I was reading a thread about visits between fiance's when they are in the K-1 process and how things went when they visited while waiting for the filing, some of these filers had Immigration officers tell them they cannot get married while visiting on their tourist visa or passport (visa waiver)

My question is this....I want to either go to Scotland and marry my fiance and then return back to the USA OR he would come here, we get married, then he would return to Scotland, and then start the filing process for a CR-1. Is there a problem doing this way? I am not talking about getting married and then him just staying. I want to plan a wedding, get married, and then he return to Scotland so we can start the CR-1 process. The plan is for him to immigrate on a CR-1 to the USA.

Also does anyone have a link to the law regarding visa fraud related to marriage? I know he can't come here on his visa waiver, get married and stay. I am looking for something in the laws or statutes that validates that for a friend who did do it that way and says I should to.

Thank you!
Dawn

As long as he's not staying, it's certainly legal to marry while he's here but he shouldn't confuse anybody at the border by telling them he's coming to get married. He'll be visiting with family and friends most of the time. The marriage ceremony only takes a few minutes.

I agree. You are fine to get married and then return to your Country while awaiting the Visa process.

You don't want to mention marriage at Customs- you'll probably get pulled into secondary and go through a heck of a time.

Yes, I agree.

I got married in Scotland this summer. I'm not sure if you know but you'll need a visa to get married over there.

Ok this I didn't not see on any web sites about getting married in Scotland. Do you have any informational links?

Sure, this is where I started: http://www.britainusa.com/
You can also apply for your visa here: http://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/

I got my visa really fast, turnaround was less than a week. If you do plan on marrying in Scotland just make sure you can prove that you are coming home. I forgot to include my return ticket info and got denied. Now everytime I go over I get asked "Why did you get denied for a visa?" I was approved by the same agent who denied me about 3 days later. It was not big deal except having to pay for the visa twice.

If you get married in Scotland, I'd recommend doing it during the week. It's about 200 pounds cheaper than doing it on a Saturday or Sunday. We got married on a Wednesday in Gretna Green and it was lovely. Scotland is just so gorgeous. I can't wait to go again.

I we got married in the US while I was applying for the K1, I entered and than I left before my 90 days... no problem, there is no law that says that you can't marry...

There may be no law prohibiting it, but I am almost certain if you tell a POE that you intend to enter the US and get married, you will be bounced.

Nope. It's not a rountine thing to get denied simply for saying you're there to get married anyway. When my now-hubby and I entered the US to get married and then return to the UK, he said exactly what he was there to do and when he was returning (there to marry me, get my UK spousal visa, and return to the UK two weeks later). He brought evidence of his return but she didn't ask to see it. He was through in about three minutes. It was probably a plus point that I was traveling with him, but if NEDawn brought plenty of evidence of returning to Scotland, the worst that would happen is having to show it. My husband decided he felt more comfortable being open about it, but like pushbrk said, saying something like "Here for pleasure" or "to visit friends and family" is perfectly fine and may make NEDawn more comfortable anyway.

My husband is coming over for 5 weeks in April and he is just going to say he's here to visit. He's not lying but we don't want him turned away. Of course he'll bring plenty of proof he is heading back to the UK after his vacation is up.

I may be on my way over there if USCIS doesn't hurry up.

It's not true that you would get 'bounced' if you told them you were visiting to get married, though you will get taken aside and asked a few questions.

I went to the USA in August and told them I was there to get married. I had to go through and answer some questions, got my bag searched etc before I was sent through and wished well.

There's no reason to declare it, but it's also not illegal to enter, marry and then leave again.

I would think you are the exception rather than the rule.
There's a member here called Trussy (I think that his her name) and her now husband visited the states with the intent to get married and return. When he disclosed this, he was refused entry and and handcuffed. They didn't even ask him about his return ticket and supporting evidence.
Do you think the consulate would issue a visitor visa to someone that told them they were going to get married? It's safe to assume POE think along those same lines.

Since it is up to the discretion of the border guard, there is no real rule whether you will or will not be turned away if you state that you are coming to get married. A guard told me that you need a K-1 and that if we went for a K-3 my husband wouldn't be allowed in the country while we waited for approval. We discussed it further and I told him my understanding of the rules and he said that it is up to the individual guard but in general, he'll turn someone away. So that's *his* preference.

The truth is, you *may* get turned away so you have to be prepared with documentation showing your ties to the home country and, with documentation showing the actual rules for visiting and/or marrying in the US. Back up your case, be polite and patient. Have a sense of humor.

The thing I heard and that makes sense is that if you cross with dual intent -- to say, visit family & get married, you can only mention visiting family and if they don't ask more questions, you don't have to offer more. If they ask specifically and you lie, you might have risk down the line.

We got married on the spur of the moment when he came down for a few days and we picked up our marriage license. We weren't planning on marrying for about a month but got married that weekend. Then we had our wedding proper on our original schedule. It avoided the entire mess of intent because as we were talking w/the pastor about our upcoming wedding I sprung a "would you marry us now?" on everyone. It was kind of cool.

My husband has had zero difficulty crossing the border since we got married and in fact, I think he's had an easier time. Some of me thinks it is our ages (40s) and that we have nice vehicles. I suspect he looks as though he would have a lot to lose by ditching Canada w/nothing but the clothes on his back to stay in the US. And in fact, that's correct. An illegal stay for us is not an option.

I've actually read stories from about 5 people (plus myself) recently who have entered with the intent to marry, told border authorities that, and been let through with minimal fuss.

I don't think it's a rule you will get turned away, there is an element of risk though, as their is with everything on the immigration journey.

I would count yourself as lucky.
We have a friend who is in Senior Management Position at the US Consulate in Toronto- his wife is a Canadian.
20 years ago he was crossing with his then fiance because they were going to get married in the US- then move on to his consular post in Japan and she was denied entry and accused of trying to immigrate illegally. The CBP was quite nasty and didn't care that she was to be the wife of some one who worked for the state department and quiet obviously had no illegal intent.
It was a whole big mess and stymied the original wedding plans.