Marriage in US -> Return home -> CR1

[Owen_London 65]

Lyyndy, thanks.

Yes, I agree it looks feasible, though it doesn't look like a really quick option. Lookin at the information on the Scotland GRO website, it sounds like you need about six weeks notice total. That's not too bad, but from a more personal viewpoint, it's not really for us - neither of us have much of a connection to Scotland, though I do like it, plus we're intending our UK do to he the big one, which means more time required to organise it.

Currently the plan we're formulating is this:

1. Small official ceremony in Michigan in July or so, with close family and local relatives, then send in I-130 etc.

2. Big civil blessing/party in London/southeast England just after CR-1 comes through.

3. Honeymoon then both fly directly home to Texas.

4. Immigration party for friends in Texas after a week or two settling in.

[lynndy38 64]

Was just a thought,my grandad was Scottish so I have emotional ties there aswell as not having to do the residency thing,plus the registrar told me we wouldnt have to be there in person to put the notice in.

Im so sorry for us all that have to go through this,its emotional,heartbreaking(when apart)time consuming and very costly.

Keep focused on the fact you WILL get there and be together.

Edited April 18, 2012 by lynndy38

[Owen_London 65]

Was just a thought,my grandad was Scottish so I have emotional ties there aswell as not having to do the residency thing,plus the registrar told me we wouldnt have to be there in person to put the notice in.

Im so sorry for us all that have to go through this,its emotional,heartbreaking(when apart)time consuming and very costly.

Keep focused on the fact you WILL get there and be together.

Our frustration mostly came early in the process, as we thought I'd be able to get an intra-company transfer pretty quickly, yet nothing happened for months. Now we have a relatively firm timescale, I'm pretty happy, even if our life together is still several months away. I know my fiancee just wants it to be all over quickly.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Owen_London

[trojam227 18]

No, it is not lying to fail to mention a wedding on your itinerary any more than it would be lying to fail to mention a planned visit to a public restroom. Any truthful answer is truthful. I recommend a more generic truthful answer than mentioning one's own wedding. You are simply out of your element and over-reacting. Yes, I'm harsh with people who give bad information to people looking for the truth.

Any visitor faces the possibility of refusal. It is just as legal to enter the USA with the intention of marrying a US Citizen and then leave to pursue a spouse visa as it is to enter with the intention of attending a football game, buying a burger and a brew and then leaving. Both are "pleasure" trips. Both are "holiday/vacation" trips. Both are "visits". Pleasure, holiday, vacation and visiting are truthful generic answers used thousands of times every day when asked for the purpose of a visit to the USA. Picking any one of those answers when planning to do each and every one of them PLUS getting married or NOT getting married is TRUE and legal. Take it to the bank.

OK, so "witholding information" is not lying for US entry. Got it! I wonder if that works with criminal records or communicable disease? Pushbrk, insinuating that "I am out of my element" is not couth unless you have checked my resume.

And sorry Owen for clogging up your thread with all this. I wish you the best in you marriage and visa journey, however you achieve that.

[pushbrk 13,544]

OK, so "witholding information" is not lying for US entry. Got it! I wonder if that works with criminal records or communicable disease? Pushbrk, insinuating that "I am out of my element" is not couth unless you have checked my resume.

And sorry Owen for clogging up your thread with all this. I wish you the best in you marriage and visa journey, however you achieve that.

So, the next time I enter China as a visitor and say "visiting family" as the "purpose of visit", I'm "lying" or "withholding information" if I fail to mention I'm also going to party with friends, do some sightseeing, get some foot massages, visit a physician, play golf or any of a million other activities perfectly legal in China? I don't think so. You see, where you are out of your element (regardless of your resume) is that you simply don't understand that "marrying" a USC in the USA during a "visit" is perfectly legal, as legal as going to a ball game. If failing to mention the ball game isn't "withholding information" then neither is failing to mention plans to marry a USC. One need not proactively provide a full itinerary of their planned activities. If they leave on time, nobody cares what legal activities they engaged in while visiting.

Further, it isn't even "illegal" to "intend" to marry a USC AND stay to adjust status, as long as you don't tell any "actual lies" upon entry. This has been proven over and over again, hundreds of times a day. Is this somewhat risky? Yes, if your adjustment of status gets denied, your overstay won't be forgiven and you'll pay the consequences. This makes the overstay the illegal issue, not the intent to marry or marry and adjust status based on marriage to a US Citizen.

Edited April 19, 2012 by pushbrk

[TBoneTX 47,271]

I seriously agree with pushbrk.

Thirded. VJ members can learn a whole lot from him.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Got it! I wonder if that works with criminal records or communicable disease?

Those are questions directly asked on ESTA. You answer them.

Your first question at POE is What is the purpose of your trip? "I'm on holiday" is a good answer.

If you are further quizzed at with-- Who are you visiting? Are you engaged? Are you planning to get married on this trip?--then you answer those too. Nobody is suggesting you lie to a direct question on a specific subject.

Edited April 19, 2012 by Nich-Nick

[pushbrk 13,544]

Those are questions directly asked on ESTA. You answer them.

Your first question at POE is What is the purpose of your trip? "I'm on holiday" is a good answer.

If you are further quizzed at with-- Who are you visiting? Are you engaged? Are you planning to get married on this trip?--then you answer those too. Nobody is suggesting you lie to a direct question on a specific subject.

Exactly. In most cases only the first question and perhaps the length of the intended visit are asked. "I'm on holiday" is generally all you need to say. In the OP's case and nearly all others in this vein, that's absolutely true.

[grrrrreat 109]

Exactly. In most cases only the first question and perhaps the length of the intended visit are asked. "I'm on holiday" is generally all you need to say. In the OP's case and nearly all others in this vein, that's absolutely true.

Sometime's they'll ask you where you're staying and going and such. If you are going off to some resort to get married, you could say "such and such resort", but if you were going to stay with your fiancee, you'd probably have to provide that answer, which might lead to further questions. But yeah, if CBP wants to probe further they can, and you have to be honest, but it's not required to volunteer the information.

[*Snowdrop* 604]

Sometime's they'll ask you where you're staying and going and such. If you are going off to some resort to get married, you could say "such and such resort", but if you were going to stay with your fiancee, you'd probably have to provide that answer, which might lead to further questions. But yeah, if CBP wants to probe further they can, and you have to be honest, but it's not required to volunteer the information.

Really strangely I nearly almost always got asked where I worked and what my husband's job was. And because we both worked for quite interesting companies that always led to the immigration officer lightening up and saying something like "That sounds really fun / interesting" quickly followed by "Have a great trip"

And once the guy was looking really stern and frowning at my passport and I thought "uh oh" and then he looked up and said "What a gorgeous necklace you are wearing, it really suits you" "Have a great vacation" Stamped my passport and waved me through.

I wore that necklace every single time I visited after that.

[Owen_London 65]

I thought some of you would like an update.

Over the last week, we planned out our wedding for mid-July, for close family only, so we could pursue the CR1 route. Unfortunately, I asked my boss today for the time off, and he said no.

Rather more fortunately, this is because my company have agreed to my "Option 1", an intra-company transfer, subject to getting visa approval.

L1 visas are processed quicker than CR1s or K1s, and expedited L1s are far quicker, so I have a lot to do over the next few weeks.

We're very happy.