porkedpie

My fiancée (USC) and I (Brit) currently live in London.
We intend to move to the US end of this year. My employer would apply for an L-1A.

We would intend to marry in the US next summer. Is it legal under L-1A to get married to a USC? Or would we need to leave and do something complicated under K-1?

I could add that when I apply we may not be 100% set on marrying in the US and might have the legal wedding in the UK. In case this affects my “intent”.

Pulaski

You don't need any visa status in the US to be perfectly free to get married. You can even come as a visitor on a VWP/ ESTA visit and get married, and in fact I did precisely that myself!

So once you've got married you will just need to ajust status from an L-1A visa to having a green card. This relatively common and straightforward, and has been discussed a number of times on this forum.

As a practical point, it is generally much easier to marry in the US than in the UK, often with little or no residency requirements (the precise rules vary by state).

porkedpie

Thanks.
I understood that was the case only for two foreigners to get married in the US. But to marry a US citizen would be a breach of the intent of the visa?

Pulaski

Nope, that's not a problem/ not an issue, at all. .... Sorry, I forgot that detail, my fiancée (now wife) was a US-resident US Citizen when I married on a VWP visit.

For completeness I should add that after marrying, I left the US again, and did not return to live in the US until I had my CR-1 visa. That will not apply to you and you will be able to transition seamlessly from your L-1A to permanent resident without needing to leave the US.

Also bear in mind that a lot of illegal immigrants from Mexico and other countries in Latin America, become legal residents, and eventually US citizens by marrying a US citizen, despite having iterally zero legal basis to even be in the US at all.

S Folinsky

The condition of L-1 status is to work for the petitioning employer. How would getting married violate that intent?

newacct

H1b and L1 can have immigrant intent. That means it is okay to enter on those visas even with preconceived intent to apply for Adjustment of Status during the stay.

porkedpie

Thanks all!