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A question about marriage and crossing the border...

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Filed: Other Country: Canada
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Okay, I've read that you should always tell the truth to customs. However, if my fiancee tells them that she's planning on going across the Canadian-American border in order to marry her fiance, I doubt she'll be allowed entry into the United States.

So what do we do?

Does she say she's just going for a visit or a vacation or whatever?

We don't really like the K1 or the K3 visas (for a number of reasons, one of which being that she has to spend several months or longer unemployable while within the country). The IR1/CR1 is more to our liking, depsite the fact we'd be seperated and she'd have to go back to Canada after the wedding. The thing we're looking at is the fact that she'd immediately be a permanent resident and able to work once everything was finished processing.

So is she allowed to enter the U.S. with her passport and get married to a U.S. citizen? What happens if she's honest and tells customs that as well? Will she be refused entry? If so, what should she say?

If this seems like a stupid post, well...sorry. I just want everything to run as smoothly as possible, and I have a number of questions. That's all.

Thanks ahead of time. :)

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Canada
Timeline

I can pretty much guarantee that if she says she is entering the U.S. to get married, she will be hassled. If she has lots of evidence that she intends to return to Canada after her "visit" and marriage to you in order to complete the processing of her visa, they may let her in. Such evidence that she intends to return to Canada could include her mortgage/lease documents, most recent pay stubs and a letter from her employer stating when they expect her back at work, recent utility bills, etc.

We don't advocate being untruthful to border officers here on VJ, so I don't really know what to tell you. Just be prepared that she may be turned away at the border and not allowed in until she has a visa.

Good luck.

"THE SHORT STORY"

KURT & RAYMA (K-1 Visa)

Oct. 9/03... I-129F sent to NSC

June 10/04... K-1 Interview - APPROVED!!!!

July 31/04... Entered U.S.

Aug. 28/04... WEDDING DAY!!!!

Aug. 30/04... I-485, I-765 & I-131 sent to Seattle

Dec. 10/04... AOS Interview - APPROVED!!!!! (Passport stamped)

Sept. 9/06... I-751 sent to NSC

May 15/07... 10-Yr. PR Card arrives in the mail

Sept. 13/07... N-400 sent to NSC

Aug. 21/08... Interview - PASSED!!!!

Sept. 2/08... Oath Ceremony

Sept. 5/08... Sent in Voter Registration Card

Sept. 9/08... SSA office to change status to "U.S. citizen"

Oct. 8/08... Applied in person for U.S. Passport

Oct. 22/08... U.S. Passport received

DONE!!! DONE!!! DONE!!! DONE!!!

KAELY (K-2 Visa)

Apr. 6/05... DS-230, Part I faxed to Vancouver Consulate

May 26/05... K-2 Interview - APPROVED!!!!

Sept. 5/05... Entered U.S.

Sept. 7/05... I-485 & I-131 sent to CLB

Feb. 22/06... AOS Interview - APPROVED!!!!! (Passport NOT stamped)

Dec. 4/07... I-751 sent to NSC

May 23/08... 10-Yr. PR Card arrives in the mail

Mar. 22/11.... N-400 sent to AZ

June 27/11..... Interview - PASSED!!!

July 12/11..... Oath Ceremony

We're NOT lawyers.... just your average folks who had to find their own way!!!!! Anything we post here is simply our own opinions/suggestions/experiences and should not be taken as LAW!!!!

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Filed: Timeline
Okay, I've read that you should always tell the truth to customs. However, if my fiancee tells them that she's planning on going across the Canadian-American border in order to marry her fiance, I doubt she'll be allowed entry into the United States.

So what do we do?

Does she say she's just going for a visit or a vacation or whatever?

We don't really like the K1 or the K3 visas (for a number of reasons, one of which being that she has to spend several months or longer unemployable while within the country). The IR1/CR1 is more to our liking, depsite the fact we'd be seperated and she'd have to go back to Canada after the wedding. The thing we're looking at is the fact that she'd immediately be a permanent resident and able to work once everything was finished processing.

So is she allowed to enter the U.S. with her passport and get married to a U.S. citizen? What happens if she's honest and tells customs that as well? Will she be refused entry? If so, what should she say?

If this seems like a stupid post, well...sorry. I just want everything to run as smoothly as possible, and I have a number of questions. That's all.

Thanks ahead of time. :)

If she's coming in on a tourist visa and you guys have plans to get married, then she's breaking the law and committing visa fraud when she applies for her adjustment to permanent residency. Please consider going the legal route and applying for a K-1 visa.

What you are proposing is not legal. People have come into the US on tourist visas and gotten their AOS, but it's not legal to come to the US on a tourist visa intending to marry a US citizen. You guys will have to lie...a lot...repeatedly...to US government officials. My advice would be to do it the legal way, or consider getting married in Canada.

24 June 2007: Leaving day/flying to Dallas-Fort Worth

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Filed: Other Country: Canada
Timeline

I don't get it. I mean...I get it, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If she COULD be denied entry into the United States for merely stating the truth, how does anyone get into the country in order to marry and then process an IR1/CR1?

We'd do the K1 if it'd work for us, but it just won't. The logistics of it fail to comply with what we require in order to make things fall into place. Obviously, not everyone does a K1 visa, so there must be a way to make an IR1/CR1 succeed in our situation.

If there is a way...what would it be? I can't imagine NO ONE has ever entered the U.S. with merely a passport with the intent to get married, return to their home country, and then file an IR1/CR1. SOMEONE here must've been through these same set of events before, or at least, know of someone who has been or is going through them.

Once again, any and all help would be appreciated. Thanks. :)

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Filed: Timeline
I don't get it. I mean...I get it, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If she COULD be denied entry into the United States for merely stating the truth, how does anyone get into the country in order to marry and then process an IR1/CR1?

They lie if they're in your situation, or they just come into the US, meet someone they like, and marry them. Or they go the legal route and get a K-1 visa.

We'd do the K1 if it'd work for us, but it just won't. The logistics of it fail to comply with what we require in order to make things fall into place. Obviously, not everyone does a K1 visa, so there must be a way to make an IR1/CR1 succeed in our situation.

I'm afraid not.

If there is a way...what would it be? I can't imagine NO ONE has ever entered the U.S. with merely a passport with the intent to get married, return to their home country, and then file an IR1/CR1. SOMEONE here must've been through these same set of events before, or at least, know of someone who has been or is going through them.

Once again, any and all help would be appreciated. Thanks. :)

Sure, there are people here who have done it, though I don' t know for sure if they intended to marry when they entered the US. That doesn't mean what you are wanting to do is legal, and I'm afraid I can't give you any more advice other than what I've already said. I'll reiterate. If you guys want to do this the legal way, you will have to get a K-1 visa for your fiancee or you two will have to marry in Canada and go the K-3/CR-1/IR-1 route through there. Or you both could marry each other in a third country, like Mexico.

Here is the advice given by the USCIS on their own website. As you can see, you will require a K-1 if you want to do things the legal way.

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/fiance.htm

If your fiancé(e) is not a citizen of the United States and you plan to get married in the United States, then you must file a petition with USCIS on behalf of your fiancé(e). After the petition is approved, your fiancé(e) must obtain a visa issued at a U.S. Embassy or consulate abroad.

I'm sorry this doesn't mesh with your plans, but this is what the law states.

24 June 2007: Leaving day/flying to Dallas-Fort Worth

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Filed: Other Country: Canada
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Well, thanks to both of you for replying to my question. I didn't receive the answer I was hoping to get (although I'm not particularly surprised by the fact that my own country would make the situation as difficult as can be...), but at least I received an answer.

I don't want to break any laws. Besides just being "plain wrong," if we were to get caught, we'd be in some serious doo-doo. So...we have to find a way to make this (legally) work. I'm not sure how we will, but we'll have to find a way. :(

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Well, thanks to both of you for replying to my question. I didn't receive the answer I was hoping to get (although I'm not particularly surprised by the fact that my own country would make the situation as difficult as can be...), but at least I received an answer.

I don't want to break any laws. Besides just being "plain wrong," if we were to get caught, we'd be in some serious doo-doo. So...we have to find a way to make this (legally) work. I'm not sure how we will, but we'll have to find a way. :(

You might want to check in on the K-1 forum and the Canada forum (under Regional Discussions) and ask the Canadian K-1 holders about their experiences. There seems to be quite a few Canadians here.

Good luck.

24 June 2007: Leaving day/flying to Dallas-Fort Worth

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As far as I know: it's not illegal to go to the US and get married, IF you do go back to your home country afterwards.

The problem might be to convince the immigration officers that you will go back!

We're doing the IR1/CR1 but as a DCF, because my husband (USC) currently lives with me in Germany.

And according to the consulate we could've gone to the US to marry, return to Germany and start the process. I don't think they care where in the world you got married...

Long story short:

I don't see why you couldn't get married in the US -> your wife returns home and you file the I-130 for her.

BUT entering the US and telling the immigration officers that you're going to get married to a USC most likely won't be a fun thing to do. In order for them to believe your fiance, she'd have to bring REALLY good binding ties that prove she'll return to Canada.

Why not avoid all this and get married in Canada? (it could be a small wedding there and then once she's in the US you have the real party?)

Cheers, and good look with the right decision!

Please, everybody, if I'm wrong here, correct!

short history:

2001 - met in Germany

April 2003 - fell in love

Aug 2004 - go to the US for internship

Feb 2005 - both return to Germany

Aug 2006 - getting married

DCF timeline:

09/01/2006 - filed the petition in Frankfurt

09/06/2006 - medical in Frankfurt

09/26/2006 - faxed checklist

10/05/2006 - received interview invite

11/01/2006 - INTERVIEW in Frankfurt - approved!

11/04/2006 - VISA IN HAND!!

12/21/2006 - POE San Francisco and ON TO SEA!

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Filed: Timeline
As far as I know: it's not illegal to go to the US and get married, IF you do go back to your home country afterwards.

The problem might be to convince the immigration officers that you will go back!

We're doing the IR1/CR1 but as a DCF, because my husband (USC) currently lives with me in Germany.

And according to the consulate we could've gone to the US to marry, return to Germany and start the process. I don't think they care where in the world you got married...

Long story short:

I don't see why you couldn't get married in the US -> your wife returns home and you file the I-130 for her.

BUT entering the US and telling the immigration officers that you're going to get married to a USC most likely won't be a fun thing to do. In order for them to believe your fiance, she'd have to bring REALLY good binding ties that prove she'll return to Canada.

Why not avoid all this and get married in Canada? (it could be a small wedding there and then once she's in the US you have the real party?)

Cheers, and good look with the right decision!

Please, everybody, if I'm wrong here, correct!

I think two non-USCs who want to come to the USA to get married for a destination wedding may not need visas, but a non-USC wanting to marry a USC needs a K-1 visa according to the USCIS.

I think the OP should call the USCIS for advice if he's not 100% sure but going by what I've read on their website, they need a visa.

24 June 2007: Leaving day/flying to Dallas-Fort Worth

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I think two non-USCs who want to come to the USA to get married for a destination wedding may not need visas, but a non-USC wanting to marry a USC needs a K-1 visa according to the USCIS.

I think the OP should call the USCIS for advice if he's not 100% sure but going by what I've read on their website, they need a visa.

Thanks for the correction!

We called the consulate in Frankfurt to find out and they said that we could go to the US to get married but that might have well been because my husband lives and workes (has residency) in Germany... maybe that was the difference. Both of us would have returned to Germany after the wedding...

Oh I don't know. And I'm happy we had the possibility to do the DCF.

short history:

2001 - met in Germany

April 2003 - fell in love

Aug 2004 - go to the US for internship

Feb 2005 - both return to Germany

Aug 2006 - getting married

DCF timeline:

09/01/2006 - filed the petition in Frankfurt

09/06/2006 - medical in Frankfurt

09/26/2006 - faxed checklist

10/05/2006 - received interview invite

11/01/2006 - INTERVIEW in Frankfurt - approved!

11/04/2006 - VISA IN HAND!!

12/21/2006 - POE San Francisco and ON TO SEA!

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Filed: Other Country: Canada
Timeline

ummm, someone can come to the US and get married... and then return back home and file for the Cr1....

IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO GET MARRIED IN THE UNITED STATES... :no:

the issue is if you go to the US with intentions of getting married and then get married and stay and file for AOS...

I wouldn't divulge more information then they ask you when crossing the border.....

Edited by MarilynP
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Filed: Timeline
ummm, someone can come to the US and get married... and then return back home and file for the Cr1....

IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO GET MARRIED IN THE UNITED STATES... :no:

That isn't the impression I got from the USCIS's website.

24 June 2007: Leaving day/flying to Dallas-Fort Worth

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Filed: Other Country: Canada
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if the person plans to stay after the wedding, then yes they would need a visa... but if they plan on going back home after the wedding that is totally fine...

a lot of people have done that...

they might need a lot of proof that they are panning on returning to thier home country though...

Edited by MarilynP
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Filed: Timeline
if the person plans to stay after the wedding, then yes they would need a visa... but if they plan on going back home after the wedding that is totally fine...

a lot of people have done that...

they might need a lot of proof that they are panning on returning to thier home country though...

I wouldn't bet a guy's future on conflicting info, though. I read the website this morning and did not see anything to indicate that this is the case. It seems sort of risky to me.

I think the OP should contact the USCIS and tell them what his plans are to see what they recommend.

24 June 2007: Leaving day/flying to Dallas-Fort Worth

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Filed: Other Country: Canada
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if the person plans to stay after the wedding, then yes they would need a visa... but if they plan on going back home after the wedding that is totally fine...

a lot of people have done that...

they might need a lot of proof that they are panning on returning to thier home country though...

I wouldn't bet a guy's future on conflicting info, though. I read the website this morning and did not see anything to indicate that this is the case. It seems sort of risky to me.

I think the OP should contact the USCIS and tell them what his plans are to see what they recommend.

what conflicting info? :huh: It is NOT illegal for a NON-USC to get married in the United States if he/she has intentions of going back to his home country....

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