Have P1 visa, should we get married?

[Ameliavb 0]

Hi. I am a US citizen and resident and am engaged to my Brazilian fiance. We are both circus performers and travel around the world on tour but want to get married and settle down in the US. I'm wondering if it's best to wait until his next P1 work visa for the US, wait for him to come here for work, and marry him immediately. If we did that, what are the steps we would need to take afterwards? Or is it a better idea to go the normal route of applying for a fiance visa? Thank you 

[Khallaf 646]

6 minutes ago, Ameliavb said:

Hi. I am a US citizen and resident and am engaged to my Brazilian fiance. We are both circus performers and travel around the world on tour but want to get married and settle down in the US. I'm wondering if it's best to wait until his next P1 work visa for the US, wait for him to come here for work, and marry him immediately. If we did that, what are the steps we would need to take afterwards? Or is it a better idea to go the normal route of applying for a fiance visa? Thank you 

doing this is considered immigration fraud

 

you can file a K1 fiance visa, or you can get married in any country and file for a CR1.

 

you can not have him enter into the USA with intent to marry and adjust status that is illegal. 

[Just Paul 4,591]

6 minutes ago, Ameliavb said:

P1 work visa

This is not a dual intent visa.  You can marry anywhere but if it is in the US he will have to leave and interview elsewhere.   He can not enter on a P1 with the intent  adjust.  He can work here under the P1 while your other visa is processing.  He may have a challenge entering "for work" after you marry and have a petition pending.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

1 hour ago, Ameliavb said:

Hi. I am a US citizen and resident and am engaged to my Brazilian fiance. We are both circus performers and travel around the world on tour but want to get married and settle down in the US. I'm wondering if it's best to wait until his next P1 work visa for the US, wait for him to come here for work, and marry him immediately. If we did that, what are the steps we would need to take afterwards? Or is it a better idea to go the normal route of applying for a fiance visa? Thank you 

Marry anytime, anywhere.. that's a personal decision. 

 

Marrying and petitioning is a better (and less expensive) option than fiance visa. Await processing and interview in Brazil. He can enter on a P1, can marry, then LEAVES the US until the interview. 

[Ameliavb 0]

4 hours ago, Khallaf said:

doing this is considered immigration fraud

 

you can file a K1 fiance visa, or you can get married in any country and file for a CR1.

 

you can not have him enter into the USA with intent to marry and adjust status that is illegal. 

No it's not fraud, he would be coming to the US on a P1 work visa and working the contract. I'm just asking if it's a better idea to marry him while he's here working anyway or apply for a fiance visa instead or maybe another option I don't know of.

 

[Ameliavb 0]

3 hours ago, WeGuyGal said:

Marry anytime, anywhere.. that's a personal decision. 

 

Marrying and petitioning is a better (and less expensive) option than fiance visa. Await processing and interview in Brazil. He can enter on a P1, can marry, then LEAVES the US until the interview. 

So do you mean it doesn't change the process if we don't get married in the US? We were thinking that it would be best to marry in the US because that is where we ultimately want to live. Do you think it's better to get married and apply for the CR1 or just apply for the K1? I don't really understand the difference in process, cost or time. Thank you!

[Ameliavb 0]

3 hours ago, WeGuyGal said:

Marry anytime, anywhere.. that's a personal decision. 

 

Marrying and petitioning is a better (and less expensive) option than fiance visa. Await processing and interview in Brazil. He can enter on a P1, can marry, then LEAVES the US until the interview. 

I think I understand better now, thanks so much for your time. So you do think our best option is for us to wait for the next time he gets work in the US, get married while he's there, then apply for the CR1? 

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

14 minutes ago, Ameliavb said:

I think I understand better now, thanks so much for your time. So you do think our best option is for us to wait for the next time he gets work in the US, get married while he's there, then apply for the CR1? 

CR1 is a type of visa.. by definition, a visa is obtained from a US embassy overseas. 

 

You can marry when he is here on a P1 visa, all good and legal. Then he leaves the US once P1 purpose is complete, and awaits CR1 processing overseas. (The staying over on most non-immigrant visas like a P1 is where the fraud part comes in). So, yes you can get married next time he gets work in the US. Then he leaves the US for the CR1 processing part which takes 12-14 months from filing to interview in his country. 

Edited March 20, 2019 by WeGuyGal

[Ameliavb 0]

6 minutes ago, WeGuyGal said:

CR1 is a type of visa.. by definition, a visa is obtained from a US embassy overseas. 

 

You can marry when he is here on a P1 visa, all good and legal. Then he leaves the US once P1 purpose is complete, and awaits CR1 processing overseas. (The staying over on most non-immigrant visas like a P1 is where the fraud part comes in). So, yes you can get married next time he gets work in the US. Then he leaves the US for the CR1 processing part which takes 12-14 months from filing to interview in his country. 

Oh my goodness. 12-14 months?! Ack that is going to be so hard to wait that long thanks for all this information

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

Immigration is not fast nor easy

[Mollie09 1,543]

Just to confirm - the marriage itself can take place anywhere to apply for a CR-1, as long as it's valid where it's performed. You don't have to marry in the US if you don't want to.

[Ameliavb 0]

16 minutes ago, Mollie09 said:

Just to confirm - the marriage itself can take place anywhere to apply for a CR-1, as long as it's valid where it's performed. You don't have to marry in the US if you don't want to.

OH.  Ok. Do you think it wise to just get married right now (we are both together in England on circus contract) here in the UK and immediately start the CR1 process here for him to be able to come to the US? Or if we get married now will it complicate his ability to get work visas for the US afterwards? Thanks so much for your time. 

[Mollie09 1,543]

47 minutes ago, Ameliavb said:

OH.  Ok. Do you think it wise to just get married right now (we are both together in England on circus contract) here in the UK and immediately start the CR1 process here for him to be able to come to the US? Or if we get married now will it complicate his ability to get work visas for the US afterwards? Thanks so much for your time. 

You can get married right now and start the process as long as you're able to marry when in the UK temporarily.

It might complicate him using a non-immigrant visa to enter the US, but it sounds like he has evidence he will leave at the end of his stay, so not too bad.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

1 hour ago, Ameliavb said:

OH.  Ok. Do you think it wise to just get married right now (we are both together in England on circus contract) here in the UK and immediately start the CR1 process here for him to be able to come to the US? Or if we get married now will it complicate his ability to get work visas for the US afterwards? Thanks so much for your time. 

The UK I hear has some requirements for foreigners getting married there.. check for local laws. Marry if everything is legal there. 

 

How long is his p1 visa valid till? Assuming you get married outside the US anywhere, it could (not necessarily would) lead to questions about the pending immigrant petition. No one here can predict what CBP or an Embassy CO may ask.