K1 Visa vs. Getting Married in US

[bora bora 1]

Better to use work or student visa. Using a visitor visa to "save time" of K-1 petition is "penny-wise, TON-foolish".

Say what? Those aren't any easier to get.

I agree that quite often the K1 is easier to get. I know that my (now) husband would never have been successful at getting a tourist visa.

[gordec 0]

Thanks to everyone who replied. We definitely are not going to do visitor visa if it's a fraud.

My fiance and I have been dating for 7 years now, long distance (Germany and US). It's hard, and we finally made up our minds to get married. The problem now is that I will finish med school and start residency in July 08. She will end school in end of April 08.

We prefer starting K1 now because I leave in San Antonio, and I would have no control in where I'll be for residency. However, there is only a slim window between March and end of April for her to come to the state in 2008 to take care of everything, and then she has to go back to Germany to graduate and then go to China to cover the Olympics until Oct, 08.

We are not sure if it's the smartest thing to do to start K1 now because I have no idea if the 2 months she has off btw Mar-May can allow us to get everything done here in the states (status adjustment, etc). Otherwise we just have to push it to later next year to start K1. The only problem is that I will be so busy, I don't know how I can help her while working 80-hour weeks. Any recommendation?

[Magnolia31 0]

Hi, I was wondering if it's possible for my fiance to come to the states on a visitor visa, and we can register here without going through with K1? Anyone know anything about that.

I advise against it - that's what the k-1 visa was created for. However, people ARE still doing it the unethical, illegal way. The choice is yours but it is up to you to decide whether you wanna risk deportation and penalties. If you get married here on a tourist visa, you will have to prove that you never intended to marry when she came here. I say don't do it.

[ngant17 1]

If the Dept. of State will freely issue a tourist visa to young unmarried girls, it would be predictable that in many cases, such 'tourists' could meet a wealthy US citizen while visiting and fall in love and want to get married. Nothing is wrong with that.

However, I think the process is not so simple. A young unmarried foreign woman with steady employment history and with an advanced educational background would better qualify for the tourist visa than, say, a poor, uneducated peasant-girl with no employment history. And in the former case, the chances of wanting to stay in the US would be less than the latter case.

Getting the tourist visa for the intended purposes of bypassing immigration laws is prohibited, likewise engaging in marriage fraud to facilitate entry into the US is also a serious crime. Both of these scenarios have been known to happen, and it would be in the interest of the US government to try to prevent this by being more strict on the issuance of visas to foreigners.

OTOH, I don't see the illegality of a tourist falling in love with a stranger while on vacation, and wanting to make a permanent relationship thru marriage. Convincing the immigration people of those facts might be the more difficult task.

Hi, I was wondering if it's possible for my fiance to come to the states on a visitor visa, and we can register here without going through with K1? Anyone know anything about that.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Hi, I was wondering if it's possible for my fiance to come to the states on a visitor visa, and we can register here without going through with K1? Anyone know anything about that.

I advise against it - that's what the k-1 visa was created for. However, people ARE still doing it the unethical, illegal way. The choice is yours but it is up to you to decide whether you wanna risk deportation and penalties. If you get married here on a tourist visa, you will have to prove that you never intended to marry when she came here. I say don't do it.

Both of your above statements are not true....

1. It is not illegal to do AOS from a Tourist visa or VWP if you had a spur of the moment marriage....

2. There are 1000s of people who come to the USA to marry each year there is a whole big tourist industry based around marriage in the USA and they do not need a K1 to do so.... if you do marry on the spur of the moment and file for AOS you may be asked about your plans when you entered the USA at your interview but most are not asked anything other than the normal interview questions....

3. You may think that anyone doing AOS from a tourist visa or VWP is unethical and illegal and you are allowed to have you opinion... but be careful about making blanket statement about the legal or illegal ways to do AOS....

Kez

[Yodrak 7]

Cécy,

No. It is perfectly legal for any unmarried alien who is in the USA to get married while here.

Yodrak

The only case when you can get married in the US is if she is visiting you and you decide on the spot to get married.

You are already talking about marriage, so in your case there is intent. Therefore it would be considered visa fraud.

You have to give proof that there was no marriage intent when the foreign spouse entered the US if you don't have a K1 visa.

[Yodrak 7]

CherryXS,

Better than what? A tourist visa?

No, the same principle applies - it is illegal to enter the USA as a non-immigrant with the intention of immigrating while in the USA.

Yodrak

Better to use work or student visa. Using a visitor visa to "save time" of K-1 petition is "penny-wise, TON-foolish".

[Yodrak 7]

Kez,

It might be better to say 'if the decision to apply to immigrate (adjust status) is spur of the moment'. As you know well and have stated often, it's perfectly all right for an alien to mary when they are in the USA as a non-immigrant. Whether the marriage was planned in advance of entry or spur of the moment after entry makes no difference - getting married is not the issue. What we need to get through people's thick heads is that it's the plan to immigrate that is the issue.

Yodrak

Hi, I was wondering if it's possible for my fiance to come to the states on a visitor visa, and we can register here without going through with K1? Anyone know anything about that.

I advise against it - that's what the k-1 visa was created for. However, people ARE still doing it the unethical, illegal way. The choice is yours but it is up to you to decide whether you wanna risk deportation and penalties. If you get married here on a tourist visa, you will have to prove that you never intended to marry when she came here. I say don't do it.

Both of your above statements are not true....

1. It is not illegal to do AOS from a Tourist visa or VWP if you had a spur of the moment marriage....

.....

Kez

[bora bora 1]

Someone just told me this week that if you have a PhD then it's easy to get residency...

Just a thought.

[Magnolia31 0]

Hi, I was wondering if it's possible for my fiance to come to the states on a visitor visa, and we can register here without going through with K1? Anyone know anything about that.

I advise against it - that's what the k-1 visa was created for. However, people ARE still doing it the unethical, illegal way. The choice is yours but it is up to you to decide whether you wanna risk deportation and penalties. If you get married here on a tourist visa, you will have to prove that you never intended to marry when she came here. I say don't do it.

Both of your above statements are not true....

1. It is not illegal to do AOS from a Tourist visa or VWP if you had a spur of the moment marriage....

2. There are 1000s of people who come to the USA to marry each year there is a whole big tourist industry based around marriage in the USA and they do not need a K1 to do so.... if you do marry on the spur of the moment and file for AOS you may be asked about your plans when you entered the USA at your interview but most are not asked anything other than the normal interview questions....

3. You may think that anyone doing AOS from a tourist visa or VWP is unethical and illegal and you are allowed to have you opinion... but be careful about making blanket statement about the legal or illegal ways to do AOS....

Kez

No, you are taking my words/comment out of context. So typical on here for a few people to do that.

1. It is illegal if you come on a tourist visa with the intent to marry. I said NOTHING about a spur-of-the-moment thing. The OP has intent to marry, thus doing something illegal.

2. I am aware of that. However, I also know 2 people who have gotten denied and deported and they had intent. I just don't think it's something worth risking whether 1,000 people do it or not.

3. Nope, I did not say that. You are taking it out of context. If you have comprehension problems whilst reading my post, just do not respond. I said it is illegal and unethical if you HAVE intent to come here and marry just to avoid having to do the k-1 visa. It's not fair to those that DID complete the process and tried to do the right thing. No one is saying anything about coming here on a tourist visa and getting married.

The OP has intentions to marry - get it? So he should do it the right way just to be safe. Do you get that too?

[Magnolia31 0]

CherryXS,

Better than what? A tourist visa?

No, the same principle applies - it is illegal to enter the USA as a non-immigrant with the intention of immigrating while in the USA.

Yodrak

Better to use work or student visa. Using a visitor visa to "save time" of K-1 petition is "penny-wise, TON-foolish".

That's the same thing I meant so why is no one trying to correct you? I also said that it was illegal to enter the usa with the intent of immigrating. Yes, I said "marrying" so shoot me, but the whole immigration thing is what I meant. Some people know exactly what a poster is trying to say but yet, wanna get annoying about it and twist things all around.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Hi, I was wondering if it's possible for my fiance to come to the states on a visitor visa, and we can register here without going through with K1? Anyone know anything about that.

I advise against it - that's what the k-1 visa was created for. However, people ARE still doing it the unethical, illegal way. The choice is yours but it is up to you to decide whether you wanna risk deportation and penalties. If you get married here on a tourist visa, you will have to prove that you never intended to marry when she came here. I say don't do it.

Both of your above statements are not true....

1. It is not illegal to do AOS from a Tourist visa or VWP if you had a spur of the moment marriage....

2. There are 1000s of people who come to the USA to marry each year there is a whole big tourist industry based around marriage in the USA and they do not need a K1 to do so.... if you do marry on the spur of the moment and file for AOS you may be asked about your plans when you entered the USA at your interview but most are not asked anything other than the normal interview questions....

3. You may think that anyone doing AOS from a tourist visa or VWP is unethical and illegal and you are allowed to have you opinion... but be careful about making blanket statement about the legal or illegal ways to do AOS....

Kez

No, you are taking my words/comment out of context. So typical on here for a few people to do that.

1. It is illegal if you come on a tourist visa with the intent to marry. I said NOTHING about a spur-of-the-moment thing. The OP has intent to marry, thus doing something illegal.

2. I am aware of that. However, I also know 2 people who have gotten denied and deported and they had intent. I just don't think it's something worth risking whether 1,000 people do it or not.

3. Nope, I did not say that. You are taking it out of context. If you have comprehension problems whilst reading my post, just do not respond. I said it is illegal and unethical if you HAVE intent to come here and marry just to avoid having to do the k-1 visa. It's not fair to those that DID complete the process and tried to do the right thing. No one is saying anything about coming here on a tourist visa and getting married.

The OP has intentions to marry - get it? So he should do it the right way just to be safe. Do you get that too?

Then maybe you need to include the words intent to immigrate in your post, as the way it reads you are making a blanket statement about any and all that are here on a tourist visa/VWP.

Thank you for wondering if I got it..... if you look at my timeline you can see I "GOT IT" a long time ago....

Kez

Edited July 6, 2007 by Niagaenola

[Yodrak 7]

Magnolia,

Perhaps you should say what you mean. There is a world of difference between getting married and immigrating. If you write "get married" I have to trust that you mean get married. If you mean immigrate then write "immigrate".

Yodrak

CherryXS,

Better than what? A tourist visa?

No, the same principle applies - it is illegal to enter the USA as a non-immigrant with the intention of immigrating while in the USA.

Yodrak

Better to use work or student visa. Using a visitor visa to "save time" of K-1 petition is "penny-wise, TON-foolish".

That's the same thing I meant so why is no one trying to correct you? I also said that it was illegal to enter the usa with the intent of immigrating. Yes, I said "marrying" so shoot me, but the whole immigration thing is what I meant. Some people know exactly what a poster is trying to say but yet, wanna get annoying about it and twist things all around.