HELP!!!! Married on a visa waiver program!

[trishaappraisals 0]

HELP!!!

My husband and I were married July 24th, we are deeply in love and decided that we didn't want him to go back to the UK. He is here on the visa waiver program. We planned a wedding within 2 weeks, and had friends and family there. We have all the necessary paperwork filed for the I-130 and I-485, but the problem is the PASTOR mailed our license to the county we live and its still being processed there! They won't speed up the filing at the county, I've tried calling and they said it will still be a few weeks. This will put us past the day he should be leaving, 90 days when he arrived here, which is August 15th. Not sure what to do? Since we got married before the 90 days, are we ok? I know the visa waiver program is strict. We are just waiting to receive the certificate. Otherwise, should we send it all the forms for immigration, describing our situation and that we will send the certicate immediately when its available? I don't want him deported Any help would be appreciated!!

Trisha in Minnesota

[kzielu 1,144]

HELP!!!

My husband and I were married July 24th, we are deeply in love and decided that we didn't want him to go back to the UK. He is here on the visa waiver program. We planned a wedding within 2 weeks, and had friends and family there. We have all the necessary paperwork filed for the I-130 and I-485, but the problem is the PASTOR mailed our license to the county we live and its still being processed there! They won't speed up the filing at the county, I've tried calling and they said it will still be a few weeks. This will put us past the day he should be leaving, 90 days when he arrived here, which is August 15th. Not sure what to do? Since we got married before the 90 days, are we ok? I know the visa waiver program is strict. We are just waiting to receive the certificate. Otherwise, should we send it all the forms for immigration, describing our situation and that we will send the certicate immediately when its available? I don't want him deported Any help would be appreciated!!

Trisha in Minnesota

Getting married within 90 days does not change anything - he will out of status regardless of marriage, which will change once you receive NOA1 for your AOS package. Do not send anything without marriage certificate, since long term this will probably cause more trouble and make process longer. Wait for certificate and send the package out, meantime make sure it is all OK and checks are for correct amount. While he will be out of status, he would have very (un)lucky to get deported with that little overstay,

[Rich&Vero 14]

He will be fine. Although technically out-of-status he will not be removed because he is eligible for adjustment of status.

Edited August 6, 2011 by Rich&Vero

[A + M 29]

Trisha, don't worry! Overstaying for less than 180 days is called "a grace period" AND there isn't "a timeline" for AOS anyway.

[milimelo 4,156]

Moving to AOS from tourist, student, work visa.

[william_wallace 8]

Trisha, don't worry! Overstaying for less than 180 days is called "a grace period" AND there isn't "a timeline" for AOS anyway.

Your wrong, that is only if he came over on a K1. He came over on the VWP which is totally different. There can be so many complications for people marrying then attempting to adjusting status. As they married within 2 weeks of him arriving, he may get a lot of questions thrown at him.

First of all he can't AOS until the I-130 is approved.

Edited August 7, 2011 by william_wallace

[kzielu 1,144]

First of all he can't AOS until the I-130 is approved.

Not sure what you mean, but he obviously can do concurrent filing (send I-130 together with I-485 at the same time).

[william_wallace 8]

Not sure what you mean, but he obviously can do concurrent filing (send I-130 together with I-485 at the same time).

Yes they can, but they married 2 weeks after he entered on the VWP. He may have to answer that this wasn't immigration intent. Anyone who marries within 2 weeks of entering and wants to stay,is going to look rather suspicious, well it does to me anyway. They would have been better of if they married 2 months down the line.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Yes they can, but they married 2 weeks after he entered on the VWP. He may have to answer that this wasn't immigration intent. Anyone who marries within 2 weeks of entering and wants to stay,is going to look rather suspicious, well it does to me anyway. They would have been better of if they married 2 months down the line.

I completely agree. This looks like he entered the US on the VWP with the intent to marry and adjust his status. This is illegal. If he can prove that he did not have the intent, then he might be okay. Did he quit his job? Did he close bank accounts? Did he end a lease? These are questions that will come up in his interview for legal permanent residency.

In addition, he cannot appeal any decisions since he entered on the VWP.

A consultation with an attorney is recommend if you go through with the adjustment of status. There have been reports that people entering the US on the VWP who marry and try to adjust are being scrutinized to see if they had the intent to immigrate.

[trishaappraisals 0]

Actually, we didn't marry until 2 months after he got here. To add, I was still technically married to someone else web he arrived (I had been separated for 6 months) and after my current husband arrived last time, I filed for divorce and my divorce was final after about 6 weeks. 2 weeks after my divorce was finalized, I got remarried in a small ceremony with friends and family. We didn't plan on getting married when he arrived in may because I was obviously already still technically married. Since it was final so quick, we decided to get married while he was here, we didn't want to part, and we love each other dearly. There was no intend to marry when he got here in may. He was going back to the uk in July, but cancelled the flight and we got married. Don't you think this would clear us that we didn't intend to marry when he arrived?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Given that your husband entered the U.S. with no visa and got married to a U.S. citizen when the ink on your divorce paper wasn't even dry, you are opening Pandora's box. If the I.O. feels that he's being played for a fool, he can put an end to this with one signature alone: his own.

Usually the applicant can appeal such a decision, but such an option does not exist for people who signed it away when participating in the VWP. That makes it easy for the I.O. to be "mean," as nobody can kick him in the buttocks for that.

Worse yet, the I.O. can decide that your husband does not have ties to the U.K anymore if he quit his job, sublet his flat, or euthanized his gold fish and calls it misrepresentation. In this case the denial notice can be accompanied by a deportation order, also exclusively signed by him as he has God-like powers when adjudicating such a petition, which really can end you American Dream for good. Is it likely? No. Is it possible? Yes. Do you want to take that chance? Only you can answer that question.

I, personally, suggest going the CR-1 route in a case like yours.

Edited August 7, 2011 by Just Bob

[BenjaminUKtoUSA 7]

Everyone needs to stop making these people worry. I came over on a VWP and married within two months. The fact you were accepted on the VWP means they trust you enough anyways. Also I came from the uk also. My interviewing officer simply asked how we met. That's it. She also said that because im from the uk, it makes it a lot easier to believe, since I didn't come from some third world country originally. The best thing you can do is file for the aos and send everything together. It was also the first time me and my wife met.

Please don't let all of these people who post , " this is really bad you may get checked get checked for fraud" etc... Worry you. Just go with it all. Get your license and send it all off as soon as possible.

Good luck!!!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Everyone needs to stop making these people worry. I came over on a VWP and married within two months. The fact you were accepted on the VWP means they trust you enough anyways. Also I came from the uk also. My interviewing officer simply asked how we met. That's it. She also said that because im from the uk, it makes it a lot easier to believe, since I didn't come from some third world country originally. The best thing you can do is file for the aos and send everything together. It was also the first time me and my wife met.

Please don't let all of these people who post , " this is really bad you may get checked get checked for fraud" etc... Worry you. Just go with it all. Get your license and send it all off as soon as possible.

Good luck!!!

Ben, had the OP just decided to get married on the VWP I would be on your side. However, having a recent divorce and new marriage is a huge red flag for USCIS. This person got married 2 weeks after their divorce, and their "visiting holiday" coincided with the date in which the divorce would be final. Even given the fact that intent is not enough to deny an AOS petition by itself, intent plus a very recent divorce might be. Every case is not like yours, and this ones seems to be quite different.

[trishaappraisals 0]

I just wanted to that I hadn't even FILED for divorce when my current husband arrived in may. A couple weeks after he arrived, I filled out the papers and submitted them and because the divorce was amicable with no children, it was finalized way quicker than I was expecting. It was only when I found out my divorce was final that we just decided to get married quickly because we didn't want to part. He had been back and forth about 4-5 times previously, visiting for weeks/months at a time.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Actually, we didn't marry until 2 months after he got here. To add, I was still technically married to someone else web he arrived (I had been separated for 6 months) and after my current husband arrived last time, I filed for divorce and my divorce was final after about 6 weeks. 2 weeks after my divorce was finalized, I got remarried in a small ceremony with friends and family. We didn't plan on getting married when he arrived in may because I was obviously already still technically married. Since it was final so quick, we decided to get married while he was here, we didn't want to part, and we love each other dearly. There was no intend to marry when he got here in may. He was going back to the uk in July, but cancelled the flight and we got married. Don't you think this would clear us that we didn't intend to marry when he arrived?

No. A person entering on the VWP can only stay 90 days in the US and the stay cannot be extended. This person will need to provide proof that he/she intends to leave the US when the authorized period is over in order to be admitted to the US. Generally, the proof is a return ticket. This person would not be admitted into the US if he/she couldn't produce a return ticket. So having a return ticket in no way proves that a person did not have the intent to immigrate by circumventing immigration laws. A person intent on immigrating and circumventing the immigration laws would need a return ticket just to get admitted into the US.