marrying my fiancee who has a h1b visa

[chinisimo 0]

I originally posted this in the K1 section but i guess it's the wrong place. so i'm asking it here again.

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hello all,

i'm glad i found this forum.

I'm a naturalized US citizen and my fiancee is from Hong Kong working in the US with a H1B visa. We've decided to get married in HK instead of getting married here. We're planning to return to the US after we got married and go back to work.

So my question is, which visa do we need to apply? She's already legally living and working in the US with a H1B visa.

I was looking at the forum's visa guide and is this the visa we need to apply for? http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...page=i130guide2

Also, when we return, are we required to tell the immigration officer that we got married? We were going to offer up this information unless we got asked. getting married immediately affect her work visa status?

Thanks all.

[Mint518 0]

I originally posted this in the K1 section but i guess it's the wrong place. so i'm asking it here again.

----------------------------------------

hello all,

i'm glad i found this forum.

I'm a naturalized US citizen and my fiancee is from Hong Kong working in the US with a H1B visa. We've decided to get married in HK instead of getting married here. We're planning to return to the US after we got married and go back to work.

So my question is, which visa do we need to apply? She's already legally living and working in the US with a H1B visa.

I was looking at the forum's visa guide and is this the visa we need to apply for? http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...page=i130guide2

Also, when we return, are we required to tell the immigration officer that we got married? We were going to offer up this information unless we got asked. getting married immediately affect her work visa status?

Thanks all.

Hello chinisimo,

Your fiance will be applying for adjustment of status (from H1B to permanent residence status, also called green card) after the marriage. The link to the webpage you cited returned me the error message, but if you meant Step-by-Step Guide on How to File an I-130 for a Spouse Inside the US page, yes, you are right.

Since the holder of H1B visa is allowed to have dual-intent, there is no reason to hide the marriage to the immigration officer at the port of entry (Your wife will not be denied the entry just becasue she married with citizen). There is no need to show your marriage certificate, or prove your marriage, but as you might recall, when you enter to the U.S., custom form (the paper declaring how many cigarette, liquir, you bring back, etc.) needs to be filled out per household (rather than per person). So, since you and your wife (current fiance) will form one household after the marriage, you will naturally fill out only one custom form, and in effect, immigration officer will know you two are married.

[Mint518 0]

getting married immediately affect her work visa status?

I forgot to respond to your last question.

Marriage with citizen and even filing for adjustment of status do not affect her H1B status, and she can keep H1B as long as she satisfies the condition to keep H1B (i.e, work for the employer for whom the H1B was issued). She can apply for EAD and AP, too, but as long as she keeps H1B status she does not need to use them (once she use EAD, H1B will be cancelled at that point).

[alexpapa 4]

getting married immediately affect her work visa status?

I forgot to respond to your last question.

Marriage with citizen and even filing for adjustment of status do not affect her H1B status, and she can keep H1B as long as she satisfies the condition to keep H1B (i.e, work for the employer for whom the H1B was issued). She can apply for EAD and AP, too, but as long as she keeps H1B status she does not need to use them (once she use EAD, H1B will be cancelled at that point).

correction, H1B will only become invalid if an EAD is used for employment, so your fiance can hold an EAD as a backup, but continue to use H1B - this makes it easier to travel in and out of the country, i.e. not needing AP.