incugirl

Hey guys....

me and my fiance have been talking, and also doing a little research on the web about different visa's. Were kinda in the middle of 2 options that we have given ourseleves to chose from.....

A, is to start the whole process of the I-129F form when i'm in the states... spend my 3 months (90 days) with him then come back to the UK and stay here and do the K1 option......

OR

B, Go to the US on my regular WVP, me and my fiance to get married, I stay with him for 3 months (90 days) until I have to leave, and take this option.

Which is the easiest, quickest & best one to do?? I'm just wanting people's opinions on this as have I have been reading this board I have come to see that there is people out there who do marry thers US partners when they are there using the VWP.

My fiance lives in Ohio, and we would have to go through Nebraska.

Any help, opinions, or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Becca

Bluegrass Lass

Hiya Becca! Welcome back!
So that I understand what you're asking, you are saying these are the 2 options you are considering:

1) Start the K1 process while you are in the US visiting your fiance
or
2) Come for your visit and marry your fiance. And the start the K3 process.

Is that correct?

Suggestion 1: your fiance moves to a state, say KY, that is being handled by a different Service Center! Just teasing, though this wouldn't be a bad idea.

Well, it looks like you guys will face approximately the same waiting times regardless of which option you chose. Either way, assuming you are allowed into the US under the VWP, it looks like it's taking about 6 months for a K1 or K3 petition to be approved. So it doesn't appear that you would have to spend a huge time apart if you are staying here for 3 months. Unlike my husband when we went through the K1 last year - it took 140 days for approval of the I-129f and we only saw each other twice for 10 days during that time. If Nebraska is taking that long, as least you will have spent the majority of that time together.

You may want to check out AOS processing dates for his office, and use that as a way of judging which option to take.

I hope this helps. It really all comes down to whether you want to get married now, or have time to save up for a *proper* wedding. We wanted to save and plan our wedding, so that's why we went for the K1.

Cheers,
Jamie

inquisitive40

Getting married on the visa waiver really is taking your relationship and rolling the dice with getting seperated for years or having to live in a different country. Even if you marry at the end of a 3 month stay there is nothing definate that your AOS application will go through and you may get accused of visa fraud with intent to marry on a visitor's visa.
Take the adivce, come on vacation, apply for K-1 then stay for the ful 3 months the VWP allows and then leave you will have a few months seperation while the K-1 is being finalized and then you can marry legally with no worries of visa fraud. If you do this, make sure you have all your paperwork ready to file the minute you join your fiance, this way there will be no delay while you get papers together.
Best of luck
Patrick

incugirl

Hey Jamie!

Thanx for the advice! To move so we could get Vermont would be the best way I know!!!

Anyway.... I was wondering if you can marry in Hawaii under the K1?? We talked about Hawaii, Vegas or just something small in his state of Ohio.

I didn't know that you could possibly get accused of fraud of the VWP..... like I said before.... during these last few days there has been a few people mention on here that they were married while in the US using the VWP.

Not to worry, but I guess I have something to think about.... my faince is going to get 2 copys of all the paperwork we need (whichever one we opt for....probably K1) and we'll fill it in and send it off within my first week with him, so that won't be too bad.

Thanx to you too Patrick...

Cheers

Becca

inquisitive40

The fraud is the intent to marry, yes you can marry in the US after entering under the VWP BUT there is a big risk of being accused of intent. Let me explain a little clearer, the VWP and all other visa's are issued with specific uses for them, i.e. F-1 is for students, H-1b is for sponsored workers etc, etc, now if someone enters the conutry on a particular visa and then uses their visa to perform some other activity while here, then they have commited visa fraud, simplest other example would be , getting a K-1 , entering the country, never marrying and just live and work here without getting married, that would be illegal use of the visa.
Marrying under the VWP is not what the visa was issued for and so if USCIS think you had that intent when you entered the country they can then accuse you of visa fraud and deport you.
People do get married on the VWP BUT there is always a risk and once you have stated that intent you are legally committing visa fraud.

I think with the K-1 you can get married where ever you wish, just as long as it is within the USA.

Wishing you all the best
Patrick

half-pint

Correct me if I am wrong. Marrying on the VWP is perfectly legal. It is using the VWP with the intent to immigrate that is illegal.

Ellie

inquisitive40

Once the OP said they were thinking of coming in on the VWP and getting married she would be committing visa fruad by doing so, there was preconceived intent.
The ONLY "legal" way to get married under the VWP is to come on holiday and then "spontaneously" decide to marry, i.e. end up in Vegas or Tahoe and think it would be cool to marry and only afterwards think of the legal consequences. Deciding to come into the US under the VWP is illegal if you intended to marry and had no intent of leaving, you may get married legally ONLY if you then leave the country and adjust via DCF or K-3 from the spouses country of origin.
This has been discussed MANY times over the years on the NG, the spontaneity of the wedding is also a key factor, the rule most use for this is to wait till the end of your maximum 3 month visit and then get married, DO NOT invite relatives, DO NOT have a large party to celebrate, there must be NO evidence that you were thinking about marriage before you got married,, has to be totally on impulse. If the immigration officer at the interview has any doubts about your intent it would then be up to you to prove there was no intent and this can be real hard to do.
Patrick

half-pint

Thanks I was just clearing that up. Just when reading one of your comments it made it seem like anyone who married whilst on the VWP was committing fraud. I married whilst I was there on the VWP, and by no means was that illegal. I just wanted to make a statement in the wider sense - I'll keep stum next time :-P

inquisitive40

I have been here several years under the VWP (out of status), intend to marry early next month. As I pointed out, you can get married and return to your home country, nothing illegal about that, the problem is if someone arrives in the US under the VWP , after a week marries and then tries to adjust status, almost 100% positive they will be accused of visa fraud and if they lose their case they could face a max of a life time ban.
Patrick

meauxna

Patrick, even though I know you clarify your understanding of this later in the thread, this post is not correct.

The intent to marry is not/never was the issue.

The intent to immigrate/Adjust Status from the VWP/non-immigrant visa IS the issue.
It is also 'forgiven' if adjusting as the spouse of a USC. There have been many, many threads discussing the legal/moral ramifications of this act and it is certainly nothing to make a plan for.

Additionally, there have been several discussions about travel to Hawaii in the 90 day K1 period where the conservative conclusion is that it *may* not be a good idea to go to Hawaii (for wedding or honeymoon) until the alien fiance/spouse has AP. I recall that this caution came from Folinskyinla if you wanted to search his name + Hawaii.

inquisitive40

I thought my last post clearly stated that,, you can marry and leave the US, it is the staying and adjusting status that can screw you. Yes it can be FORGIVEN ... BUT only if there is no original intent proven by immigration.
My last post pretty much pointed out the classic intent scenario which would be shown by the actions of the immigrant "if someone arrives in the US under the VWP , after a week marries and then tries to adjust status, almost 100% positive they will be accused of visa fraud and if they lose their case they could face a max of a life time ban."
The above would be a classic visa waiver fraud case.
As for marrying in Hawaii under a K-1, I have no real experience on that and was only giving a thought, sorry for the incorrect assumption.
Patrick

incugirl

Patrick....

I would just like to point out that I had NO intentions what so ever of not returning back to the UK after my 90 days were up. I was going to marry within 3 or 4 weeks of me being there and then start the whole I-130 and so on and so forth... you know the drill of it. I wouldn't ever think of marrying and trying adjust status... thats crazy. I want to do this the right way, but other people marry on the VWP... so I was just thinking about do so myself .

Becca

inquisitive40

Ok.. reread your post and my mistake.. sorry
I still take K-1 might work a little faster.
Again, sorry my mistake..
Patrick

Eric S.

There should be no problem marrying in Vegas or Hawaii or anywhere else in
the US. Just make sure you can get a certified copy of the marriage
certificate, which you will need for your eventual AOS.

The only reason I can think of that someone might advise against going to
Hawaii would be to avoid the chance of inadvertently leaving the country.
Like if the plane had to make an unscheduled landing. I've heard that
advice for K-1's who were thinking of going to Puerto Rico or the US Virgin
Islands for their honeymoon. But I can't believe it would ever happen
between Hawaii and the mainland, because there are no other countries in
between.

- Eric S.

"meauxna" <member1851@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Additionally, there have been several discussions about travel to
    > Hawaii in the 90 day K1 period where the conservative conclusion is that
    > it *may* not be a good idea to go to Hawaii (for wedding or honeymoon)
    > until the alien fiance/spouse has AP. I recall that this caution came
    > from Folinskyinla if you wanted to search his name + Hawaii.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com