Hi everyone! I have been pilfering information from these boards for awhile, so I thought it high time that I join up! I actually have a question I've been worried about, and would appreciate some input.

OK, so, I am a UKC. I met a USC on New Years Eve, 2010. We dated for a few months, then we moved in together. The, unfortunately, her mum back in the states got ill, and she wants to move back there to be close to family. However, we knew we wanted to be together forever, and I would follow her anywhere...so we got married so I could get a visa.

Now, I am SO afraid that at my upcoming interview, if I answer honestly, I will be denied a visa. If they ask "Why did you get married?" and I answer "To be able to go with my wife when she moves back to the US"..won't that be a huge red flag? It might look like I was getting married just for a visa and not out of genuine love (when both are true!) Also, no family was at our wedding, which will seem even more suspicious. Any advice? Has anyone been in this situation?

wow thats a quick interview turn around! If you only met on NYE, and already have your interview scheduled :P

Did you file I-130 in london then id imagine? Or what VISA are you applying for?

I shouldn't imagine it would be a huge red flag though, if you answer honestly thats the most important thing. Perhaps take in some extra proof, such as documents showing you lived together if you anything with both names on. Photo's, and if any of your family/friends can write something saying they have met you both and can testify you are in love etc?

Im not 100% but im pretty sure if the marriage was legit, and you are doing everything correctly, you should have nothing to worry about. Just try and collect as many supporting documents as you can.

I don't think you married her just to go to USA. As you mentioned as your first point, you love her and will do forever. You have plenty of evidence of a legitamate relationship and marriage. You can honestly say that you married her because you love her and you want to be together, and after discussing it, due to family commitments, it was agreed USA was the best choice.

Did you mean you met on New Year's Eve 2009, and thus have been together for about a year? NYE 2010 was less than a month ago.

If you have records showing that you were living together and doing things together then I doubt you will be asked why you got married. But if you are, you can tell the truth - that you love each other and want to be together. You don't have to link that to the reason she is moving back to the US.

I recommend that you get some affadavits from family and friends attesting to the fact that you are a committed couple, and include them with your wife's initial I-130 application. That may help prevent a request for further evidence and smooth your path.

i'm assuming that you've been together for a year now then?

if i were you i'd get plenty of evidence of relationship, no one attending your wedding isn't an ideal thing to year from the COs point of view and so it presents a weakness in your case. simply patch up this weakness with lots of evidence, co minging of funds, joint leases, both names on several bills.

if anyone asks why no one went to your wedding its not as if her mother could have gone anyway.

Hey, thanks for all the responses! I do feel quite a bit better, thank you And yes, I did mean New Years 2009, not 2010 haha. We applied for the visa just after we got married, which was October 15, visa accepted Nov 15, so I still have a ways to go before the interview...just psyching myself out! I don't have any rental agreements or bills with both our names on it ( I have been acting as sugardaddy for the past few months!) but I do have bank statements of hers which were sent to my address, so hopefully that can be proof that we lived together. I also have some photos of us at a family wedding, and my ticket from UK to the US from last summer when I visited her family. Argh, just want it to be over, so I can stop freaking out!

Thanks for the advice...unfortunatley, there really is no co-mingling of funds or bills since I am the only one making an income at the moment. She has bank statements that come to the house, and I have a few pics with her family and an old plane ticket to the US from last summer, but that's about it as far as relationship proof : /

-get billls with both names on it, add her
- open a joint bank account with her and start using it as your main account
- add her to the lease

you still have time to get all this and it will make your situation easier.

Thanks, good advice. I own the flat so don't think I could get her on the mortgage, but I can try and do it for other bills. Really appreciate your help!

As was previously mentioned, just get a few signed affidaivts,my wife and I did the same for our I-130. Just need a few friends or family members to write :

I xxxxxxx confirm I witnessed xxxxx and xxxxx at (this location/function/party house etc) on date xxxxx. They were together as a married couple and i have no doubts of their love and the validity of their marriage. Then get them to sign and date it.

One of our USA friends even went to the trouble of getting it notorised but that isn't needed.

i included loads of photos of us over a year with me getting progressively fatter, balder and older thus proving marriage.

Thanks, great idea! I have a few friends that I can get to do this for us. Unfortuantley, I already sent the I-130 away...but maybe I could bring it to the interview just in case!

Hahaha I definitely have a few more gray hairs!

Waste of time, actually. The US doesn't actually care that you and she own anything together in the UK. If you were in the US... well, that'd be different.

Believe it or not, many couples don't live together before marriage, nor immediately after marriage. The US isn't expecting a mass of papers demonstrating a legitimate marriage... that's what the marriage certificate is for.

Since you brought it up, if your wife isn't working, what is she going to do when it's time to complete the I-864? As the USC, she must be your sponsor, but does she have a joint sponsor ready to take on that responsibility?

As for the marriage: don't ever say, as you did here, that you got married so you could get a visa... rather, you got married so you could live together on the same continent.

Ian

FWIW, no one from our families attended our wedding and the topic was never raised at the visa interview or ever actually.