Fee Changes inviting illegal immigration?

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

Why has everyone in the post assumed the person visiting the US intended fraud? My wife visited me before we were married and I begged her to marry me here but she wanted to have all her family at our wedding. We did marry in the US just inside the US border and all her family have B1/B2 visas. We went through the K3 process but if I would have known at the time she was visiting me that all I had to do was AOS and not spend time apart I would have done it in a second. It is not against the law, she had no intent when she left home to not go back but if I could have convinced her to marry me it would have been fully legal for her to stay. I spent a lot of money traveling back and forth to visit during the process. If the loophole is only the consulate checking their police records when not have the consulate do this during the AOS stage? Some countries dont even require the police report for K visas anyway. We are all here for the same reason and that is to get our spouse or family here as quickly as the law will allow. If someone finds a faster way within the law good for them, why didnt the rest of us think of it first! Look at tax loopholes, I will bet that every single american that can take advantage of it will. How many people here choose to not deduct things like interest on their homes? We all do because we can and if they took this away we would all scream! Even if we know that we may have gotten a second to pay off credit cards or a car, or a boat that you typically cannot deduct but because of a loophole we do deduct our interest.

[no name 1]

Why has everyone in the post assumed the person visiting the US intended fraud?

No one did????

We'd been talking about if she left (knowing she was engaged) then returned & got married on a visitor's visa.

[Clarky and Tarah 0]

Why has everyone in the post assumed the person visiting the US intended fraud? My wife visited me before we were married and I begged her to marry me here but she wanted to have all her family at our wedding. We did marry in the US just inside the US border and all her family have B1/B2 visas. We went through the K3 process but if I would have known at the time she was visiting me that all I had to do was AOS and not spend time apart I would have done it in a second. It is not against the law, she had no intent when she left home to not go back but if I could have convinced her to marry me it would have been fully legal for her to stay. I spent a lot of money traveling back and forth to visit during the process. If the loophole is only the consulate checking their police records when not have the consulate do this during the AOS stage? Some countries dont even require the police report for K visas anyway. We are all here for the same reason and that is to get our spouse or family here as quickly as the law will allow. If someone finds a faster way within the law good for them, why didnt the rest of us think of it first! Look at tax loopholes, I will bet that every single american that can take advantage of it will. How many people here choose to not deduct things like interest on their homes? We all do because we can and if they took this away we would all scream! Even if we know that we may have gotten a second to pay off credit cards or a car, or a boat that you typically cannot deduct but because of a loophole we do deduct our interest.

I think it's fine to immediately file for AOS if you're doing it spontaneously. I didn't know about that either, and could have easily filed for it when my fiance was here, since we had absolutely no plan of getting married. I'm thrilled that some people can avoid the painful process of waiting for a K-1 visa. I think it sucks, though, when people intentionally lie and break the law just so they don't have to be apart, while those that follow the law get the crappy end of the deal. Why do some people think they are so special that they should be above the law?

[Sky007 0]

Why has everyone in the post assumed the person visiting the US intended fraud?

Well...it worked out the same for me, we came to America on vacation and decided to stay. I decided to go back to school...preferred her to stay here with me as we haven't been apart in many years.

We found out that we could do it. The way it was stated to us was that you aren't really supposed to do it that way. But, of course, that's what we were told by the same people that we should have done.

I am the person that started this thread. I wanted opinions and I got them. I wanted to know if anyone else had done this or if anyone wished they had...and sure, there are both.

I also wanted to know if people thought that the price increases would encourage more people to go around the K1/K3 visa process.

However, I had already sent my fiancée back home before I joined this forum. We did come here for a vacation, and we got it, and did what we came for...only plans changed--I didn’t leave and she couldn't stay.

[Now I know she could have.]

Others insist that if I didn't want to pay, then I shouldn’t be married. Well, my relationship has been going for years (most of it now living together). I never said I couldn't or wouldn't pay...I said it was an expensive process and getting more expensive. Skipping straight to an AOS wouldn't have cut much of that price. It wasn't an issue.

As I said before, I wouldn't fault anyone for getting married here on any visa and hoping right to an AOS. I have met people who have.

As for encouraging illegal immigration...well, it's interesting to hear what America thinks. (I've been assimilated elsewhere and have only seen news or heard ranting from a few.) I still feel that immigration in this case is different from people coming here just for work or lifestyle…it’s about love and relationships. This has been a good thread to find out which is really more important in the eyes of this forum’s members.

[Sky007 0]

I think it sucks, though, when people intentionally lie and break the law just so they don't have to be apart, while those that follow the law get the crappy end of the deal. Why do some people think they are so special that they should be above the law?

You'd be surprised just how well consular officers in American embassies around the world can spot people with alternative intentions.

I have met several women who intended to come here for just that reason, and they weren't issued visas. In fact, they are especially suspicious in certain regions of the world. (Having lived in one of those, I've met many people turned down with both good intentions and fraudulant intentions--male and female.)

[Yodrak 7]

Note Part 3, Question 1, of the I-485. At the adjustment interview the USCIS officer will go over the I-485 and have the applicant affirm all of the answers given.

A misrepresentation may or may not be discovered during the adjustment process, but if a misrepresentation is made and is discovered later the consequences could be severe. Misrepresentation is often a more serious offense than the item that was misrepresented. There may be waivers for many offenses, but I don't think there is a waiver for making a material misrepresentation that was not corrected when it could have been.

Anyone who has questions about what they should or should not report on their I-485 should have a consultation with an experienced immigration attorney to review their situation and get professional advice on how to deal with it.

Yodrak

.....

I tell what is different - they won't have to produce a police report and relatively minor offenses in their home country (such as drugs and petty crime) which would normally require a waiver are unlikely to come up in the FBI name clearance.

.....

.....

Do you think the relatively minor offenses in the home country need to be brought up in the process? If they fall below what the FBI would catch? Not sure from the way you phrased the statement.