Dear All:
Thanks for your help in advance. I am dating an international student from Vietnam here in California and she's just starting ESL classes at a community college. It's very clear to me that she is here in hopes of finding someone she loves and marrying him as a primary way to stay here. The reason for this is because her family simply cannot afford supporting her financially for 4+ years of schooling and then waiting for her to find a job to obtain an HB-1. Getting married here will allow her to pay in-state tuition fees and also allow her to get a normal (not under-the-table) job. I do see a future for us and want to help her by marrying her. The reasons for marriage are because of love, compatibility, but the timeline is earlier because of her situation. Despite what others around me warn me, I trust she is not using me for marriage.
That said, I want to understand the implications of marrying her and make sure I understand and am protecting myself against any potential risks.
1) If somehow our relationship ends mutually, but we are still friends and I want to continue to stay married on paper to help her attain green card status, how long must we remain married before I can divorce her without affecting her status here?
2) If I find out she is in fact using me, I would naturally want to divorce her. Can I do this alone, or must we have consent from both sides to be able to do this? I worry because if I stop seeing her and meet another woman that I do want to marry, does she have the power to keep me from getting a divorce and moving on to marry another? Can a prenuptial agreement give me the right to divorce at my sole discretion?
3) When marrying an international student that is trying to get a green card, do I automatically get bound by all laws of marriage? Particularly, I'm interested in whether or not she will get half of all my assets if we divorce. Or, do I have to set up a prenuptial agreement on that?
Thank you so much for your help!!
greenguy38

