Robinson79

Hi, This is my first post on this very helpful website, i don't think it will be my last either!!

Ok i'm a Uk resident living and working in the UK at present. My girlfriend who is a US citizen is currently working in Germany on a valid german working Visa. We met in June 2006 in germany (World cup).

We are looking in to the possibility of marrying in the UK. And from there going to the US were she would study for 2 years, and I would hopefully work. We are not sure of the big picture yet and don't know where we would like to settle in the future. We just know that she wants to study and i want to stay in the US for this time legally. The research i've done is very limited I just need to know if this can be done?

Questions

1. I've been told that for us to marry in england my girlfriend would need to get a marriage visiter visa froma british consulate in germany, which would allow her to come over and marry, as you can not do this on a normal tourist visa. Is this correct and do we need to do anything more?

2. If we do marry as i understand it i can enter the U.S and then file for a green card, along with that i can then file for a work permit whilst this process is going on. Is this correct.

3. If successful with all of that i belive that with a green card you can only leave the u.s for something like 6 months, as they will deem it that you have abandoded your permant citizenship, although i read somewhere that you can apply for a 2 year period of leave through some visa?


You can probably tell through my wording that i'm extremely new to this and would be grateful for any advice.


many thanks

Tracym

Hi, and welcome

1. Yes, she needs a visa to marry in the UK

2. No. Entering the US as a visitor and applying to adjust status (green card) is illegal. Just being married does not authorise you to enter the U.S. You have to apply for a visa first, and if granted you will immediately become a conditional permanent resident upon entry (green card). You will be able to work right away.

This visa takes some time to get - 6 months to a year perhaps? So you will not be able to come to the U.S. immediately after marrying.

Also... she needs to be your financial sponsor. if she is studying, she will perhaps not have income to sponsor you (around $17,000 or so per year for two persons). Unless you two have sufficient assets (in excess of $50,000 or so), you will need another US citizen to be a co-sponsor.

3. Generally, leaving for more than six months is considered abandoning a green card. There are ways around this at times, you apply in advance if leaving for a longer period for a good reason.

You might want to find a way to stay mostly continuously in the U.S. for the first 3 years. Then, you can apply for citizenship (you can be a dual US/UK citizen). At that point, you can come and go as you like.

Noorah101

That's correct.

This is incorrect. You will need the proper visa to immigrate to the USA. It is misuse and abuse of the VWP to come on a tourist visa with the intent to adjust status to permanent resident, and is illegal. I might suggest, since the USC has some kind of status in Germany, and if she's been living there 6+ months, that she looks into filing the I-130 directly over there, it's a shorter process than filing it in the USA. If she files the I-130 in the USA, the whole process to get your immigrant visa takes about 8 to 10 months. Filing the I-130 directly in Germany cuts it down to around 4 to 6 months.

You're sort of jumping ahead here, since you're not close to getting your green card yet, but yes, there are limitations when you are a US PR, as to how much time you can safely spend outside the USA, but every case is different and based on that individual's scenario. There's no hard and fast rule of 6 months. For example, if you are a US PR and apply for a re-entry permit, then go to school overseas for 2 years, keeping ties to the USA (banking, filing taxes, etc), chances are good that you won't lose your PR status.

Tracy also brought up a good point about the Affidavit of Support. If the USC doesn't earn enough, there will have to be a joint sponsor.

Go to www.uscis.gov, Immigration Forms, and read up on the I-130 and I-864. The financial guide is the I-864P.

Unfortunately, it's not as easy as getting married and returning to the USA together. That's not how it works.

Best Wishes,
Rene

meauxna

Congratulations on all your big changes--what an exciting year this will be for you!

Your #2 there---a no-go as others point out. But, there is something even BETTER available for you since your fiancee is living overseas.

Because she is resident in Germany, once you are married (and yes, she needs a special visa to the UK to do that), she can petition for you at the USCIS office in Frankfurt (at the Embassy). Filing there = wait time of about 4 weeks vs filing in the US where the wait is about 6 months.

That is for the first part of the paperwork.. the petition.
Then you apply for a visa.
Frankfurt now has "12 weeks to 6 months" for completing Immigrant Visa petition + visa cases.

The biggest question is would you apply for a visa in Germany, or in London?

Please take a moment to read this link:
DCF - Filing your I-130 abroad - Direct Consular Filing

fatbrit

No, it's not!

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Being pedantic, are we?

What IS illegal is to enter the United States in visitor category with INTENT to marry. Also, things can blow up on you if you use the Visa Waiver category. One Carla Freeman did that, filed for adjustment and while it was pending, AmCit hubby happened to be killed in an automobile accident. Ultimately, after much litigation, her husband's visa petition was approved postumously but she failed in her attempt to get the green card inasmuch as she had departed the United States without advance parole and that the departure was the equivalent of a deportation.

fatbrit

Precisely!

meauxna

I thought it was the intent to adjust status on that trip? Isn't getting married, even with intent, a valid tourist activity?

fatbrit

Good pedantic point. But I think pedantic is important with this subject.