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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Posts
    1

    Default Is it Better to Immigrate on a Fiancé Visa or After Marrying

    Hi. Here's my situation. I'm from the UK and my fiancee is from the US. The plan is for me to move to the USA as soon as possible. We were planning on getting married next year. However, I am also visiting for a short time in October of this year. We are considering getting married on this visit so that when I return to the UK I can apply for a conditional visa to get a green card. Since I've read this application can take 8-10 months to process, that would mean when I go over next year, we could have another wedding ceremony with family and friends and, assuming my application for a green card was processed, i could stay on afterwards and begin working straight away.

    From what I have read it is perfectly acceptable to get married whilst visiting the US on the visa waiver program. The problem occurs when people try to stay in the US after the wedding and try to change the status of their visa, which can be considered fraud. This is not my intention, but if I were to tell the border officials that I am visiting to get married, they would assume I will attempt to stay on afterwards and potentially refuse my entry.

    My question is: am I better to avoid stating that I am visiting to get married to border officials, get married, and then apply for the green card on my return to UK. OR should we go down the route of applying for a fiancee visa (which I've read can take a lot longer).

    I hope that makes sense.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    16,474

    Default Re: Is it Better to Immigrate on a Fiancé Visa or After Marrying

    Quote Quoting prior1187
    View Post
    Hi. Here's my situation. I'm from the UK and my fiancee is from the US. The plan is for me to move to the USA as soon as possible. We were planning on getting married next year. However, I am also visiting for a short time in October of this year. We are considering getting married on this visit so that when I return to the UK I can apply for a conditional visa to get a green card. Since I've read this application can take 8-10 months to process, that would mean when I go over next year, we could have another wedding ceremony with family and friends and, assuming my application for a green card was processed, i could stay on afterwards and begin working straight away.

    From what I have read it is perfectly acceptable to get married whilst visiting the US on the visa waiver program. The problem occurs when people try to stay in the US after the wedding and try to change the status of their visa, which can be considered fraud. This is not my intention, but if I were to tell the border officials that I am visiting to get married, they would assume I will attempt to stay on afterwards and potentially refuse my entry.

    My question is: am I better to avoid stating that I am visiting to get married to border officials, get married, and then apply for the green card on my return to UK. OR should we go down the route of applying for a fiancee visa (which I've read can take a lot longer).

    I hope that makes sense.

    Thanks
    My experience has been that fiancée visas take a lot LESS time.

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