soon2beExpat

Hey all,

I am hoping this is the right place for this query. (If you are tight for time, skip to 2nd to last paragraph of this post for the question. )

Here is the background....

I work in a multinational company in London UK and am very close to getting a job offer in our sister company in the US. I would be transferring on the L1A Blanket visa with intent to convert to EB1C later.

I want to bring my partner on the L2 visa (as part of the blanket application/interview) but we are not yet married.

I have been with my partner 5 years. We have shared holidays, day trips and too many hotels... we also have the usual love letters from the first year of our relationship during the honey moon period, world record for text messages sent to each other (just kidding, but I wouldn't be surprised), etc etc.

We also lived together recently (until Feb this year) for 6 months in a property (our names were on the contract and utility bills) but had to move back with parents because the property was not convenient for commuting to work. We have previously not lived together because I have been at University.

Because of this job opportunity looking promising over the last couple of months, we have not committed to renting another property just yet.

We don't have shared finances, assets, bank accounts, pension/medical plans etc.

Here is the dilemma....

We are ready to marry, but ideally want to do it in 6 to 12 months to save up and be living together again to do it all properly. But if a US job offer comes through, we would need to marry very quickly and cheaply (basically a minimal wedding in a resgistry office).

Here is the question....

Will it look dodgy/get denied if we literally get married straight after a job offer comes through? Even though we are committed and been together 5 years (and have the proof of such relationship)?

Here is my thought....

Surely there must be lots of very committed couples who are not married and need to do so quickly if a US offer comes up to stay together. If you can prove you are in a loving relationship, there shouldn't be any issues, right?

THANKS!

ian-mstm

No, it isn't an issue... and never has been. Many couples marry as a result of US immigration rules/regulations... nothing odd about it - indeed, a very common scenario. No worries!


Where US immigration is concerned, love doesn't enter into the equation at all. The US government doesn't care that "love" is involved... all they need to see is proof of a valid marriage. At any rate, it's a non-issue.

Ian

soon2beExpat

Thanks for the quick reply

Just out of interest, if during the interview we get asked "so why have you married now?", should I say the obvious? (That there is no other way for my partner to come over & be able to work)... or would that not be good.

Many thanks!

p.s wow 29,586 posts. Impressive!!

S Folinsky

General comment : it is prohibited to have a "sham" marriage SOLELY for immigration benefits. OP's description is a classic example of what is not a "sham."

soon2beExpat

Speedwell

Why have you married now? Simple, you have a connected, mutually interdependent relationship and plenty of evidence for it, and with this new opportunity coming up, you wish to not be parted. Of course you aren't marrying just for an immigration benefit. You are together and you wish to stay together and that's the whole reason there even is an L2.

soon2beExpat

Perfect! And that is exactly the truth/situation.

Loving this forum already. I will no doubt be back with other q's, but will be sure to lurk before leaping.

Thanks all!

Speedwell

Verb. sap., work on that shared bank account/shared assets thing. You can easily add each other to insurance policies, and once you are married you can reflect that by providing a copy of your amended HR record at work that shows you declared your partner your primary emergency contact, beneficiary of life insurance and pension, and so forth.

ian-mstm

Don't say the obvious... say the truth!


I've been hanging around here way too long! As an aside (and AFAIK), there are only two of us left from the "old days" ... read = 1997 when our immigration journey started.

Ian

Noorah101

No.

Rene

Noorah101

They won't ask that...but if for some odd reason they do, the correct answer would be the truth.

Rene