Hlove

Oh!! I did not get notified of those responses at all - and thank you everyone that's all very helpful. I have a business degree and good work experience in sales and recruitment. I currently freelance at a university so that could be an option. I could try for the B2 but worried incase I get rejected (as we have not been together long - 3 months!!) but have joint account and both names on bills etc. We want to get married but not in such a rush and my boyfriends new contract starts in December! Most people have said they built a good case with evidence and it was not looked at though...

mikelincs

Usual comment obout gdtting a B2 cohabiting visa is that you should have some 12 months of record, and please note that with a B2 you can't work AT ALL.

Noorah101

The business degree might be helpful in getting you a work visa. The experience in sales and recruitment, not so much.

How so?

It's 3 months now, by the time you go to the interview it will be another couple of months. As long as you have proof that you are cohabitating, you should be OK. Joint account and both names on bills don't necessarily prove you live together, but it helps.

Rene

ian-mstm

And this is a good reason why you should get married sooner rather than later.


So, after 3 months with this guy you're ready to up sticks and move to a different continent to play house together... but you can't be arsed to marry the guy in order to make it easy for both of you?

Ian

Hlove

Hi there,

Just on the B2 cohabiting partners visa - you mentioned I would not be able to work ever... is that even if i get a common law marriage certificate when we get there?

How soon after common law marriage can I apply for the employment authorisation card and work legally?

thank you very much!

Hlove

i will marry him but we don't have enough time to plan the wedding we would like.

If my visa is rejected however, I understand we will need to marry in order to be able to live together in US.

ian-mstm

Yes. The marriage is irrelevant... it's the B-2 visa that determines whether or not you can work. If he's getting an L-1 visa, the only way you'll be able to work is if you marry - and not a common law marriage... an actual marriage!

Ian

ian-mstm

US immigration doesn't care about what you want. If you want to work and he's getting an L-1 visa, get married. That is your only viable choice whether you like it or not.


You must also declare the visa denial on any subsequent visa.

Ian

christmasoompa

Yes, because even if you were properly married you wouldn't be able to work on a B2, nobody can, it's just a temporary visitor visa essentially. But out of interest, what's a 'common law marriage certificate'?

If you really want to go with him and be able to work, you'll have to get married. No need for the wedding you'd like, just as a simple ceremony will do it, and then you can plan the 'proper' wedding for another time - guests don't even have to know that it's not the real wedding!

Pulaski

I agree with what Ian and Christmasoompa said (it would be hard to disagree, they stated the facts), but to further clarify, the US doesn't really have the concept of "common law marriage", and certainly not as it would relate to getting a visa.

Another thing, a bit of history as to how the B-2 "Cohabitating Domestic Partner" visa came to exist, which might help you understand why the restrictions exist. It was the result of a Presidential "executive order", which was a fudge to enable same-sex partners to enter the US at a time when same-sex marriage was not recognized by the US. Given the documentary requirements for a spouse of an H-1B or L-1A/B, not least a marriage certificate, the only thing the President could do was to stretch the rules around a B-2 visitor's visa to allow a B-2 to be used for an extended period by a same sex partner. The rules however also work for opposite sex partners, but that doesn't alter the fact that a B-2 domestic partner visa is a very unattractive option when a trailing spouse visa is a possibility.