i have some friends who are getting married next weekend. she's in the US on an R-1 (religious worker's) visa. her husband-to-be is a USC, and they plan to live in the US. They will be filing AOS based on marriage after their wedding. will she fall under the same travel restrictions as our k-1 spouses did? or will she be free to travel because she currently has a valid visa?? her mother is ill in the UK, and she's not sure if she might need to make a trip quickly following the wedding, if her mum's health takes a turn for the worst.

TIA, kids!

Hmmm.

I think this is one of those catch 22's.

She may be free to travel on her visa, but by leaving I think she abandons her AOS.

Does her R-1 have the same 2 year requirement that some of the J1s have? Wonder if they have thought about that....

what 2 year requirement is that? this is uncharted territory for me..lol

What she could do is once they have filed for AOS and if her mother became ill and she had to travel she could apply for an emergancy AP at her local office.....

Or make an infopass appointment now and check with USCIS what her options would be....

Kezzie

some visas require that at expiry the holder returns to home country for a period of 2 years before they're able to apply for any other type of visa to the US. She might want to read the fine print on hers to be sure.

They may want to consult with an immigration lawyer to find out their options. But of course, take anything they say with a grain of salt too. There's been more than one account here of lawyers telling couples "ah, just stay and get married with the tourist visa, nooooo proooblem!" Which we all know is not entirely legal.

An Infopass appointment to speak with someone at immigration who might actually know what they're talking about might be the better route.

There's been more than one account here of lawyers telling couples "ah, just stay and get married with the tourist visa, nooooo proooblem!" huh.gif Which we all know is not entirely legal.

Well that is not actually true..... it depends on your intentions at entry.... if you entery with the intent to marry and remain then no it is not legal..... if you enter with no intent to remain and then get married and deceide to remain then yes you can do AOS and remain.....

Kezzie

well, i know for a fact that she didn't enter with intent to marry. she's been here a little over 2 years, and they didn't meet until after she arrived.

i think it's good advice to make an infopass appointment first before we start filling out their forms. thanks, guys!

Nice cover Kezzie, we al lhave seen that post go back and forth.

AP tends to come quickly if you file at the same time. Its all taking a risk. But I would not recomend leaving once AOS is filed, unless AP is issued

I was talking about the lawyers who tell couples who ARE intending to get married, and they've gone into a lawyer's office to ask if its ok. Conversation goes "Hi, Mr. Lawyer, my girlfriend and I are planning to get married, and we've heard of this K1 visa thing, what is it?" "Mr. Couple, don't worry about it, just get married and she can stay and adjust status. No problem!"

There have been quite a few of these, then the Bride returns home to get her Mother and her dress, and then is denied entry at the border. Or she stays and they get married that afternoon and then she's stuck in the US and can't get emergency AP when Aunt Flo dies because they won't give it to her.

THAT'S the scenario I was talking about.

yeah...well, we all know that attorneys don't always give the best advice. that's why i'm glad we have FF!

dani_christine,

Better to see a competent immigration attorney. Even an incompetent immigration attorney is much more likely to know the relevant law than someone at the local USCIS office. And if the USCIS employee gives mis-information, and you rely on it to your detriment - oh well.

Yodrak

The only non-immigrant visa that carries with a dual intent provision and therefore an alien wouldn't be at risk for being denied entry due to entering on a non-immigrant visa while having immigrant intent is the H1-b (and also the K-3). Holders of all other non-immigrant visas should file for AOS and AP if they want to be able to reenter the US after their marriage.