Mexamerican

My Mexican fiance and I are planning to get married in April of 2004. He wants to come to the United States and study for a few years before we go back to Mexico as a happily married couple (with US educations). I have read a lot about fiance(e) visas to enter the United States. Can he enter on a student visa and get married while he is under that status? Or does he need the fiance(e) visa?

Joe Kultgen

In article ,
[email protected] says...
    >
    > My Mexican fiance and I are planning to get married in April of 2004.
    > He wants to come to the United States and study for a few years before
    > we go back to Mexico as a happily married couple (with US educations).
    > I have read a lot about fiance(e) visas to enter the United States. Can
    > he enter on a student visa and get married while he is under that
    > status? Or does he need the fiance(e) visa?
    >
    > --
    > Mexamerican

I'm a long way from being an expert, but it is my understanding that as
long as you have a visa appropriate to your primary purpose anything else
is a non-issue.

If he comes here to study, and abides by the terms of his student visa,
there is nothing to keep him from getting married while he is here. If
he wants to adjust his status and become a permanent resident he will
have to clear the extra hurdle of convincing the INS that he *did* in
fact come here to study and the marriage was incidental.

Later,
Joe

Kimberly

Has he ever been in the US? If so did he enter illegally?
I'm asking because it changes everything if he has crossed the border illegally.
Where did you meet him?
Kim

Mexamerican

No, he has never been to the US. I met him in Mexico. We want to find the best way to get married while he is in the states legally, and also accomplish other goals in the process. He has a Mexican college education, but we want him to have a US education as well. It would just be extra convenient if we could get married while he is up here legally already-- on a student visa.

When you say: "convince the INS he is really here to study and the marriage was incidental", would the fact that he actually COMPLETES his US education be sufficient to "prove" that he came for that purpose? Does any of this new information change anything?

Thanks for your responses!!!

Mexamerican

Caro

It would be very unlikely that he would get a student visa having a US fiancee. This is one of the question asked on the visa application (along with do you have a spouse in the US? do you have your parents in the US? i.e. people who can sponsor you for a green card) and it is my understanding that it is really hard to get a student visa if you have "ties" to the US, as you are supposed to have strong ties to your origin country when you are granted the non-immgrant student visa. If he wants to apply to a US university for 2004, that would leave you time (I think) to do a fiance visa and then he could attend school freely once he is in the US. This is the most foolproof way to do things.

Here is the visa application form:
http://travel.state.gov/DS-0156.pdf

Hope that helps,
Caroline

Joe Kultgen

In article ,
[email protected] says...
    >
    > No, he has never been to the US. I met him in Mexico. We want to find
    > the best way to get married while he is in the states legally, and also
    > accomplish other goals in the process. He has a Mexican college
    > education, but we want him to have a US education as well. It would
    > just be extra convenient if we could get married while he is up here
    > legally already-- on a student visa.
    >
    > When you say: "convince the INS he is really here to study and the
    > marriage was incidental", would the fact that he actually COMPLETES his
    > US education be sufficient to "prove" that he came for that purpose?
    > Does any of this new information change anything?
    >
    > Thanks for your responses!!!
    >
    > Mexamerican
    >

What seems to be causing some confusion is your long term intentions. It
is my understanding that after he completes his studies you intend to
move to Mexico.

Most of the people posting to this group regard the visa as a part of the
US immigration process. It's my understanding that the INS couldn't care
less if a US citizen marries a foreign national, unless the foreign
person tries to use the marriage as a basis for becoming a permanent
resident of the US.

If he's here to study and intends to return to Mexico when his studies
are complete, he should have a student visa. I'm not aware of any legal
requirement for him to have a fiance visa just to marry you. When his
student visa expires he will have to leave the US. If you go with him
you will have to follow whatever rules Mexico has for foreign nationals
married to Mexican citizens.

If he tries to remain in the US as a legal immigrant after his student
visa expires he will have problems. The INS will assume that he applied
for the student visa under false pretenses and his real intent was
marriage based immigration. This can cause real problems if you want to
continue living in the US as a couple. To stay legal he would have to
leave when his student visa expires then return on a spousal visa if he
can get one.

Again, I'm not any sort of attorney and free advice can be the most
expensive you'll ever get. This is just my understanding of the present
rules.

Later,
Joe

Mexamerican

Yes, we do plan on returning to Mexico after our marriage and after he studies for a few years here.

I would like it, however, if he could gain dual citizenship or something while he was studying here so that our options could be open in the future regarding immigration--this is in case, for any reason, we should decide to come back to the US. Is that possible? Would THAT require him to get a fiance visa? I guess I am just new to all of this.

Thanks for all your posts, they are helpful.

Mexamerican