Student visa and then marrying?

[Pszczolka 0]

I currently live in Ecuador and I have to go back around August 2008 to start grad school. My boyfriend and I would like a bit more time before we get married to have finances in order and for him to see how he likes the US. We found a one-year web design program that seems perfect - it's cheap, gives visas to international students and he really likes the methodology of the school. I'm thinking we could go that route then about 5 months before he finishes get married and apply for his work authorization, etc. so that he can work by the time he's done with the program.

It's my understanding that if we get married we can just adjust status and he can remain in the US the whole time, especially if he'll still be on his student visa? I hope I've got that right, I'm still relatively new to all this...

Has anyone thought of going this route or have any advice/experience in trying to do it this way?

[YuAndDan 153]

Consider this, using a visa for a purpose other than what it is intended for is considered to be visa fraud, you are talking marriage, so file for a K-1 visa it is for exactly what you propose. A student visa is for study, not immigrations.

[Jesse and Hema 2]

My fiancée and I had considered this at one point. There was a local college with very affordable tuition and a program to let international students only pay in-state resident rates.

A lawyer advised us of the risk, though.

To get a student visa, you are required to demonstrate intent to return to your home country. Using a student visa with the intent to marry and immigrate is fraud.

The odds of being "caught" or proscecuted for this are generally low, but if you are accused of visa fraud, it won't be pretty. It wasn't a risk I was going to take, so we're doing the K-1.

Visas exist for marriage-based immigration, so people wanting to immigrate via marriage should use them.

My advice is to file a K-1 and be patient. Good luck!

[Pszczolka 0]

I currently live in Ecuador and I have to go back around August 2008 to start grad school. My boyfriend and I would like a bit more time before we get married to have finances in order and for him to see how he likes the US. We found a one-year web design program that seems perfect - it's cheap, gives visas to international students and he really likes the methodology of the school. I'm thinking we could go that route then about 5 months before he finishes get married and apply for his work authorization, etc. so that he can work by the time he's done with the program.

It's my understanding that if we get married we can just adjust status and he can remain in the US the whole time, especially if he'll still be on his student visa? I hope I've got that right, I'm still relatively new to all this...

Has anyone thought of going this route or have any advice/experience in trying to do it this way?

Well, he actually does want to complete the course so I don´t know if that counts as visa fraud still? I mean, he´s interested in studying and it´s not like he would just get the visa and never go to classes or anything...would that still be considered fraud though?

[Nessa 23]

he can still study with a K-1 visa. If his purpose is to immigrate, he should not come to the States with a student visa. That would be considered visa fraud.