Filing for immigrant visa while on The US on visitor visa

[sulamita 0]

Hello Everyone,

I am very thankful to this site for all the help I received when filing the I130 for my husband, now my sister is about to go through the same process and I am needing some of your help. My sister is a US citizen, my brother in law, has visitor visa, and they have decided to move to the US. We think that is best for him to travel to the US while on his visa. What we like to know is what is the process that they have to follow to petition him to live in the US, is it the same ( meaning filing the I 130) or is it an adjustment of status. I am a bit confused so any help would be greatly appreciated.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Entering the US on a vistors visa with the intent to stay is immigration fraud ( misuse of his visa ) and the penalty is a lifetime ban,. The correct process is to file an I130 and while it processes he can enter and leave the US per the terms of his visitors visa

[aaron2020 11,651]

Entering the US on a vistors visa with the intent to stay is immigration fraud ( misuse of his visa ) and the penalty is a lifetime ban,. The correct process is to file an I130 and while it processes he can enter and leave the US per the terms of his visitors visa

+1

Entering on a non-immigrant visa with the intent to adjust is visa fraud.

[lost_at_sea 995]

I'm hoping this post is simply just a lack of clarification on the OPs part.

He cannot come to the US with the intent to marry and stay. That would be immigration fraud. I'm sure you don't want to have your soon-to-be-brother-in-law facing a possible US ban.

What he should do is follow the same path you did - they marry, file the I-130 and he obtains his CR-1 visa WHILE living abroad.

They can marry in the US while he is on a tourist visa, but he must go home afterwards. Then they follow the I-130 guide. See: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

The alternative is they file for the I-129f for fiancé visa and they marry in the US, and adjust his status all on the K1 visa. This is that guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

[sulamita 0]

My sister and brother in law are already married they have been for 17 years, It is not our intention to do anything that it's again the law, but I thought that it was a legal process to start all paperwork while they were both in the US. I also had the understanding that while filing for immigration visa you would had to render your visitor visa is this not true?

[sulamita 0]

Another question, when is the change/ adjustment of status done?

[lost_at_sea 995]

My sister and brother in law are already married they have been for 17 years, It is not our intention to do anything that it's again the law, but I thought that it was a legal process to start all paperwork while they were both in the US. I also had the understanding that while filing for immigration visa you would had to render your visitor visa is this not true?

Oh, you can fill out the forms and file while he's visting the US. They'll still need to follow the normal I-130 for IR-1 visa (linked above).

If he's visiting on a tourist visa, he can't adjust his status from inside the US.

He doesn't have to relinquish his tourist visa, but he does need to leave on or before his approved time to be in the US on his tourist visit. His tourist visa will continue to be available to him, as per the terms it was issued.

[NikLR 13,227]

My sister and brother in law are already married they have been for 17 years, It is not our intention to do anything that it's again the law, but I thought that it was a legal process to start all paperwork while they were both in the US. I also had the understanding that while filing for immigration visa you would had to render your visitor visa is this not true?

No, he hasn't filed for the visa yet. The I-130 is a petition from the USC to sponsor a family member (spouse included) to the USA. After it is approved and it is sent to the National Visa Center, then he applies for the visa.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

If he comes to visit, which he can do while they are filing the IR1 process, he has to go back for the medical and the interview. He should at no time, ever over stay his visa. But they can start the paperwork whenever and he can visit as well (at the discretion of the CBP officer.)

The correct route for this would be for them to file the I-130 petition, and then he can continue to go back and forth until his medical and interview is scheduled. If he is approved after the schedule they will put the new IR1 visa into his passport which acts as a temporary green card upon endorsement when he enters the USA. The USCIS will then send him a 10 year green card. After 3 years he can apply for citizenship.

[sulamita 0]

Hello Everyone,

I am very thankful to this site for all the help I received when filing the I130 for my husband, now my sister is about to go through a similar process and I am needing some of your help. My sister is a US citizen she has been married for 17 years and my brother in law has tourist visa, they have decided to move to the US. What we would like to know is if he can do AOS while in the US or if there is a different process that he has to take. Please advise, any help would be highly appreciated.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

They need to go the IR-1 route.

~ Moved from AOS Family Based to IR-1/CR-1 ~

[Ban Hammer 13,403]

duplicate topics merged. please do not start multiple topics on the same subject.