Very strange K1 situation

[LadyNoles 0]

wheres the love in that story?????

thats really strange that once on the k-1 all the sudden the 'second thoughs' appear....

what in the world people are thinking

humm..tell your friend that hes not reading for marriage and he can go back in his country.

[hulsey06 0]

you're all right of course .. don't think he's not been told or doesn't know himself .. he is obviously clutching at straws as he is desperate to stay here ... what if he stayed past the I94 expiration date and then got married ( i think he is out of status by a month or so now ...would he encounter a problem the first time he went home and tried to come back ? ) also will the SS number he got be switched off? he has had it since he was a student back in 2000 and he did a years OPT before going home for a bit and coming back with the K1.

Side note but way more important because it involves me lol ! I will soon be married ... do you think I need a lawyer to help me through the whole process .. status changes etc ... getting the forms to leave the country for a week in August (another friends weddding!) ?

Thank you all for your help .. you're all really brilliant!

[KarenCee 3]

The point is, one cannot come on a K1 and then marry another person. Doesn't work that way. Sorry.

As for the question of a lawyer...many will tell you on here that you can easily do this process on your own. If you have complications, then some will say yes. A consultation with a competent immigration attorney is always a good idea but many of us didn't even do that. As for me and my husband, we neither consulted nor did we even think of using an attorney. If you follow the instructions laid out in the Guides section it's pretty easy to do this on your own.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[hulsey06 0]

Thanks ...what if he stays past his K1 visa date and i94 .... is there anything he can do then to become legal in the country?

[mox 298]

Thanks ...what if he stays past his K1 visa date and i94 .... is there anything he can do then to become legal in the country?

If he stays past his K-1 date, he is out of status and illegal. He will not be allowed to adjust status.

Perhaps the bigger penalty is that the longer he overstays his visa, the harsher the penalties become for re-entering the country. Your friend could be facing a multi-year ban by just over-staying a few months.

Your friend really needs to go back to his country of residence and follow the normal procedures for immigration. Maybe he can find himself another nice American woman willing to marry him, or he could get a work permit or something else. But once he overstays his visa, he faces a much tougher path of getting back into the country.

If this still doesn't get through to him, then I'd suggest he talks to an immigration attorney while he still has options. Once that visa expires, his options start getting much smaller.

Edited February 10, 2008 by mox

[KarenCee 3]

Thanks ...what if he stays past his K1 visa date and i94 .... is there anything he can do then to become legal in the country?

I'm sorry, but what part of "your friend can't do that" do you not understand? There ISN'T anything he CAN do but go home.

[zqt3344 21]

Nope, he will have to travel back to his home country and go through K1 application process all over again with new lover from USA.

I know this sounds like a "I have a friend who" situation but in this case it is true . I have a friend lol .. who has entered the country on a K1 to marry his girlfriend .. who is now having second thouhgts .. Is it possible for him to get a marriage licence with someone else even if he has one with his girlfriend ?

[john_and_marlene 162]

The point is, one cannot come on a K1 and then marry another person. Doesn't work that way. Sorry.

He can marry anyone he wants to. Nothing prohibits a marriage. But, concerning immigration, he cannot stay and adjust status unless the person he marries is the petitioner--whether he marries before the I-94 expires or after.

[KarenCee 3]

The point is, one cannot come on a K1 and then marry another person. Doesn't work that way. Sorry.

He can marry anyone he wants to. Nothing prohibits a marriage. But, concerning immigration, he cannot stay and adjust status unless the person he marries is the petitioner--whether he marries before the I-94 expires or after.

I think that the OP was thinking his friend could marry another person using the K1 entered upon. I agree, he can marry whomever he wishes...but he cannot stay on the K1 he entered the US on.

[hulsey06 0]

NO ... what if he stays past the date of his visa and the i94 and lets the K1 run out .... What if he stays here for some time and then finds someone else and they get married . Is that a possibility ? can that be done ?

[mox 298]

NO ... what if he stays past the date of his visa and the i94 and lets the K1 run out .... What if he stays here for some time and then finds someone else and they get married . Is that a possibility ? can that be done ?

Honestly I don't know how many different ways this can be said. If your friend overstays, he will be here illegally. If your friend marries somebody and overstays, he will still be here illegally. Any amount of time spent past his Visa 90 day stay is illegal.

Your friend needs to either marry the person his K-1 was issued for, or leave the country. I know that you and your friend want there to be a way around it but there is no other way around it.

Edited February 12, 2008 by mox

[john_and_marlene 162]

NO ... what if he stays past the date of his visa and the i94 and lets the K1 run out .... What if he stays here for some time and then finds someone else and they get married . Is that a possibility ? can that be done ?

There is no path (nada, zilch, none, zero) to staying legally no matter how long he waits, no matter what runs out, no matter what he tries to do if he does anything other than marry the K-1 petitioner--no waivers, no exceptions, no circumstances. If he doesn't marry the petitioner, the only way for him to ever get legal residence in the U.S. will be to leave the country and reenter under new circumstances--period, without exception.

[Krikit 1,166]

Thanks ...what if he stays past his K1 visa date and i94 .... is there anything he can do then to become legal in the country?

The K-1 visa expiry date is no longer applicable once he has entered the country. It's the I-94 date that's important now. And he MUST leave the country if he wants any chance of getting back in. His legal means of remaining in the US was tied to the petitioner. Since they are no longer marrying, that means has now been forfeited. It's all on the document he received with the visa.

[BigCityDave 0]

That is why I made extra sure on my girl before sending in the K1. That is a tough situation.

[Minya's wife 25]

NO ... what if he stays past the date of his visa and the i94 and lets the K1 run out .... What if he stays here for some time and then finds someone else and they get married . Is that a possibility ? can that be done ?

So what you're askng is if there is an option for your friend to stay here "illegally"(past the expiration date on his I-94) while he fishes around for another USC with whom he will not have second thoughts long enough to walk down the aisle?

There is no legally viable alternative w/ a K-1 visa....only to marry the original petitioner and adjust status. Chose any other option and you will not be able to adjust status (get greencard).

-P