tourist visa for colombian fiance a good idea?

[delbuono 0]

hey everyone. i am extremely new to all this. please help.

I will be marrying a woman from colombia some time this year.

we have begun looking up information on visa requirements. as of now, it's still like a foreign language to me, but hopefully soon i will sink my teeth into the whole process and know which forms are which.

anyways, she suggested that she gets a tourist visa. i dont know if that would be ok or not since our goal is marriage. i want to get her here as soon as possible and also be able to marry her with no hassle. i read on a visa service site that if we married while she was here with a tourist visa, we might face penalties because it becomes marriage fraud. is that true?? what if someone else were to "invite" her over and then i married her?

like most colombians, she doesnt have much money, so i also wonder if she would even be able to get the tourist visa.

either way, where should i start? where is the guided outline for the whole process??? is a do-it-yourself packet easy or is getting a lawyer a better option??? thanks a million.

jonathan

Edited January 24, 2008 by delbuono

[rebeccajo 14]

Top of this page. Blue Tabs. Guides.

[YuAndDan 153]

Keep in mind a tourist visa is a visa that has no immigrations intent, so if it is applied for and used for immigrations this is considered visa fraud, the USCIS and Department of state has specific visas that have immigrations intent, that is the K-1 visa.

If attempting to adjust status from a visa that does not have immigrations intent, USCIS can and does determine that immigrations was the intent for getting the visa, they can and do deport for this and bar individules from re-entering the country.

The K-1 is not that hard to apply for, just follow the guide here on VJ

[Mononoke28 134]

If her intention, and yours as well is for her to come to the US with a tourist visa to marry and stay, that's visa fraud and you'll get into trouble.

BUT she can come here with a tourist visa, marry you , go back to Colombia and wait for her K3 or CR1 visa. That's the way to do it if you marry here.

You can also file for a K1 visa and marry here once it's approved. Or go to Colombia, marry there and file for a K3 or CR1 and have her wait there.

The chances of her getting a tourist visa are slim to none if she doesn't have a good job, good savings, property and a very good reason to hold her back in Colombia.

Diana

[Jeraly 3]

If you have the intention of marrying while on a tourist visa then this would be visa fraud so I would avoid it like the plague From how it sounds you have a couple of options: go through the K-1 route and get married at the end of it or get married first then apply for the K3/CR1 etc although I think this normally takes the longest and as I am aware the non-USC cannot enter the US until the visa has been granted (I might be wrong on this as I am not so familiar with the spousal visas)

Here is the flowchart for the K-1:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...amp;page=k1flow

And here is the flowchart for the K-3:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...amp;page=k3flow

You can find these and more info in the "guides" tab

Good luck!

[delbuono 0]

If her intention, and yours as well is for her to come to the US with a tourist visa to marry and stay, that's visa fraud and you'll get into trouble.

BUT she can come here with a tourist visa, marry you , go back to Colombia and wait for her K3 or CR1 visa. That's the way to do it if you marry here.

You can also file for a K1 visa and marry here once it's approved. Or go to Colombia, marry there and file for a K3 or CR1 and have her wait there.

The chances of her getting a tourist visa are slim to none if she doesn't have a good job, good savings, property and a very good reason to hold her back in Colombia.

Diana

thanks for the reply.

What is the difference between the k3 and CR1?? do i have to file both or just one?? do you think the k1 or k3, or CR1, would take more time? securing the marriage is more important to me than time it takes to get her here so...

the best idea i have it to marry her there, to secure the marriage and satisfy her family first, register the marriage with the government, and then bring her here, with the k3, and have another ceremony for my family.

[panamania79 2]

hey everyone. i am extremely new to all this. please help.

I will be marrying a woman from colombia some time this year.

we have begun looking up information on visa requirements. as of now, it's still like a foreign language to me, but hopefully soon i will sink my teeth into the whole process and know which forms are which.

anyways, she suggested that she gets a tourist visa. i dont know if that would be ok or not since our goal is marriage. i want to get her here as soon as possible and also be able to marry her with no hassle. i read on a visa service site that if we married while she was here with a tourist visa, we might face penalties because it becomes marriage fraud. is that true?? what if someone else were to "invite" her over and then i married her?

like most colombians, she doesnt have much money, so i also wonder if she would even be able to get the tourist visa.

either way, where should i start? where is the guided outline for the whole process??? is a do-it-yourself packet easy or is getting a lawyer a better option??? thanks a million.

jonathan

The chances of her getting a tourist visa now are quite slim.I 've heard that in order to qualify for a tourist visa you have to have at least 300usd in the bank, a job,and pay the interview fee of 200usd.In all honesty,your best bet is to file for the fiance (k-1) visa.If she were to come on a tourist visa,and you were to marry her,that in itself could cause you some problems because USCIS will look at that as fraud.

[Jesse and Hema 2]

thanks for the reply.

What is the difference between the k3 and CR1?? do i have to file both or just one?? do you think the k1 or k3, or CR1, would take more time? securing the marriage is more important to me than time it takes to get her here so...

the best idea i have it to marry her there, to secure the marriage and satisfy her family first, register the marriage with the government, and then bring her here, with the k3, and have another ceremony for my family.

Check out the guides and compare the differences between the visa types. Each one has its pros and cons. I think the K-1 is the quickest way to "be together," but I'm not sure.

[athena_ny 1]

hey everyone. i am extremely new to all this. please help.

I will be marrying a woman from colombia some time this year.

we have begun looking up information on visa requirements. as of now, it's still like a foreign language to me, but hopefully soon i will sink my teeth into the whole process and know which forms are which.

anyways, she suggested that she gets a tourist visa. i dont know if that would be ok or not since our goal is marriage. i want to get her here as soon as possible and also be able to marry her with no hassle. i read on a visa service site that if we married while she was here with a tourist visa, we might face penalties because it becomes marriage fraud. is that true?? what if someone else were to "invite" her over and then i married her?

like most colombians, she doesnt have much money, so i also wonder if she would even be able to get the tourist visa.

either way, where should i start? where is the guided outline for the whole process??? is a do-it-yourself packet easy or is getting a lawyer a better option??? thanks a million.

jonathan

The chances of her getting a tourist visa now are quite slim.I 've heard that in order to qualify for a tourist visa you have to have at least 300usd in the bank, a job,and pay the interview fee of 200usd.In all honesty,your best bet is to file for the fiance (k-1) visa.If she were to come on a tourist visa,and you were to marry her,that in itself could cause you some problems because USCIS will look at that as fraud.

Not if she returned to her country and they filed K-3 or CR-1.

And it's about more than how much money you have in the bank (and the fee for a visa is 131 USD) - ties to your home country, etc etc.

It's also very hard for a single young female to get a tourist visa from South America - adjusted visa refusal rate for Colombia is 33.3% which while not the highest, is NOT low. source.

[Russ61 0]

I don't want to assume anything here but have you met in person? If I'm not mistaken, one can't choose the K1 route until they've actually met, which forces YOU to visit HER since the odds of her getting a B2 seem small...much like what I'm going through. I wanted our first "in person" meeting to be here in the states and THEN I would subsequently fly to the Philippines but she is a woman with very limited resources and doesn't have much that couldn't fit into a suitcase. I doubt Manilla is going to give her more than several seconds of conversation before they stamp her request "are you kidding us? Go home." As a result, I'm already planning the visit and in all likelihood, a K1 filing for marriage here in the states. We'll do "some sort" of romantic ceremony for her family and friends.

Edited January 25, 2008 by Russ61

[YuAndDan 153]

If her intention, and yours as well is for her to come to the US with a tourist visa to marry and stay, that's visa fraud and you'll get into trouble.

BUT she can come here with a tourist visa, marry you , go back to Colombia and wait for her K3 or CR1 visa. That's the way to do it if you marry here.

You can also file for a K1 visa and marry here once it's approved. Or go to Colombia, marry there and file for a K3 or CR1 and have her wait there.

The chances of her getting a tourist visa are slim to none if she doesn't have a good job, good savings, property and a very good reason to hold her back in Colombia.

Diana

thanks for the reply.

What is the difference between the k3 and CR1?? do i have to file both or just one?? do you think the k1 or k3, or CR1, would take more time? securing the marriage is more important to me than time it takes to get her here so...

the best idea i have it to marry her there, to secure the marriage and satisfy her family first, register the marriage with the government, and then bring her here, with the k3, and have another ceremony for my family.

K-3 is a Hybrid "NON-Immigrant" visa, it was originally intended to reunite married couples that were waiting a long time for the I-130 (CR-1 or IR-1 IMMIGRANT visa) to be approved and interviewed for at the consulate. K-3 has the speed of the K-1.

Most would go on to adjust status from the K-3 instead of waiting for I-130 to result in a visa interview. K-3 adjustment is $1010 so this makes the K-3 an expensive visa. Also K-3 has to wait 3 months or more for EAD in order to work. K-3 cannot get SSN until getting EAD or green-card.

CR-1 is the I-130 filing alone, the CR-1 visa directly results in a green-card issued upon entry to the USA, NO adjustment needed and NO $1010 fee paid to USCIS. CR-1 is work authorized, NO EAD to wait for, the green-card allows imediate work.

Lately for most countries CR-1 is not taking much longer to get than the K-3, compare timelines.

CR-1 is the superior visa because it is an IMMIGRANT visa.

[eric_and_teresa 10]

i read on a visa service site that if we married while she was here with a tourist visa, we might face penalties because it becomes marriage fraud. is that true?? what if someone else were to "invite" her over and then i married her?

Just wanted to add that entering the U.S. with a tourist visa with the purpose of marrying a U.S. Citizen and reside in the U.S. permanently, is not marriage fraud, it is visa fraud.

[DJ+Ten 0]

hey everyone. i am extremely new to all this. please help.

I will be marrying a woman from colombia some time this year.

anyways, she suggested that she gets a tourist visa. i dont know if that would be ok or not since our goal is marriage. i want to get her here as soon as possible and also be able to marry her with no hassle. i read on a visa service site that if we married while she was here with a tourist visa, we might face penalties because it becomes marriage fraud.

jonathan

The chances of her getting a tourist visa now are quite slim.I 've heard that in order to qualify for a tourist visa you have to have at least 300usd in the bank, a job,and pay the interview fee of 200usd.In all honesty,your best bet is to file for the fiance (k-1) visa.If she were to come on a tourist visa,and you were to marry her,that in itself could cause you some problems because USCIS will look at that as fraud.

Not if she returned to her country and they filed K-3 or CR-1.

And it's about more than how much money you have in the bank (and the fee for a visa is 131 USD) - ties to your home country, etc etc.

It's also very hard for a single young female to get a tourist visa from South America - adjusted visa refusal rate for Colombia is 33.3% which while not the highest, is NOT low. source.

I discussed this very idea with my atty... that is, Tourist Visa => Enter US => Marry => Return Home => USC Files K-3 petition. He says that while it's true that the Tourist Visa terms would appear to be met by returning home, there is a misrepresentation on record in the form of the Tourist Visa application where marriage was not given as the purpose for the trip. Later, the fact that marriage occurred during the "visit" could raise an eyebrow. The earlier in the visit that the marriage occured, the more dubious the stated reason for entry becomes. He suggested that after about 6 months it would probably not look suspicious. Well, it takes about 6 months (after you mail your petition) for your fiancee to get her K1 interview, so that is the route we took, and I mailed mine the first week of Jan'08.

Tourist visa too? We have been waiting forever (15 months) for her Philippines annulment which must preceed (a.) proposing marriage to her, and (b.) filing the K-1 petition. Since we started that process I heard there are faster ways, by getting a divorce in another country and Phil's would recognize it (too bad...water under the bridge for us). But since we waited so long, we decided to take a shot at the tourist visa, trusting that a denial would not harm the K-1. We are being bare-naked honest in the Tourist application and showing Fiance (me) in the States. She can talk about job, owning a house, etc. at the interview, but I think having a fiance in the States trumps the typical ties like those.

Reason for entry: "Search school options and prep house for K-2 kids."

Guarantee of return: "(a.) Violating the tourist visa could kill the K-1,

(b.) MUST return for a K-1 medical and interview in order to bring 18 y/o and 2 younger ones,

(c.) We met in Canada and she returned home in accordance with that visa."

Support during travel: "(a.) 'Tacos in the bank' (her USDollar savings passbook),

(b.) staying with K-1 petitioner, who is also buying the tickets"

If it all works out, she can have a couple of months here to help me prep the house and check out the schools, and then go back, do the process and return with the kids. I'm not overly confident about getting the tourist visa, though, in fact that's why I'm searching the forums for comparable experiences. If she gets denied, so what, we tried.

If you can come up with some reasonable ties to Colombia, and if you've ever bought a lottery ticket, then the odds for a tourist visa are better (maybe not the best way to get married). I also heard that if you get denied a tourist, you can go back and try again. You might think of a way to out fox USCIS but I think they've already heard all the really artful stories and they probably read these posts.

Good luck, DJ.