Hairball

Hi, All

I have searched up and down for the answer to this, so please forgive me if I've missed it.

Myself and my US girlfriend live in London, but in about 12-18 months we'd like to head off to the USA and I'd like to have a green card to do so. We'd like to get married in the USA and the intention is to go there, get hitched, come back and apply for my visa from the UK.

So my questions are:

- Do I need to inform immigration of my plan? or should I keep tight-lipped and go in on a VWP. I do intend to leave after the nuptuals

- Are there any special licences or permissions that I, as a foreigner, need to get so we can do this?

- What kind of visa would I have to apply for to live in the US afterwards? I see that CR-1 visa requires my girlfriend to be domiciled in the US during the visa petition. That would not be practical given that we both live and work in London.

- Does anyone know of any links to other similar questions and answers on this forum.

Many thanks, everyone and I hope there are some answers out there as It's all getting a bit overwhelming, and I've not even proposed yet!

Ray

What State do you want to marry in ..

Noorah101

Hi Hairball, welcome to BE!

You actually won't have the green card to do so, but you can have an Immigrant Visa to do so, which allows you to become a US Permanent Resident (PR) upon entry to the USA using that visa.

Perfect.

No need to inform immigration of anything, but also answer questions honestly at the POE if asked. It is perfectly legal to use the VWP to marry in the USA, providing you intend to return to the UK for Immigrant Visa processing.

Check online with the state where you intend to get married to see what their marriage license requirements are for both you and the USC. Marriage requirements vary from state to state. But as far as the visa goes, the VWP is fine.

Immigrant Visa. (if marriage is less than 2 years old when the visa is granted, it will be class CR-1...otherwise IR-1).

Not quite. She just has to prove intent to be domiciled in the USA. Do a search on the forum for others who have overcome this small obstacle.

Check the wiki for information on the CR-1 visa. Also, if you are planning to do Direct Consular Filing (DCF, meaning filing the I-130 directly in London), do a search for posts by meauxna and read the links in her signature.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Noorah101

Just so you know, DCF cases only take around 5 months or so to process (at least at the moment). Once the Immigrant Visa is issued, you have 6 months to use the visa. So if you're not planning to move over to the USA until 18 months from now, don't get the visa too early. With DCF, you might not want to file the I-130 to London until around 8 to 10 months before you actually want to make the final move.

However, if for some reason London doesn't allow you to do DCF (they have the right to say no), the whole process will take about 8 to 10 months when the I-130 is filed in the USA. The USC does not have to be in the USA to file it there.

Rene

Hairball

Hi,

Thanks for all your responses, Everyone. Very helpful.

I'm slowly getting my head around it.

The state we would marry in would almost certainly be Maine.

Cheers

ian-mstm

You don't actually say so (and no one has yet asked for clarification), but is your girlfriend a US citizen? If not, your visa to the US is going to take many years!

Ian

Hairball

Hi,

The state would be Maine

Cheers

Hairball

Hi,

She is a US Citizen. She's lived in the UK for 4 years and is coming to the end of her work-sponsored visa.

This means that we might be faced with the complicated situation of needing to apply for her visa to stay in the Uk, and mine to move to the states. I don't even know if that's possible!

Cheers

ian-mstm

Great... easy peasy then!

Ian

Noorah101

When will her visa expire? London might not look favorably on accepting an I-130 from someone who is on their way out soon. Especially since you won't actually want to file the I-130 for another several months (unless you can move back to the USA sooner than 12 - 18 months).

Actually, since you have such a long stretch until you WANT to move to the USA....she can just go ahead and file the I-130 to the appropriate place in the USA and NOT do DCF. Since you're not planning to move for such a long time, you're not in a rush to get the visa via the DCF route, right? That also solves her expiring UK visa, since the I-130 will be accepted in the USA no matter what her visa status is in the UK.

Rene

Ray

I dont think you can use a Notary there as a non resident
and ensure you get an Apostille for the marriage cert...

meauxna

London does not care about when she is leaving, just wanted to comment on that. My impression is that "DCF" is allowed to serve people in just that situation.. the USC needs to return 'soon' and this shorter version of the process is to assist in making that easier. (<--- none of that is documented fact, just my researched guess).

Noorah101

OK, I see. I was thinking if she's leaving the UK soon, it makes it appear her stay there is more temporary, and DCF would be looking for something more permanent...but I see your point, thanks.

Rene

Bob

If she's been in the UK that long, surely wouldn't be long before she could apply for UK citizenship? That would be worth getting before leaving.

As for Maine- http://www.maine.gov/portal/family/marriage.html

That's what you need to get a marriage license.

On the plus side, there's no longer a waiting period when you can get married from when you apply for the marriage license these days...and as neither are resident of Maine, you can apply at any town hall...it's also gone up a wee bit in the last few years, about $20.

Bob

You can use a notary, the notary just has to be resident of the state, same with using a judge etc.