lipsy

Hello,

Really could use some help here,

Here is my story,

I am a uk citizen, engaged to get married to my US boyfriend, we don't plan to marry just yet, but he may be deployed back to afg also.. if thats the case, we would get married before he goes, he wants me to stay out there while / if he is gone, and eventually i will live in the US with him, I do however need to come back to the uk for 2 months in summer 2013, this is a MUST! I have no choice on this. before im free to head back out to the US... Is there a legal and cheapish way of going about this whole thing?

I could go out on a vwp, but would have to return after 3 months. and dont like the risks of being banned either.

If i got a 6 mth visa or vwp, and changed status ( got married on a whim), would i be allowed back into the uk while processing all docs etc... really just need some kind of clarity relating to my situation,

also what if they need signatures or more info from my partner if he gets sent away for a year?

Any help would be fab, much thanks.

Tammy

Noorah101

I highly recommend only doing things the legal way. As for cheapish, there is no choice in the matter...the fees are the same for everyone. There's no cheap/expensive way of doing it...it's the same for everyone.

I see some issues with your timing, though. Why does he want you to stay in the USA while he's overseas? Wouldn't you be living alone in the USA?

Here's what I would do, if I were you. Make a VWP trip to the USA and get married. While you're still in the USA, have your husband submit the I-130 to get the ball rolling on your Immigrant Visa. Make sure you both understand the ENTIRE process, so he can gather up and sign any documents and evidence that would be required along the way, so if he's overseas it won't be a problem. You can visit for that 90 days, then you'll return to the UK to finish out the Immgrant Visa process. That takes between 8 to 10 months, which means (if you get married let's say in July 2012), you'll have your immigrant visa by around March - May 2013. At that time, you immigrate to the USA, become a US PR upon entry to the USA (regardless of where he is at the time). You will be allowed to return to the UK for 2 months in summer 2013.

Or, if you end up getting your immigrant visa around March - May 2013, the visa is valid for 6 months, so you could even stay in the UK through the summer, and immigrate at the end of summer.

If you come to the USA on the VWP, you're coming as a visitor, and you must leave within 90 days (not 3 months). I don't know why you mention being banned here, visiting on the VWP should be fine. You can even get married while on a VWP visit. You just can't stay.

It is illegal to misrepresent yourself at the POE as a visitor, when your real intent would be to adjust status and remain in the USA. Don't do this.

Make sure you and he both know the entire process, so you guys can prepare documents and collect evidence ahead of time. Also, you can use an attorney who can receive USCIS mail at his office, if your husband won't have someone checking his US mailbox while he's gone.

Rene

sir_eccles

I think there are special provisions for military personnel to expedite matters to an extent.

This link seems to give some suggestions it also lists a special military hotline though I'd hesitate to suggest it would give information out any more accurately than the usual mis-information line.

Noorah101

I have also heard of cases getting expedited when the USC spouse is in the military...AND has orders in hand to be deployed. Sounds like the OP's SO doesn't have the orders in hand yet.

The other good news is that the OP's SO only needs to meet 100% of the poverty guideline...not 125% as non-military folks do.

Rene

ian-mstm

Respectfully, this sounds pretty selfish of him... with you a new bride, no friends, no family, no support, in an unfamiliar environment... and no husband!

Ian

lipsy

wow thank you, yes doing things the legal way is what i'm looking for really, have read all sorts of horror stories so far.. the situation is a little dodgy - mainly because he is a private militry contractor.. so things can change rapidly with being sent out to hostile situations etc..

thats the reason why i'm so stuck, because if he does not go, then i still have to come home on a vwp for a couple of months, by then it won't be worth coming back for 6 months due to work im contracted out for.

Is there a way that i could go out and stay if needed to, and still be allowed home for 2 months? in summer 2013 bearing in mind, i won't be flying out till beg of november 2012.

what are the rules for getting married on a 6mth tourist visa, then coming home for 3 months, would it be quicker to apply while abroad, or here? we have already spent soo much time apart..

lipsy

I realise that staying out there would be weird, but if that meant changing status or such as have been researching on line, then they say I would have to stay for up to 18mths with no passport??? so worth me staying and taking on his flat.. etc.. while he still pays for it.. just floating around for the best idea and legal way to go about this all..

thanks ian

Noorah101

I think you're getting all confused about the different processes you're reading about. If you obtain a spouse Immigrant Visa (which means come to the USA on the VWP, get married, he files an I-130, and you go back to the UK before your 90 day VWP visit is up), then when you return to the USA using your Immigrant Visa, that's it, you're done. You can go back to the UK for a couple of months if you want to. You won't have "no passport", you'll still have your UK passport.

If you go the K-1 fiance visa route, then yes, you will be land-locked in the USA for a certain amount of time after filing AOS (60 to 90 days). How that will affect your summer 2013 visit, I don't know...it depends when you start the K-1 process. But it's definitely not 18 months, and you definitely keep your UK passport.

Rene

Noorah101

I don't undestand the above. If he does not get deployed you have to come home (UK? USA?) on the VWP (VWP is only for traveling to the USA) for a couple of months?

Coming back to....UK? USA? It's better to say the actual country, rather than say "here" and "there" because we don't know if you mean UK or USA.

YES. There is a way. Go to the USA soon, get married, and start the Immigrant Visa process. That way, you will immigrate to the USA around March - May 2013. Then you will be free to go back to the UK for a couple of months in the summer of 2013.

While you're waiting for the Immigrant Visa process, you are allowed to visit the USA using the VWP, for 90 days at a time.

This seems to be the simplest way of getting what you want.

But do you actually HAVE a B-2 tourist visa right now? If you don't, and you qualify for VWP travel, it will be very difficult to get a B-2 visa. Applying for a B-2 visa and getting it denied then affects your VWP travel (you need to re-do ESTA and declare the visa denial, which results in a denied ESTA).

Apply for what? You need to be more clear in your posts in order to get valid answers.

Rene

lipsy

Thank you all for your comments and help Rene,

Yes I am very confused right now, and a little bit thick! :Os, I have been reading far too much literature and internet gossip from both sides of the pond and mixing the whole lot up, so spent the day away from it all.

I have not yet applied for any visas so far, hence all the VERY SIMPLE questions.

My intentions were originally this - to go out to the USA in november on a 6 mth b2 tourist visa, knowing I can support myself for the duration and show my intentions of just visiting, spend time catching up with my fiance and friends, I was due to be staying at his apartment for the duration mainly, then coming home to the uk for a work contract for 2-3 months, before heading back out to get married then applying for all the nessacery documents and forms etc.. in v late summer 2013, hoping to stay there.

Now though - because he is ex military - working as a private contractor overseas with the military, a new post has arisen in December for a year, so we are bringing the marriage forward, so far we have come to the conclusion that once I'm married and change status on the visa ( however you do this ) , I will be able to stay or be land locked for the duration of processing. This got me worried because If I'm land locked, I will not be able to meet my contract of work here in the uk in summer 2013 and will lose out on a lot of money,and also jepordising most of my future in the US for the time being

I quite like the idea of being able to stay even if he is overseas in afg, because i can stay at his apartment for a while, see friends etc before coming back to the Uk for 3 months and then heading out again.

So you are saying in the simplest of terms that if I go out to the USA on a vwp visa in november 2012, get married and start the immigration visa process, come home to the uk before the 90 days is up, I could then be back out in the USA under an immigrant visa in a few or so months, and can still visit again on a vwp for 90 days at a time in between. This seems like a perfect solution so far..expensive, but legal, as most of the ways I've heard of so far, are pretty much frowned upon and in my line of career, i'm not taking any risks whatsoever..

Noorah101

This plan won't work, because: 1) You probably won't get a B-2 visa; and 2) You shouldn't enter the USA as a tourist when your real intent is to immigrate. So scratch this plan off your list.

You don't "change status on the visa". Your husband will file an I-130, you'll return to the UK within your 90-day VWP visit, and you'll apply for an Immigrant Visa.

Right. You won't be staying in the USA after marriage. You will return to the UK before your 90-day VWP visit is up, and you'll proceed with the Immigrant Visa process from the UK.

You can't stay in the USA any longer than your VWP visit allows you to. Well, you CAN, but you'll be in an overstay situation and you'll never be able to use the VWP again. I suggest not doing that.

Not a few months, no. The whole Immigrant Visa process takes about 8 to 10 months to complete. So, if you come to the USA on the VWP in November 2012, and marry in November of 2012, and file the I-130 in November 2012, you will probably get your Immigrant Visa around July - September 2013.

Yes. Most people find time for only 1 more VWP visit during that time in between, because you shouldn't make back to back trips. You should spend more time outside the USA than you were inside. So, if you visit for 89 days, you should spend 89+ days outside the USA before attempting another VWP visit.

Any of the potential paths to immigration will be "expensive", meaning around $2,000 or so.

Rene