Marriage in the Virgin Islands?

[rotoiti 0]

Hi everyone,

 

We are in the very early stages of planning for the K1. We were initially thinking of going the consular processing route but due to a change in circumstances, we're now planning to follow the K1 -> AoS route. 

 

Can we marry in US Virgin Islands? I know that K1 is a single entry visa. If we fly directly from the mainland there should be no immigration. But what about the return? I am not familiar with the immigration procedures in USVI. Is travel to USVI similar to Hawai`i, where there's no immigration if coming from the mainland?

 

I am the USC (naturalized), my fiancee will be the beneficiary. I have to confess that I am not looking forward to dealing with USCIS again heh.

 

Thanks!

[Noname93 214]

I'm not sure if you can, but are you willing to take the risk? All it takes is for a minor emergency to redirect the flight to another nearby island and the plan is gone. You're fiancee would be stuck outside the country and would have to fly back home, and wait their immigration journey out there. Imo it's not worth the risk. You could always have a small court house wedding now, and have a big, formal event in the Virgin Islands when your fiancee has a greencard.

[wildbug100420 337]

6 hours ago, rotoiti said:

Hi everyone,

 

We are in the very early stages of planning for the K1. We were initially thinking of going the consular processing route but due to a change in circumstances, we're now planning to follow the K1 -> AoS route. 

 

Can we marry in US Virgin Islands? I know that K1 is a single entry visa. If we fly directly from the mainland there should be no immigration. But what about the return? I am not familiar with the immigration procedures in USVI. Is travel to USVI similar to Hawai`i, where there's no immigration if coming from the mainland?

 

I am the USC (naturalized), my fiancee will be the beneficiary. I have to confess that I am not looking forward to dealing with USCIS again heh.

 

Thanks!

I don't think your plans will work. K1 is for marriage within 90-day arrival. Either consular process or marry and file i130 and 485 together along with I864 I765 and 693.

[rotoiti 0]

2 minutes ago, wildbug100420 said:

I don't think your plans will work. K1 is for marriage within 90-day arrival. Either consular process or marry and file i130 and 485 together along with I864 I765 and 693.

Unsure why it wouldn't work - we do intend to marry within 90 days of original arrival. Can you explain a bit more?

[wildbug100420 337]

19 minutes ago, rotoiti said:

Unsure why it wouldn't work - we do intend to marry within 90 days of original arrival. Can you explain a bit more?

What kind of entry did your significant other come on.? If that's the intent to marry before you entered and adjust status that is not recommended. USCIS will think you're jumping the line. 

[rotoiti 0]

1 minute ago, wildbug100420 said:

What kind of entry did your significant other come on.? If that's the intent to marry before you entered and adjust status that is not recommended. USCIS will think you're jumping the line. 

Ah no, she has not come to the US on the K1 visa, she's outside of the US now. We haven't even filed the I-129F application yet. As I said in the original post, this whole journey is in the early planning stages.

 

Noname93:

Regarding the risk of diverting the plane - that risk is not significant enough for us. I can come to Poland and live there for the duration of the CR-1 process, or another K1 process if necessary. Annoying? Yes. Life changing? No.

[rotoiti 0]

To be clear, the plan I am thinking about is:

 

1. File I-129F, she waits for the visa outside of the US.

2. Once she gets the K-1 visa, she enters the US at SFO (this is the single entry, 90 day clock starts then).

3. A couple weeks after that, fly to St Thomas.

4. Wedding

5. Fly back to California.

6. File AoS, Advance Parole etc.

7. Wait for GC

 

So, my questions are -- for step (3) of the plan above, is flying to US VI (directly) considered an intra-US flight? I think there's a customs check in US VI but not an immigration check. And for step (5), are there immigration checks on coming back from US VI?

[wildbug100420 337]

20 minutes ago, rotoiti said:

To be clear, the plan I am thinking about is:

 

1. File I-129F, she waits for the visa outside of the US.

2. Once she gets the K-1 visa, she enters the US at SFO (this is the single entry, 90 day clock starts then).

3. A couple weeks after that, fly to St Thomas.

4. Wedding

5. Fly back to California.

6. File AoS, Advance Parole etc.

7. Wait for GC

 

So, my questions are -- for step (3) of the plan above, is flying to US VI (directly) considered an intra-US flight? I think there's a customs check in US VI but not an immigration check. And for step (5), are there immigration checks on coming back from US VI?

To my knowledge no formal checks but cbp and ice lurking at airports so why risk it?

[appleblossom 5,024]

1 hour ago, wildbug100420 said:

To my knowledge no formal checks but cbp and ice lurking at airports so why risk it?

 

Why would CBP and ICE be an issue? As long as they marry, in the US, within the 90 days they've not done anything wrong, it's no different to somebody flying to Vegas for a wedding. 

[smilingstone 764]

2 hours ago, rotoiti said:

Regarding the risk of diverting the plane - that risk is not significant enough for us. I can come to Poland and live there for the duration of the CR-1 process, or another K1 process if necessary. Annoying? Yes. Life changing? No.

 

If you're so indifferent to going to Poland to wait out a CR1 or even another K1, why not do that anyway? I don't understand why you would waste so much time and money to go through K1 to only take a huge risk at invalidating it all. Do you not value you and your partners time and money? 

[smilingstone 764]

1 hour ago, appleblossom said:

 

Why would CBP and ICE be an issue? As long as they marry, in the US, within the 90 days they've not done anything wrong, it's no different to somebody flying to Vegas for a wedding. 

 

Because even flying internally is a risk. All it takes is airport staff knowing you aren't from the US and it can cause problems. No valid visa, as K1 expires upon entry, not filed AOS yet not yet married. You're undocumented at that point and jetting around internally could be seen as attempting to abscond.

 

If it's not necessary to travel, then why not just play it safe? 

[Edward and Jaycel 2,188]

58 minutes ago, smilingstone said:

No valid visa, as K1 expires upon entry

 

The visa is invalidated upon entry for any further entries from outside the country yes but their I-94 is valid for the full 90 days

[JeanneAdil 7,271]

you need to know what VI requirements are and send for the packet to your address to get the applicaiton for the marriage license

 

it does say you need SS # and to be safe i would have her apply for one upon US entry as it is always best to do that ASAP

 

https://visuperiorcourt.hosted.civiclive.com/office_of_the_clerk/family_division/marriage_license_information