and culture and the people are friendly... do let one persons bad expirence put anyone off thinking about the UK as a option of somewhere good to live....

Kez

I agree. Depsite the living cost (which I've found it only really bad for housing, eating out and electricial goods), I've loved my experience here in the UK these past two years getting to know my husband's culture and spending time with his family and friends.

When my husband came to the US and we married and then returned to the UK, he bluntly told the immigration officer that he was there to marry me and then we were going to go live in the UK. He brought a letter from his uni and copy of our lease, but she didn't even ask to see it.

Plenty of Americans like living in the UK, but not all of us. A childhood friend of mine lives in Mayfair in London and likes it OK; her American husband adores it because he makes more money in the City than he could in the USA, but that's not usually the case. It's easy to like life in the UK when you're pulling in millions of pounds a year and live in one of London's swankiest neighborhoods.

I'm just expressing my opinion and I don't see any need to sugarcoat it; some people really don't like living in the UK, Brits included, and I think a variety of opinions is helpful when making such a monumental decision.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

The cost of living really depends on where you live in the US and where you live in the UK - there can be much cheaper rents to be had in London than in NYC for example. I initially moved to Nottingham from Boston and found it much cheaper overall.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

I moved from Scotland to Boston and it costs me 3 x more to live here in Boston than it did in Scotland.....

Kez

[homesick_american 1]

The cost of living really depends on where you live in the US and where you live in the UK - there can be much cheaper rents to be had in London than in NYC for example. I initially moved to Nottingham from Boston and found it much cheaper overall.

Boston's really expensive, though. I live in Dallas and have always lived in Texas in the USA, so the UK is severe sticker shock for me.

Nottingham's also not really that expensive, relatively speaking. There are much spendier places in the UK. My soon-to-be-ex-sister-in-law lives in Nottingham and it's cheaper than York.

[TimsDaisy 0]

He is waiting on his passport in the UK now, we were told he could come to the US Visa Free for 90 days, is this true? And if so can we get married if we decide then and he apply to stay from here? Another thing is there is a big age difference me being the older, will that be a problem? We are buying a round trip ticket as it says we have to do for Visa Free, and he is not leaving his job just incase he has to go back.

so Question #1. Is Visa Free from the UK to the US legal?

Question #2. Can we get married and him apply from the US and stay or will he have to return does anyone know?

Question #3. Will our age difference play a factor?

1.) As mentioned, the Visa Waiver Program is a widely used way for people from many countries to visit participating countries. You get 90 days (or whatever they feel like allowing you, up to 90 days) to visit and then you must leave or file an document requesting an extention.

2.) If he enters intending to marry you and (this is key) REMAIN in the United States, he needs to use the proper visa to do so. The Visa Waiver Program is not intended to be a short cut to immigration. If he enters intending to visit, then he is using the VWP appropriately. People who have entered under the VWP have married and adjusted status successfully. But some others have not. It's a fine line between a "risk" and fraud. Since - and I sincerely don't mean this as snark - you are invovled in a relationship with a non-US citizen and you know nothing about the VWP, a very, very basic tool, I think before anyone flies anywhere or does anything, you need to start some heavy-duty research. Go to www.uscis.gov and start from there. Then come back here and read the Guides and the FAQ sections of this site. Then read and think some more.

3.) How much older? There's no legal requirement regarding ages, so long as both of you are old enough to legally marry. But it can raise eyebrows and get you some extra questions because, culturally, both countries are less predisposed to accept an age gap where the woman is older. Sucky, but a fact.

But there are some other issues not explicitly stated in your post that could make things much more difficult for you - especially if you ended up in the #2 situation where he comes here under the VWP and you end up married trying to adjust status that way.

Have you met in person before? Have you ever seen this guy in the flesh? He's never been out of the UK it seems, since he has no passport. Did you meet him in person over there? Been to the UK?

It's not necessarily how the authorities would see things, but, if you have a significantly younger foreigner arriving and marrying a person he's never seen in person before . . . . could raise a flag (and I'm usually not one to warn of red-flag-waving).

Be careful and do your homework on this before either of you make huge financial, emotional, and legal commitments that you may regret later.

[homesick_american 1]

He is waiting on his passport in the UK now, we were told he could come to the US Visa Free for 90 days, is this true? And if so can we get married if we decide then and he apply to stay from here? Another thing is there is a big age difference me being the older, will that be a problem? We are buying a round trip ticket as it says we have to do for Visa Free, and he is not leaving his job just incase he has to go back.

so Question #1. Is Visa Free from the UK to the US legal?

Question #2. Can we get married and him apply from the US and stay or will he have to return does anyone know?

Question #3. Will our age difference play a factor?

1.) As mentioned, the Visa Waiver Program is a widely used way for people from many countries to visit participating countries. You get 90 days (or whatever they feel like allowing you, up to 90 days) to visit and then you must leave or file an document requesting an extention.

2.) If he enters intending to marry you and (this is key) REMAIN in the United States, he needs to use the proper visa to do so. The Visa Waiver Program is not intended to be a short cut to immigration. If he enters intending to visit, then he is using the VWP appropriately. People who have entered under the VWP have married and adjusted status successfully. But some others have not. It's a fine line between a "risk" and fraud. Since - and I sincerely don't mean this as snark - you are invovled in a relationship with a non-US citizen and you know nothing about the VWP, a very, very basic tool, I think before anyone flies anywhere or does anything, you need to start some heavy-duty research. Go to www.uscis.gov and start from there. Then come back here and read the Guides and the FAQ sections of this site. Then read and think some more.

3.) How much older? There's no legal requirement regarding ages, so long as both of you are old enough to legally marry. But it can raise eyebrows and get you some extra questions because, culturally, both countries are less predisposed to accept an age gap where the woman is older. Sucky, but a fact.

But there are some other issues not explicitly stated in your post that could make things much more difficult for you - especially if you ended up in the #2 situation where he comes here under the VWP and you end up married trying to adjust status that way.

Have you met in person before? Have you ever seen this guy in the flesh? He's never been out of the UK it seems, since he has no passport. Did you meet him in person over there? Been to the UK?

It's not necessarily how the authorities would see things, but, if you have a significantly younger foreigner arriving and marrying a person he's never seen in person before . . . . could raise a flag (and I'm usually not one to warn of red-flag-waving).

Be careful and do your homework on this before either of you make huge financial, emotional, and legal commitments that you may regret later.

All excellent advice.