Permanant resident who want to get married

[Princedriss]

I am green card holder who want to get married from a girl back home, it will be my first year in US. so i dont want to wait so much in order to bring my future wife. i want her to come in the very near future.

what if she got this year his non immigrant F1- visa for student , then i mary her once she is in the US ? can i do that ? will she get a green card too or change her status ?

 

[Sm1smom]

Are you already in the US? You're not a LPR or a GC holder if you haven't gone to the US to activate the status yet. What you have on your passport is permission to come into the US and activate the status, so until you do that, you cannot refer to yourself as a permanent residence.

Now regarding your fiancee, yes she can try for a F1 visa, but if the CO is aware she has a LPR fiance in the US, the possibility of being granted a F1 visa is unlikely, as it will be obvious to them she already has immigrant intent and the F1 visa is for those without immigrant intent.

If however, she's able to convince the CO she has strong ties to your home country and gets granted with the F1 visa, she will not be able to get a GC immediately. It's likely to take anywhere between 2-5 years for your sponsorship of her GC application to be approved and she will need to maintain her F1 status by being in school throughout the entire process.

I am green card holder who want to get married from a girl back home, it will be my first year in US. so i dont want to wait so much in order to bring my future wife. i want her to come in the very near future.

what if she got this year his non immigrant F1- visa for student , then i mary her once she is in the US ? can i do that ? will she get a green card too or change her status ?

 

[Princedriss]

No lets suppose, i went to US and i got my GC already, what about the woman that i want to mary , she will come to US by f-1 visa, we suppose that she got her visa on 10 of May and i married her on 15 of May, would she need to keep her student status for two more years ?

please answer me

 

[Britsimon]

Be careful there Princedriss (by the way - congrats on this news!!).

With the temporary visa you are supposed to not have imigrant intent. If you do things so suddenly (like the 5 day gap you suggest above) - she may well be investigated for the lying on the F1 visa because the gap is so short...

 

[Princedriss]

Be careful there Princedriss (by the way - congrats on this news!!).

With the temporary visa you are supposed to not have imigrant intent. If you do things so suddenly (like the 5 day gap you suggest above) - she may well be investigated for the lying on the F1 visa because the gap is so short...

Ok brother, how many days u suggest for me ? the question also is : could she get a change in her status quickly ?

 

[Britsimon]

Ok brother, how many days u suggest for me ? the question also is : could she get a change in her status quickly ?

Well the delay should be months (probably 6 months plus) to avoid questions and as Sm1smom says, the process is slow - it won't happen in less than a year - probably more like 2+ years.

 

[Sm1smom]

No lets suppose, i went to US and i got my GC already, what about the woman that i want to mary , she will come to US by f-1 visa, we suppose that she got her visa on 10 of May and i married her on 15 of May, would she need to keep her student status for two more years ?

please answer me

Ok, assuming she's able to get the F1 visa, you could get married as soon as she arrives. She however cannot successfully file a change of status request based on your being a green card holder immediately. In order to pass the immigration intent scrutiny by USCIS, you might be better of waiting anywhere between 3-6 months before you get married and file for a change of status.

Ok brother, how many days u suggest for me ? the question also is : could she get a change in her status quickly ?

No, she cannot and will not get an immediate change of status. She will need to maintain F1 status by continuing to attend school, even while married to you, a GC holder; until the process completes and she's approved for her own GC.

The good news is F2A processing actually took a big jump within th past couple of months. It got to be "Current" back in August, while the VB for October now indicates Sept 8, 2013; which means there are visas available for those who filed prior to Sept 8th 2013. This shows that the 2 years plus is currently not applicable. Ordinarily the process of applying for an F2A immigration visa for family members takes more than 2 years because of the high number of applicants.

The bad news is that F2A could retrogress by upto 2 years or more on the next VB by the time you would have overcome the immigrant intent and be eligible to file.

 

[Princedriss]

So the US only recognize the marriage under its territory ? beause actualy her parents cant let her go to US withme, i must mary her back home (tradition ) before she go, so she will be already be my wife when she lands in the US as student, so

 

[newacct]

So the US only recognize the marriage under its territory ? beause actualy her parents cant let her go to US withme, i must mary her back home (tradition ) before she go, so she will be already be my wife when she lands in the US as student, so

U.S. recognizes marriages anywhere, as long as it's not like polygamy or something.

 

[Sm1smom]

So the US only recognize the marriage under its territory ? beause actualy her parents cant let her go to US withme, i must mary her back home (tradition ) before she go, so she will be already be my wife when she lands in the US as student, so

Your marriage will be recognized by the US regardless of where it took place. The caveat is her ability to get the F1 visa after getting married to a "GC" holder (which you currently are not, because you haven't activated that status for yourself yet, to start with).

Assuming she's able to get the F1 visa as your spouse, she still cannot file for a change of status as soon as you/she gets to the US without being accussed of committing immigration fraud. F1 is strictly for those going to study in the US, those applying for it are not supposed to have immigration intent which you (or she) clearly have. So to overcome the immigrant intent (like I've written about a thousand times already ) you will need to wait a couple of months before applying for a change of status and she has to maintain her F1 status by remaining in school till the GC application is approved.

 

[Princedriss]

Bro, i already told her , i wont get married with her until u get ur F-1 visa. She will apply for F-1 as a single, once she got her F-1 i will go mary her, and start the steps for changing status once she is in the US, does she risk something if she stop going to school ?

 

[SusieQQQ]

Is a traditional marriage a legal marriage in your country? I know in some countries you also have to have a legal marriage as well as the traditional (or customary) one. I'd assume USCIS would not recognise a traditional marriage if it is not also a legally valid marriage. However.... Even if the traditional marriage is not legal and she files as single, it would certainly indicate some kind of immigrant intent if she comes and gets married. I don't know, this is starting to sound messy enough to need some legal advice to me?

 

[Sm1smom]

Bro, i already told her , i wont get married with her until u get ur F-1 visa. She will apply for F-1 as a single, once she got her F-1 i will go mary her, and start the steps for changing status once she is in the US, does she risk something if she stop going to school ?

Read the previous posts carefully! Even if she's able to get a F1 visa, you should not begin the process of changing status if you/she do not want to be accused of committing immigration fraud! She will need to be in F1 status for a couple of months before you can begin the change of status process without giving USCIS cause for concern. Even after she's waited a couple of months and you initiate the proceeding, it is advisable for her to continue attending school for at least one year, even after receiving a notice of acceptance following the filing for status change.

If USCIS determines she applied for F1 visa with the purpose of adjusting status, she could be charged with immigration fraud, could end up being deported and not allowed back into the US again. Bottom line is, don't expect for her status change to be immediate or soon. She has to be in F1 status for a tangible period of time before becoming a GC holder (assuming the F1 visa is approved in the 1st place). This is exactly why most DV lottery winners (planning to get married) go ahead and marry their partners before attending their interview as this allows the spouse to be issued with the GC at the same time as they get theirs.

 

[Princedriss]

thanks sm1smom for ur time to reply.

it is sad for me, i would have to wait and i will have to pay for her school expenses too ( that if she got accepted on the f-1 visa)

 

[Sm1smom]

Is a traditional marriage a legal marriage in your country? I know in some countries you also have to have a legal marriage as well as the traditional (or customary) one. I'd assume USCIS would not recognise a traditional marriage if it is not also a legally valid marriage. However.... Even if the traditional marriage is not legal and she files as single, it would certainly indicate some kind of immigrant intent if she comes and gets married. I don't know, this is starting to sound messy enough to need some legal advice to me?

A lot of F1 visa holders come into the US and get married to GC holders all the time. Yes, F1 visa holders are not supposed to have immigrant intents (especially at the time of applying for the visa), but a lot of them do that anyways. It's equally not much different from those with F1 visas (admittedly already in the US though) who won the lottery and have successfully adjusted status. The process is not as complicated as it sounds, if the person/people involved follow the due process, which is do not file as soon as you get married or come into the US, then continue in F1 status for atleast 1 year (if you've not had upto a year of schooling in F1 status) and continue to be in status. Don't simply drop out of school because you've sent in an I-485 package.

 

[Sm1smom]

thanks sm1smom for ur time to reply.

it is sad for me, i would have to wait and i will have to pay for her school expenses too ( that if she got accepted on the f-1 visa)

Unfortunately yes.

Or you could get married before you leave, she stays behind in your country and when you get into the US, you can begin the process of petitioning a F2A visa for her. Once approved, she will attend the interview in your home country (and you may have to fly back to attend the interview with her). Yes, you will be separated for a while, but you're not paying international student fee for her.

 

[Princedriss]

seperation is bad for me. u know why ? my mind will not focus on the objective which is having job and build my path in the US, i will get so much homesick that will push me to return to see her, i dont want to get linked to her until i am sure she will come very soon.

 

[Sm1smom]

Then why didn't you just simply bite the bullet and marry her before going for your interview?

 

[c1984]

Unfortunately yes.

Or you could get married before you leave, she stays behind in your country and when you get into the US, you can begin the process of petitioning a F2A visa for her. Once approved, she will attend the interview in your home country (and you may have to fly back to attend the interview with her). Yes, you will be separated for a while, but you're not paying international student fee for her.

Is this really possible? Wouldn't in jeopardize his own entry to the US or his GC?

If I recall correctly I read in a few posts that the visa officer had asked teenage daughters of the main applicants to make a sworn statement that they wouldn't get married between the time of visa stamp and arriving in the US. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind it would be, but I could see the same scrutiny exercised if Princedriss were to do the same.

 

[Sm1smom]

Is this really possible? Wouldn't in jeopardize his own entry to the US or his GC?

If I recall correctly I read in a few posts that the visa officer had asked teenage daughters of the main applicants to make a sworn statement that they wouldn't get married between the time of visa stamp and arriving in the US. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind it would be, but I could see the same scrutiny exercised if Princedriss were to do the same.

No, not to the best of my knowledge. The situation regarding the teenage girls is not unusual. The CO probably asked them to do this because their GC approval is based on someone else filing a petition for them as single, unmarried girls, a petition they wouldn't have qualified for if they were already married.

This approval of this OP's self petition wasn't on the basis of his being married or not, (now if a parent, or sibbling, had petitioned for him on the basis of his being single and the petition was approved, that is where I see the risk). Of course, it's not a slam dunk case for the OP, nor a quick one either. He will need to first file form I-130. When the I-130 is approved and a visa is available, it will be sent for consular processing and the consulate or embassy will provide notification and processing information. At the time of the interview, he and his wife will still need to prove to the CO that the marriage is authentic and that it wasn't entered into for GC purpose.