question about CR1 and Tourist visa

[Jordandawg05 13]

Dear friends -

i started a topic a month ago but i couldn't find it...i wanted to spill my scenario and see what y'all think and if there is any complications/questions with my plan/thought on how i can process the immigration paperwork for my fiance.

My fiance is from Jordan and I'll be traveling this December to ask for her hand officially and have an engagement party. She currently have a 5 year tourist visa that she got a year ago that we are thinking to use. She is wanting to visit her brother in the US and come visit me and marry in the US so we can start our paper work. I know its illegal to come to the US , marry and adjust status as that would be considered visa fraud, i completely understand that. I think its completely fine if we do marry here as long she doesn't over stay her visit and she goes back to Jordan to wait for the paperwork/interview to renter on the Cr1. As i stated she is planning to go back as she has a contract to finish for her job and prepare for our church ceremony/party next July. She's planning to visit mid January for 3 weeks or so and will have a return ticket, letter from her employer, car registration ...etc to show officers at point of entry as evidence of her return. i know that sometimes the officer at airport will probe or may not it all depends on who she get. I am also planning to do a civil marriage, is that going to cause any problems? Once we marry here in the US i plan to file for a I130 and she would return to complete the process back in Jordan. I also have a question about evidence of the marriage.. once we marry i should have, engagement pictures, emails, skype logs, pictures with her family/my family..pictures with friends here in the states...do i need to add her to utility bills, house property..etc? or would the marriage certificate, pics, logs would be sufficient?

I wanted to make sure my train of thought is fine and is of the norm. We are planning to have a church ceremony back home for our families and hope that all paper work is filed and she interviewed before that time. I do understand that the interview and visa may not be done by July and the she may need to wait for few months until all that's done before she rejoins me in the US.

Anything else i need to think off or may cause any issues? this is a high level of what i was thinking and wanted to share with the group for any advise or questions.

thank you for your help !

Wassim.

[Done--Really 331]

In general what you describe would be a piece of cake, but as you know there is more scrutiny of folks from MENA countries, so you probably should go the extra mile and include her on every document possible, and not knowing the specifics of Jordan, you may need her parent's blessing in writing about the civil marriage here followed by the religious ceremony there--I'll have to rely on someone from the region to comment on that.

Just be sure to do everything you can think of up front to ease the process of marrying into a different culture in a region that is rife with fraud.

[Jordandawg05 13]

i'll try to add her to every single thing i can think of within reason once we marry in court. As far as her dad's blessing, i already talked to him about it and i proposed this plan to him. So if he does approve her visit we will execute what i stated above. The other option for her immigration paperwork would be to attempt to visit after we do our church ceremony there but it'll be hard to have evidence to tie her back to Jordan. Also you never know how many months they would give her at point of entry if they do all her entry. So i figured we tackle this up front by bringing her here first.

I am just trying to do this as best as i can the legal way, alot of people are giving me advise to do what someone else did but i am not comfortable playing with the system. i like to follow the rules to the best i can to fit our situation and make it easier for her to move here.

Thanks so far !

[Darnell 8,478]

Mostly, the choke point for her (as a card-carrying tourist visa holder)

will be

the POE, Immigration point.

USCIS/DHS/CBP has no record of yer intention to marry, you've not filed any paperwork anywhere, so she won't show up in the computer at POE at all.

Tell her to bring the evidence of her returning to Jordan,

and NOT pack her suitcases for any extended stay.

Good Luck !

[M n J 7]

Me and my husband got married in the US, then I flew back to my country then we started the process.

AT POE, of course, I did not mention anything about plans on getting married, I was there for business visit anyway. So I think she should be careful on answering the officer.

[Jordandawg05 13]

Me and my husband got married in the US, then I flew back to my country then we started the process.

AT POE, of course, I did not mention anything about plans on getting married, I was there for business visit anyway. So I think she should be careful on answering the officer.

Thanks for the replies so far - if we take this route she will definitely have have return ticket, and a letter form her employer showing that she's still got a job to complete in Jordan. Also she is thinking of visiting her brother first so she can always say , which will be true, that she's visiting her brother. She can then come visit me for two weeks we marry and she goes back to her brother and exit to go back to Jordan that way.

When you interviewed did they ask why did you marry in the US ? i guess it wouldn't matter as long as you don't overstay your visa it should be fine. the concern is when people marry in the US and want to stay on top of their tourist visa and AOS.

[M n J 7]

No, they did not ask. But I was prepared for it just in case. The only thing the officer asked was how long I was there, and if my visa is in the passport I submitted, then she looked at it..