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pzelchenko

B2 visa: Marry then return home

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Filed: Timeline

My fiancee is coming over the summer for six weeks, on a B1/B2 visa. Like last year, she will come here for several weeks so that her daughter may attend summer school. In addition, her parents are coming to tour. We are considering marrying here, but she will definitely return to China so as not to violate the terms of the visa. Marrying in the U.S. would allow us to start the clock ticking sooner for a spouse visa.


In order not to "open a can of worms" at the border, unless they ask for details of her plans, I imagine she should not volunteer that she has a fiance here, much less that we are considering marrying during this trip. However, if they were to make an open-ended inquiry about her plans, even if we decide not to marry during her temporary stay, at minimum she would need to disclose that she has a fiance here and then must demonstrate significant ties to China (she has a continuing job contract as well as a home there). That would be the only way to be honest about it. However, they may ask why she came on a B2 visa and not a K1. She could say that she did not intend to get married on this trip and then we would not get married. But if they don't believe her, is it possible she will not be allowed entry?


I have read in many places that there is no problem with marrying on a B2 and that it should not affect a consular decision no matter when we married during her stay, as long as she honors the terms of B2 and returns home to wait for a change of status. But what should she do and what should she show in order to avoid any difficulties or delays at the border?


I would think that providing her a letter from me to show at the border, a letter from her employer or her employment contract, as well as providing similar explanatory attachments on subsequent visa applications, will allay any misgivings and also meet the "strong ties" statute. Is this necessary or advisable? We’d like to be completely up-front and honest about this.


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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Colombia
Timeline

Hi there,

Well, I can't answer all of your questions but I can tell you a bit about my experience, maybe it would help.

My boyfriend (now husband) and I were engaged for a while. I travelled to the US for a wedding we were attending together and just to visit his family in California. I travelled alone, and at the POE they asked why I was coming to the US and I just answered for pleasure (Visiting friends and family and going to a friend's wedding). The officer seemed satisfied with the answer and in general, every time I travel (even now with the whole process going on), they never truly ask much more if you state that your main intention is to just visit and so forth. She can definitely have some documentation proving her ties to her home country and bring anything she believes may help proving she will return to China. But I think that they won't go as far as to ask if she has a fiancé (at least that was never my experience). Just tell her to give the officer her main purpose for this trip (visiting friends /family and her children going to summer camp).

I also got married in the US with my B1/B2 visa and went back home. We were not planning it before going, we decided it once we were there (Getting married in Colombia requires soooo much paperwork is crazy, so it seemed easier to do it over there). It was not an issue for my entrance that time and it hasn't been an issue since. my thoughts to you is to make sure that getting married and applying for the CR-1/IR-1 visa is your best option (in my case I sometimes wish I didn't do it that way because it has made some other things difficult), but that is something you need to evaluate for your specific situation.

Well hope this helps.

Good luck

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