K1 Illegal entry and its effects if discovered

[flmike1979 2]

Hello and thanks in advance to forum members who take the much appriciated time to respond.

My situation is as follows. I met my girlfriend in Central American when I resided there last year. I returned to the USA in June of this year. She entered into the USA illegally with another family member 34 days ago. She had previously applied for a Visitors VISA to the USA from Nicaragua and it was denied. I had no knowledge she was going to be entering the USA as I never would have permitted or encouraged her to take this risk.. Once here she contacted me and we want to get married.

She wants to return to her country and for me to apply for a K! VISA so she may enter legally and we can marry here. We are very much in love and do not want to take any actions that may further complicate our immigration process or life together. If she were to return to her country my question is this:

How would or could they know she was ever here? In the short period of time she has been here she has had no interaction with Border Patrol, Police, or any type of medical treatment or anything that required her to show a passport or license. She has no social media accounts, has not sent or received e mails from her e mail account or used her credit cards or cell phone in the USA or even had it turned on for that matter.

I know her entry into the USA was wrong and she does too. We are simply trying to decide what is the best course of action to take in the situation we are in now. If she returns, there would be no record of here departing the USA either as her mode of transportation was her families boat.

Would we be better marrying here and asking for a wavier or for her to return with no record of being here and apply for the K1 VISA using an attorney. We have consulted several attorneys with different opinions and are very confused.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and opinions.

[baron555 934]

Would we be better marrying here and asking for a wavier

Might be granted but may also be given a 1 or 10 year ban.

or for her to return with no record of being here and apply for the K1 VISA

That would be the correct thing to do.

using an attorney.

They only will guarantee to take your money.

We have consulted several attorneys with different opinions and are very confused.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and opinions.

[flmike1979 2]

Thank you fro your input. I guess my main concern is that in an effort to correct the wrongful entry into the USA is there a risk that her presence here would be known? I cannot fathom how it would however if it became known it may well indeed trigger a penalty which neither of us want..

[Pheebs1201 269]

If you are confident she is able to leave the country undetected then I assume they will not find out.

However, if she is discovered, as mentioned above, she will potentially be subject to a ban.

Difficult to give a definitive answer until she has left.

Good luck whatever happens.

[sma1488 155]

Two things come to mind:

1. It seems you know what the right thing to do is. You're not going to find many people on these forums telling you to get married (without following the legal protocol, with a K-1) when you know what your girlfriend did was illegal.

2. This is a little off-topic and maybe even nosy, but if your "girlfriend" makes such life-altering decisions without even informing you...are you sure she's really your girlfriend and that you want to marry this person? How do you know this is the first time she's done this?

Edited December 3, 2014 by sma1488

[sma1488 155]

There's also question 15 on the I-129F (the petition you'd be filing for the K-1), which asks if the beneficiary (your fiancée) has ever been in the US before. If you tell the truth, you'd likely run into some problems, and if you lie, you'd be exposing yourself to some pretty serious legal consequences.

[flmike1979 2]

Thank you for your response. Her family travels often via their boat and they are regular visitors to the USA and a sister is a US Citizen. For what ever reason she was not granted a VISA to travel with her family. I had daily contact with her and I think if she had informed me of her arrival prior she was afraid I would have objected (and I would have) but what is done is done. We have been in a relationship for coming up on a year now and she owns several hardware stores where she is from so I do not think there was in ill intent other than a poor decision that we are desperately and quickly trying to determine how to proceed. Her family is still here (legally) and when they depart on their boat no record of her departing would exist nor would their be a record of an entry. I am just trying to look out for Murphy's Law on would possible methods might detect she was here. One attorney stated that because she has been here less than 6 months (34 days as of today) that there would be no ban of a year or more. Very confusing to say the least.

[usmsbow 802]

So she entered and would leave by boat. Yeah, I don't know how CBP, ICE et al would know about her entry in that case. I'm totally ignorant though on maritime procedures and requirements.

In my very non-expert opinion, your two best options are a) doing what you suggested (her going back to Nicaruaga and applying for a K-1) or b) you two getting married in Nicaruaga and going that route.

[flmike1979 2]

Thanks I hope we can get a good opinion from an immigration attorney before making a decision but I am hopeful that the K1 is the best route.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Hello and thanks in advance to forum members who take the much appriciated time to respond.

My situation is as follows. I met my girlfriend in Central American when I resided there last year. I returned to the USA in June of this year. She entered into the USA illegally with another family member 34 days ago. She had previously applied for a Visitors VISA to the USA from Nicaragua and it was denied. I had no knowledge she was going to be entering the USA as I never would have permitted or encouraged her to take this risk.. Once here she contacted me and we want to get married.

She wants to return to her country and for me to apply for a K! VISA so she may enter legally and we can marry here. We are very much in love and do not want to take any actions that may further complicate our immigration process or life together. If she were to return to her country my question is this:

How would or could they know she was ever here? In the short period of time she has been here she has had no interaction with Border Patrol, Police, or any type of medical treatment or anything that required her to show a passport or license. She has no social media accounts, has not sent or received e mails from her e mail account or used her credit cards or cell phone in the USA or even had it turned on for that matter.

I know her entry into the USA was wrong and she does too. We are simply trying to decide what is the best course of action to take in the situation we are in now. If she returns, there would be no record of here departing the USA either as her mode of transportation was her families boat.

Would we be better marrying here and asking for a wavier or for her to return with no record of being here and apply for the K1 VISA using an attorney. We have consulted several attorneys with different opinions and are very confused.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and opinions.

In several of the applications there are questions related whether she has been in the US. Saying no would be a lie and the cardinal rule of immigration is to never lie. Saying yes will bring other questions.

Her decision was a bad one, but wha't done is done.

I'd check with a reputable immigrattion attorney; there is one in this forum for online free questions - donm't know the times/dates but someone else would.

[msbau764 245]

Thanks I hope we can get a good opinion from an immigration attorney before making a decision but I am hopeful that the K1 is the best route.

Don't quote me on this one, but I've heard that if you have been to the US illegally, lied about it and are later discovered at the interview stage that you indeed have been to the US, you could face a permanent ban (any waivers to this can be better answered by someone else). At minimum the ban would be 3 years. Remember, your application will be based on a huge lie and it is unknown how strong the background search will be in your case. There have been instances of the consular officer having pieces of information about the petitioner or beneficary that was believed to be private, yet somehow that info managed to be dug up.

Choose wisely.

[Umka36 781]

The only thing I can add is to always tell the truth, telling you otherwise would be against VJ TOS.

VisaJourney.com does not condone immigration fraud in any way, shape or manner. VisaJourney.com recommends that if any member or user knows directly of someone involved in fraudulent or illegal activity, that they report such activity directly to the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

[Boiler 45,670]

If she leaves however now she has no ban.

Lies about it and is caught is unnecessary and dangerous.

[Rattled 8]

Do the right thing. It's the only way to do anything.

[Ian H. 207]

People keep saying that she will be banned, but I don't think so. From what I understand the bans only apply if she spends 180 days or more. If she has only been here for 34 days, then the bans wouldn't apply, unless there is some other ban that I'm not aware of.

The fact that she entered illegally is a problem because it will lead to more questions, but if she leaves now and does it the right way, tell the truth, etc, she shouldn't be barred from reentering the US legally assuming she is otherwise eligible.

What I don't know however is if she will be required to prove that she spent less than 180 days here, or if the burden of proof is on them.