File for K1 while on Tourist Visa?

[bakofoil 27]

If you didn't have intent to marry prior to your arrival in the US on a Tourist visa, I'd marry and adjust status. Then you won't have to spend any time apart. What LisaD and some others posted is correct, you can legally do this if there was no intent prior to getting here. Many others have done this successfully! I wish that's what I had done!

Had I known what I know now I would have done the same. Obviously, it's more complicated if you still have ties back home (which I did) but if you're free to stay in the US until April 2008 and have sufficient money or support to tide you over until you get employment authorisation then yep, the K1 is not required. Just be aware that if you do marry and adjust status you would need to have advanced parole to be able to get back into the US if you should need to return to Hong Kong at any point (say for an unplanned family emergency). This can be applied for with AOS though.

[flying 0]

If you didn't have intent to marry prior to your arrival in the US on a Tourist visa, I'd marry and adjust status. Then you won't have to spend any time apart. What LisaD and some others posted is correct, you can legally do this if there was no intent prior to getting here. Many others have done this successfully! I wish that's what I had done!

You know that sounds so good. So as long as no intent it is all perfectly legal?

Is the AOS also cheaper & faster than a K1?

wow

Edited November 10, 2007 by flying

[~Nini~ 2]

You know that sounds so good. So as long as no intent it is all perfectly legal?

Is the AOS also cheaper & faster than a K1?

wow

It's legal if there is no intent prior to the non-USC entering the country. However, the important thing is proving at the AOS interview that there was absolutely no intent - keep in mind that the burden of proof is on you.

In this instance AOS would also have to be filed with an I-130, so the total cost would be $1365 (AOS fee = $1010, I-130 fee = $355). It is slightly cheaper than the K1 in this instance, but not by much.

(Please, correct me if I'm wrong!)

Edited November 10, 2007 by Nini & Bee

[flying 0]

You know that sounds so good. So as long as no intent it is all perfectly legal?

Is the AOS also cheaper & faster than a K1?

wow

It's legal if there is no intent prior to the non-USC entering the country. However, the important thing is proving at the AOS interview that there was absolutely no intent - keep in mind that the burden of proof is on you.

In this instance AOS would also have to be filed with an I-130, so the total cost would be $1365 (AOS fee = $1010, I-130 fee = $355). It is slightly cheaper than the K1 in this instance, but not by much.

(Please, correct me if I'm wrong!)

Interesting...............Actually the price is not the thing but the being together is pretty nice sounding.

So if a gf enters on a tourist B2 saying she is meeting the family like #1 here............

(N11.1-1 of the Foreign Affairs Manual):

(1) Simply to meet the family of his and/or her fiance;

(2) To become engaged;

(3) To make arrangements for the wedding; or

(4) To renew a relationship with the prospective spouse

Then is it even possible to claim we had a spur of the moment desire to marry? Or does that sound impossible?

Edited November 10, 2007 by flying

[ChrisB0707 4]

Hi all

Hope things are going well for everybody here! I am from Hong Kong and am currently on a tourist visa in the US which is good until April 2008 (yeah, I am lucky!). My boyfriend and I are considering tying the knot finally but understood that I would have to go for the K1 visa. My question is:

Can we file a K1 while I am here on a tourist visa? And I wait until any procedures necessary to be done in HK and go back? We want to minimize our separation time as much as possible!

Any advice or sharings from anyone who has done the above (whether succeeded or failed) would be greatly appreciated.

I am not sure being from Hong Kong actually give me an "advantage"... as traditionally/ historically, we are not a big immigrant group to the US...

Thanks a lot!

Rach

No need to go back to HK. Just dont tell them your intent was to marry prior to your arrival in the US. You already in the US so why would you fild a K1 visa in HK when you will have to go back to do it?

[Meridien 0]

Interesting...............Actually the price is not the thing but the being together is pretty nice sounding.

So if a gf enters on a tourist B2 saying she is meeting the family like #1 here............

(N11.1-1 of the Foreign Affairs Manual):

(1) Simply to meet the family of his and/or her fiance;

(2) To become engaged;

(3) To make arrangements for the wedding; or

(4) To renew a relationship with the prospective spouse

Then is it even possible to claim we had a spur of the moment desire to marry? Or does that sound impossible?

It would be implausible to claim you had a spur of the moment desire to marry in the case of the above - because #1 clearly states that the USC was already your fiance when you entered the US. To have a convincing case of no intent you have to show that you had no intention of getting married when you arrived. Obviously being engaged already would blow that out of the water...

[flying 0]

Interesting...............Actually the price is not the thing but the being together is pretty nice sounding.

So if a gf enters on a tourist B2 saying she is meeting the family like #1 here............

(N11.1-1 of the Foreign Affairs Manual):

(1) Simply to meet the family of his and/or her fiance;

(2) To become engaged;

(3) To make arrangements for the wedding; or

(4) To renew a relationship with the prospective spouse

Then is it even possible to claim we had a spur of the moment desire to marry? Or does that sound impossible?

It would be implausible to claim you had a spur of the moment desire to marry in the case of the above - because #1 clearly states that the USC was already your fiance when you entered the US. To have a convincing case of no intent you have to show that you had no intention of getting married when you arrived. Obviously being engaged already would blow that out of the water...

Thanks that is pretty much what I thought. How about this.............Although I thought maybe a couple could even be planning a K1 & meeting family as stated above then become so involved in the moment claim a spur of the moment. But yes seems unlikely I guess.

Thanks