Do we have to wait to file I-129F?

[KarenCee 3]

well, to keep everyone updated, my fiance got through to the helpline today to ask about it, and the woman he spoke didn't know the answer, all she knew was the part about needing to be legally free to marry, although she said she didn't know how that would apply in our situation, she suggested using the INFOPASS link on the USCIS homepage to make an appointment to see an immigration officer about it. so thats what we're doing, going to make it for early march, since i'm going over at the end of febuary i'll be able to go with him down to albany and make a day trip out of it. hopefully we'll get an answer then, because i'm not going to be able to let it go just on opinions and guesses, and there really don't seem to be any guidlines defining how the legally free to marry thing would apply for this

This is the way it is: Either you are legal to marry without consent by being age 18 OR you're legal to get married WITH parental consent for being under age 18. WHEN you file the petition, IF you are NOT 18 yet, then you need to include a letter of consent from your parents. IF you wait until you are 18 you won't NEED a letter of consent.

This might not be what you want to hear, but this is the facts.

[TracyTN 237]

well, to keep everyone updated, my fiance got through to the helpline today to ask about it, and the woman he spoke didn't know the answer, all she knew was the part about needing to be legally free to marry, although she said she didn't know how that would apply in our situation, she suggested using the INFOPASS link on the USCIS homepage to make an appointment to see an immigration officer about it. so thats what we're doing, going to make it for early march, since i'm going over at the end of febuary i'll be able to go with him down to albany and make a day trip out of it. hopefully we'll get an answer then, because i'm not going to be able to let it go just on opinions and guesses, and there really don't seem to be any guidlines defining how the legally free to marry thing would apply for this

This is the way it is: Either you are legal to marry without consent by being age 18 OR you're legal to get married WITH parental consent for being under age 18. WHEN you file the petition, IF you are NOT 18 yet, then you need to include a letter of consent from your parents. IF you wait until you are 18 you won't NEED a letter of consent.

This might not be what you want to hear, but this is the facts.

Agreed. But if you want to take the time and go to the trouble to get an INFOPASS appointment, knock yourself out.

What's the rush anyway? Why not hedge your bets, wait until you turn 18, and take these months to get to know each other a little better? Marriage and moving country are HUGE commitments - wouldn't it be worth a few more months investment to make sure both are right for you?

[Bride-to-Be 0]

almost on a completely different topic now...does anyone know if can i marry while i'm there on a J-2 and then apply for change of status? Turns out my J-2 is still valid, so if i can use it i will. problem is my mother is the holder of the J-1 (she's still over in america while i've been back in england nearly 2 yrs now) so i'd need her cooperation cus i'd need a new reentry form since i've been out the country so long. and although i think my chances of that are slim, i'd still like to know if legally its a possibilty

[Caladan 19]

It's not advisable. A J-2 is a non-immigrant visa to be used to bring a family member along by the J-1 holder. If you were to use it to come to the U.S. and get married (and stay), that's just plainly not the purpose of the visa. That's what a K-1 is for.

If you had happened to enter on the J-2, meet someone, and marry, that would be one thing, because you could show you didn't have immigrant intent when it came time to adjust status.

If you just happen to be engaged, be too young for a K-1, enter on a J-2, and try to adjust status after you marry, you may be in for a more difficult time. You're going to have a hard time showing, in other words, that you didn't intend to use the J-2 to get married.

[Thingee 0]

On top of that it's still going to be illegal to get married in New York while you're under 18 unless one of your parents signs off on it.

[Bride-to-Be 0]

t's not advisable. A J-2 is a non-immigrant visa to be used to bring a family member along by the J-1 holder. If you were to use it to come to the U.S. and get married (and stay), that's just plainly not the purpose of the visa. That's what a K-1 is for.

If you had happened to enter on the J-2, meet someone, and marry, that would be one thing, because you could show you didn't have immigrant intent when it came time to adjust status.

If you just happen to be engaged, be too young for a K-1, enter on a J-2, and try to adjust status after you marry, you may be in for a more difficult time. You're going to have a hard time showing, in other words, that you didn't intend to use the J-2 to get married.

I got my J-2 and entered on it when i was 12, i don't think any immigration official in their right mind would accuse me of entering on that with the intent to marry, what i'd be doing now is reentering on it after a long 'holiday' in the uk to see my dad. And i do know what a J-2 is by the way, since i have one in my passport, and it was got for the right reasons, for my mother to bring my siblings and myself along with her to the US as dependants of her J-1. It just doesn't make sense to me to have to cancel the visa I already have and apply for a different one if i'd be able to successful marry and change status with what I already have, and its still valid until Dec 31st 2008, which would give me plenty of time to get married after i turn 18

[*julez* 124]

Why ask question if you already have all the answers! Do what you like. Sheesh!

[featherB 1]

Why ask question if you already have all the answers! Do what you like. Sheesh!

Julezabelle.... I am scared, you just posted exactly what I was going to say, pretty much word for word.

Why ask questions at all if you are going to take the (accurate, but not what you want to hear) responses so badly and start with the 'actually, I'll have you know, blah blah blah' stuff? Believe it or not, the vast majority of people here would like to help and advise you on the options you have, but it makes it a bit hard to help if you're going to apparently take offence at anything that doesn't fit in with what you wanted to hear.

How's this:

Yes. Enter on your J-2 visa, get married, and adjust status from there. No issues at all. It'll be fine. No, really. It's definitely the way to go.

There, problem solved! Shame I just went for the 'telling you what you want to hear' approach, rather than basing my answer on any actual facts, but never mind...

Sorry. Maybe a little uncalled-for. But people aren't saying these things to be unhelpful, to spoil your plans, or to keep the two of you apart... really, they're not. The waiting that's involved in this process sucks, massively, no doubt about it - and there's not a person posting on here who doesn't want to make the waiting time as short as humanly possible. But there's only so much you can do to speed things up if you're going to do things properly...

Oh, and as for the J-2 visa... nobody's SAYING the visa was applied for with the intention of you using it to enter the US, marry, and immigrate... but in the scenario you suggest, you would be entering the US using your non-immigrant visa, with the intent of immigrating, no? And that's not what the visa's for...

Edited January 24, 2007 by featherB

[bostonparis 0]

If you go to the meeting in Albany, and they tell you what you want to hear, I STRONGLY suggest you get it in writing from whomever you speak with. A lot of these people don't exactly know the "rules" that the case workers at USCIS go by... and USCIS may have different ideas about what "legally free to marry" means when it comes to a case that they are unfamiliar with.

I will tell you, if they see you are 17 when you file, and you do not have parental permission, they will deny your petition, plain and simple.

Sorry to say - but I think your best bet is to either get permission, or wait. I know when I was 17, and I asked a question, I only heard the answers I wanted to hear. So, I feel ya, but try and be realistic.

[TimsDaisy 0]

Echoing what most other members have said: Bride-to-Be, aside from the US Fed government requiring a lot of levels of proof before they let you in to get married, I hate to pull and Oprah here, but your constant arguing (seemingly with yourself, because you keep raising points, and knocking down the valuable information provided to you) makes me wonder if maybe you should take a hint from the age-of-majority laws and gain some perspective before committing to this major life decision. I support anyone's desire to get married, but I don't think you're being realistic about a lot of basic facts.

And if you can come to the U.S. on a valid visa and be with your love, then why not just do that? Do you need to be *married* to him? Right now? You seem to have options for being with him without defrauding the US government. Why not excercise them.

[*julez* 124]

Why ask question if you already have all the answers! Do what you like. Sheesh!

Julezabelle.... I am scared, you just posted exactly what I was going to say, pretty much word for word.

Why ask questions at all if you are going to take the (accurate, but not what you want to hear) responses so badly and start with the 'actually, I'll have you know, blah blah blah' stuff? Believe it or not, the vast majority of people here would like to help and advise you on the options you have, but it makes it a bit hard to help if you're going to apparently take offence at anything that doesn't fit in with what you wanted to hear.

How's this:

Yes. Enter on your J-2 visa, get married, and adjust status from there. No issues at all. It'll be fine. No, really. It's definitely the way to go.

There, problem solved! Shame I just went for the 'telling you what you want to hear' approach, rather than basing my answer on any actual facts, but never mind...

Sorry. Maybe a little uncalled-for. But people aren't saying these things to be unhelpful, to spoil your plans, or to keep the two of you apart... really, they're not. The waiting that's involved in this process sucks, massively, no doubt about it - and there's not a person posting on here who doesn't want to make the waiting time as short as humanly possible. But there's only so much you can do to speed things up if you're going to do things properly...

Oh, and as for the J-2 visa... nobody's SAYING the visa was applied for with the intention of you using it to enter the US, marry, and immigrate... but in the scenario you suggest, you would be entering the US using your non-immigrant visa, with the intent of immigrating, no? And that's not what the visa's for...

Seriously feather, I am so sick of the "tell me what I wanna hear" people! We all try to be nice, helpful, but most importantly, realistic and in return get snotty, thanks but no thanks replies.

Getting back to her J2 topic, she will be coming here with intent to immigrate, which is a no-no. I have no use for people who want to cicumvent the system. NONE of us want to be away from our SO's BUT that is what we must do! Suck it up like the rest of us!

[misa 2]

Seriously feather, I am so sick of the "tell me what I wanna hear" people! We all try to be nice, helpful, but most importantly, realistic and in return get snotty, thanks but no thanks replies.

Maybe we shouldn't even bother anymore in these cases...

Getting back to her J2 topic, she will be coming here with intent to immigrate, which is a no-no. I have no use for people who want to cicumvent the system. NONE of us want to be away from our SO's BUT that is what we must do! Suck it up like the rest of us!

[Caladan 19]

t's not advisable. A J-2 is a non-immigrant visa to be used to bring a family member along by the J-1 holder. If you were to use it to come to the U.S. and get married (and stay), that's just plainly not the purpose of the visa. That's what a K-1 is for.

If you had happened to enter on the J-2, meet someone, and marry, that would be one thing, because you could show you didn't have immigrant intent when it came time to adjust status.

If you just happen to be engaged, be too young for a K-1, enter on a J-2, and try to adjust status after you marry, you may be in for a more difficult time. You're going to have a hard time showing, in other words, that you didn't intend to use the J-2 to get married.

I got my J-2 and entered on it when i was 12, i don't think any immigration official in their right mind would accuse me of entering on that with the intent to marry, what i'd be doing now is reentering on it after a long 'holiday' in the uk to see my dad. And i do know what a J-2 is by the way, since i have one in my passport, and it was got for the right reasons, for my mother to bring my siblings and myself along with her to the US as dependants of her J-1. It just doesn't make sense to me to have to cancel the visa I already have and apply for a different one if i'd be able to successful marry and change status with what I already have, and its still valid until Dec 31st 2008, which would give me plenty of time to get married after i turn 18

You're not in the U.S. right now. That means the next time you enter, with the intent to get married and immigrate, you aren't *entering* for the purpose ,the J-2 was intended for (e.g., you're not planning to leave when your mom is done with schooling, or when your visa expires.)

And how do they figure it out? Let's see, you're going to have to document the beginning of your relationship, which is presumably before you enter on the J-2 this time but after you left the U.S. to go live with your dad. So you're living in the UK, meet your boyfriend, get engaged, re-enter on the J-2 and get married. That's going to paint a picture in their heads.

Whether they decide to make an issue of it is different from whether it's technically illegal. You could have no problems. It could blow up in your face.

What you could do is this: come here on the J-2, hang out for 11 months, file the K-1 paperwork on Nov. 3, head home when the visa expires, which should be right around the time your paperwork is clearing the NVC, get prepped for the interview, and come back as soon as you get the visa. That probably puts your wedding in April or May of 2008, but you'll have spent all that time together in the U.S., and you can even plan a big fairy-tale wedding while you're here.