Help! for just married

[jeffishere 0]

Been reading lots of great advice on this website...there's so much useful information!

My new wife and I really didn't understand all our options before getting married. She entered on a tourist visa and we got married 2 weeks ago. We were planning on submitting our I-130 etc. while both here in California, but now reading these forums I'm led to believe that she needs to go back to Mexico and we need to apply for a K-3 visa so she can re-enter w/out misrepresentation. People here in Los Angeles had given us advice saying no problem, you can get married and adjust your status from here if she entered on a visitor or tourist visa. (Many here in California did it that way, but that may have been in the past and they may be much stricter now.)

So that was our original plan. But now I read here that that was illegal (intent to stay on a tourist visa).

What do people advise? Is K-3 our best option at this point? Is it too late to do K-3?

Thanks in advance!

[Ning 619]

Been reading lots of great advice on this website...there's so much useful information!

My new wife and I really didn't understand all our options before getting married. She entered on a tourist visa and we got married 2 weeks ago. We were planning on submitting our I-130 etc. while both here in California, but now reading these forums I'm led to believe that she needs to go back to Mexico and we need to apply for a K-3 visa so she can re-enter w/out misrepresentation. People here in Los Angeles had given us advice saying no problem, you can get married and adjust your status from here if she entered on a visitor or tourist visa. (Many here in California did it that way, but that may have been in the past and they may be much stricter now.)

So that was our original plan. But now I read here that that was illegal (intent to stay on a tourist visa).

What do people advise? Is K-3 our best option at this point? Is it too late to do K-3?

Thanks in advance!

Entering on a tourist visa & then marrying while here isnt a problem unless the intent was to circumvent the immigration process by staying. It is the intent at the time of entering that is important in what to do now. Your own statement indicates you planned on getting married & knew it was illegal to stay. Find the forums area to see the adjustment from tourist visa area here on V J.

If the intent was what it seems to be it would be best to have her return to Mexico. You can then file a petition to get her a C R 1 visa which is better than the K 3 anyway. It gives her a green card upon entry for example.

[nikolacolada 21]

CR-1 is probably what you want to look into. Since she has a tourist visa, you can apply for CR-1 for her while both of you are in the US, and she can stay with you in the US, as a tourist until her tourist visa expires, or it's time to go back to Mexico for her interview, whichever comes first.

That's what I would do if I were in your situation. That way you are not breaking any immigration laws and you are doing things correctly, but at the same time, you do not need to spend a lot of time apart.

This site has great information on how to apply for the CR-1 visa, it's a great resource!

[Casprd 167]

CR-1 is probably what you want to look into. Since she has a tourist visa, you can apply for CR-1 for her while both of you are in the US, and she can stay with you in the US, as a tourist until her tourist visa expires, or it's time to go back to Mexico for her interview, whichever comes first.

That's what I would do if I were in your situation. That way you are not breaking any immigration laws and you are doing things correctly, but at the same time, you do not need to spend a lot of time apart.

This site has great information on how to apply for the CR-1 visa, it's a great resource!

The CR-1 is the way to go and there is no requirement that she be in her home country while USCIS is processing the application. If she came here with the intent to marry then this is the proper way to do things. You can do the AOS from a tourist visa, but you have to decide if it is a risk you are willing to take because if immigrations decided she came here with the intent to stay then you are risking a ban for several years due to visa fraud. While unlikely that this will happen it is a possibility. Also from a purely selfish standpoint. Every time someone does AOS from a tourist visa it makes it that much harder for the rest of us to have a fiancee or our in-laws come to visit because.

You are fortunte that she is already here and can stay with you through most of the process.

Oh and Mexico has electronic processing for the NVC step so you can fly through that part in just a couple of months easily. You are looking at start to finish about 8 months and 6 months of you can be together.

Edited July 19, 2011 by Casprd