Please be patient with me. I have been reading this forum and I originally thought my fiance and I were going to go with the K1 visa. The day he came across the border from Canada to visit (no actual visa given) we had not made any plans. Everything was just 'in the future'. The border guard that pulled him aside did question his motives and said he thought his visits were too many (6 times in the past year) and if he had any 'plans' that he should take care of them ASAP or he might be denied next time. It seemed as if he was insinuating that we should make plans to get married ASAP.

Anyway, we want to change our plans. Instead of filing the K1 visa, we would like to get married and file the K3 but now I am scared that it might force us to separate. Is there any way that he can stay here through either the K1 or K3 or does he HAVE to go back to Canada while we wait? I know this is the wish of many of you that absolutely hate being separated but a friend of mine that has gone thru this had married and came to live in the US while her paperwork was being processed. Maybe things have changed drastically over the past 2 years and that is not allowed anymore, I don't know....

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Griff

If he entered the US legally, was inspected and granted entry....one can marry and apply to adjust status without leaving the US.

Have a read here for the various forms etc http://www.visajourney.com/forums2/index.php?showtopic=62644&hl=

Griff as long as he did not enter with the intent to remain.... then you can get married and file for AOS and he can remain... there are many of us here who have married on the spur of the moment and have gone this route.... just make sure that he files for AP as well so he can visit home once it has been approved... until then he can not leave the States...

Good Luck

Kezzie

So, let me understand. If Natasha came to US and intended to go home. Somehow we ended up in Las Vegas, married. Then she can stay while paper work is being processed? But, if I brought her here with the intention of marriage I have to wait 6 months for a K1. Wow!

It's not quite that simple, Yellow...

The burden of proof falls on the beneficiary to prove that they did not misrepresent themselves at any time (B2 issuance, border...) and did, in fact, intend to return. Also, turning up at the border with everything you own but no visa is a surefire way to be denied entry!

Griffon76, I am Canadian and came over the exact same way. I came over simply for a 2 week vacation and a few months later, we decided to get married in Las Vegas. I applied for adjustment of status from here, we had my interview and everything went fine. As long as there was no intent to get married when the Canadian crossed over, than everything is fine. As well, I have not left the U.S. since I originally came here and will not leave until I receive my greencard. All the best of luck and I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have!

Sometimes those gruff border guards know us better than we know ourselves. As Canadian-American couples, we believe we're not going to marry, which is true at the time, but it's obvious we're a pair. This makes the guard suspicious that the Canadian (who doesn't need a visa to visit) is coming with the intent to stay (illegal). Intent is a very hard thing to prove, especially when there's no visa. So they often ask for documents supporting the Canadian's intent to return.

Some Canadians who marry in the States have stayed while their status was adjusted. But others went back to wait for a K3 visa. As an immigration lawyer in Toronto said to me, "They like it better when you apply from Canada." Which is to say, when you apply while your honey is in Canada, your actions demonstrate your intent to comply with the law.

Griffon76, you asked people to patient with you. But if you marry and apply for K3, you'll need to be patient with yourselves. It means the Canadian waits in Canada. But since you made 6 trips in a year, you must live close enough to the border to visit regularly. Which isn't a bad strategy for the time it takes to get a visa. You could visit him, and hopefully, have a visa in hand before the next snowfall.

If you're seriously considering marrying here and having him stay, you're already violating the spirit of the law and may have a tough time proving your intent was honest. Better get lots of details from couples who've done this, especially the ones who had a hard time. Good luck!

By USCIS own laws it is not illegal for one to marry in the US and adjust status if one is granted entry (which by Griffon's post he was) and if otherwise eligible.

A lot of people come here on a student visa or research assistance especially from Novosibirsk and than stay, while you have some sort of paperwork pending ( like adjustment of status) they can't kick you out ( unless you do somthing outrageous of course:))

Tourist visa is harder to get from Russia unless you can prove you have enough assets to hold you back in Russia. Work visa might work....or like someone sujjested earlier have her get a tourist visa to Mexico:)......you can walk over the Rio Grande River in New Mexico:)
Natalia

What a relief!! I actually had all the K1 paperwork in a file to be filled out when we had all our appropriate documents and were going to be married around the end of the year. He had made arrangements to go back and stay with relatives while the paperwork was being processed as well as having 2 grown daughters there. But when he got here and told me of the guard's solemn advice, we started rethinking everything! All his belongings are still there and it's been difficult for him to be in limbo but we are just so happy to be spending this time together

As for being close enough to visit (mentioned in another post) we were about 11 hours away drive time and with my job was increasingly difficult for me to visit. I also have 2 teens that can't miss school. Hence why he visited me more often. That's why we got worried when the guard told him he might not be allowed back in the US when he came back home. That would definately curtail our visiting each other! We've been together for 1 1/2 years...it was becoming more and more difficult to be apart. LOL I know there are so many others like us so it feels good to be in the same company! (((hugs))) to all of you!!!

I will work on our profile/story so I won't seem such a stranger

Griff

If the OP's fiance is in the U.S. right now, then they could get married and adjust without doing anything wrong. But if the OP's fiance is back in Canada now, then that's not a viable option anymore, right?

correct. Because he would then re-enter the US with intent to get married and stay without the proper visa.

If he's still in teh US now and they get married, its ok according the way the law is written(there was no intent when he first left for this trip, but the border official may have changed his mind...debatable according to law). However, a caveat to this would be that He Cannot Leave the US during the time it takes to process the AOS. Which could take a few months, or a few Years. If he's got children and stuff in Canada that he needs to tend to, this is usually a Huge deal breaker in returning to home country and waiting out a K visa petition and aplication. AP is usually Not granted to people who just show up and get married and apply for AOS. I know several people who have been stuck in the US and unable to go back home for family emergencies, or even just to go get their clothes.

Consider all the pros and cons of the available options and make your decision from there.

AP is granted equally to people undergoing AOS regardless of their method of entry. You're entitled to it on the basis that you are applying for AOS. Matters not whether you were a K1, VWP, B2, F1....

It is not advisable to apply for and use AOS if you have had an overstay which would trigger a bar on re-entry (ie. over 180 days).