advice needed for a marriage with a US citizen.

J

Jake Chang

New Member
hi.

I'm a south korean citizen who's about 2 months away to marry a US citizen.

At first, we thought too simple and planned to get the marriage license

and get married and report to the local office.

I'm still in South Korea as of this moment, March 30th 2015, and

I was planning to enter the US through non-visa program as a traveler and marry her,

then get back to Korea to deal with my stuff completely and re-enter the states.


I kept looking for more information just in case,

and I found out that the US government could highly possibly refuse my re-entrance

to the US in suspicion of marriage fraud for that I had entered as a traveler and married a US citizen.

The info I found also said that I can still apply for a green card while I'm in South Korea

after the marriage in the US, but the process would take up to 9 MONTHS!

So now I'm afraid of our marriage plan.

We're planning to have a baby and I will need to find a job to support the baby raising,

so I don't think entering the states and stay as an illegal cannot be a choice.



Now, my questions are these:

1. Would the US government refuse me to re-enter because of my marriage as a traveler in the past?
Would that marriage affect my process of obtaining Greencard
even if I don't go out of the states after the marriage and apply for it right away?

2. If I get married in the US as a traveler and apply for green card in South Korea through the US embassy,
would it really take up to 9 months?

3. I did the research about K-1 visa,
and how long does the documents to go through the immigration office
to the US embassy in South Korea, after my US citizen fiancee applying them?


Thank you.
 
A1: You may be refused entry as a visitor if the admitting officer finds out that you are married to a US citizen
A2: Since South Korean passport holders enter the US under the VWP, I would advise you not to seen AOS. You should either go via the K-1 route or GC via Consular Processing route. Average time should be close to a year from start to finish.
A3: K-1 will most likely average close to 6 months.
 
1. It's fine to get married in the U.S. and then leave. Foreigners get married in the U.S. all the time. The marriage itself is not going to affect your future entry. What is going to affect your future entry is the fact that you're the spouse of a U.S. citizen and planning to stay in the U.S. Someone entering on VWP cannot have preconceived intent to immigrate at the time that they enter the U.S.
2. Maybe around a year total from filing of petition to you getting immigrant visa.
 
Thank you all for your advice.

So I could really be refused to enter the US after the marriage. I see that it is a real possibility.



How high is the deportation possibility if I stay with my fiancee for over 60 days under VWP in the US,

get married in the US, and apply for AOS?

I know I can stay in the US while the application is being processed,

and staying over 60 days(and not over 90 days for the maximum allowance with VWP) with my fiancee

would clear me from having preconceived intent to immigrate.



My fiancee and I want our baby to have their first language as English

and we want to stay together, so I was considering that method as an option,

but I'm afraid of not being able to enter the US after that attempt.

Please advise!

Thank you.
 
Jake Chang said:
Thank you all for your advice.

So I could really be refused to enter the US after the marriage. I see that it is a real possibility.



How high is the deportation possibility if I stay with my fiancee for over 60 days under VWP in the US,

get married in the US, and apply for AOS?

I know I can stay in the US while the application is being processed,

and staying over 60 days(and not over 90 days for the maximum allowance with VWP) with my fiancee

would clear me from having preconceived intent to immigrate.



My fiancee and I want our baby to have their first language as English

and we want to stay together, so I was considering that method as an option,

but I'm afraid of not being able to enter the US after that attempt.

Please advise!

Thank you.
Click to expand...
You cannot enter on VWP with intent to file AOS during that trip. You have intent right now, by asking these things.
 
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