opinion on AOS or otherwise for girlfriend

[charliebrown32 0]

Hello all,

just wanted to see what anyone thought of this situation. my gf is from canada i am from the USA. we have known each other for about two years. she came down and met me for the first time last january. she stayed a month and just hung out. we got along great and just saw the sights. she went home and then came back for 3 months at the end of this year. she got some grief at the border , they wanted proof she had a job, had money, was going back. they finally gave her a b-2 visa good for 6 months (i thought odd for a canadian resident) and let her through. we went to her parents for a few weeks at the end of november in canada to vacation and i asked her if she wanted to come back with me. she again had issues at the border. they revoked her b-2 visa and issued her a b-1 visa good till mid january. (again i thought odd for a canadian resident visiting the US to require a visa, much less a B-1 business visa)

so the question is. i have now spent alot of time with this girl. i want to marry her. i havent asked her yet or bought a ring. would immigration think it odd her comming here for 5 months off and on for a year and then us getting married while here on a b-1 and then filing an AOS?

[rebeccajo 14]

How do you know your girlfriend would want to stay in the states if you asked her to marry you? Would she want to go home, gather up her stuff, have some get-togethers with friends and family?

Using a visa for a purpose other than it's intended purpose isn't cool.

People adjust from B1/B2 and other visas all the time based upon marriage to a USC. But using those visas for the purpose of avoiding filing for a visa which gives her the right to come here and marry (and live if she so chooses) isn't the best course of action.

[msu17 0]

I wouldn't think they would find it THAT odd, though you will possibly be questioned to make sure she didn't have intent on marrying you when she first entered the US. It is weird they have her a B1 and not just let her enter on VWP... Anywho, assuming she says yes to marriage and to living in the US, once you got married, she couldn't leave the US again until you have filed AOS and recieved AP if you want to just directly file AOS rather than have her return home and file for a spousal visa. Sorry, that was kinda confusing If it were me, I would return back to canada and file either a K1 and then return and marry in the US OR marry while she is currently here and then return and file a spousal visa. I would do this primarily so I could get my stuff and wrap up life in canada

[charliebrown32 0]

How do you know your girlfriend would want to stay in the states if you asked her to marry you? Would she want to go home, gather up her stuff, have some get-togethers with friends and family?

Using a visa for a purpose other than it's intended purpose isn't cool.

People adjust from B1/B2 and other visas all the time based upon marriage to a USC. But using those visas for the purpose of avoiding filing for a visa which gives her the right to come here and marry (and live if she so chooses) isn't the best course of action.

well we have talked about what we would do. whether i move there or her move here. she had said she wouldnt mind living in the states for a while but would eventually like us to live closer to her hometown, be it actually in canada or just northern US.

well she has gone almost 4 months without seeing her family. and its not like she couldnt go see her family after she gets her advanced parole papers. or if she got fed up with me and just went home lol. she just wouldnt be able to come back then till her papers finished

[charliebrown32 0]

I wouldn't think they would find it THAT odd, though you will possibly be questioned to make sure she didn't have intent on marrying you when she first entered the US. It is weird they have her a B1 and not just let her enter on VWP... Anywho, assuming she says yes to marriage and to living in the US, once you got married, she couldn't leave the US again until you have filed AOS and recieved AP if you want to just directly file AOS rather than have her return home and file for a spousal visa. Sorry, that was kinda confusing If it were me, I would return back to canada and file either a K1 and then return and marry in the US OR marry while she is currently here and then return and file a spousal visa. I would do this primarily so I could get my stuff and wrap up life in canada

yah sometimes i really wonder if the customs and border people really know the laws. i mean i have tried to read and read them and they read like bad ikea furniture assembly instructions lol. i really feel if you come across the border 5 times in two weeks you would get different paperwork, visas and answers everytime. just like the second time she visited, they grilled her for over 2 hours before issuing a B-2, the next time it only took 15 minutes of questioning to get a B-1. and yah a grumpy border agent makes for a long day i find.

but on a fiance' visa is she allowed visits while the paperwork is processed?

[waitingbee 0]

I wouldn't think they would find it THAT odd, though you will possibly be questioned to make sure she didn't have intent on marrying you when she first entered the US. It is weird they have her a B1 and not just let her enter on VWP... Anywho, assuming she says yes to marriage and to living in the US, once you got married, she couldn't leave the US again until you have filed AOS and recieved AP if you want to just directly file AOS rather than have her return home and file for a spousal visa. Sorry, that was kinda confusing If it were me, I would return back to canada and file either a K1 and then return and marry in the US OR marry while she is currently here and then return and file a spousal visa. I would do this primarily so I could get my stuff and wrap up life in canada

yah sometimes i really wonder if the customs and border people really know the laws. i mean i have tried to read and read them and they read like bad ikea furniture assembly instructions lol. i really feel if you come across the border 5 times in two weeks you would get different paperwork, visas and answers everytime. just like the second time she visited, they grilled her for over 2 hours before issuing a B-2, the next time it only took 15 minutes of questioning to get a B-1. and yah a grumpy border agent makes for a long day i find.

but on a fiance' visa is she allowed visits while the paperwork is processed?

I met my fiance while working in the US on TN status. I returned to Canada waited 9 long months until I was finally issued a K1, came back and we got married. I am now stuck in AOS. I was never sure either about visiting during the K1 process. I did come to the US once for a family wedding and was nervous crossing the border, but they never said anything. Somehow I figured they could see that I applied for a K1 (by this time I had been waiting over 6 months for my approval-NOA2), but I am not sure if the computer system is that sophisticated. It was for a wedding and not to visit my fiance though. While long, depressing, etc. it is really better to get the correct visa, the wait is nothing in the long scheme of things.

The way I figure it is if she can prove that she has ties to Canada, like a job, lease etc, then it shouldn't be a problem. It might just come down to the mood of the border guard, who knows. My fiance came to see me in Canada. He told them his intent to visit, that we we engaged, etc and they justed wanted to know verbally that he was going back to the USA.

Edited January 1, 2008 by waitingbee

[athena_ny 1]

Well, since you're already said there's intent, a B visa is not the correct visa to use.

She can visit while waiting for a K-1 to be issued, as long as the border control officer lets her into the states.