Can I get married while Im a student in the States??

[youandme 0]

Hi all,

Im new here and just found out about this forum an hour ago......Ive been reading a lot of posts but still I havent found much about my problems.....

Let me explain my situation: Im from France and Im about to go to college in the States for at least 2 years, I have my boyfriend living over there, he is american, we have been together for a year now, I have been there 2 times already, one time for a week and then for 90 days.....

We have been thinking about this for almost a year now and finally decided maybe that was the only solution for us.......We are thinking we should get married so I would be able to stay and live with him and after a few years hopefully Id become legal and would become a resident.

Going to college is a choice because I want to have a fture in the usa and have a career and it would also allow me to be with him.

Now I do have a few questions, what am I suppose to do if I go to college, I will be on a student visa so will I have to go back to France, stop my program and apply for the spouse visa etc or is there any way I can keep studying and get married over there or smthg??!!....

Its really confusing me, the process to become a resident is just SO complicated when you are not american.

I would like to have informations about the spouse visa and how long it would take for me to become legal and a permanent resident with no risk to have to leave the United States.... I also wanna know about the risk of getting divorced a few years down the road, its really not my plan but I wanna make sure my future life in the usa wont be at risk if I have to get a divorce for whatever reasons......of course, thats not my plan, we are really crazy in love but Im also chosing on going to college in order to start a career for my future too., so I have to consider every possibility......

Thank for your time and help!

I actually have so many things to explain in my situation I guess I will just wait for a few answers and see if it helps me first!

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Hello youandme

As someone that's been down this exact road before, I'd be happy to share my experience with you. I think the most important thing for you to understand here, is tha t if you are entering the U.S. on a non-immigrant K1 student visa, but fully intend to get married and adjust status, then you are in fact committing visa fraud. There is a path whereby you can go down that road, but it's supposed to be for people that genuinely had no prior intent to marry whilst on the temporary visa. Reading your post, it's clear that you don't fall into that category.

So what I suggest you do (and this is what I, and many others did) is enjoy your 2 years at college, but then return home and go through the K1 visa application process. it's a long and frequently tedious process, but ultimately it'll get you where you want to be. There is a section on this site about how to adjust status whilst on a student visa, but again, I would reiterate that you'd be committing visa fraud if you had made a pre-meditated decision to marry.

[pushbrk 14,568]

I would reiterate that you'd be committing visa fraud if you had made a pre-meditated decision to marry.

Neither marrying or intention to marry followed by marriage is visa fraud. It's the intention of using the marriage to adjust status to permanent resident in order to circumvent immigration laws that is visa fraud.

Perhaps the OP is just speculating on the potential for a future decision to marry and hasn't actually become a fiance yet. Perhaps the marriage decision is something a year or so down the road. I don't really know what's in her head.

If she comes on a J1 visa with a home stay requirement that's a different animal than a regular F1 visa with no home stay requirement, with respect to her other question about needing to go home.

In any event, there are a number of options, including only going home for a short time to get a medical and visa interview.

[Big Papa Zone 93]

I would reiterate that you'd be committing visa fraud if you had made a pre-meditated decision to marry.

Neither marrying or intention to marry followed by marriage is visa fraud. It's the intention of using the marriage to adjust status to permanent resident in order to circumvent immigration laws that is visa fraud.

Which is precisely what I was trying to say - please excuse the inaccuracy of my wording.

OP, what pushbrk said (tantamount to what I said, really, but with an added air of typical pushbrk efficiency ).