ian67

Good afternoon all!

I'm trying to find out some advice and would like to hear opinions.

We met online in December 2010 and fell in love quickly. We met in June 2011 and spent 2 amazing weeks together with her daughter in the US.

I arrived in the US for a second time a month ago. I originally planned to stay for 3 weeks but decided to extend my stay in order to explore our relationship and let it grow. In order to do this I had to quit my job in a foreign country (working abroad with relevant visa) and give up my room in an apartment in order to do this. I never intended to do this as I had some very important work coming up but I decided it was important to focus on my relationship, rather than my career right now.

As I gained lawful entry and did not enter with the intention of staying, can I marry and adjust my status?

A couple of potential spanners in the works - some realistic advice on how best to manage these would be gratefully received:

1. I was only divorced officially 3 months ago. I don't have the papers with me so would have to get them shipped here from the UK. my ex-wife wanted to wait to divorce on the basis of 2 years separation - she believed that there would be something negative on our records if one petitioned for the other - as did I, to be honest. My fiancee is completely aware of all aspects of the fact I was still 'technically' married when we started our relationship - I think it's not against the norm these days? I have a passport showing that I had been out of the UK for at least 16 of the 24 months we were separated.

2. I am 7 years older than the petitioner. Is that an issue?

Any other information you want to hear, please ask - anything to help me come to a decision about this process!

md95065

Neither of the two issues that you specifically mention (only having been divorced for 3 months or being 7 years older) should make any difference.

There are, however, other potential problems that could arise from your proposed course of action and I would strongly advise you to consult with an immigration attorney before making any immigration related decisions.

You can, of course, get married if you want to but in that case the safest thing to do would be to leave the US before the end of your 90 day VWP admission and have your wife petition for a spousal visa for you.

ian67

I read a lot of people being approved from VWP>AOS without any problems on various forums? is that true?

If it is not an accepted process, why does it have an allowance for the adjustment in the law? surely the fact that I didn't apply for a 'fiancée' visa as that wasn't my intention shouldn't preclude me from getting the same benefit from marrying a USC as anyone else on any other visa?

I understand that there are perfect/ideal ways to do things, but we don't live in a perfect world.

Michael

The only issue I can see is trying to prove a negative. USCIS may not believe that you quit your job and gave up your apartment just so that you could come to the US for less than 90 days to further your relationship. To them it may appear that you had the intent to get married and remain in the US and adjust status.

So the question, how are you going convince them that you cut all your ties with the UK just to come over and further your relationship and never had any intention of getting married? Did you also sell your car? It just seems to be too neat of coincidence that you saved yourself thousands of dollars by cutting your ties before you came to the US.

Michael

The vast majority do get approved but there is a risk. Do you really believe that USCIS will believe your cock and bull story? Do you want to take that chance?

ian67

I should clarify that I quit my job and gave up my apartment (not in the UK, in the foreign country in which I had been working) whilst in the states (I thought I made that clear). I had only 4 weeks leave (2 paid and 2 unpaid) to take and had another trip flying out from my country of residence the day after I was due to return from my US trip, so I lost the money on that one in order to stay here with her. It meant that I really only had a limited period of time in which to act and I had to decide on my next action - in this case I 'put my balls out of the bath' and gave up everything to stay.

I have the email I sent to my boss and the email I sent to my landlord/housemate.

EDIT: I should make it clear that I am a British Citizen by birth but lived/worked in France before quitting both from the US!

Michael

My advice would be to get married now and start the CR-1 paperwork immediately and spend your 90 days in the US and do everything right by going back to the UK. When you finally enter on the CR-1 visa, you will be a LPR and be able to start work immediately.

If you do the adjustment of status, you will still have about 90 days after you get married before you will be allowed to work.

But it is up to you which path you want to try.

zerlesen

And if they do find your story insufficiently convincing, I believe you would be exceptionally easy to remove from the US, based on what you signed in order to use the VWP. Why not just do it the - if you'll forgive the expression - proper way?

ian67

I just think I could better use my time here to complete my AOS and get it done. Working isn't a concern right now as I have a good bit of money saved. The concern for me is making sure that I gather enough evidence between now and filing the paperwork.

- Not sure that I will get any co-mingled stuff together in time - not sure what I need to get on an account here and whether it's possible whilst on the VWP.
- I'm going to complete a timeline to include details about my previous marriage, divorce and relationship development with my soon-to-be wife.
- I will gather the evidence from my former boss and housemate/landlord to hopefully allay any fears from USCIS that I had any intention, along with the evidence of booked flight for straight after my intended leaving date.
- All the AOS forms completed included the medical sheet by a physician approved by USCIS.

I need to get some documents shipped from the UK to complete the package, in including my military records, birth certificate and divorce decree.

Any other evidence you think would be useful if I continue down the AOS path?

ian67

What reason would I give them to doubt it? I could understand if I had given them any cause to be suspicious, but I have documented proof of what I'm stating. From what I've read on this forum, people with more complicated backgrounds and issues have sailed through.

If it wasn't a proper process, they would take away the ability to AOS from VWP, wouldn't they?

Michael

If they would have known that you didn't have any ties to a foreign country at the POE, you would have likely been denied entry. That is the purpose of the POE officer to make sure that someone does not enter the US with the intention of remaining and either working illegally or getting married and adjusting status and when no ties are shown, denial is likely.

ian67

I do have ties. I always carry ties to my country of residence. I have many visas in my passport and always carry them as proof of my intent to return.

I always have a letter from my boss stating the dates of my trip, or in this case, vacation and that I'm expected back on XX date to start work. I carry my flight details and any other documentation such as registration and whatnot.

Both time I entered the US on the VWP, both times I wasn't asked for any documentation and I actually had discussions both times about the fact that I do a certain job and live in different countries. I never conceal anything from law enforcement, if anything I actively encourage them to look at my paperwork, but they never want to see it.

The two caveats for AOS from VWP are that I was legally admitted and that I had no prior intent to change status. I have evidence to support yes in both cases in the form of my VWP stamp (legal entry) and evidence in the form of my resignation later to my boss from the US etc.

I notice that many people on these kind of forums look down on those that AOS from VWP. Granted it's not the perfect way, but it's legal and doable...

Michael

You don't have to convince anyone on BE? Do you feel lucky? If it was that easy, everyone would do it instead of spending time apart, having to rent or own an apartment or house and not being able to sell or break a lease, not being able to plan wedding dates because of the uncertainty of when they will be approved, and not being able to tidy up affairs until the last minute.

Egon

But you entered under the condition that you'd return home - and those ties are meant to show that, hence them letting you in.

The flaw here is that not only do those ties no longer exist (the letter from your ex-boss, flight details for a flight you didn't take, etc), the very thing they're meant to be proving has now changed - to a suspicious person that could look deliberate.

ian67

I'm going to go ahead and see what happens. Having read around and seen different takes on things I get the impression that people on boards have more issues with the AOS from VWP than USCIS do.

I didn't plan any of this and I'm sorry if my deciding to drop everything to be with the woman I love puts peoples' noses out of joint because they already have intent, that's unfortunate - but not my problem at the end of the day.

Thanks for all your advice. I'm confident of being successful having gleaned a good of information from various sources.