chicagoguy

Hello,

I figured this would be the best place to ask this question, so here it goes.

My girlfriend is from the UK and I'm a US Citizen. We've been together for about 2 years now and she's currently in the US through VWP to visit me. Since it's been harder and harder to be apart since we've grown closer and closer together, we were thinking of getting married while she's here now.

I've called USCIS up and explained the situation to them and they've told me the forms I need to file. The only part I'm worried about is her application being rejected for whatever reason and if and how worried we should be about proof of bona fide marriage, since I currently live in a property owned by my family that is not under my name. We've planned to have joint bank accounts and everything else, as well as looking for a new place to move to together.

We haven't gotten married yet, but she has requested to have her documents sent by her family here so we can marry.

Also, if we get married here while she is on VWP, will she have to return to the UK? From documentation on USCIS it isn't extremely clear, but it says that if the relative is already in the country, it is possible for them to stay. I'm just worried that the delivery time the application is sent conflicting with the return date on her I-90. Will this be a problem?


Thanks in advance for all your help!

Bob

if she didn't have the intent to marry and AOS when she entered whilst using the VWP, she won't have a problem.

If you don't meet the requirements to be her financial sponsor, you'll need a co-sponsor who is either a USC or LPR.

If you guys marry and AOS, she'd need to also file for AP if she wanted/needed to travel, but if she had any over stay, she shouldn't use it, and probably best not to travel abroad till you got the greencard anyway because there is a difference to being admitted into the country from being paroled into the country.

Oh, and on the off chance things go wrong and the case is denied, you've signed your rights to an appeal when you used the VWP to enter the country.

Noorah101

Ditto everything Bob said.

Rene

Rete

Partially true. There is a difference between paroled into the country and being admitted but that is already taken care of with the marriage under the VWP.

However, one can travel with an overstay on your record as long as you have advance parole and your overstay is under 180 days. 180 days and over is an automatic ban on returning to the US.

CaliforniaBride

Just to add that if the case is denied, although you can't appeal, your spouse can return to the UK and you can file for a K3 visa.

Noorah101

Better yet, an Immigrant Visa. The K-3 is sort of the unpopular route to go anymore.

Rene

CaliforniaBride

Why would you say that?

Noorah101

For one thing, the K-3 is now taking just as long as the IV, so it's not a time-saver anymore. Also, the Immigrant Visa vs. K-3 has undergone some major changes in policy. Now, if you file both the I-130 and the I-129F, and the I-129F goes more quickly, but you decide before your interview to stick it out and wait for the I-130, you must cancel the K-3 process and pay a $200 fee to do so. Also, if you DO follow the K-3 route and come to the USA using the K-3, you are locked into doing AOS in the USA. You are no longer given the option to return to the UK to get your immigrant visa later on. Not sure how many people actually did that, but the option was there before, whereas it's not now.

I can't really see a big benefit to going the K-3 route anymore. It doesn't get the spouse here much more quickly, you have to pay extra to cancel it if you want to, and you are locked into AOS in the USA once here if you choose it.

Rene