J1 Visa Holder Getting Married to a US Citizen
I have a problem for which I tried to find an answer google-ing all the forums...but I didn’t meet anyone with a similar problem. Here is the thing: my girlfriend is an American citizen, I’m not. We met 2 years ago in camp where both of us were volunteers working with orphan kids. I got a J1 visa for US (work and travel visa) and I plan on working there all summer , both of us make some money and then at the end of September getting marry with her there in US. But then we want 2 or 3 weeks later to come to my country to have a wedding here too (just a nice festive meal for me and my friends and family here, since I cant bring them all to US for my wedding), but the real wedding will take place in US with all the papers and the wedding in the church with the pastor…
Here are a some questions that I have:
1. Can I get marry while I’m there with a J1 visa ?
2. How long would it take for her to make all the new papers with the new name, since she will marry me and take my name too?
3. Can she just go and sign all the papers and then come with me in my country and have someone e-mail them to us?
4. I need to be back in my country on October 1st when my visa will expire and she would like to return with me… Can she still use her old passport with her old name for that, since we plan on getting married in US 1 week or 2 weeks before coming back here to my country?
5. We want to leave here in my country for one more year so I can finish my college. Can we just not start the green card process right away, but start it one year later after we get marry ? I’m saying this because of the money that we saved and we would want to use them to leave here in my country for a year and only then go back to US and live there and work and start the green card process.
6. Are there other things that you thing we might need to know about this situation? Things that you think it might help…
I know there are quite a few questions but I would very much appreciate your help if you can help me..
Re: J1 Visa Holder Getting Married to a US Citizen
1. Yes.
2. I can't answer that. I got married in another country, and it took almost a year for our lawyer in that country to complete the paperwork documenting our marriage.
3, 4. If she wishes to live in your country, you must follow the immigration laws of your country. If her passport has not expired, your country should accept her passport (although not as proof of marriage).
5. You do not have to immediately initiate the process of application for permanent residency (a "Green Card"). As you won't even be residing in the United States, it would be premature to seek permanent residency.
When you have chosen a date to move to the United States, and don't wait until the last minute to do this, apply for a "spouse visa" to travel to and stay in the United States - there are two choices, an immigrant visa and a non-immigrant visa, and you would apply for the immigrant (IR1 or CR1) visa. Then when you are in the United States you can petition to adjust your status based on marriage (a fancy way of saying that you can petition for a Green Card).
Re: J1 Visa Holder Getting Married to a US Citizen
so you say that she can still use her old passport with her old name on it, even though we got married a few weeks before that ? her passport is not expired and will not expire for a few years after we get married...
and another thing: you say it's possible for her to begin to change all her papers(except passport, which we will try to change it while we are here) and then have someone email them to us ?
we talked about our future and that we will stay here for a year, but she just doesnt know when ill ask her..