Honeymoon abroad after F1 marriage

[NY_BX 397]

How about going to the honeymoon, then getting married?

Exactly my thoughts. If she has a visa to re-enter, then go on the "vacation" of a lifetime. I don't see why you have to forfeit $4,000 when all you could do is change the title of your trip. Get married later and once AOS is completed, treat yourself with another honeymoon. The money you will invest changing dates, expediting processes and overall changing plans could easily afford 2 honeymoons.

Just my humble suggestion....

[jkb11 26]

that is wrong. if u re-enter on f1 with the intent to immigrate (which it clearly seems you do) then that is fraud straight up whether or not they catch u this time it will make things difficult in the long run. not to mention its highly likely that the f1 entry will be denied and u dont want to send ur newlywed bride home.

Excuse me, but where is her immigrant intent at the time of entry? As much as she is concerned, they are filing for CR1?

Cheers!

[aayitrun 66]

Excuse me, but where is her immigrant intent at the time of entry? As much as she is concerned, they are filing for CR1?

Cheers!

OP said she is going to get ir1. not saying it will happen but the POE officer might say - if she wants to immigrate later, why should i let her in now? send her back and apply for IR-1. also from what ive heard f-1s married to usc often get their entry denied.

certainly not the end of the world but it'll put a damper in the newlywed stuff for a few months.

[jkb11 26]

OP said she is going to get ir1. not saying it will happen but the POE officer might say - if she wants to immigrate later, why should i let her in now? send her back and apply for IR-1. also from what ive heard f-1s married to usc often get their entry denied.

certainly not the end of the world but it'll put a damper in the newlywed stuff for a few months.

Well, the only way that there is any remote chance of that happening is the marriage subject somehow emerging at the POE. Don't offer this information to the officer unasked.

Cheers!

[jaycali 415]

OP said she is going to get ir1. not saying it will happen but the POE officer might say - if she wants to immigrate later, why should i let her in now?

True, but there's no need to volunteer that information on entry. Saying she's been "on vacation" and now "returning to school" isn't lying. And if there's no immigrant intent on this entry, it's not fraud either. She wouldn't even be in the same line as the USC so the chances of the issue coming up are close to none.

All in all though. I say screw the $4,000, get married ASAP and file AOS. Then hope for AP prior to the honeymoon. Hawaii and Puerto Rico are perfectly nice places to go on a honeymoon if all else fails!

Edited April 23, 2012 by jaejayC

[aayitrun 66]

All in all though. I say screw the $4,000, get married ASAP and file AOS. Then hope for AP prior to the honeymoon. Hawaii and Puerto Rico are perfectly nice places to go on a honeymoon if all else fails!

that is my recommendation as well. like i said there are many ways to slip in, but once u dig a hole for urself, there will only be more digging and no getting out.

[John and Ann 10]

A. The 30-60-90 rule does not exist. The problem isn't that much the filing after re-entering the US with the F1 visa as it is for her to be admitted in the first place. Since you are going to marry, and plan to file for AOS and her to become a permanent resident, you have immigrant intent now. It would be visa fraud for her to re-enter with her F1 with intent to immigrate. Whether or not this would come up when she is crossing back to the US no one knows, but it is a mighty big risk to take and the consequences can be very grave and long-lasting.

B. You can't expedite the AP travel document for any other reason than an absolute emergency, such as a family member being terminally ill abroad or something similar to that. A honeymoon is not an emergency, and you cannot get an expedited AP for that. After filing for AOS, it takes about 90 days for the AP to arrive, and if she travels before that, after filing for AOS, her AOS will be considered abandoned.

C. K3 does not exist anymore. CR-1 takes 9-11 months. I am not aware of any way to expedite the CR-1. I am not sure what you mean by "a company who can expedite this", but no - a company, or a lawyer, cannot expedite the process for you.

I am not seeing a way out of this that is safe and wouldn't include you postponing the honeymoon, except for her to marry you, leave for the honeymoon, and then file for the CR-1 abroad and wait out the 9-11 month period in another country, probably her home country. Maybe someone else will see a possibility I am not considering.

After all the rules and regulations I've read, That explanation is just how I understand it also. Just get married and forget the honeymoon for now; cut your loses that way best you can, and don't take a chance on messing it all up. Hiring a lawyer later, if you did, will be at least as costly as any loss of Honeymoon monies... BE patient. :-)

[John and Ann 10]

Exactly my thoughts. If she has a visa to re-enter, then go on the "vacation" of a lifetime. I don't see why you have to forfeit $4,000 when all you could do is change the title of your trip. Get married later and once AOS is completed, treat yourself with another honeymoon. The money you will invest changing dates, expediting processes and overall changing plans could easily afford 2 honeymoons.

Just my humble suggestion....

Yep, married is married, and safe....don't mess with immigration process.

Ones I've read that take a long time or an attorney, are ones that people messed up

or tried to take a shortcut...

[NY_BX 397]

Yep, married is married, and safe....don't mess with immigration process.

Ones I've read that take a long time or an attorney, are ones that people messed up

or tried to take a shortcut...

I think the vacation/ early honeymoon is the safest solution. Why lose the money AND complicate things? Things do not have to follow a traditional timeline. Many of us, if not most, have delayed our honeymoon by almost a year because of this. Mine will be during Xmas and I got married 3/3/12. It is what it is.....

[Nikita2Charles 31]

Your honeymoon is still a couple of months away, any travel agency that would hold you hostage for that long would be out of business by now. Check with them they might be able to acomodate you, sometimes there's a cancelation fee involved but if you explain your situation to them that you are only going to push the date and they will still get your business they might, give it a try.

[Up and Away 10]

Agree with Vanessa&Tony. Your best bet is to marry and file ASAP and hope you'll get the AP in time. In addition, maybe look into postponing the honeymoon and get in touch with the travel agent to see if this is possible - any fee you will need to pay for moving the trip is bound to be smaller than 1) cancelling the whole trip, or 2) abandoning AOS and losing the roughly $2,000 it takes to file the papers and get the medical done.

I agree with the above. I may be too risk-averse, but I would not go on the honeymoon, call it a vacation, return on F-1, then get married, as some have advised. I'd do my best to avoid dual-intent issues. The last time I entered the US on my F-1, I had no freakin' idea that my then-boyfriend was thinking about getting married!

[bigdog 376]

What ever you do don't commit fraud and get a lifetime ban. You cannot beat the system do no even try. Delay any plans see an immigration attorney (hate to admit it). An honest and good one.

[jkb11 26]

What do they need an attorney for? All possible choices have already been stated here.

Assuming you don't want to be apart for a long time:

1. Get married

2. AOS

Assuming you don't want to lose your $4k in addition to the above:

1. Get married

2. Honeymoon

3. Return on F1

4. File for CR1

While I cannot guarantee you will be admitted on F1, I estimate your chances of succeed to be around 99%. Without being apart and losing your money.

Cheers!

[ValerieA 350]

Those who are advocating postponing marriage and taking the vacation first, then getting married and AOSing - this is still visa fraud. Being married and entering again on the F1 is not the problem, intending to AOS is. So, that option also won't work. Getting married and AOSing ASAP is the best option, and trying to get the vacation postponed to a slightly later date.

[kenfeyl 0]

How about:

1. Get married

2. Go on honeymoon

3. Re-enter on F1

4. File for CR-1

5. Go to home country just for the interview

6. Return to the U.S. as LPR

That is the version you and your fiancee agree upon. Your fiancee will then have no intent of adjusting her status after arrival on F1, thus not breaking any laws or committing fraud. Of course, if you surprise her at the day of filing and slip her an additional I-485 form to fill out, well, her intent remained clear at the time of entry. Your intent has nothing to do with it. Oh, what a lovely surprise would that be. Wink, wink.

Cheers!

Thanks to everyone who replied -- you all have been absolutely wonderful sharing your opinions and I am happy for the chance to see the spectrum of opinion and understand the risk. Here are a few additional clarifications and questions:

1. I am intrigued by the option quoted above, but do not fully understand it. How long would she need to be in her home country if we go the CR-1 route? Will they find it odd that we filed a CR-1 when she is actually living in the U.S.? Also, how does it nullify the issue of intent at her post-honeymoon re-entry -- does intent apply only to AOS and not to CR-1?

2. We have a window of three years left on her F1. Suppose we waited a year or more to file the AOS after her re-entry. Does that change anything?

3. Several suggested waiting to marry and making this a vacation. Unfortunately, I have already put down a nonrefundable $6,000 in deposits towards the ceremony event in late June. Postponing the wedding would be a bigger loss than postponing the honeymoon. This would also offend the relatives.

4. However, we could have the ceremony on the planned day but delay getting the actual certificate until after the honeymoon. No one has yet commented on whether this delay would be meaningful. During an AOS interview, would it be an issue that the ceremony occurred before the re-entry and certificate? Or is the certificate date the only meaningful one?

5. Since many mentioned this, I have looked into the fees associated with changing the various parts of our honeymoon, and it appears that roughly $2,000 would be salvageable and $2,000 lost if we reschedule this now for the following year. It would all be lost if we cancel it outright, or if we waited until the last minute to reschedule.

All in all we are leaning towards giving up on the honeymoon (we are afraid since she is in the middle of a graduate program), but are curious about the CR-1 route mentioned above.

Thanks again to everyone for your time and patience.

Edited April 24, 2012 by kenfeyl