Hi everyone I really wish i'd found this site at the beginning of my visa journey, so much info here it's fantastic, it has however made me realise just how wrong i've done thing's and any advice on my next step would be really appreciated.
So my story........Well I met my fiance through a dating website back in 2009 she is a US citizen, thing's progressed fantastically, we had our first real face to face date in July 2010 in Disneyworld Florida and spent a fantastic week together, in August 2010 she came over to the UK and met my family and I went over to the US again for thanksgiving to meet her family, where I proposed and amazingly she said yes
That's the good part............in Jan 2011 we filed the paperwork for the fiance visa I-129f and a few weeks later received the confirmation that it's being processed, however and here's the mistake made, we used the uscis table for how long it all takes to set the date of our wedding, the table says it takes 5 months so we set the wedding for the end of july, very silly mistake i know now, however it's been done.
It's now at the end of May and we are still waiting for for the US side of thing's to go through before I even start on the UK side of the visa.
It's obvious that the I-129f will not be done in time for the wedding.
I'm visiting my fiancee next week using the visa waiver and as far as I can tell you can get married on the waiver, but am getting stressed about the border interview, when the trip was planned there was no plans for us to use it as my point of entry for my wedding however the way thing's have worked out I may as well stay there until after the wedding, and then return to the UK after.
At this point the I-129f currently being processed is pointless, or is it?
After I get back and i'm married the fiance visa would be void but does it use any forms that the spouse visa i'd now have to apply for require therefore speeding up that process?
Can't believe the mess that i've made of this, if only i'd found this site sooner.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

You're in the same situation as many of us, unfortunately yours is slightly worse because you've planned a wedding. The time frame suggested is only ever a guide and sometimes things move quickly and sometimes they move slowly.

Perhaps this is a silly question, but is there any way you can push your wedding date back a few months?

What you would have to consider is the cost of changing your wedding date verses the cost of starting over in the immigration process. If you've planned a large wedding then economically, it would be cheaper to start the immigration process over again. The USC would need to contact USCIS and request that they withdraw the I-129f application.

Once you're married you can apply for CR1 spousal visa though it's unlikely that you'll be able to stay together during the whole process. You can visit her and she can visit you though.

I'm not informed on recent changes about AOS from VWP. There is a link at the top of this forum with that information. Otherwise, once married and before your 90 days is up, you'd need to return to the UK and wait for your application to be processed.

Thanks for your reply, pushing the wedding back is something we've discussed however because of the fact so many people from my side of the family have already paid out around £1000 each already on plane tickets and hotels dosent make it fair on them to change the date.
Small comfort now though is at least this way we get to stay together for a couple of months till I have to return to the UK within my 90 days. and wait out the 8-10 months for a spousal visa, as you say though at least we can visit each other.
One of my biggest worries now though is the entry interview at the US border, I'm not allowed to enter with the knowledge that i'm going to get married on the waiver, uunfortunatelyif i'm asked the wrong question I have to be honest. and although the trip was never planned to be that way it has become that.

you can enter on the waiver knowing you are getting married.its my understanding that you cannot adjust status because you already knew about the wedding

thats how i see it any way.
im going to be entering on a visa waiver and im going to propose and if i get the yes then we will get married in a court house.to start the cr-1

but our main wedding will be once im over there for good hopefully september 2012

hope his helps .

have a read of the information at the top of the page and see if adjusting from wvp is something that you can do. Otherwise, you can return and apply for the cr1 and visit inbetween. good luck xx

If you get married prior to you actually getting the K-1 visa in your passport... you invalidate the entire process, and all the time you've spent so far (and the filing fee) are lost. End of story.

If you marry while on the VWP, you'll be fine as long as you leave the US prior to the expiry of your 90-days. It is illegal to enter the US as a tourist with the intent to stay to adjust your status... although you won't believe how many people try it. Getting married on the VWP is fine... it's the staying afterwards that'll get you into trouble.

Once you have your marriage certificate, your (then) wife can file form I-130. The end result of that will be an immigrant visa (IV) for you. The day you enter the US with that IV, you will become a US permanent resident (PR = green card) with full rights to live/work in the US from day one. You are allowed to visit the US on the VWP during the time the I-130 is being processed... but you can't move to the US until the day you get the IV in your passport. Total time start to finish... about 8-10 months. Sorry, but there it is.

Ian

Getting married on the VWP is not now, nor has it EVER been, an issue. The issue lies with staying in the US to adjust your status after the wedding.


And now you see more clearly.

Ian

so exactly what i said then

errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

That is simply not true. You are allowed to get married on the VWP.


Yes, always be honest. You're coming to the US to get married, you'll be leaving afterwards (you'll have a return ticket, yes?) and your wife will then start the process for an immigrant visa for you.

Note - if you are not asked the question, you are not obligated to volunteer the information!

Ian

You wrote, "its my understanding that you cannot adjust status because you already knew about the wedding".

Respectfully, you implied that you couldn't adjust status because of the wedding. The two are not related. The reason you can't adjust status, is because you entered the US as a visitor.

Ian

Thanks everyone for the info, really wish i'd found this site back in Jan.
Looks like i'm doing everything correctly now though, i've got a return ticket after the wedding to prove to the border guards i have no intention of overstaying and trying to adjust my status. I will be returning to the UK within the 90 days.

I do have another question,

When I get to the border after my flight and i'm asked for the purpose of my visit, the responce I was going to give was that i'm visiting my fiance, should I still just say that or should I say i'm here to marry my fiance?

thanks just seen reply above

Well you've got two options, post pone the wedding till later, or get married as planned and sort out a new visa and be prepared to wait longer for the IR visa and have wasted the money on the K1.

If you are going to go ahead and get married, then that's what you tell POE when asked, saying you plan to return to the UK afterwards.

Point of clarification - I believe that a person further has to not get married prior to using the K1 visa to enter the USA.

Regards, JEff

What is at issue for the OP is that he took the timeline of 5 months to mean from the filing of the I-129F until the affixing of the K-1 Visa in his passport at the US Consulate.

The 5 months was for the I-129F alone and did not include the timeline for the K-1 portion of the process. The K-1 process is not done by the USCIS / Homeland Security but rather the Department of State, which has its own timeline.

Yes, you can enter the US with the full intent to marry. What can trap people up and in the past it didn't happen all that often to be honest was the intent not to marry while in the US but the intent to remain in the US to file for adjustment of status based on that marriage. The adjustment is not illegal - the intent is the problem.

It is that intent that makes regulars to this forum cautious in their replies to questions and/or threads such as this. It is a fine line that we walk in regards to this issue.