beloved_dingo

Personal preference. Some people feel that filing N-400 speeds up the I-751. Regardless, if you are eligible to file N-400 and you want to be a citizen, there's no real reason to wait.

I agree with the advice to get married ASAP and send the AOS package immediately after that (while still being thorough, of course). If you're concerned about not having your dream wedding, you can still do that at a later date with loved ones. I would not risk traveling domestically without the assurance of being authorized to stay in the U.S.

If she told them she was coming to visit her fiancé and she was allowed to enter up to 6 months, the point is moot. They can get married and adjust status.

Based on that, I really don't think you have anything to worry about. As others in this thread have said, it comes down to two choices - get married and adjust status or get married and file CR-1. If your fiancé adjusts status after marriage, you get to stay together but she will be unable to work or travel for an extended period of time. You both need to consider the implications of this, as it is by far the hardest aspect of adjusting status for the person immigrating. I believe that currently work authorizations are being approved faster than Advanced Parole (the document needed for her to travel in/out of the U.S.). So she may be able to work in 6-8 months and may be able to travel in 9-12 months (others, please correct me if these estimates are wrong). If you marry and file CR-1, she will have to return to Mexico during the process but she can still visit. At the end of the process, she would be a green card holder and would be able to work and travel without issue. However, the entire process takes about 1 1/2 years, so your ability to spend time together is completely dependent on being able to travel back and forth to see each other. She would likely be able to continue using her visitor visa, but it is always up to CBP whether to admit her into the U.S. Good luck going forward. I know it's intimidating, but you will be fine. There are guides and tons of threads that will help you, depending on what you choose to do.

You need to find out what she said to CBP when she entered the U.S. That will determine what path you need to move forward. As others have pointed out, it is highly unusual to not have a return ticket. However, it happens and she was allowed to enter the U.S....BUT without knowing exactly what she was asked and how she answered, we cannot give you the best advice. If she answered questions truthfully and was allowed to enter...well, then it doesn't really matter what we think about the lack of return ticket. You can get married and she can adjust status. However, if there was any misrepresentation at POE (even unintentionally) it could jeopardize her immigration journey. You may have seen it said here before that when it comes to immigration, best practice is to answer truthfully but not volunteer information they don't ask for. Please talk to her about this and then give us an update here.

I cannot advise strongly enough that you meet in person before marriage. It is extremely difficult to know if you are both truly compatible until you get some time together face to face. Unfortunately, many relationships that begin online fall apart after meeting in person. On the flip side, meeting in person can also confirm all of your feelings and commitments to each other. You have to meet in person either way, so why not make that happen before committing to spend your life with someone?

Especially if the parents are part of the problem. And even good parents often unintentionally do things that alienate their kids or break their trust.

I think it could have an impact...many people have stories about how they were headed down the wrong path until someone realized they were suffering/reached out to try and connect. Sometimes that makes all the difference. But it certainly isn't a solution, just a small thing that could mitigate these outcomes. Also another thought/question...websites like 4chan continually come up in these situations, and contribute to these young men being radicalized. Is there any way to deal with that problem? I don't think this issue has a single thing to do with video games and a lot more to do with these darker corners of the internet + the desire for notoriety on social media.

Do you think better mental health support in schools would make a difference?

I agree with a lot of what you are saying, but how do you help teenagers and young adults that do not want help? If there are red flags but the person isn't deemed to be a threat to themselves or others "yet", how do we use mental health care to prevent it from getting to that point? Especially if there is not a supportive home environment?

Also true and why I don't think reducing the issue to mental health care is particularly helpful. People have to want help in most cases to get help, and if the issues begin before the age of 18, the parents/legal guardians are involved. If someone is already from a rough familial background, what is the likelihood that family is going to drive their child to appointments, pay for therapy, pick up prescriptions, or whatever else is needed? We do need better mental health care, more resources/more access, less stigma, etc. but that isn't a solution to this specific problem, on the whole. Having psychologists in schools would help though.

And yet not old enough to drink or rent a car. Personally I don't think 18 year-olds should be cannon fodder either.

I got rid of Facebook a year and a half ago and haven't missed it one bit. Heck even with good insurance it is hard to get adequate mental health care. I have good insurance that has decent coverage for mental health and I can afford the co-pays for therapy sessions, but what good does that do when sessions are available only during work hours? I stopped going because I could only manage to squeeze in one session per month and that just isn't enough to really help. Meanwhile I had zero access to mental health care when I was young and really needed it.

That's what makes it frustrating...there are so many factors that contribute to these situations. I still don't understand how/why any 18 year old should be able to buy 2 very expensive and dangerous AR-15s though. Even mentally stable 18 year-olds have not matured. The latest I read about the guns is that he bought them both for his 18th birthday (but the gun purchases were 3 days apart), along with a bunch of ammo. Any thoughts on raising the age to legally acquire such weapons?

Agreed. Sure if someone is smoking weed, drinking a lot, and mixing in some rx drugs or something maybe that would contribute. But just weed? Nah.

*headdesk* Yeah context really matters and clearly the AI isn't good enough. I think that's one sentiment we can certainly all agree with. PM sent.

Speaking of moderating, young people are also pretty good at getting around the AI moderation because they just censor certain words, add asterisks, misspell, etc. Meanwhile, perfectly harmless posts get removed or moderated because something like "I would kill for a burger right now" gets flagged just for the use of the word "kill". The only social media I use now is Instagram and the one and only time I had a comment flagged was because I used the word "traitor". I don't get it.

That's a decent amount of time between trips so will probably be fine. I'd still lean more towards a shorter trip, personally. It is up to the CBP officer whether they will admit you for that amount of time or not: "Please be aware, a visa does not guarantee entry to the United States. Additionally, the visa expiration date shown on your visa does not reflect how long you are authorized to stay within the United States. Entry and the length of authorized stay within the United States are determined by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer at the port-of-entry each time you travel." This is from https://travel.state.gov/

Definitely agree with this, a visit of 2-3 weeks would garner less scrutiny. @zthomas7 My husband visited on ESTA while his K-1 was pending with no issues, but it had been 5 months since his last visit and he stayed for 4 weeks. No one can say with certainty whether she will be admitted without issue or not, but having at least a few months between visits and making sure this next visit is less than 30 days would be advisable, imo.

My husband used his extension letter to renew in January and had no issues (in Alabama). He took the letter, his green card, and proof of residence with him. You will find info specific to Wyoming here: https://www.dot.state.wy.us/home/driver_license_records/driver-license/lost--renewal.html

I also sent mine via USPS (Priority Mail Express). No issues at all. Also, here is the USCIS page about the addresses/where to file I-751 just in case you want to double-check: https://www.uscis.gov/i-751-direct-filing-addresses

Bye The context clues are right there. I obviously wasn't referring to fully automatic weapons.

There's no reason to conflate 2 different issues that occurred under different administrations. And the conservative prime minster who was in power during the pandemic was just voted out.

Using an explosion/bombing from 100 years ago to distract from the issue at hand is a bit disingenuous. More kids have been killed by gun violence than literally anything else in the U.S., so that is the problem that needs to be mitigated. We don't have kids blown up every other day by dynamite do we? In my opinion, many states absolutely do NOT have common sense gun laws. For instance, Alabama doesn't require background checks or concealed carry permits. Many states are similar in this regard, and it doesn't strike me as sensical at all.

I usually don't like to compare the U.S. to other countries, but places like Australia seem to have laws that do actually prevent bad people from getting guns or at the very least help prevent mass shooting from occurring. They enacted pretty strict gun laws (such as banning semi-automatic rifles) in response to the mass shooting that occurred in Tasmania in 1996. Is the issue here that there are just too many guns already (more guns than people)? I live in Alabama and know a ton of legal gun owners - it goes with the territory here in the deep south. But I don't see how having some common sense gun laws infringes on the 2nd amendment. Things like waiting periods and background checks don't prevent legal gun ownership, it just helps ensure that people aren't buying an automatic weapon and murdering a dozen people 2 hours later. Sure, many bad guys will be able to get their hands on a gun because they are willing to go through improper channels, but a it's not like all gun violence/mass shootings are committed by career criminals or something. A lot of these crimes are committed by people who legally purchased a gun that they never should have had in the first place (because of prior warning signs, mental health issues, etc). There are also suicides to consider in this who equation as well. Anyway, there are ideas from both sides of the aisle that can help solve the problem. Doing nothing and having both political parties continue their finger pointing doesn't help anything.