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Jim Smith

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    Jim Smith reacted to guitarlifter in Lawyer says wife can simply cross the border and apply for AoS after 30 days. Thoughts?   
    Long story short, my Canadian fiancée and I (US citizen) are getting married at the end of this year in Canada. We want to move to the US immediately after getting married. However, because of our ignorance of the US immigration laws prior to booking venues and spending thousands of dollars on nonrefundable things like that, our options for having my fiancée be able to immediately move to the US after marriage complicated. Obviously the K-1 Visa requires that one gets married INSIDE of the US after coming over within a 90 day period. That isn't usable by my us since we'll be married before she comes over. Our only choice would be to hold a "religious ceremony" that involves no marriage license although that can cause issues too. The next option is the CR-1, but with a 1-year+ wait time, that's not ideal either. This is where things get interesting.
    I had a consultation with an attorney, and she recommended that we just get legally married in Canada (just like a regular wedding - as in, with a real marriage license, licensed pastor, and everything), and then all my fiancée (wife) has to do is cross the border legally and apply for adjustment of status after 30 days of her crossing the border. She said that as long as she (1) doesn't cross the border with all of her belongings, (2) doesn't put her foot in her mouth by crossing by mentioning that she is planning on staying here and adjusting for status, and (3) doesn't apply for AoS for 30+ days, she'll be fine. She said that my then wife could just be crossing the border for gas, to visit me for a weekend, to go shopping, or to go to church and just never come back until she got her green card. She said that's what she did in order to get her green card and eventual citizenship. The lawyer (who is Canadian) said she was going to Disneyland, which she was, and she just didn't go back until she got her green card. So my fiancée wouldn't be able to leave the country for 3+ months, but that was expected anyway with the K1, and it's certainly better than waiting for the CR-1 Visa before she can come over. She said that the US doesn't care about immigration intent. She said they care a lot more about a legal entry and that we're a legitimate couple, which we are. She said she's never had someone rejected who did what she suggested. What are your thoughts on this? Is the legal entry and the legitimacy of the relationship what matters most to the USCIS? Or is immigration intent a bigger deal for the USCIS than this lawyer is letting on? Is Canada a special case perhaps?
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