filling the I-130 then the I-485 in the USA can be considered fraud!

[RobbyUSA 26]

"You must qualify to file for an I-130 in the US. Not everyone does, and in some cases doing so can be considered fraud and result in being deported and banned from re-entry into the US for a period of time."

I married a Romanian woman who now lives in France. We got married over 2 years ago in Romania.

She wants to travel and visit me for a 2 month vacation. She has a USA visa that expires in 9 years and allows up to a 6 month stay.

We may decide to file for the I-130 then the I-485.

is this a good option or what?

because there are no guidlines on how this would be considered fraud even if my Wife intends to only visit me.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Yes, entering the US on a non-immigrant visa with the intent to immigrate is visa fraud. This has been answered in your other thread.

[kstrozyk 13]

It is really frowned upon. If she comes here on a tourist visa with the intention to adjust status and remain permanently, that's considered fraud. What would she say to the CBP officer about the purpose of her visit? She would have to give an honest answer; I am coming to see my husband. She may get lucky and be allowed to enter, but it is really risky. Just the intention to immigrate may not be sufficient to deny adjustment (Read: http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-6539/0-0-0-6581.html and http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/INT/HTML/INT/0-0-0-65/0-0-0-4012.html#0-0-0-304 - Good articles), but lying and saying: I'm hear to visit my boyfriend it is lying. Don't get me wrong: it has been done before by many people, and chances of being denied are small, but it may happen.

"You must qualify to file for an I-130 in the US. Not everyone does, and in some cases doing so can be considered fraud and result in being deported and banned from re-entry into the US for a period of time."

I married a Romanian woman who now lives in France. We got married over 2 years ago in Romania.

She wants to travel and visit me for a 2 month vacation. She has a USA visa that expires in 9 years and allows up to a 6 month stay.

We may decide to file for the I-130 then the I-485.

is this a good option or what?

because there are no guidlines on how this would be considered fraud even if my Wife intends to only visit me.

[RobbyUSA 26]

Yes, entering the US on a non-immigrant visa with the intent to immigrate is visa fraud. This has been answered in your other thread.

no you are wrong. this was NOT answered in my other thread and her intent is to visit me because she has regulary made vacations to see me and this is just another vacation!

she plans on visiting me here in the USA and intends to go back.

but while she is here I could see us looking at all the options we have.

the I-130 has the option of being filled here in the USA when she is here as a visitor.

so I don't understand how you can say this is fraud if she plans on seeing me and returning in the first place.

it's strange they tell you it's okay if the intent is not for her to stay, and you are saying this is fraud?

[RobbyUSA 26]

It is really frowned upon. If she comes here on a tourist visa with the intention to adjust status and remain permanently, that's considered fraud. What would she say to the CBP officer about the purpose of her visit? She would have to give an honest answer; I am coming to see my husband. She may get lucky and be allowed to enter, but it is really risky. Just the intention to immigrate may not be sufficient to deny adjustment (Read: http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-6539/0-0-0-6581.html and http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/INT/HTML/INT/0-0-0-65/0-0-0-4012.html#0-0-0-304 - Good articles), but lying and saying: I'm hear to visit my boyfriend it is lying. Don't get me wrong: it has been done before by many people, and chances of being denied are small, but it may happen.

like I just said... she plans on visiting me anyways and has 2 other times after we got married and they never asked her if she was married. She told them she was in a relationship with me and was here to visit but never gave them false information.

Edited January 27, 2012 by RobbyUSA

[Little_My 463]

You are considering the possibility of her visiting you and adjusting status once she is here - that, right there, is intent. The minute you start to research and plan AOS before a foreign spouse or girlfriend or fiance has entered the US on a non-immigrant visa, there is n such thing as "no intent to immigrate" - obviously, there is intent.

That being said, the burden of proof regarding intent is on USCIS, not you. It is rare for them to go after someone for intent, unless there has been clear material misrepresentation along the way, or there is something else fishy relating to the case. You are asking people to tell you that is okay for her to come to the US and for you to adjust her status to permanent resident as a result, but the fact of the matter is that as has been said before, this constitutes visa fraud. If you want to know whether or not it is possible to do so and come out of it as a winner, then yes - it is possible, and many do it all the time. However, it is still wrong - and it si a fairly big risk to take with a person you want to spend the rest of your life with, considering that one of the consequences could be a very very long ban to the US for your wife.

Regarding filing the I-130 when she is in the US, this can actually refer to a whole other process. When she is here, you can file the I-130 to start the CR-1 (or IR-1 if you've been married for more than 2 years) process. She can stay in the US for however long CBP gives her when she enters, but then she will have to leave, go back home, and wait out the CR-1 process in her home coutnry where she will also have an interview at the US embassy. Once the CR-1/IR-1 visa has been issued, she uses that to come back to the US, and will immediately become a permanent resident upon entry. This option is 100% by the book.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Little_My

[RobbyUSA 26]

That being said, the burden of proof regarding intent is on USCIS, not you. It is rare for them to go after someone for intent, unless there has been clear material misrepresentation along the way, or there is something else fishy relating to the case. You are asking people to tell you that is okay for her to come to the US and for you to adjust her status to permanent resident as a result, but the fact of the matter is that as has been said before, this constitutes visa fraud. If you want to know whether or not it is possible to do so and come out of it as a winner, then yes - it is possible, and many do it all the time. However, it is still wrong - and it si a fairly big risk to take with a person you want to spend the rest of your life with, considering that one of the consequences could be a very very long ban to the US for your wife.

okay... so it sounds to me even if the intent of her visit is NOT to immigrate to the US it's always better for EVERYBODY to not consider filling for it here in the USA if the I-130 can be filled while the spouse is NOT is the US.

so why do they give you this option in the first place if it can be considered fraud?

it's obviously not logical what the US goverment is doing! first they say it's okay... then they say it may be considered fraud....

sounds to me that the US gov. is commiting the fraud here!

Edited January 27, 2012 by RobbyUSA

[ceadsearc 515]

"Maybe will we and maybe we won't" isn't the same as no intent whatsoever. No one is going to tell you it's ok or it isn't fraud because it is. Not to mention that advising you it was ok would violate the VJ TOS.

[RobbyUSA 26]

"Maybe will we and maybe we won't" isn't the same as no intent whatsoever. No one is going to tell you it's ok or it isn't fraud because it is. Not to mention that advising you it was ok would violate the VJ TOS.

she is taking a vacation to see me.... okay.... got it?

so the US gov. is going to call this intent for her to immigrate to the US because I am trying to find out what my options are?

seems like a trap by the US gov. - knowing all the options ahead of time is fraud???

I think a person should be allowed to file the I-130 here is the USA or not at all...

this is a joke and not a fair system at all because she plans on visiting me with 100% intent on going back.

Edited January 27, 2012 by RobbyUSA

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

like I just said... she plans on visiting me anyways and has 2 other times after we got married and they never asked her if she was married. She told them she was in a relationship with me and was here to visit but never gave them false information.

But does she tell them that she's married to a US Citizen of just in a relationship?

You are currently considering her immigrating to the US, that is immigrant intent. Your plan as laid out in this thread is FRAUD.

[RobbyUSA 26]

But does she tell them that she's married to a US Citizen of just in a relationship?

You are currently considering her immigrating to the US, that is immigrant intent. Your plan as laid out in this thread is FRAUD.

okay if my plan is fraud... I will change my plan. the plan is: she is going to take a vacation here as planed.

then we will go from there.

would this be fraud?

No she did not say she was Married to a US citizen nor did she deny it... she just said she was romantically involved. we are going to speak to an Imigration lawyer about this on Monday but it seems to me that even if I can find a plan that is NOT fraud... I am still better off filling when she is no visiting me.

[aaron2020 11,651]

"You must qualify to file for an I-130 in the US. Not everyone does, and in some cases doing so can be considered fraud and result in being deported and banned from re-entry into the US for a period of time."

I married a Romanian woman who now lives in France. We got married over 2 years ago in Romania.

She wants to travel and visit me for a 2 month vacation. She has a USA visa that expires in 9 years and allows up to a 6 month stay.

We may decide to file for the I-130 then the I-485.

is this a good option or what?

because there are no guidlines on how this would be considered fraud even if my Wife intends to only visit me.

okay if my plan is fraud... I will change my plan. the plan is: she is going to take a vacation here as planed.

then we will go from there.

would this be fraud?

No she did not say she was Married to a US citizen nor did she deny it... she just said she was romantically involved. we are going to speak to an Imigration lawyer about this on Monday but it seems to me that even if I can find a plan that is NOT fraud... I am still better off filling when she is no visiting me.

You are trying to split hairs and play little games with the immigration process.

The Immigration folks are like the DMV. You stand in an endless line to get the wrong window and a lousy DMV employee who will not be persuaded that he/she is wrong on an DMV matter. Now replace "DMV" with "USCIS." Sometimes, you have to submit and do it their way to get what you want.

You will probably be fine with adjusting your wife's status. There is a chance that you get a hard-####### IO who decides that your wife did have the intent to immigrate when she entered on her visitor visa. This is a risk you could completely eliminate by having her interview in France. Remember, you end up with a hard-####### IO.

This is what the lawyer will tell you; Your case is complicated but my law office can handle it for you with no problem; i.e. pay us. The lawyer is motivated by $$$$. No application = no pay. He will only tell you what you want to hear - she can adjust no problem if you hire his law office.

[ceadsearc 515]

As Little_My said you can easily file the I-130 while she is here. As long as she has strong ties to her country she can continue to visit you on a tourist visa so long as she doesn't overstay. The process for the CR/IR-1 would be completed in her country.

It's not filing the I-130 that is the problem. It's filing the I-485 when you had possible intent.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

okay if my plan is fraud... I will change my plan. the plan is: she is going to take a vacation here as planed.

then we will go from there.

would this be fraud?

Yes, because you are being sly...

No she did not say she was Married to a US citizen nor did she deny it... she just said she was romantically involved. we are going to speak to an Imigration lawyer about this on Monday but it seems to me that even if I can find a plan that is NOT fraud... I am still better off filling when she is no visiting me.

Why didn't she say she's married to a US Citizen? Oh I know, because then she'd have a more difficult time at POE and they'd want to see really strong tie to return to her home country. So she's being sly at POE.

You can file the I-130 while she's in the US or even on the moon for that matter. The Fraud is filing the I-485 for her to adjust while in country when she entered with immigrant intent on a non-immigrant visa.

I'm all for not offering more information that the CBP Officer asks for but intentionally being sly in your answers is border-line fraud and she is playing a risky game at POE. If they have a single record of her claiming to just be "Romantically involved" with you after the date of your marriage it could lead to her being charged with Material Misrepresentation when you try to adjust her status in country and that means you'd need a hardship waiver which just complicated your whole case.

Don't try to game the system unless you're willing to accept it if things go sideways on you which could result in her being banned from the US while you try to clean-up the mess.

[Laure&Colin 274]

Hard facts:

EDIT: somehow the link won't work. Anyway, the most interesting parts I quoted below.

Read in particular the paragraph that says:

"However, this same instruction provides the following policy for immediate relatives of United States citizens (spouses, parents, and unmarried children),

In the absence of other adverse factors, an application for adjustment of status as an immediate relative should generally be granted in the exercise of discretion notwithstanding the fact that the applicant entered the United States as a nonimmigrant with a preconceived intention to remain. Matter of Cavazos, Int. Dec. 2750(BIA 1980) clarified and reaffirmed. Matter of Ibrahim, Int. Dec. 2866 (BIA 1981)."

And

"On the other hand, if there is no clear evidence of fraud or misrepresentation, the mere

fact that the applicant had a preconceived intent to remain in the United States permanently will

not usually result in the denial of their application for permanent residence if they are classifiable

as an immediate relative of a United States citizen."

= Prior intent on its own cannot justify the denial of adjustment of status for the spouse of a USC.

I think asking a lawyer is a good idea.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Laure&Colin