Can my UK girlfriend and I get married and file for an AOS while she's in the US on an ESTA? We don't want to risk her getting banned or anything along those lines. So would it be safer to just to go ahead with the IR-1 process?

[SalishSea 18,225]

8 hours ago, RedUKFriend said:

We're in the US together right now and we hadn't planned on getting married during her visit here, but after some research we're finding that may be the best option. We want to live and work together but she would either need to file an AOS while she's currently here, or we go through the much lengthier IR-1 process and begin it when she returns. I've heard that filing the AOS during her stay before 90 days of being in the US can be dangerous but I'm not sure what the dangers are or if it is something we'd really be in jeopardy of if we hired a lawyer and never intended to get married until she was here. 

 

We want to navigate this in the safest way possible. Our top priorities in order are

1) Not get her banned from the US.

2) Have her be able to work with me and live with me in the US.

3) Minimize her time spent abroad.

 

 

So we're looking at our options and trying to move forward. Any suggestions or advice would be very helpful!

 

As long as she did not lie at the border about her intent, you shouldn't have to worry.

[Krishetngjbc 2]

On 1/22/2025 at 6:12 PM, SalishSea said:

Also she should keep in mind that it can take months and months to get a travel document, so if she needs to leave in an emergency, she would have to abandon the adjustment process.

Yes, absolutely you must have evidence of this.

Am I right in the assumption that if the AOS process is abandoned by the applicant travelling back to their home country after overstaying their ESTA by many months, if the applicant tried to reenter the USA would they be denied entry? 

Edited February 15 by Krishetngjbc

[OldUser 7,919]

6 minutes ago, Krishetngjbc said:

Am I right in the assumption that if the AOS process is abandoned by the applicant travelling back to their home country after overstaying their ESTA by many months, if the applicant tried to reenter the USA would they be denied entry? 

Oh yes, they'd be denied entry. And depending on how much time they spent in the US, they can get 3 year or 10 year bar on entry to the US.

Edited February 15 by OldUser

[Boiler 46,299]

Difficult to see them getting a visitor visa