File for K1 while on Tourist Visa?

[Rach 0]

Hi all

Hope things are going well for everybody here! I am from Hong Kong and am currently on a tourist visa in the US which is good until April 2008 (yeah, I am lucky!). My boyfriend and I are considering tying the knot finally but understood that I would have to go for the K1 visa. My question is:

Can we file a K1 while I am here on a tourist visa? And I wait until any procedures necessary to be done in HK and go back? We want to minimize our separation time as much as possible!

Any advice or sharings from anyone who has done the above (whether succeeded or failed) would be greatly appreciated.

I am not sure being from Hong Kong actually give me an "advantage"... as traditionally/ historically, we are not a big immigrant group to the US...

Thanks a lot!

Rach

[Fandango 1,439]

here's a question for you: Did you have immigrant intent when you entered America?

If the answer is 'no' and that is pretty clear, then there's nothing to stop you from marrying now, and filing for AOS. No visa needed!

[Shub 78]

If you did not intend to marry when you entered the US, you could consider simply getting married and filing for adjustment of status so you wouldn't have to return to your country. Best wait for advice from people who have more experience than I do on that topic, though.

If you want to go the way of the K-1, yes, you can do what you said and simply go back to HK as necessary to procure the visa.

[Fandango 1,439]

If you did not intend to marry when you entered the US, you could consider simply getting married and filing for adjustment of status so you wouldn't have to return to your country. Best wait for advice from people who have more experience than I do on that topic, though.

If you want to go the way of the K-1, yes, you can do what you said and simply go back to HK as necessary to procure the visa.

There is no need to wait; you are correct....but I'm going to be pedantic for a minute for the sake of clarity. Nothing is stopping anyone from coming to the country to marry a USC...it's whether they planned on immigrating right then and there that is the issue.

There are tons of foreign SOs who come here, marry, then leave to file for K-3/CR-1 IR-1.

[eric_and_teresa 10]

Just to clarify the OP is NOT asking if she can get married while she is visitng, she is asking if she can file for K-1 while visiting.

You can file for K-1 while you are in the States, you'll be fine as long as you go back to Hong Kong on the time that was stamped on your I-94 (form they give you at the POE).

We filed when I was visiting my fiance in the U.S. Just make sure to fill the info. about your I-94 on the I-129F form.

IMO, there is no considerable advantage of being from certain country.

Edited October 24, 2007 by eric_and_teresa

[Shub 78]

Just to clarify the OP is NOT asking if she can get married while she is visitng, she is asking if she can file for K-1 while visiting.

I think everyone understood that, and the posts above reflect that understanding.

I did want to make it known to her that she does not have to go the way of the K-1 as, reading her post, I was under the impression that she might not know that fact.

[Nutty 2]

You will still have to leave the US...Even if you file a k-1 while here on a tourist visa.

Yes, go ahead and file. But consider the tourist visa good for the period stipulated on the tourist visa. And as such, you will have to leave the US once your tourist visa expires.

Filing the K-1 while your here, does not allow you to stay and wait for the K-1 to be approved.

[eric_and_teresa 10]

But consider the tourist visa good for the period stipulated on the tourist visa. And as such, you will have to leave the US once your tourist visa expires.

Please note that she can stay in the U.S. until the date that is stamped on the I-94 not on the visa. Tourist visas can be good up to 10 years.. but when a foreign person enters the U.S. they receive the I-94 form that says how long they can stay during their current visit, which most of the times is 6 months.

She'll have to leave the US on the date stamped on the I-94, NOT when the visa expires.

Edited October 24, 2007 by eric_and_teresa

[Fandango 1,439]

But consider the tourist visa good for the period stipulated on the tourist visa. And as such, you will have to leave the US once your tourist visa expires.

Please note that she can stay in the U.S. until the date that is stamped on the I-94 not on the visa. Tourist visas can be good up to 10 years.. but when a foreign person enters the U.S. they receive the I-94 form that says how long they can stay during their current visit, which most of the times is 6 months.

She'll have to leave the US on the date stamped on the I-94, NOT when the visa expires.

You're wrong.

If she had no immigrant intent upon arrival she can marry now and stay. Any overstay after marriage and before filing for AOS is now is forgiven through the AOS process.

Just to clarify the OP is NOT asking if she can get married while she is visitng, she is asking if she can file for K-1 while visiting.

I think everyone understood that, and the posts above reflect that understanding.

I did want to make it known to her that she does not have to go the way of the K-1 as, reading her post, I was under the impression that she might not know that fact.

That's what I inferred as well

Edited October 25, 2007 by LisaD

[Trusting Him 0]

Rach- it's easy to get confused and get people fired up on these posts...my advice:

My fiance was here in the US from Germany when we filed for our K-1, we had the same thought you did and it worked out great for us. We filed for our K-1 in May and he just left the US 2 weeks ago (october) to go back to Germany for the interview. Now we will only be apart for a few months rather than almost a year. The USCIS/NVC etc doesn't really care where you are as long as you are here on a legal tourist visa, you don't overstay and you are in your home country for the interview.

Hope that helps...PS: file your k-1 asap, it takes way longer than you might realize!

[Rob & Jin 0]

Rach- it's easy to get confused and get people fired up on these posts...my advice:

My fiance was here in the US from Germany when we filed for our K-1, we had the same thought you did and it worked out great for us. We filed for our K-1 in May and he just left the US 2 weeks ago (october) to go back to Germany for the interview. Now we will only be apart for a few months rather than almost a year. The USCIS/NVC etc doesn't really care where you are as long as you are here on a legal tourist visa, you don't overstay and you are in your home country for the interview.

Hope that helps...PS: file your k-1 asap, it takes way longer than you might realize!

And HK is pretty fast and your fiancee can attend the interview there as well, not like Guz. Good luck file asap.

[*julez* 124]

If you didn't have intent to marry prior to your arrival in the US on a Tourist visa, I'd marry and adjust status. Then you won't have to spend any time apart. What LisaD and some others posted is correct, you can legally do this if there was no intent prior to getting here. Many others have done this successfully! I wish that's what I had done!

[eric_and_teresa 10]

Yes go ahead and file. But consider the tourist visa good for the period stipulated on the tourist visa. And as such, you will have to leave the US once your tourist visa expires.

Please note that she can stay in the U.S. until the date that is stamped on the I-94 not on the visa. Tourist visas can be good up to 10 years.. but when a foreign person enters the U.S. they receive the I-94 form that says how long they can stay during their current visit, which most of the times is 6 months.

She'll have to leave the US on the date stamped on the I-94, NOT when the visa expires.

You're wrong.

If she had no immigrant intent upon arrival she can marry now and stay. Any overstay after marriage and before filing for AOS is now is forgiven through the AOS process.

I'm not wrong, we're talking about different things. You're right if we're talking about AOS after getting married on a tourist visa. I'm talking about NOT overstaying if she's just visiting and filing for K-1 during her visit.

You didn't read Nutty's COMPLETE post. He was saying she can stay as long as the tourist visa is good, in the case she FILES FOR K-1 WHILE VISITING. Not if she got married after entering with NO intent to get married and then file for AOS, in that case an overstay would not matter I'm aware of that.

Many people confuse the validity of the TOURIST VISA with the time you are allowed to remain in the US, and is not like that... even if your visa is good for 10 years you're only allowed to stay as long as your I-94 says.

Edited October 25, 2007 by eric_and_teresa

[eric_and_teresa 10]

The USCIS/NVC etc doesn't really care where you are as long as you are here on a legal tourist visa, you don't overstay and you are in your home country for the interview.

This is exactly what I'm saying if she DOES file for K-1 while on a tourist visa she can not overstay after the date on the I-94.

[Fandango 1,439]

Yes go ahead and file. But consider the tourist visa good for the period stipulated on the tourist visa. And as such, you will have to leave the US once your tourist visa expires.

Please note that she can stay in the U.S. until the date that is stamped on the I-94 not on the visa. Tourist visas can be good up to 10 years.. but when a foreign person enters the U.S. they receive the I-94 form that says how long they can stay during their current visit, which most of the times is 6 months.

She'll have to leave the US on the date stamped on the I-94, NOT when the visa expires.

You're wrong.

If she had no immigrant intent upon arrival she can marry now and stay. Any overstay after marriage and before filing for AOS is now is forgiven through the AOS process.

I'm not wrong, we're talking about different things. You're right if we're talking about AOS after getting married on a tourist visa. I'm talking about NOT overstaying if she's just visiting and filing for K-1 during her visit.

You didn't read Nutty's COMPLETE post. He was saying she can stay as long as the tourist visa is good, in the case she FILES FOR K-1 WHILE VISITING. Not if she got married after entering with NO intent to get married and then file for AOS, in that case an overstay would not matter I'm aware of that.

Many people confuse the validity of the TOURIST VISA with the time you are allowed to remain in the US, and is not like that... even if your visa is good for 10 years you're only allowed to stay as long as your I-94 says.

You're absolutely right....we were talking about two different things I completely misread...my bad!