Andreas

Hi,
my fiancee and i are thinking of getting married the next time i'm spending
my vacation in california (I'll be there on a visa waiver) and have me stay
there after the wedding. any ideas what we'd have to file where and what
requirements we'll have to meet so i can stay in cali legally?

thank you!
-Andreas

CharlieS

You would normally have to declare your reason for visiting at your POE into the USA. If you say marriage the chances are they will deny you entry. If you lie and say visiting, then when you marry and subsequently file for AOS you can be deemed 'deportation material' for committing fraud to enter the country.

This is a real sensitive subject on here. Perhaps you should do a search for topics relating to "10 foot pole" (i think thats what lawyers call it).

I know I'm not being very helpful per se, but you need to know the implications and possible results of what you are suggesting.
It is why so many of us are applying for visa's.

Mrtravel

Andreas wrote:

    > Hi,
    > my fiancee and i are thinking of getting married the next time i'm spending
    > my vacation in california (I'll be there on a visa waiver) and have me stay
    > there after the wedding. any ideas what we'd have to file where and what
    > requirements we'll have to meet so i can stay in cali legally?

Legally would mean you plan on entering on a K-1, not a visa waiver.
It sounds like that is not your plan, and thus it is not the thing to do.

meauxna

Is it legal to call it "cali"?

*Born in San Francisco, not 'Frisco'*

lpdiver

It IS called Cali by millions of Colombians. That is how it is printed on the map.

Rete

I'm not an attorney and the phrase "10 foot pole" originated with me and a poster's request for information of what to do when they enter the US with the intent to marry and the desire to stay and adjust status to CPR based on said marriage to a USC.

To the OP, what you are proposing to undertake is all for intent and purpose, illegal. As one of the two immigration attorneys who visit this forum has stated, the pre-conceived intent to marry and adjust status without physically leaving the US and obtaining either a spousal or K-3 visa to re-enter the US to rejoin your USC spouse is considered fraud.

I know this does not answer your question but leaves you with many more.

Suggestion is to go the Fiancee Visa (K-1) route and/or marry and leave the US and have your USC spouse file for your re-entrance into the US under the K-3. This suggestion is made because you have clearly verbalized your intent to marry and there will be absolutely nothing spontaneous about your wedding.

As well, you are best served obtaining the legal counsel of an immigration attorney who can advise you on the various processes available to you and your future spouse for your situation. While many do-it-themselves (as we did), others are more comfortable having an attorney at the reins of the carriage. The choice of yours but before you make a choice, now what your choices are.

Rete

meauxna

The state of California is called 'Cali' on Colombian-printed maps? The OP wasn't talking about cities south of the US border.

been to Colombia/dived Colombia/loved Colombia. Still never called my native state 'cali' in my lifetime.

phttttpt

lpdiver

I MAY be an asshole; but, after my hemmorroidectomy I'll be the PERFECT asshole..............

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Dumb move.

The immigration attorneys who hang out here shudder because this is a "ten-foot pole" type of question. The law in this area can be dangerous and subtle.

It is a minefield. As a matter of law, it is illegal to cross that minefield. As an attorney I am required to tell you not to even enter the minefield. It would be illegal and a violation of legal ethics to tell you how to navigate that minefield. And anything I say on the issue can be quite easily miscontrued.

Just let me put it this way -- although many people may get away that stunt, it happens to be quite risky in the sense that the consquences for screwing it up are quite high.

If you want to put your purported beloved at risk of being barred forever from this country, be my guest. But I would advise against it.

cindyabs

Question Mr F please? I had read in another post, not sure if it were this NG or another, think it was another, that a couple in a similar situation were thinking of doing what the poster in this thread is asking about. That poster said that he had contacted an attorney, and the attorney told him of the legal conventional way of coming over on a fiance visa. Then the poster said the attorney also mentioned if the poster came over and got married and stayed that he (attorney) would assist in the AOS process. Isn't that attorney encouraging the poster to break the law?

Andreas

thank you all for the comments. Seems like i really entered a minefield.
Well, where i come from it's so totally not illegal to do what we've planned
that i didnt even think about applying for a visa. guess i'm gonna read a
little more about this matter and find out what the legal way is.

-Andreas

blenky16

The first lawyer I talked to in Detroit told me to do this. Told me it was the best way to do it... I decided that I should double check with another lawyer, and also do some research online. THANK GOD! I realized the lawyer was setting me up for potential disaster, that obviously he had "nothing" riding on me being found of fraud and being deported... anyways, luckily enough I was smart enough to do my own research, find this NG and be MUCH better off since!!

Cheers,
Sean

Karen D

Yes, be VERY VERY careful. Always double check any advice you receive.

Can you believe that my husband was advised TWICE that he could do this, by two different members of staff at the Providence Sub Office of the BCIS no less, (now USCIS!!).

Rete

For discussion purposes only:

And therein lies a major fault/problem.

Some immigration attorneys advise their clients to go for it, as does many USCIS personnel, and we hear frequently about those that are approved for adjustment at their interview without even a question as to their "pre-conceived" intent at the time of entry. From personal experience our friends Wade from Nova Scotia and Carolyn from Boston. Pre-conceived intent, verified by INS personnel at the Boston office as being a non-issue. Success adjustment of status within six months of applying and they are already in the works for naturalization.

Hence, the ten foot pole and a very good reason why this forum is so necessary. You pay good money to an attorney. Oft times, thousands of dollars for their completion of your forms, filing of them and their supposed competency in knowing the immigration laws. So why would you not believe them? Unless you ventured into this forum and asked this particular question, you would no reason not to, for a person in an authoritative position to whom you paid a fee to give you sound advice told you it was the correct way to go.

But as Mr. Udall has reiterated time and again and as Mr. Folinskyinla has backed up, to do just what the USCIS personnel and your attorney has suggested is an act that is considered fraudulent and can have serious consequences.

Whereas you might get away with it, you also might not and therein lies the decision making factor.

Suggestion before you make that decision, read, read, read, consult with one or two immigration attorneys and only after you are fully armed with all aspects of the various procedures, make your decision.

Rete

supernav

Do you know how MANY people trick the INS by claiming to come here as tourists, and then voila 3 weeks later, they show up saying they're married?

TONS.

By you doing this, you are the reason the INS rejects SO many tourist visas, and makes everyone else trying to come here go through so many hoops. And so many people get 'bounced' at the border due to suspicion on their intentions.

Besides illegal border jumping -- marraige fraud is the #1 fraud commited by aliens. Only about 5% of marriage applications get fully rejected by the INS with viable proof of fraud. It's hard for the INS to prove to the judge tha a marraige was commited via fraud. The INS knows that, and to stop most fraud -- they stop it right at the entry before it even gets to that level and they can file for residency.

-= nav =-