I married a Spanish Tourist

[Lennys26 0]

Hello All. This is my first post, so please take it easy on me.

Background: I am a US Citizen, my wife is a Spanish citizen who entered the US as a tourist (and unmarried).

My wife and I have been living together for 3+ years in Spain and the UK. We had filed for marriage in Spain earlier this year and received the formal date (and equivalent 'license'), however my work brought me back to the USA prior to that date and as a result, she and I came here and were married only last week in Florida.

Wandering through the forms and information, I was planning on doing an application based on the I-130 (I-485, I-864 & G325A), applying for her as my Alien Relative and along with a Adjustment of Status on her visa (actually it is a visa-less 3 month tourist visa) but after reading things, I am wondering if there is another way that may be quicker and/or easier (dare I say...).

I am wondering about the IR-1 and/or the DCF path, but am not sure if they apply. I dont believe that the K visa's apply in my case. Does anyone have any similar experience?

As a note, I currently do not have legal residency anywhere outside of the US, although I understand that as soon as I present the marriage documents to the Spanish Consulate here in the US, I will have immediate residency in Spain.

Thanks for the assist.

Len

[desert_fox 32]

Hello All. This is my first post, so please take it easy on me.

Background: I am a US Citizen, my wife is a Spanish citizen who entered the US as a tourist (and unmarried).

My wife and I have been living together for 3+ years in Spain and the UK. We had filed for marriage in Spain earlier this year and received the formal date (and equivalent 'license'), however my work brought me back to the USA prior to that date and as a result, she and I came here and were married only last week in Florida.

Wandering through the forms and information, I was planning on doing an application based on the I-130 (I-485, I-864 & G325A), applying for her as my Alien Relative and along with a Adjustment of Status on her visa (actually it is a visa-less 3 month tourist visa) but after reading things, I am wondering if there is another way that may be quicker and/or easier (dare I say...).

I am wondering about the IR-1 and/or the DCF path, but am not sure if they apply. I dont believe that the K visa's apply in my case. Does anyone have any similar experience?

As a note, I currently do not have legal residency anywhere outside of the US, although I understand that as soon as I present the marriage documents to the Spanish Consulate here in the US, I will have immediate residency in Spain.

Thanks for the assist.

Len

do you plan on staying in the US, or return to Europe. Is your wife planning on going back or stay and adjust status??

These are what we would need to know.

[riblet 0]

Hi there,

I'm not sure about the requirements for filing DCF in Spain. But if you and your wife are already together in the U.S. then it seems like filing AOS is the best option if you don't want to be separated. Unless you are willing to go back to Spain, depending on the requirements there, and wait there together for DCF.

A K3 visa is not an option at this point as your wife is in the U.S.

Most people here would be thankful to be together while their petitions were being processed, AOS is a pretty good option. I'm not sure what your wife's intentions were when she arrived in the U.S., but I believe that there might be some burden to show that she didn't misrepresent herself when she entered if she intended to stay and adjust status.

Good luck with everything.

Hello All. This is my first post, so please take it easy on me.

Background: I am a US Citizen, my wife is a Spanish citizen who entered the US as a tourist (and unmarried).

My wife and I have been living together for 3+ years in Spain and the UK. We had filed for marriage in Spain earlier this year and received the formal date (and equivalent 'license'), however my work brought me back to the USA prior to that date and as a result, she and I came here and were married only last week in Florida.

Wandering through the forms and information, I was planning on doing an application based on the I-130 (I-485, I-864 & G325A), applying for her as my Alien Relative and along with a Adjustment of Status on her visa (actually it is a visa-less 3 month tourist visa) but after reading things, I am wondering if there is another way that may be quicker and/or easier (dare I say...).

I am wondering about the IR-1 and/or the DCF path, but am not sure if they apply. I dont believe that the K visa's apply in my case. Does anyone have any similar experience?

As a note, I currently do not have legal residency anywhere outside of the US, although I understand that as soon as I present the marriage documents to the Spanish Consulate here in the US, I will have immediate residency in Spain.

Thanks for the assist.

Len

[lucyrich 19]

If her initial entry was legal, then the simplest thing to do is file for adjustment of status, and have her remain in the US during the process.

But if she knew at the time she entered the US that her plan was to marry a US Citizen and file paperwork to stay in the US, then she should have disclosed that fact to the officer at the point of entry. And the officer would have turned her around and told her to get a K-1 visa. If she intended to marry and stay, and if she hid this intent from the officer, then her entry was not legal.

If she files for adjustment of status, then at the adjustment of status interview, she'll have the burden of proving that her initial entry was legal. In other words, she'll have to prove that her intent at the intitial entry was to comply with the terms of the visa or program under which she entered, and to leave when her designated time was up.

You may want to discuss this with an immigration attorney or two. You may get a variety of opinions. You need to understand the chances of success/failure of adjustment of status, and understand the consequences if the authorities decide that she tried to shortcut the process by planning her entry as a tourist, marrying and staying.

The safest, most conservative thing to do is to have her comply with the terms of her entry, return to Spain before her tourist stay is up, and then file for a marriage based visa. (CR-1 plus optional K-3). But you probably don't want to wait in separate countries. Most of us didn't want to.

A K3 visa is not an option at this point as your wife is in the U.S.

That's not true. A K-3 is most definitely an option now. Of course she would have to leave the US to attend the visa interview and pick up the visa, but she is allowed to do that.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

I did AOS from a tourist/VWP and it was easy to do the form are ok if you read them closely.. I would recommend a chat with a immigration lawyer just to go over your case and if all is ok then you can do this without the need to have a lawyer do all the paperwork for you... As for being asked to prove you had intent to return to your own country I was never asked anything about how I came to the US and all the others that have been on this forum if they were asked anything it was when did you arrive and when did you plan to leave... that is all..

Good Luck

Kez

[Yodrak 7]

Len,

I go along with both lucyrich and Kez in their suggestion that you have a consultation with an immigration attorney or 2 to review the facts of your situation and get their opinions as to what might work for you based on those facts. Kez' experience is common but it is not universal - small details can make a big difference.

This current thread from the Usenet newsgroup <alt.visa.us.marriage-based> is relevant, particularly the 3rd post of Folinskyinla.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.visa.us...e717d57d6503934

Yodrak

Hello All. This is my first post, so please take it easy on me.

Background: I am a US Citizen, my wife is a Spanish citizen who entered the US as a tourist (and unmarried).

My wife and I have been living together for 3+ years in Spain and the UK. We had filed for marriage in Spain earlier this year and received the formal date (and equivalent 'license'), however my work brought me back to the USA prior to that date and as a result, she and I came here and were married only last week in Florida.

Wandering through the forms and information, I was planning on doing an application based on the I-130 (I-485, I-864 & G325A), applying for her as my Alien Relative and along with a Adjustment of Status on her visa (actually it is a visa-less 3 month tourist visa) but after reading things, I am wondering if there is another way that may be quicker and/or easier (dare I say...).

I am wondering about the IR-1 and/or the DCF path, but am not sure if they apply. I dont believe that the K visa's apply in my case. Does anyone have any similar experience?

As a note, I currently do not have legal residency anywhere outside of the US, although I understand that as soon as I present the marriage documents to the Spanish Consulate here in the US, I will have immediate residency in Spain.

Thanks for the assist.

Len

Edited November 28, 2006 by Yodrak

[Lennys26 0]

Thanks everyone for the replies!

To respond to some of the questions/issues....

When she came in to the US (separate from me, as I had arrived a few months earlier), it was our intention to either marry in the Spanish consulate, as we already had completed the equivalent licensing paperwork, or to marry in a US civil ceremony. After arriving, despite what we had been told previously, when we spoke with the Spanish consulate again, we were told that they would NOT complete the ceremony. This is why we ended up marrying here in the Florida legal system.

I appreciate the recommendations to speak to a lawyer and probably will do so.

It is her intention to stay with me here in the US. Which based on my understanding (or not) of the system, seems to leave me only with the AOS option. That being said, it would seem that I need to submit the I-130, I-485, I-864 & G325A all at the same time to start the process (?)

Damn governments - this is MY world and MY relationship. Rather than help, they create these disasterous paper and time-wasting excersizes.

Thanks again,

LS.

[CarolineM 0]

she came here with the intention of marrying you, and staying here in the States?

[riblet 0]

Yes, as has ben said, AOS is the best option.

Truly consider yourself lucky as the majority of us are not able to be together while all the paperwork is being processed.

[meauxna 15]

It is her intention to stay with me here in the US. Which based on my understanding (or not) of the system, seems to leave me only with the AOS option. That being said, it would seem that I need to submit the I-130, I-485, I-864 & G325A all at the same time to start the process (?)

Damn governments - this is MY world and MY relationship. Rather than help, they create these disasterous paper and time-wasting excersizes.

LS, you still have all the options you always did, except the fiance visa. You're not eligible for that now as you've married.

There are pros and cons to AOS, just as there are for every visa process. Which choice is best for you two is specific to you and what your goals are.

It might be your world and your relationship, but it's my country too, and it's fair of your fellow citizens to expect a vetting of those we'd let into stay here permanently. Sorry, your word's just not good enough.

Look into DCF Madrid as an option; it might be faster and suit your goals more.

(You will be measuring against the processing time for I-485 in your District Office).