Marriage on ESTA

[Clara B. 119]

6 minutes ago, Becci391 said:

Actually Bank of America wanted to see both, mine and my husband's SSN when we opened a savings account with them.

I'd go there and ask before you open an account together. 

Maybe they have changed. They used ti be able to open it or add someone just with a passport. Anyway, its always good to contac them to double check!

 

[Boiler 43,453]

Marry and adjust much easier and much more popular.

[DrEllaNJ 288]

2 hours ago, cd37 said:

Filing AOS doesnt grant you any status regardless when it was filed. Its just a paper which says you submitted application. You still have to maintain legal status until your green card is issed. 

that is not true. As others have pointed out, applying for AOS grants you authorized stay - maybe it's different for spouses of LPR because they have a waiting period?

 

OP, from a fellow Dutchie. There are drawbacks to staying and adjusting (as a previous poster pointed out), such as not being able to leave the country or work or in a lot of cases obtain a drivers' license / social security number for a few months, until you receive your employment authorization card (file i-765) and/or travel permit (file i-131). It can also difficult to obtain health insurance, and health care is outrageously expensive here (thought that €385 deductible was a lot? Welcome to $3000+ deductibles land!). However, it is a legal option, no matter what people on this forum say - a lot of people have had to wait 1 or 2 years to be with their spouse /fiance and consider those adjusting from VWP as skipping the line. 

 

If you want to go through with adjusting, you can follow this guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2. Download all forms from uscis.gov directly, and pay careful attention to the fees - it'll be about $2500 (including the cost for the medical exam).

Edited November 22, 2017 by DrEllaNJ

[Boiler 43,453]

3 minutes ago, DrEllaNJ said:

that is not true. As others have pointed out, applying for AOS grants you authorized stay - maybe it's different for spouses of LPR because they have a waiting period?

 

OP, from a fellow Dutchie. There are drawbacks to staying and adjusting (as a previous poster pointed out), such as not being able to leave the country or work or in a lot of cases obtain a drivers' license / social security number for a few months, until you receive your employment authorization card (file i-765) and/or travel permit (file i-131). It can also difficult to obtain health insurance, and health care is outrageously expensive here (thought that €385 deductible was a lot? Welcome to $3000+ deductibles land!). However, it is a legal option, no matter what people on this forum say - a lot of people have had to wait 1 or 2 years to be with their spouse /fiance and consider those adjusting from VWP as skipping the line. 

 

If you want to go through with adjusting, you can follow this guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2. Download all forms from uscis.gov directly, and pay careful attention to the fees - it'll be about $2500 (including the cost for the medical exam).

Not much different from those entering a K1.

[cd37 229]

4 minutes ago, DrEllaNJ said:

that is not true. As others have pointed out, applying for AOS grants you authorized stay - maybe it's different for spouses of LPR because they have a waiting period?

 

OP, from a fellow Dutchie. There are drawbacks to staying and adjusting (as a previous poster pointed out), such as not being able to leave the country or work or in a lot of cases obtain a drivers' license / social security number for a few months, until you receive your employment authorization card (file i-765) and/or travel permit (file i-131). It can also difficult to obtain health insurance, and health care is outrageously expensive here (thought that €385 deductible was a lot? Welcome to $3000+ deductibles land!). However, it is a legal option, no matter what people on this forum say - a lot of people have had to wait 1 or 2 years to be with their spouse /fiance and consider those adjusting from VWP as skipping the line. 

 

If you want to go through with adjusting, you can follow this guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2. Download all forms from uscis.gov directly, and pay careful attention to the fees - it'll be about $2500 (including the cost for the medical exam).

I think you are mixing up two things. Protection for overstay being spouse of US citizen and filing AOS from ETSA. Read I797 of your AOS application, it states this receipt doesnt grant you any immigration status. Can you apply for SSN with your i485 receipt ? No....then it doesnt grant any status.

[Boiler 43,453]

You are under colour of law.

 

Just like a K1.

[NikLR 13,220]

19 minutes ago, cd37 said:

I think you are mixing up two things. Protection for overstay being spouse of US citizen and filing AOS from ETSA. Read I797 of your AOS application, it states this receipt doesnt grant you any immigration status. Can you apply for SSN with your i485 receipt ? No....then it doesnt grant any status.

You're wrong.  The I-485 NOA1 grants you a period of authorized stay.  Leaving the USA during this time would abandon your adjustment of status.  You can get an SSN at this time but it will say "not valid without DHS work authorization" or something similar.  Meaning that its a valid SSN but you cant work without extraneous paperwork (aka the EAD.)  

Does that mean the SSA employee is smart enough to understand? No. Authorized stay is not the same as legal status but as a spouse of a USC any stay without authorization is conveniently forgotten anyhow.  Even 10 years worth!  It's not the same for an LPR spouse though. 

[Dutchster 1,106]

While it's not the most desired way here on VJ;

Stay and adjust. Just make sure you have good evidence of a bonafide relationship once you get to the interview stage and you want to make sure that everything back home is settled. You'll have to cancel your insurances, healthcare, let the gemeente know you have moved (uitschrijven in gemeente), you will have to cancel any toeslagen you receive, if you do.

[NikLR 13,220]

What someone PERSONALLY feels about immigration has no bearing on what is legal. The OP can legally marry at any time.  The OP can legally adjust status as they entered the USA and was cleared by the CBP to do so.  

Only JFH has brought up the pitfalls of doing so.  The wait to work, travel, and be an independent adult.  Homesickness is real.  Some of us had a year to prepare for the move and still felt homesick for months to years.  There are major differences between European countries and the USA with the cost of healthcare being the tip of the iceburg.  Life decisions are best made with the head, with logic, vs the heart.  We do not run amuck rescuing every dog and cat in sight because we know logically pets require money and time.  People fail to see that relationships either romantic or not are the same way.  Yes it hurts to separate, but in the long run, which is better? Think on it and decide as a couple.  Best wishes!

[geowrian 22,335]

3 hours ago, cd37 said:

Filing AOS doesnt grant you any status regardless when it was filed. Its just a paper which says you submitted application. You still have to maintain legal status until your green card is issed. 

Right...it doesn't grant a legal status. It does grant an authorized stay from removal. See AFM 40.9 covering who is legally present in the US and not accruing unlawful presence:

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/Static_Files_Memoranda/2009/revision_redesign_AFM.PDF

 

You don't need to maintain a legal status until AOS is approved - only until you properly file AOS. See the USCIS policy manual:

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume7-PartB-Chapter3.html

You only need legal status as of the time of filing the AOS application. Secondly, the bar to adjustment does not apply to immediate relatives of a USC.

 

Also see Chapter 4 of the USCIS policy manual, under INA 245(c)(2) and INA 245(c)(8):

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume7-PartB-Chapter4.html

"For purposes of the bars to adjustment, a nonimmigrant only needs to maintain his or her nonimmigrant status until the time he or she properly files an adjustment application with USCIS so long as the nonimmigrant does not engage in any unauthorized employment after filing the adjustment application. ^[43] An applicant does not violate the terms of his or her nonimmigrant status merely by filing an application to adjust status as long as the application was properly filed when the applicant was in lawful nonimmigrant status. ^[44] "

 

48 minutes ago, DrEllaNJ said:

that is not true. As others have pointed out, applying for AOS grants you authorized stay - maybe it's different for spouses of LPR because they have a waiting period?

Nope...it's the same. The differences being 1) an LPR must wait until the PD is current to be eligible to file for AOS (no concurrent filing), and 2) a relative must be in status at the time of filing. Once properly filed, you are granted authorized stay just like anybody else.

 

39 minutes ago, cd37 said:

I think you are mixing up two things. Protection for overstay being spouse of US citizen and filing AOS from ETSA. Read I797 of your AOS application, it states this receipt doesnt grant you any immigration status. Can you apply for SSN with your i485 receipt ? No....then it doesnt grant any status.

Correct - no legal status. But that is not the same as being in the US illegally.

Edited November 22, 2017 by geowrian

[cd37 229]

37 minutes ago, geowrian said:

 

 

Nope...it's the same. The differences being 1) an LPR must wait until the PD is current to be eligible to file for AOS (no concurrent filing), and 2) a relative must be in status at the time of filing. Once properly filed, you are granted authorized stay just like anybody else.

 

Correct - no legal status. But that is not the same as being in the US illegally.

Agreed. this makes sense now. Thanks and good luck to OP. 

[Boiler 43,453]

I would like to remind everyone that posting wrong or misleading information information is NOT against the VJ ToS. My Bible, should be yours.

 

Stay and adjust.

[DrEllaNJ 288]

2 hours ago, cd37 said:

I think you are mixing up two things. Protection for overstay being spouse of US citizen and filing AOS from ETSA. Read I797 of your AOS application, it states this receipt doesnt grant you any immigration status. Can you apply for SSN with your i485 receipt ? No....then it doesnt grant any status.

I'm not the one mixing up things, but should have been clearer in saying that it is not true (for spouses of USC anyways) that "You still have to maintain legal status until your green card is issued." This part is not true. You have to be in status to file AOS, but you don't have to maintain it until you receive your green card (what would all those poor people who came in on K1 do when their 90 "legal" days are up?). 

As @geowrianpoints out, as a spouse of LPR you'd have to stay in status until being able to file AOS - but that's not OP's case.

 

OK, sorry OP that this has turned into a discussion on terminology. As some of us  have been around the immigration block a few times, it's easy to get bogged down in details and overwhelm ppl who are just starting on their immigration journey with legal terms.

 

Bottom line, you can stay and adjust, it's legal to do so, and probably the easiest route with the least separation. Whether the pros weigh up against the cons is up to you and your fiance to decide. Succes ermee!

[Boiler 43,453]

Not that many cons, mainly pros.

[Gabrielejjn 20]

We also got married on esta, at about 80th day out of my 90 days, because we didn’t want it to look suspicious even though we didn’t plan to do it, but after being able to finally spend so much time together we just couldn’t do the whole traveling and seeing eachother for short time, anymore. It was very difficult and I didn’t think we could do it, first couple months were very hard because we couldn’t enjoy being a family together, but we decided to go through cr1-ir1 process and just work and save money so when it’s finally over and i get visa, we can enjoy our lives together. So that’s what I’d suggest to you, it is going to be hard and probably every single person in here had to go through this and even worse, but once you’re in the process and wait for next thing to happen with visa- time flies and every day you know you’re closer to being together.