Did you marry in the US on the wrong visa?

[p&w 0]

Hi, I thought I read somewhere on this site that if you come to the US on a tourist visa and marry, you may basically mess up future applications. But I know people must have done this. Please, does anyone out there have first hand knowledge of this? Was there any problem afterwards filing for AOS?

Many thanks

[ChristinaM 0]

Yes. I adjusted from the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), and it gave me no trouble when adjusting. My husband and I also filed for a K1 before we got married, which the USCIS advised us to withdraw as I was in the US and was able to marry and adjust.

It will give you problems at the AOS stage if you intentionally entered on a tourist visa to get married and immigrate. However, if you had no intention of marrying and/or remaining in the country upon entry you should be fine.

Don't leave the US without an approved AOS, or you will require a K3 or CR-1 to get back into the US if you wish to live here.

Welcome to the world of the "sinners"

[pax 0]

There's really no single answer to your question. Some visas, for example, are "dual-intent," like some student and work visas. You don't jeopardize your status at all by marrying a USC on one of these visas and applying to adjust on that basis.

From your earlier posts, I suppose you're asking about marrying while here on a B (tourism) visa or on the VWP. And your success in adjusting from a B or visa-free situation based on marriage to a USC will depend very greatly on how and why you entered the States in the first place.

People here will always tell you that you cannot enter the States as a tourist with the intention of marrying, staying, and applying to adjust status. That's true. More often than not, CBP catches these attempts and denies entry, but people can be found later in the process to have misrepresented their intentions to gain entry and have their applications to adjust denied. It's very important that you understand that if you attempt to adjust status from VWP and are denied, you cannot appeal the denial.

On the other hand, if you enter as a tourist and truly intend to simply visit, but end up getting married on the spur of the moment, as it were, you can apply to adjust status legally and will probably be okay. Clmarsh is one VJer who did this successfully; you might want to search out her posts dealing with AOS. If you're in the States now after entering as a tourist but are strongly considering marriage based on some extenuating circumstances, you can try that route, but you need to be aware of the risks involved.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

Ah, there she is already.

[ChristinaM 0]

Thanks Pax! Nice to know I'm though of occasionally!!

Kezzie also did it successfully, she is another person to look up.

Christina

[p&w 0]

WOW thanks so much for your quick replies!! It's kinda scary, usually I wouldn't mind joining a band of sinners, but the consequences are so severe! In my defence I have a return ticket and a work obligation I will have to miss, and luckily when I came through immigration (oblivious of using my B visa too often) i was honest and said I was getting married in October.

It's such a minefield, on the one hand I feel so lucky to be with my fiance while we work on this, whereas I read so many sad stories of being seperated for months. It really helps to get some answers from real people, thanks

[ChristinaM 0]

One question that is likely to come up - if you were planning on getting married in October, why did you go ahead and marry sooner?

On your side, in order to get a B visa you have to prove that you have good, strong ties to your home country. That will work in your favour.

If you could fill in your profile and give some more information about your home country, that would help too.

[ChristinaM 0]

Ok, as a Brit you would have had to prove very strong ties to the UK to get a B2 because they're hard to get from VWP countries. That's a good start.