Fiancé vs Spouse Visa (merged)

[MacNCheese999 0]

43 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

If you are ready to leave your life in the Philippines behind, and endure not being able to work and travel freely for 6 months up to year or more, then it is a legal option for you now to marry and adjust status (ie. apply for a green card) while you are in the US.  You and your USC girlfriend should decide as soon as possible before your I-94 expires.

 

 

14 minutes ago, Adventine said:

 

You don't even need to overstay. You can choose to get married and file your Adjustment of Status packet ASAP, before your I-94 expires. That will put you in a period of authorized stay and you won't accrue any illegal presence while you wait for your work/travel permits and/or green card.

 

Just be aware that you will not be able to work legally or travel internationally until you get at least the work and travel permits (EAD and AP).

 

If someone in the Philippines has an emergency and you fly back without Advanced Parole or a green card, you wouldn't be able to easily return to the US. Your Adjustment of Status would be deemed abandoned and you would have to start from scratch with a spousal visa application.

 

If you have a job, assets or dependents to take care of in the Philippines and have no one who can handle these affairs while you're in the US indefinitely, then Adjustment of Status is not the best choice.

Oh I had to mention overstaying because I mentioned in the immigration I'm only gonna be here for a month (because I had to take an exam), and that was what was stamped on my passport. Now that I'm here, my partner doesn't want me to go home anymore.

 

I know it is DEFINITELY a bad idea to get married in under a month of entering, that's why I wanted to proceed with the K-1 or CR-1. And that led me to asking about potentially overstaying and just getting married here.

[Adventine 3,201]

Your intent was determined by CBP at the border. Provided that you didn't lie about anything, you are in the clear to adjust status at any time, if you want. 

[Redro 4,611]

6 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

There are a non-trivial number of countries where legally marrying a foreigner takes a lot of time, money, and/or paperwork AND where it's quite difficult for young singles to get US tourist visas (so you could marry in the US instead). Doing a third-country wedding adds additional expense and takes time.

 

In normal times, doing a K-1 is usually cheaper, faster, and more straightforward than adding a visit in a third country to actually get married and then doing a CR-1. So if the facts on the ground were the same as they were when we filed (aka the Moscow embassy was open, and petition to interview was about nine months faster for a K-1 on average), I'd still advise people with a Russian fiancé(e) to do a K-1 unless they were currently living with their fiancé(e) in Russia as long as they were well aware of the downsides and were okay with them. But they are not; processing times from petition to interview are similar right now, and with the Moscow embassy closed and random covid-related closures still happening all over the world a spouse has a lot more rights than a fiancé(e).

The Utah marriage addresses the difficulty of marrying in the beneficiary's country/ finding a 3rd country to marry in. 

It really is a game changer. 

 

 

 

[Redro 4,611]

2 hours ago, MacNCheese999 said:

 

Oh I had to mention overstaying because I mentioned in the immigration I'm only gonna be here for a month (because I had to take an exam), and that was what was stamped on my passport. Now that I'm here, my partner doesn't want me to go home anymore.

 

I know it is DEFINITELY a bad idea to get married in under a month of entering, that's why I wanted to proceed with the K-1 or CR-1. And that led me to asking about potentially overstaying and just getting married here.

When does your stay expire? 

There is nothing wrong with getting married so soon after entry (especially if you plan on returning to the Philippines)  

If you decide to adjust or go through consular processing, I would marry ASAP in the US. Then make the decision of whether or not you are comfortable with staying the in US. 

[MacNCheese999 0]

On 1/24/2022 at 4:59 PM, Kor2USA said:

When does your stay expire? 

There is nothing wrong with getting married so soon after entry (especially if you plan on returning to the Philippines)  

If you decide to adjust or go through consular processing, I would marry ASAP in the US. Then make the decision of whether or not you are comfortable with staying the in US. 

I got about 2 1/2 more weeks. We're also considering applying for an I-94 extension.

 

Won't there be concerns like automatically being considered as a marriage of convenience if we get married and applied for AOS immediately?

Some friends of my partner at work mentioned something about getting married, but not applying for AOS just yet. Let time pass and then apply for AOS?

[Chancy 6,243]

43 minutes ago, MacNCheese999 said:

Won't there be concerns like automatically being considered as a marriage of convenience if we get married and applied for AOS immediately?

 

As long as you can provide evidence of bona fide marriage at the time of your AOS interview, that should not be a concern.

 

A bigger concern in your case is what you told CBP when you entered the US.  No one but CBP knows exactly what info they recorded at your entry.  If you told CBP that you must return to the Philippines because you have an exam to take when in fact you don't, US immigration officials may be able to dig up evidence of lying to CBP.

 

[MacNCheese999 0]

8 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

As long as you can provide evidence of bona fide marriage at the time of your AOS interview, that should not be a concern.

 

A bigger concern in your case is what you told CBP when you entered the US.  No one but CBP knows exactly what info they recorded at your entry.  If you told CBP that you must return to the Philippines because you have an exam to take when in fact you don't, US immigration officials may be able to dig up evidence of lying to CBP.

 

Oh, the exam is here in the US. I actually told them the truth so even if they ask me again, there won't be any problems on that matter.

 

Ok I guess we'll have to start preparing for things. Thank you guys for all the help!

[MacNCheese999 0]

Background: the plan was to originally stay for 5 months (visit my girlfriend of 3 years, take some exams, do some medical rotations), but upon entering, I was very unprepared. I was grilled in the interview room and almost didn't get in. He gave me 1 month to stay and had me change my return flight on the spot.

 

Question: now that I'm here, my girlfriend doesn't want me to go home anymore. She's also very much against going back with me to my home country. She wants to exhaust all options here before considering going back to my home country to do things properly. So, what do you guys think are our OTHER options here?

 

1. Just get married right now? (I think this is bad because we maybe automatically considered as fraud?)

2. Try to file for an extension, get married later? (Will that even make a difference)

 

Any advice would be great. Thank you!

[Boiler 45,899]

What basis would you have filing for an extension?

[Daphne . 1,913]

So you are thinking about getting married and adjusting status so you can stay in the US? If yes: You can do that but you are aware that you will not be able to work or leave the US for several months? 

[JeanneAdil 6,606]

 going back to my home country to do things properly. 

 

That statement should be your clue

 

Talk to her

explain u can marry ( to reassure her u are committed ) but u must return home for her to process the CR1

 

and u were already grilled about the possibility that u might think to stay

people do marry and AOS but you have promised a CSB officer that ur intention was to return home

and with AOS u can not work for over a year till EAD card is approved 

Does she know u could not work?

does she know she would have to pay for marketplace health insurance?

does she know the AOS process is expensive?

Can she support u and the petition to take care of your needs?

 

Marry,  go back home and do this right 

[Daphne . 1,913]

12 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

 going back to my home country to do things properly. 

 

That statement should be your clue

 

Talk to her

explain u can marry ( to reassure her u are committed ) but u must return home for her to process the CR1

 

and u were already grilled about the possibility that u might think to stay

people do marry and AOS but you have promised a CSB officer that ur intention was to return home

and with AOS u can not work for over a year till EAD card is approved 

Does she know u could not work?

does she know she would have to pay for marketplace health insurance?

does she know the AOS process is expensive?

Can she support u and the petition to take care of your needs?

 

Marry,  go back home and do this right 

Absolutely agree with this! Adjusting status may look like a great idea on the short term but it will also be a very inequal relationship until you are able to work (and as mentioned before, this will take several months). How comfortable are you with having to be fully dependent of others? 
 

Getting settled in a new country is hard enough as it is, having very little independence is going to make it even harder..

[Mike E 11,742]

1 hour ago, MacNCheese999 said:

, take some exams,

exams for what and from whom?

 

1 hour ago, MacNCheese999 said:

 

do some medical rotations),  

You mean you planned to work in the USA?

[SalishSea 18,064]

1 hour ago, MacNCheese999 said:

Background: the plan was to originally stay for 5 months (visit my girlfriend of 3 years, take some exams, do some medical rotations), but upon entering, I was very unprepared. I was grilled in the interview room and almost didn't get in. He gave me 1 month to stay and had me change my return flight on the spot.

 

Question: now that I'm here, my girlfriend doesn't want me to go home anymore. She's also very much against going back with me to my home country. She wants to exhaust all options here before considering going back to my home country to do things properly. So, what do you guys think are our OTHER options here?

 

1. Just get married right now? (I think this is bad because we maybe automatically considered as fraud?)

2. Try to file for an extension, get married later? (Will that even make a difference)

 

Any advice would be great. Thank you!

You now want to do exactly what CBP was afraid you were coming in to do……🤭

[Rocio0010 5,599]

2 hours ago, MacNCheese999 said:

medical rotations

On a tourist visa??

If so, yeah no wonder they grilled you. You’re actually luck they let you in!