Can someone get married to a US citizen in the US then file the paperwork

[Shenzhen 34]

That is what I thought and tried to tell her this...she is very impatient and doesn't want to wait.Plus she is paying her attorney huge bucks$$$$. I think that the attorney is very money driven and that is why she is telling my girlfriend what she wants to her. She told me that it is going to cost her around $15,000.00.

I told her that she should just go the K1 route but again she told me that she didn't want to wait that long and that it was quicker to go this way.

I waited almost 5 years to be with my fiance.

15000? Umm it's more like $1500.00 she is being misinformed doesn't need an attorney at all. WOW!

[sulhaq 59]

I've read on this forum for months that it is improper to enter on B-2, get married then adjust status while remaining in US.

Yet, I learned from a colleague here in my office who did just that. He was here in the US from the middle east in the midst of a I-485 AOS application for his own green card from an valid employment-based L-1 visa. Then, met his wife in Canada. They travelled together back to the US, she on a B-2. They then married his wife in US and they then proceed to file a I-485 AOS for and successfully attached it to his own AOS application. They received their IR-1 together.

No one at USCIS or NVC in the process even suggested this was not allowed.

So now that I hear this first hand, why is this improper?

If your friend had already decided to marry his wife in Canada, obtained the B1/B2 visa with that precedent in mind, and then entered the US and got married, then, both him and his wife not only committed immigration fraud but are also guilty of lying to the immigration officer at their POE into the US.

The fact that your friend got lucky and didn't get caught is irrelevant. He still did the wrong thing, and if he had been caught, his I-485 would have been revoked and his wife would have been permanently disbarred from ever entering the US.

Is it worth this risk?

Edited April 12, 2012 by sulhaq

[dwheels76 5,463]

What blows my mind is your friend comes from a country that as noted she basically can come and go as she pleases. Many of us have a ocean between us. Gosh to just jump a plane and see my husband in under 5 hours or drive to him. I'd be there weekly I swear.

Tell her to come on VJ and read for herself. Can't she see what you her friend are going through. It's a slap in the face to everyone doing it the right way. Goodness. The lawyers name needs to be reported for real. (He probably got all C's and D's in law school or passed the bar online).

[Operator 1,925]

Yep, you've waited 6 months and done it the proper way. She'll have her green card way before you probably. Will she live in fear that someday it could all come crashing down because she committed fraud, probably not. That's why people and lawyers still do it because they can.

[LinaMD 8]

Yep, you've waited 6 months and done it the proper way. She'll have her green card way before you probably. Will she live in fear that someday it could all come crashing down because she committed fraud, probably not. That's why people and lawyers still do it because they can.

Yep. And as long as people can get away with it easily I don`t see why they would stop doing it. I personally have not met a sinlge person who has had any problems proving they "didn`t intent" to marry and stay in the US. Not one...

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Yep. And as long as people can get away with it easily I don`t see why they would stop doing it. I personally have not met a sinlge person who has had any problems proving they "didn`t intent" to marry and stay in the US. Not one...

And this proves what? Have you met every single person who has EVER entered in this fashion? No. Your statement proves nothing except you know a lot of people who like to break the law.

[CarolAnn&Eddy 12]

I would think there would be problems. My fiance lives in Canada and was denied entry 2 times when he was wanting to come and meet my family. They questioned us a lot about our relationship and future intentions. At that time we weren't even engaged. We were told that it was good we told them the truth about our relationship and that IF we would have lied and said we were just friends, that he could be banned from the US for up to 5 years. That is when we looked into doing the K-1 visa. I don't think the risk of him being banned from the US is worth saving some money. So, K-1 visa petition is being sent off next week.

All of here on VJ are doing it the correct way and I know for me, I am NOT paying a lawyer all the big bucks.

Honesty is the best policy.

[HeatDeath 430]

The summer before we got engaged and filed our I-129F, my now-wife flew up to Canada to meet my family. She got a one way ticket, and our plan was for me to drive with her back down to Salt Lake City to spend most of the summer, as I had the previous several summers. [i was a teacher and could therefore take extended vacations, as long as they occurred in July and August ] So we started driving, and when we hit the US border station, unlike previous trips where I had been alone, the CBP officer gave us a thorough grilling. I am quite certain he was going to deny me entry as an immigration risk, until I said that we were well aware that I couldn't just stay and that we were planning to get a fiance visa. [those three little words that CBP officers love to hear: "A fiance Visa" ] He then let us through with a gruff "Do it right!"

In the light of that experience, I would never want to cross the border under any situation where I couldn't tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. While it may seem to an average Canadian like CBP officers just wave you through 99% of the time, they can smell nervousness and evasion a mile away. I wouldn't want to go up against them on a 25 cent hand of poker, let alone with something important like my future in the US with my spouse on the line!

[And $15,000 to do a K-1 application? That's so over the top, it's not even ridiculous. That's, like, cartoonish villainy, like those door-to-door con men you hear about who steal little old ladies retirement funds.]

(Also, I can almost understand a Canadian lawyer recommending just brazening your way through the PoE and getting married and adjusting status. One can reasonably expect a Canadian lawyer to be not as familiar with or concerned about American legal niceties and procedures and just recommending what they know will work most of the time. But an American lawyer seriously advocating complete disregard of American immigration law? That starts to sound like legal malpractice to me.)

Edited April 12, 2012 by HeatDeath

[dwheels76 5,463]

The summer before we got engaged and filed our I-129F, my now-wife flew up to Canada to meet my family. She got a one way ticket, and our plan was for me to drive with her back down to Salt Lake City to spend most of the summer, as I had the previous several summers. [i was a teacher and could therefore take extended vacations, as long as they occurred in July and August ] So we started driving, and when we hit the US border station, unlike previous trips where I had been alone, the CBP officer gave us a thorough grilling. I am quite certain he was going to deny me entry as an immigration risk, until I said that we were well aware that I couldn't just stay and that we were planning to get a fiance visa. [those three little words that CBP officers love to hear: "A fiance Visa" ] He then let us through with a gruff "Do it right!"

In the light of that experience, I would never want to cross the border under any situation where I couldn't tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. While it may seem to an average Canadian like CBP officers just wave you through 99% of the time, they can smell nervousness and evasion a mile away. I wouldn't want to go up against them on a 25 cent hand of poker, let alone with something important like my future in the US with my spouse on the line!

[And $15,000 to do a K-1 application? That's so over the top, it's not even ridiculous. That's, like, cartoonish villainy, like those door-to-door con men you hear about who steal little old ladies retirement funds.]

(Also, I can almost understand a Canadian lawyer recommending just brazening your way through the PoE and getting married and adjusting status. One can reasonably expect a Canadian lawyer to be not as familiar with or concerned about American legal niceties and procedures and just recommending what they know will work most of the time. But an American lawyer seriously advocating complete disregard of American immigration law? That starts to sound like legal malpractice to me.)

That being said what would a person do if they did come here on a tourist or student Visa and got married. I have to admit I had no idea about all these VISA rules and laws. Me and my husband 2 1/2 years ago applied for student Visa he was going to come here for school and we would get married. Didn't know until after I joined VJ a year later ( he did get denied) that would have been a no no to come for school that was legit but also intentions of marriage.

Glad we got denied. But now when Visa interview happens (we just filed I-130) he has to tell the truth which he will about that denied Visa and we will take our lumps. Ignorance is no defense as they say. I just pray for mercy.

Sorry didn't mean to hi-jack the thread.

Edited April 12, 2012 by dwheels76

[Tygrys 143]

That being said what would a person do if they did come here on a tourist or student Visa and got married. I have to admit I had no idea about all these VISA rules and laws. Me and my husband 2 1/2 years ago applied for student Visa he was going to come here for school and we would get married. Didn't know until after I joined VJ a year later ( he did get denied) that would have been a no no to come for school that was legit but also intentions of marriage.

Glad we got denied. But now when Visa interview happens (we just filed I-130) he has to tell the truth which he will about that denied Visa and we will take our lumps. Ignorance is no defense as they say. I just pray for mercy.

Sorry didn't mean to hi-jack the thread.

Denied application for student visa will have no bearing on processing of your IR-1.

[dwheels76 5,463]

Denied application for student visa will have no bearing on processing of your IR-1.

Well I am just more concerned cuz the timeline we were together and if the CO says "You applied for student Visa while you were in this relationship blah blah bah". If he says "well our intention was to go to school and we get married that would have been fraud so that's all we are worried about how it looks. We didn't have no idea. I have seen so many come here go to school meet or have already meet someone get married and live happily ever after and all that stuff. We just want to be honest and let the CO "yes we wanted to be together we didn't know we couldn't get married on a student Visa or tourist Visa (almost impossible out of Nigeria)".

[LinaMD 8]

And this proves what? Have you met every single person who has EVER entered in this fashion? No. Your statement proves nothing except you know a lot of people who like to break the law.

I am not trying to prove anything. Do you know how many people get denied AOS from tourist visas? I don`t. I sure would like to know though . Until then I can only speak about those I know that broke the law and did not get punished for it.

[Tygrys 143]

I am not trying to prove anything. Do you know how many people get denied AOS from tourist visas? I don`t. I sure would like to know though . Until then I can only speak about those I know that broke the law and did not get punished for it.

This forum is for those who need help while using legal means to get through the immigration process.

What about filling in your timeline?

[Darnell 8,478]

HeatDeath? Cartoonish Villiany? You Rock - that's priceless, and accurate

[Joanne n Thanh 0]

Interesting enough, I heard this story many many times! My future mother-in-law and my sister-in-law both contacted their friends and different immigration lawyers regarding the steps to go to America. EVERY lawyer advised me to go to USA as a visitor and get marry while I am visiting, then complete the paperwork afterwards. It just seemed too weird so I went against their advice and am doing the k-1 as a fiance instead. So yes, American lawyers are advising their clients to go that route. I just couldn't risk being apart from my fiance because of something stupid like Immigration fraud on something minor like waiting an extra few months!