a place to get married

[advart 0]

I travel to the US back and forth on my 2-years B1 tourist visa issued in the US Embassy in Moscow. I got the visa having an invitation letter from my American girlfriend when she worked in Moscow (she moved back to the US now). We've decided to get married. Can we marry in the US while i'm there and apply for K-1 fiance visa there being on tourist visa? Is it legal? Or do I have to pass all the procedures in Moscow? I actually stay long in the US when I travel there.

[TracyTN 237]

Your fiancee can mail in the petition for the K1 visa while you are here, but you'll have to return to Moscow once your tourist visa is up.

If you marry while you're here, you've sort of pushed aside the use for a FIANCE/E visa, yes? You would then have to petition for a spousal visa (K3 or CR1/IR1). Again, that process would have to be waited out with you in Moscow.

I know that you're trying to find a way to stay in the states while this process is ongoing; but you have to plan for some time apart. If your girlfriend is the right person for you, what's a little time apart in the grand scheme of things?

[jsnearline 2]

Since it's clear from your post that you already have immigrant intent, you should not use your B1 visa to get married in the US if you are not already here. Assuming you told the truth at the port of entry that your purpose of travel is to get married to a US Citizen, ICE would deny you entry and send you back to Moscow because you cannot enter the US on a B1 with the immigrant intent. Any attempt to hide your true immigrant intent from the immigration officer would be considered immigration fraud.

I highly recommend staying where you are and having your fiance petition you for a K1 visa.

Edited January 3, 2007 by jsnearline

[JenT 0]

Here are some of your options:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=compare

As Tracy mentioned, if you marry while in the US on your tourist visa, you will need to leave the US and your wife will have to file for a K3 visa to bring you back...

You should check out the timelines to see which visa is faster these days, the K1 or the K3. David and I chose the K1 because for us, the time apart was shorter than a K3 and we didn't think we could bear to be apart once we were married.

You'll have to weigh your circumstances and decide what's best for you and your girlfriend.

Jen

[JenT 0]

Since it's clear from your post that you already have immigrant intent, you should not use your B1 visa to get married in the US if you are not already here. Assuming you told the truth at the port of entry that your purpose of travel is to get married to a US Citizen, ICE would deny you entry and send you back to Moscow because you cannot enter the US on a B1 with the immigrant intent. Any attempt to hide your true immigrant intent from the immigration officer would be considered immigration fraud.

I highly recommend staying where you are and having your fiance petition you for a K1 visa.

Correction - he never said he intended to immigrate with the B1... he only wants to get married. Don't read more into it.

[jsnearline 2]

The question was:

"Can we marry in the US while i'm there and apply for[/b] K-1 fiance visa there being on tourist visa? Is it legal?"

How is that not immigrant intent? It would be different if the OP had asked about getting married here and then going back home to apply for a K3 or IR1, but that is not what they asked. They are asking if it is legal to come here on a B1, marry, and then apply for another visa that allows them to stay in the US after marriage. If they were already here on the B1, then there might be a legal way to do it assuming there was no immigrant intent. My answer was given my understanding that the OP is not yet in the US, there is no legal way for them to adjust from a B1.

I still think in the OP's case, a K1 is the best way to go. It ensures their process is legal and once approved, means they can stay in the US while they adjust after marriage.

Edited January 3, 2007 by jsnearline

[TracyTN 237]

I've never read anything where its 'illegal' to marry if you are here on a tourist visa - which, in the OPs case, was already issued before he and his fiancee decided to marry - if I'm reading it right.

[jsnearline 2]

It's not illegal to marry on a tourist visa if you are already here. If I read the OP's posting right, they're not here yet. It is not legal to use a tourist visa to enter the country with intent to immigrate.

Even though the B1 was issued before the OP decided to marry, they must still show that they do not have intnet to immigrate at the POE each time they seek entry to the US.

[featherB 1]

It's not illegal to marry on a tourist visa if you are already here. If I read the OP's posting right, they're not here yet. It is not legal to use a tourist visa to enter the country with intent to immigrate.

Yes, but it's 'entering the country on a non-immigrant visa with intent to immigrate' that's not legal - not 'entering the country on a non-immigrant visa with intent to marry'. There's nothing to stop the OP marrying in the US, if they decide to go for a spouse visa rather than a fiance one, so long as they go home to complete the rest of the process afterwards.

[TracyTN 237]

It's not illegal to marry on a tourist visa if you are already here. If I read the OP's posting right, they're not here yet. It is not legal to use a tourist visa to enter the country with intent to immigrate.

Yes, but it's 'entering the country on a non-immigrant visa with intent to immigrate' that's not legal - not 'entering the country on a non-immigrant visa with intent to marry'. There's nothing to stop the OP marrying in the US, if they decide to go for a spouse visa rather than a fiance one, so long as they go home to complete the rest of the process afterwards.

[jsnearline 2]

There's nothing to stop the OP marrying in the US, if they decide to go for a spouse visa rather than a fiance one, so long as they go home to complete the rest of the process afterwards.

That's the key, but it's not what the OP asked in the original post. They asked if they can marry on the B1 and stay here while their spouse petitions them. In theory, they could get married here legally and return home to wait for their visa, but I think it'd be a tough sell to the inspecting officer, unless they were from a country part of the visa waiver program perhaps. Can anyone cite any examples of people who have come here to marry and then returned to their home country for visa processing? My guess would be that in most cases, if they're here and they marry, they don't leave.

My point is that applying for the K1, since the OP isn't in the US now, a - saves them them the trouble of trying to get into the US to marry on the B1 and b - ensures they can stay with their spouse in the US once they marry. Besides, they'll have a shorter wait in Moscow for a fiance visa than they would if they came back and applied for an IR1.

Edited January 3, 2007 by jsnearline

[TracyTN 237]

There's nothing to stop the OP marrying in the US, if they decide to go for a spouse visa rather than a fiance one, so long as they go home to complete the rest of the process afterwards.

That's the key, but it's not what the OP asked in the original post. They asked if they can marry on the B1 and stay here while their spouse petitions them. In theory, they could get married here legally and return home to wait for their visa, but I think it'd be a tough sell to the inspecting officer. Can anyone cite any examples of people who have come here to marry and then returned to their home country for visa processing? My guess would be that in most cases, if they're here and they marry, they don't leave.

My point is that applying for the K1, since the OP isn't in the US now, saves them the trouble of a) trying to get into the US to marry on the B1 and B) ensures they can stay with their spouse in the US once they marry. Besides, they'll have a shorter wait in Moscow for a fiance visa than they would if they came back and applied for an IR1.

I can't 'cite' you particular examples of folks who have married here and returned to their home country simply because I don't know the stories of everyone on VJ personally. But surely not everyone who gets the tourist visa to marry here takes advantage of it by staying.

I agree with your interpretation of what the OP asked, which is why I advised what I did in my first post.

Personally, I would rather get the K1 and then get married here after that, but that may not work for everybody (depending on their particular circumstances).

Edited January 3, 2007 by TracyTN

[jsnearline 2]

I'm sure there are cases where people have come here, gotten married, and gone home to wait for a visa, but my guess would be that they're the exception.

If the OP was already here in the US, my answer would be different because someone here on a B1 can adjust status so long as they can prove they did not have intent to immigrate at the time they entered.