Getting married to a U.S citizen on a B1/B2 Tourist Visa? (GAY COUPLE)

[gdr88 0]

My name is David from Argentina and here is my case:

- I am gay and met my current boyfriend online back in 2011.
- In June 2012 I applied for a B1/B2 visa to visit the US for vacations.
- My visa was authorized for 10 years.
- I entered the USA later in February 2013 ( I visited New York and Los Angeles).
- Since my boyfriend lives in L.A we met in person there .
- We kept having a long distance relationship.
- I am traveling to the USA (NYC) again in November 2014 and meet my boyfriend there.

Could there be any problems if we decide to marry while I am on vacations? (I understand same-sex marriage is legal in the NYC - as well as it is legal nationwide in Argentina).

Just be aware that I am not planning on getting married and STAY in the USA because I am just not ready to do so. ( I have a job back home, a family, etc ). If we decide to get married, I would go back to Argentina but eventually (after a "long period of time" -one year or so) we would like to live together either in Argentina or in the USA.

The chances of living in Argentina are not high because :

1- He doesn't speak Spanish AT ALL ( so this can be a problem with him trying to find a job)
2- His mother is sick so in case we get married he would prefer me to live in the USA.

I hope my case was clear and you guys can help me with this.

Thanks in advance!

[Girl from Celebes 588]

There is no problems if you decided to get married while on vacation and come back to your home country and your spouse filed I-130 for you.

[Ontarkie 13,941]

~~Moved to What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration, from Tourist Visas - As the OP already has a tourist visa and is looking into a possible spousal visa~~

[ColGil 126]

There's no issue's at all. I travelled to spend time with my boyfriend (we are a gay couple also). As I'm from the UK I travelled on the ESTA which carries much more restrictions than a visa. He proposed and we married in Maine (as Maine's definition of same sex is marriage, not civil partnership etc and we wanted the actual certificate to say Marriage). He filed the I-130 while I was there, but I returned to the UK to sit out the rest of the process.

Word of caution, We filed our petition Jun 28th 2013 and are still going through the process. If you file once married, you can slow the process down by taking your time to file documents, that way you can move on your terms when you are ready. The only restrictions are once you complete the medical, your Point of Entry to the states must be within 6 months from the date of medical, so make sure to give yourself plenty of time.

Best wishes and good luck.

[JimmyHou 610]

My name is David from Argentina and here is my case:

- I am gay and met my current boyfriend online back in 2011.

- In June 2012 I applied for a B1/B2 visa to visit the US for vacations.

- My visa was authorized for 10 years.

- I entered the USA later in February 2013 ( I visited New York and Los Angeles).

- Since my boyfriend lives in L.A we met in person there .

- We kept having a long distance relationship.

- I am traveling to the USA (NYC) again in November 2014 and meet my boyfriend there.

Could there be any problems if we decide to marry while I am on vacations? (I understand same-sex marriage is legal in the NYC - as well as it is legal nationwide in Argentina).

Just be aware that I am not planning on getting married and STAY in the USA because I am just not ready to do so. ( I have a job back home, a family, etc ). If we decide to get married, I would go back to Argentina but eventually (after a "long period of time" -one year or so) we would like to live together either in Argentina or in the USA.

The chances of living in Argentina are not high because :

1- He doesn't speak Spanish AT ALL ( so this can be a problem with him trying to find a job)

2- His mother is sick so in case we get married he would prefer me to live in the USA.

I hope my case was clear and you guys can help me with this.

Thanks in advance!

First of all, congratulations!

As the other posters have said, there shouldn't be a problem at all. You are clearly not entering the US on a non-immigrant visa with the intent to immigrate (as you've said).

There are only two things I'd take note of:

- As you said, for your marriage to be legally recognized, it needs to be performed in a jurisdiction in which gay marriages are legal (this won't be problem in LA or in NYC, which both allow same-sex marriage and do not require one of the spouses to be a resident of the state)... just don't get married change your plans and have a non-binding ceremony in Texas just yet!

- Since you plan on moving to the US someday, you should look into how long it takes a US citizen to sponsor his spouse for a visa versus how long it takes to get a "finance" visa. I don't know which is faster, but if you're planning on moving sometime soon (in a year), it may be worth while to see if it would speed things up if you waited until you were ready to move here, came in on a K-1 visa, then got married, and adjusted your status to a permanent resident. One of the other posters who are more familiar with spousal sponsorship should be able to provide more information.

Edited August 7, 2014 by JimmyHou

[Ian H. 207]

You can get married in any state plus DC, that allows same sex marriages. There's about 19, I believe. I also see you can get married in Argentina too. Basically you can get married anywhere that's in the 21st century lol, so long as it is officially recognized.

As for getting married with a visitor visa, as mentioned above, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. What is typically a big no no, is if you enter with a tourist visa, get married, and do AOS. As long as you apply for the CR1/IR1 from abroad, you would be fine.

Also getting married and doing the CR1/IR1 seems more appropriate, that way you have plenty of time to get things back home in order before you make the final decision to move.