Have got married on a tourist visa

[Oxana S Martin 0]

Hey everyone!

I am trying to fill out all the forms to apply for a green card and I should do it ASAP. So I've read this statement "If you are already married, and your spouse came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the I-130 (or along with an I-129f for a K-3 Visa) should be filed with the relative outside of the U.S. to avoid denial, deportation, or even being banned from re-entry to the US." here "http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2"

It sounds pretty scary.. I've got married on a tourist visa B1/B2 . Does anyone know what I shall do?.. Do I really have to go back to Russia and file the required forms from there?...

Thanks

[Que Saudade 284]

Did you come here to the US to get married and stay?

Edited August 9, 2012 by Que Saudade

[Oxana S Martin 0]

Did you come here to the US to get married and stay?

I came to visit my fiance and I was going to come back home to get my master degree deploma. But I decided to stay

[Darnell 8,478]

please understand 'intent' as referenced in the written instructions that you're reading.

[jkelly07 120]

you have to return home, file 1-130 only not the 1-129f or k-3 its no longer used, now they use cr-1 for married.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Hey everyone!

I am trying to fill out all the forms to apply for a green card and I should do it ASAP. So I've read this statement "If you are already married, and your spouse came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the I-130 (or along with an I-129f for a K-3 Visa) should be filed with the relative outside of the U.S. to avoid denial, deportation, or even being banned from re-entry to the US." here "http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2"

It sounds pretty scary.. I've got married on a tourist visa B1/B2 . Does anyone know what I shall do?.. Do I really have to go back to Russia and file the required forms from there?...

Thanks

To help determine intent, it would be helpful to know when did you first enter into the country, what your departure date was going to be (both cases you would have a flight ticket) and when did the marriage took place.

When you say your plan was to go get you Master diploma, was there coursework to be completed or just finalize paperwork to get the diploma? What prompted the decision to stay?

There is some subjectivity in determining intent. I wouldn't panic just yet, but before you file anything, you want to ensure you are well covered.

Providing the info above will allow members here to provide best advice.

[Que Saudade 284]

This is tricky and requires great understanding. I am hesitant to say anything as there are people here on VJ that will take this out of context.

If you honestly did not have any intent to immigrate when you came over and you can convince USCIS of your statement that you had no intent to immigrate when you entered the US on your tourist visa, then you can adjust status without leaving.

Now, here is the other side to this story.

If USCIS concludes that you came over on a tourist with an "intent to immigrate", they can deny your application and begin proceedings to have you removed and/or ban you from the US (potentially for life).

This is going to be a personal decision between you and your husband about how you wish to proceed. Only you two know the truth when you lie down at night.

[inloveVEN 46]

hi

i think that if you came with the intention to visit and then return to complete your master degree but then you decided to get marry, you can deal with that, of course you have to be prepare to answer a lot of questions, so is better to double check all your journey from your arrival till your current day in a very clear way.

[Julie y Pat 67]

What questions were you asked when you entered the US, and what were your answers? This is more important than intent.

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

*** Moving from AOS from Family visa to AOS from Tourist Visa ****

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

I came to visit my boyfriend, who ended up proposing and we actually married 11 days after my POE. At the time we still planned to go back to Hungary together before my 90 days were up (as my husband has not met most of my family yet).

However, as the end of the 90 days approached and we were researching the rules, the cost, etc, we realized that once I leave the country, I can only come back on a marriage visa, and that filing for AOS was almost as expensive as two return tickets, not to mention that my husband would have wanted to stay with me in Hungary during the visa process, that would have been costly, too.

So we decided to just file for AOS, it was a quick process, no fuss...

[jumperoo 0]

This is just my opinion, but I think you will have a VERY DIFFICULT time convincing USCIS that you entered the U.S. as a tourist without the intent to marry considering that you were already in this relationship AND pregnant at the time you entered the country and got married only 11 days after entry (based on your timeline and posts). In fact, I have a hard time believing it and I am very sympathetic to the difficulties experienced in waiting for a fiance/spouse to get to the U.S. In my experience, the people at immigration are not as sympathetic.

[DandT14 272]

It's ok if you entered with the intent to marry. It's not ok if you entered with intent to adjust status after you married.

Hopefully, you have lots of evidence that you intended to return to your home country. Job? Lease? Something?

Edited August 9, 2012 by DandT14

[Que Saudade 284]

This is just my opinion, but I think you will have a VERY DIFFICULT time convincing USCIS that you entered the U.S. as a tourist without the intent to marry considering that you were already in this relationship AND pregnant at the time you entered the country and got married only 11 days after entry (based on your timeline and posts). In fact, I have a hard time believing it and I am very sympathetic to the difficulties experienced in waiting for a fiance/spouse to get to the U.S. In my experience, the people at immigration are not as sympathetic.

The OP never said she was pregnant nor does the OP have a timeline. Where are you getting this information?

Plus, you can come here with the intent to marry. You can't come here with the intention of getting married and staying (with regards to tourist visa).

[djricky4 67]

This is tricky and requires great understanding. I am hesitant to say anything as there are people here on VJ that will take this out of context.

If you honestly did not have any intent to immigrate when you came over and you can convince USCIS of your statement that you had no intent to immigrate when you entered the US on your tourist visa, then you can adjust status without leaving.

Now, here is the other side to this story.

If USCIS concludes that you came over on a tourist with an "intent to immigrate", they can deny your application and begin proceedings to have you removed and/or ban you from the US (potentially for life).

This is going to be a personal decision between you and your husband about how you wish to proceed. Only you two know the truth when you lie down at night.

I agree