Spouse Visa and Cosular Processeing

[david'sgirl 134]

Wow. My husband came on here to try to help out someone and you people all ganged up and attacked him which is not nice. If you enter the USA for the sole purpose of getting married but feel the need to withhold this information from the border agents that implies you know you are doing something wrong. Perhaps you found the loophole in the law thus making it not technically illegal but it is not morally right and it could result in you waiting longer for the visa or being denied out right. If you enter on VWP and are denied there is NO appeal process. I guess since me and my husband are honest we feel it is better to advise people how to do things the right way than how to be sneaky and avoid the rules. By the way jennifer we did the CR1 process and could explain it better than someone who never did it. Maybe it won't happen to you guys but I would never risk something as important as my husband being able to be with me just to avoid the fees. It changes nothing in the timeline to sneak in on a VWP and get married than it does to get married and then apply. Personally I would not want top marry someone who is that much of a slimeball becauase if ytou are willing to withhold information from and mislead the government then certainly you must not be a trustworthy person. btw here is an article froman attorney. You should read the USCIS stance on this as well before you do something stupid.http://visa-attorney.blogspot.com/2011/03/visa-waiver-program-vwp-alert.html

[david'sgirl 134]

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!

Nasty and uncalled for and I still believe David is correct. Hooray for you, you found a loophole in the law. The intent of VWP is to increase tourism not to make it easier for people to circumvent the system.

[Nich-Nick 3,355]

Nasty and uncalled for and I still believe David is correct. Hooray for you, you found a loophole in the law. The intent of VWP is to increase tourism not to make it easier for people to circumvent the system.

Diane, with all respect, the situation you have in your head is where a foreigner enters the US on VWP with the intent to skip the immigrant visa. They enter as a tourist and jump straight to Adjustment of Status (greencard). If the AOS is denied, then there is no greencard appeal because VWP entry waives the right of appeal. Jennifer's fiance is not going to seek a greencard from the US via Adjustment of Status. He's going to wait it out in the UK for a CR1 like David did. They have to marry first, so are going to marry in the US then he goes home and waits for his CR1 visa.

London website says:

We only wish to travel to the United States to marry. We will return to the United Kingdom after marriage. Do we still need a fiancé(e) visa?

A person traveling to the United States to marry a U.S. citizen with the intention of returning to his/her place of permanent residence abroad may apply for a visitor (B-2) visa, or if eligible, travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program. Evidence of a residence abroad to which the B-2 visa holder or visa free traveler intends returning should be carried for presentation to an immigration inspector at the port of entry.

[jenniferjones101 19]

Wow. My husband came on here to try to help out someone and you people all ganged up and attacked him which is not nice. If you enter the USA for the sole purpose of getting married but feel the need to withhold this information from the border agents that implies you know you are doing something wrong. Perhaps you found the loophole in the law thus making it not technically illegal but it is not morally right and it could result in you waiting longer for the visa or being denied out right. If you enter on VWP and are denied there is NO appeal process. I guess since me and my husband are honest we feel it is better to advise people how to do things the right way than how to be sneaky and avoid the rules. By the way jennifer we did the CR1 process and could explain it better than someone who never did it. Maybe it won't happen to you guys but I would never risk something as important as my husband being able to be with me just to avoid the fees. It changes nothing in the timeline to sneak in on a VWP and get married than it does to get married and then apply. Personally I would not want top marry someone who is that much of a slimeball becauase if ytou are willing to withhold information from and mislead the government then certainly you must not be a trustworthy person. btw here is an article froman attorney. You should read the USCIS stance on this as well before you do something stupid.http://visa-attorney.blogspot.com/2011/03/visa-waiver-program-vwp-alert.html

I can appreciate the fact that you felt the need to come to your husband's defense and I do appreciate that he took the time to give some advice to the best of his knowledge. However, in considering my particular circumstances in starting the visa process, what he said about marrying under the VWP being illegal is not the case (or at least not the whole issue). I have read on the USCIS website as well as on the London Embassy official site that the problem with marrying under the VWP with the intent of staying past the 90-day time limit (essentially marrying then applying for AOS while still in the 90 days on VWP) is illegal. That, as you say, is circumventing the system and USCIS is cracking down on people who are doing that (per the article you posted). This method is, and has never, been the intent of my boyfriend and I and I explicitly stated this more than once in earlier posts.

I never said, nor did we intend, to deceive the border agents when my boyfriend makes the trip here to get married. We intend to be completely forthcoming with our intent. We will also make sure that he has everything in hand to prove that he will be going back to London after the marriage takes place (i.e. copy of rental lease, bank statements showing current bills and activity, a letter from his employer, and a return ticket, etc.) We understand that it is the border agents' rights to deny him entry if we cannot convince them that he will return before his 90 day VWP expires, but we don't think it'll be a major issue considering all the documents we will show at that time. Here is a direct quote from london.embassy.gov regarding marriage under the VWP:

"We only wish to travel to the United States to marry. We will return to the United Kingdom after marriage. Do we still need a fiancé(e) visa?

A person traveling to the United States to marry a U.S. citizen with the intention of returning to his/her place of permanent residence abroad may apply for a visitor (B-2) visa, or if eligible, travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program. Evidence of a residence abroad to which the B-2 visa holder or visa free traveler intends returning should be carried for presentation to an immigration inspector at the port of entry."

In my particular situation, my boyfriend and I do not have the fortunate opportunity of applying for a fiance visa, getting married, then applying for AOS and EAD because the EAD can take several months to be authorized and we cannot meet all of our financial obligations on my income alone for that long. This is why I started this thread in the first place; to get more information on the process of CR1 and consular processing so when my soon-to-be husband comes to California with visa in hand, he will enter as a Legal Permanent Resident without the need of an AOS or EAD which will allow him to find work right away. This isn't an ideal situation because it means spending time apart (again...) after we get married but it's a means to an end which is what we have to do. So, we are not trying to be sneaky or avoid the rules in any way, we are trying to do what is best for us in our situation and trying to avoid jumping through any government hoops which aren't necessary (like applying for a fiance visa which we don't need because he won't be able to stay in the States immediately after we marry )

I did have a read through your article and it is correct in warning people against getting married under VWP and then applying for AOS within the 90 day window. This is not legal because you entered the US with the intent to immigrate at that time. Some people, I've read in other posts, believe you can get away with this by claiming the marriage was a spur-of-the-moment decision and that you did not come to the US with the intent of marrying and remaining in the US past the 90-day allowance the VWP gives you. I think all posters on this topic would agree that trying to do this is ILLEGAL and would, in fact, be very difficult to prove in the first place. But, as I said before, this is not how we plan on going about obtaining our visa.

Now I have to come to my boyfriend and soon-to-be-husband's defense. Your comment "Personally I would not want top marry someone who is that much of a slimeball becauase if ytou are willing to withhold information from and mislead the government then certainly you must not be a trustworthy person," was also nasty and uncalled for and for you to assume anything about me, my boyfriend, or our own personal situation without first reading thoroughly through the posts is doing exactly what you came on here and criticized others for doing. You made an assumption that people on here were giving advice on how to mislead the government and lie to make things go quicker and then inferred that my boyfriend is a slimeball because of it and that was kind of rude on your part.

Again, I appreciate your husband coming on and giving this advice and I don't think anyone here meant to attack him, but to correct or amend the information he had given. According to the USCIS web site and London Embassy website (see links posted in comments above and on other pages of this topic), is isn't illegal to come and marry a USC on the VWP alone. It IS illegal to marry a USC citizen with the INTENT of staying (filing AOS) past your 90 days. In this respect, we will not be breaking the law or trying to take any shortcuts because this is not what we plan to do as we understand it is not legal. We understand this is a lengthy process no matter which path we take and fully intend to be honest and in compliance with the law.

[Ryan H 3,925]

Nasty and uncalled for and I still believe David is correct. Hooray for you, you found a loophole in the law. The intent of VWP is to increase tourism not to make it easier for people to circumvent the system.

He made a statement that was grossly inaccurate and not helpful to the OP. Furthermore, I didn't search the law looking for loopholes; in fact, I personally feel the law should be amended to specifically prohibit adjusting status from the VWP or a tourist visa. I even started a discussion recently in the tourist visa forum expressing this view.

Now I have to come to my boyfriend and soon-to-be-husband's defense. Your comment "Personally I would not want top marry someone who is that much of a slimeball becauase if ytou are willing to withhold information from and mislead the government then certainly you must not be a trustworthy person," was also nasty and uncalled for and for you to assume anything about me, my boyfriend, or our own personal situation without first reading thoroughly through the posts is doing exactly what you came on here and criticized others for doing. You made an assumption that people on here were giving advice on how to mislead the government and lie to make things go quicker and then inferred that my boyfriend is a slimeball because of it and that was kind of rude on your part.

:thumbs:

[scotinmass 588]

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/A2en.pdf

This is the official form on the subject. It gives two options. Either get get a fiancee visa or get married abroad. Sure you could get married in the US under the VWP and leave but your boyfriend would have to convince the border official beyond any doubt that he will leave within 90 days. If they do not believe him (and they are trained to be suspicious of everyone) then he will be refused entry and will never be able to enter under the VWP again. There is no right to appeal. He will be sent back on the next plane. (Wedding cancelled, lots of money wasted, heartbreak). It is obviously entirely up to you if you are willing to take the chance.

Marriage in the UK (or anywhere else) then waiting for the CR-1 visa is the safest option. (In my experience and opinion. Don't shoot me for having one!)

However you do it I wish you the best of luck and hope it all goes smoothly for you and that you have the same kind of happy marriage and life in the US that we have.

David.

[jenniferjones101 19]

Thanks for the link on that form. I believe I do have a copy of that on my computer as well. What is so frustrating about this whole scenario (and I'm sure many of you share this opinion) is that there are so many ways the government gives you to go about immigrating the legal way but the methods are so many and so confusing and conflicting that it's not a wonder illegal immigration is a major issue in this country!! I'm being somewhat sarcastic here, but honestly, it would save so much time, money, and headache for all parties involved if there was a black-and-white, clear cut method for us to get this done, be within the parameters of the law, and not have to pay the government an arm and a leg to do it. It seems like whatever route you take, you always run the risk of being turned down by US Immigration (whether that's at a POE with Border Patrol, at an interview with an embassy, the NVC, or USCIS). I suppose we all run some level of risk because ultimately it comes down to whether or not the government is going to allow our loved ones to come into the country. This is just another one of those things that happens when the government runs things; a bunch of red tape and hula hoops to jump through, much of it for no reason. Alas, I digress. This is not a whinge at the government thread is it?? Lol. Anyway, thanks all for the information, resources, and advice. It definitely has given me a lot of information to consider when it comes to choosing the path to take to finally get to spend forever with my "one"

[Justine+David 218]

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/A2en.pdf

This is the official form on the subject. It gives two options. Either get get a fiancee visa or get married abroad. Sure you could get married in the US under the VWP and leave but your boyfriend would have to convince the border official beyond any doubt that he will leave within 90 days. If they do not believe him (and they are trained to be suspicious of everyone) then he will be refused entry and will never be able to enter under the VWP again. There is no right to appeal. He will be sent back on the next plane. (Wedding cancelled, lots of money wasted, heartbreak). It is obviously entirely up to you if you are willing to take the chance.

Marriage in the UK (or anywhere else) then waiting for the CR-1 visa is the safest option. (In my experience and opinion. Don't shoot me for having one!)

However you do it I wish you the best of luck and hope it all goes smoothly for you and that you have the same kind of happy marriage and life in the US that we have.

David.

You don't have to volunteer the information that you are getting married, though. You should never lie if directly asked, of course, but there is nothing wrong with saying that he is here for tourist reasons/visiting friends, because it's the truth. Let the sleeping dogs lie...