Girlfriend has a multiple entry visa - can she visit and marry me instead of doing a k1?

[Hell0W0rld 10]

found a better picture to stress my point

[Chica Yeyé 41]

MY EYES! MY EYES!

[Hell0W0rld 10]

MY EYES! MY EYES!

i know, i know.... this is why the OP needs to meet in person before deciding to marry.....

[Betti 1]

I would also suggest to meet each other in person before deciding to get married.

Entering the US on a visitors visa with the intent of getting married and not leaving is visa fraud. Do not do that! Instead I would take the K-1 route and also go visit her before you get that started.

[Hell0W0rld 10]

I would also suggest to meet each other in person before deciding to get married.

Entering the US on a visitors visa with the intent of getting married and not leaving is visa fraud. Do not do that! Instead I would take the K-1 route and also go visit her before you get that started.

meeting in person within 2 years is a requirement so this needs to be done with no exception, well actually there is an exception but you would really really i mean really need a good reason..

[recentlymarried!! 0]

My girlfriend lives in the Philippines. While we have not yet visited in person, through our communications, we are both certain we wish to marry. Normally, I'd go visit her and then get her a fiance visa to come here and marry me. However, she already has a multiple entry visa she and her parents got to visit family in the states. In fact, she has been to Los Angeles before.

Now, since she has the visa to come visit here, could we skip the usual lost time and funds related to processing a fiance visa and just have her come visit on her multiple entry visa and marry me while she's here? Then could she stay? Could it be done that way? We'd hate to wait for me to go see her, only then to wait six more months for a fiance visa to go through, not to mention the costs of it all, plus a round trip ticket for me, etc., etc. I'd love to know that we could skip the usual drawn out process if possible! Thanks to anyone who has some answers.

Steve

Anyone can enter on a tourist visa and get married. You can then apply for a K-3 or CR-1. When her visa visit period expires your wife will have to return to the Phillipines and wait for her K-3 or CR-1 visa to be processed, go to the interview in Manilla, etc., etc. Marriage and immigration are two different things.

It is visa fraud to enter the US on a tourist visa with the intent to get married and adjust status from a tourist visa.

Hi,

i just wanted to reply as i am "one of those" people who happened to get married to my fiance whilst here on a tourist visa from Australia.

I was on one of my visiting trips and he proposed to me, we made a last minute decision (after getting advice from 2 immigration lawyers in NY and LA) that instead of coming and going back and forth (as we had done a lot the past 2 years, and since my job in australia had finished) we would get married. We got married in the last week of my tourist visa and i have since adjusted status.

We have a genuine bonafide marriage, and we have known each other 3 years, so i guess it is slightly different to you in that you have never met your GF???

It CAN be considered visa fraud, especially if you land in the states and marry the next day! BUT it isn't illegal. Everyone has different experiences and i know my experience is certainly NOT visa fraud.

But in your case i do agree with people on his thread and do the fiance visa. In fact, i would even say you guys should meet first and spend some time together.

HOpefully that helps??

[jundp 191]

Now, since she has the visa to come visit here, could we skip the usual lost time and funds related to processing a fiance visa and just have her come visit on her multiple entry visa and marry me while she's here? Then could she stay? Could it be done that way? We'd hate to wait for me to go see her, only then to wait six more months for a fiance visa to go through, not to mention the costs of it all, plus a round trip ticket for me, etc., etc. I'd love to know that we could skip the usual drawn out process if possible! Thanks to anyone who has some answers.

Steve

OP, I feel for you, really I do. But it's tiring to read these types of posts on a forum filled with people who did immigration the right way. There's a huge difference between meeting the person you love whilst they happen to be on a tourist visa, marrying, and then adjusting status and purposely intending to commit visa fraud.

The wait and the money sucks. Oh well, such is the life of a USC marrying an immigrant.

[sunandmoon 450]

if I only had a dollar for everytime this question has been asked on VJ...

[sjr09 155]

My girlfriend lives in the Philippines. While we have not yet visited in person, through our communications, we are both certain we wish to marry. Normally, I'd go visit her and then get her a fiance visa to come here and marry me. However, she already has a multiple entry visa she and her parents got to visit family in the states. In fact, she has been to Los Angeles before.

Now, since she has the visa to come visit here, could we skip the usual lost time and funds related to processing a fiance visa and just have her come visit on her multiple entry visa and marry me while she's here? Then could she stay? Could it be done that way? We'd hate to wait for me to go see her, only then to wait six more months for a fiance visa to go through, not to mention the costs of it all, plus a round trip ticket for me, etc., etc. I'd love to know that we could skip the usual drawn out process if possible! Thanks to anyone who has some answers.

Steve

How in the world can you be certain you want to marry this person without actually seen this person in real life... what if this person is really a fat hairy bald 50 years old 5ft guy that has nothing better to do then to mess with you?

Maybe she's fat 4ft tall and hairy all over Get your facts first than you can distort them as you please.

[Hell0W0rld 10]

Maybe she's fat 4ft tall and hairy all over

damn it... do i really have to explain to my statement.... fine here it goes

but lonely bald guy is the sterotypical used for a situation like this... at least thats what I think...

oh well...

[sjr09 155]

Maybe she's fat 4ft tall and hairy all over

damn it... do i really have to explain to my statement.... fine here it goes

but lonely bald guy is the sterotypical used for a situation like this... at least thats what I think...

oh well...

Ahh I see your the sterotypical kind.

everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid

[rin and john 71]

My girlfriend lives in the Philippines. While we have not yet visited in person, through our communications, we are both certain we wish to marry. Normally, I'd go visit her and then get her a fiance visa to come here and marry me. However, she already has a multiple entry visa she and her parents got to visit family in the states. In fact, she has been to Los Angeles before.

Now, since she has the visa to come visit here, could we skip the usual lost time and funds related to processing a fiance visa and just have her come visit on her multiple entry visa and marry me while she's here? Then could she stay? Could it be done that way? We'd hate to wait for me to go see her, only then to wait six more months for a fiance visa to go through, not to mention the costs of it all, plus a round trip ticket for me, etc., etc. I'd love to know that we could skip the usual drawn out process if possible! Thanks to anyone who has some answers.

Steve

Anyone can enter on a tourist visa and get married. You can then apply for a K-3 or CR-1. When her visa visit period expires your wife will have to return to the Phillipines and wait for her K-3 or CR-1 visa to be processed, go to th einterview in Manilla, etc., etc. Marriage and immigration are two different things.

It is visa fraud to enter the US on a tourist visa with the intent to get married and adjust status from a tourist visa.

The above is correct but I so wish people would simply quit mentioning the K3 visa at all. It's really obsolete except in the rarest of circumstances. CR1 is the way to go in this instance. I'll add one caution though and that is when the beneficiary has family in the USA, it can be critical for the petitioner to visit the Philippines in addition to the marriage visit to the USA. It will help overcome the presumption the relationship was entered into purely to obtain an immigration benefit for the foreign national.

Why? The K-3 is still a valid option for some people. It would seem more appropriate to advise the OP to investigate all options, evaluate the pros/cons, and decide themselves.

The statistics here on VJ suggest the K-3 would save them more than two months of separation (not the case 4-5 months ago, but today it is).

Assuming that the time from NOA1 to NOA2 is the same whether it is a K-3 or CR-1, the time difference lies in the NVC to interview time. For the past three months, CR-1s in the Philippines have averaged 148 days for NOA2 to interview and K-3s have averaged 71 days.

For the OP, if you marry before filing a petition, your options are either K-3 or CR-1. Based on current processing times, the K-3 route would result in a visa approximately 2 1/2 months sooner than a CR-1 visa. The K-3 is a non-immigrant visa (valid for 2 years) and requires the visa holder to file for adjustment of status (AOS) prior to visa expiry. If AOS is filed and approval occurs prior to the second wedding anniversary, a 2 yr GC will be issued (requiring lifting of conditions to later obtain a 10 yr GC). AOS approval after the second wedding anniversary will result in a 10 yr GC. The visa holder cannot work or obtain a SSN without filing for an EAD first (a fee applies if filed prior to AOS; fee is waived if filed concurrently with AOS).

The CR-1 visa is an immigrant visa that results in a GC upon entry into the USA (a 2 yr GC if entry is within the first two years of marriage; a 10 yr GC if after the 2nd wedding anniversary - if a 2 yr GC is obtained, lifting of conditions will have to be filed later to obtain a 10 yr GC). The immigrant can obtain a SSN and legally work once the GC is received (shortly after arrival in the USA).

[Hell0W0rld 10]

Maybe she's fat 4ft tall and hairy all over

damn it... do i really have to explain to my statement.... fine here it goes

but lonely bald guy is the sterotypical used for a situation like this... at least thats what I think...

oh well...

Ahh I see your the sterotypical kind.

everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid

well, i guess yours is stupid also.. can we move on with our lives now?

[Kathryn41 3,207]

My girlfriend lives in the Philippines. While we have not yet visited in person, through our communications, we are both certain we wish to marry. Normally, I'd go visit her and then get her a fiance visa to come here and marry me. However, she already has a multiple entry visa she and her parents got to visit family in the states. In fact, she has been to Los Angeles before.

Now, since she has the visa to come visit here, could we skip the usual lost time and funds related to processing a fiance visa and just have her come visit on her multiple entry visa and marry me while she's here? Then could she stay? Could it be done that way? We'd hate to wait for me to go see her, only then to wait six more months for a fiance visa to go through, not to mention the costs of it all, plus a round trip ticket for me, etc., etc. I'd love to know that we could skip the usual drawn out process if possible! Thanks to anyone who has some answers.

Steve

Anyone can enter on a tourist visa and get married. You can then apply for a K-3 or CR-1. When her visa visit period expires your wife will have to return to the Phillipines and wait for her K-3 or CR-1 visa to be processed, go to the interview in Manilla, etc., etc. Marriage and immigration are two different things.

It is visa fraud to enter the US on a tourist visa with the intent to get married and adjust status from a tourist visa.

Hi,

i just wanted to reply as i am "one of those" people who happened to get married to my fiance whilst here on a tourist visa from Australia.

I was on one of my visiting trips and he proposed to me, we made a last minute decision (after getting advice from 2 immigration lawyers in NY and LA) that instead of coming and going back and forth (as we had done a lot the past 2 years, and since my job in australia had finished) we would get married. We got married in the last week of my tourist visa and i have since adjusted status.

We have a genuine bonafide marriage, and we have known each other 3 years, so i guess it is slightly different to you in that you have never met your GF???

It CAN be considered visa fraud, especially if you land in the states and marry the next day! BUT it isn't illegal. Everyone has different experiences and i know my experience is certainly NOT visa fraud.

But in your case i do agree with people on his thread and do the fiance visa. In fact, i would even say you guys should meet first and spend some time together.

HOpefully that helps??

Actually, your situation is entirely different. You entered the US with no intentions of getting married and adjusting status. That is legal. The OP is suggesting entering the US with the intention of getting married and adjusting status. That is illegal. It is a big difference.

Edited June 2, 2009 by Kathryn41

[raymaga 26]

Well said, Kathryn.

There's really nothing more to say on this topic.

Do it the legal way.