F-1 marrying citizen just after re-entering US

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F1getsMARRIED

Registered Users (C)
Hi all!

I am currently a graduate student on F-1 visa. My fiance is in the process of applying for citizenship and we expect that he will receive his citizenship around May/June.

We have booked a trip to Alaska for August (Jul27-Aug22) and we plan to get married after we get back (September-ish). I will be entering US from Canada in late August using my F-1 visa.

F-1 visa requires that the applicant show no intent of immigrating to US. If I re-enter in August and get married to a citizen in September, will I have any problems once I apply for an adjustment of status (GC)? What can be the consequences?

I guess getting married and filing I-131 in June is out of question, since Advance Parole can take longer than a month (we are leaving to Alaska on July 27th).

Please let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks!
 
Okay first thing first Your finace is still not a citizen .You can marry him any time you want but you can apply for advance parole or I 485 or work permit only after he gets his citizenship and applies for I 130 for u.
Coming to Alaska I am not sure what is the issue of a F1 student visting a state iN USA ?there is no port of entry problems in Alaska if you show your US drivers license or at best your F1 visa stamp if you have a valid I 120 with it.
The bottom line is you are a legal resident of America and Alaska is a part of America.
I am assuming you have been in uSA for a year atleast as a F1 student.
And coming to love love has no boundaries and no time frames or no immigration rules .. you could have fallen in love the very day u entered in usa and married the next month The adjustment of status for a legally entered person should be easy if you can prove your love and your marriage eventually are bonafide ..not when you fell in love or after how long you fell in love after you entered USA ..
Just my opinion
 
F1getsMARRIED said:
I am currently a graduate student on F-1 visa. My fiance is in the process of applying for citizenship and we expect that he will receive his citizenship around May/June.
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Was his citizenship interview already completed? If not, you should not have such specific expectations of when the citizenship will be approved. Although the usual time frame is 6-12 months, for some people it takes 3 months and others it takes more than 3 years. It is only after the interview is completed that you should start expecting specific time frames, because by law they have a limit of 120 days after the interview.
F-1 visa requires that the applicant show no intent of immigrating to US. If I re-enter in August and get married to a citizen in September, will I have any problems once I apply for an adjustment of status (GC)? What can be the consequences?
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If the soon-after-entry marriage is followed by an adjustment of status, the potential consequence is denial of the AOS for entering the US with immigrant intent. As you have described, you actually do have immigrant intent. But if you get married immediately after entry and then pursue consular processing instead of AOS, you won't have that intent issue to worry about.
 
Jackolantern said:
Was his citizenship interview already completed? If not, you should not have such specific expectations of when the citizenship will be approved.
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I agree. He has his interview in April. I looked at multiple case studies from Santa Ana and it looks like the median time between interview and oath ceremony is 1.5 month.
We are hoping that this will be the case with him as well. Of course we will only get married once he has his citizenship.

Jackolantern said:
... if you get married immediately after entry and then pursue consular processing instead of AOS, you won't have that intent issue to worry about.
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What are the advantages of consular processing? Can I do it while living in the US? Will it take longer than regular I-485 path? I'm sorry, I'm new to all this.

Also, what are the consequences if I am denied AOS? Am I on deportation list? How soon could I re-apply?

Thanks so much for your help!
 
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smiriyal said:
Coming to Alaska I am not sure what is the issue of a F1 student visting a state iN USA ?there is no port of entry problems in Alaska if you show your US drivers license or at best your F1 visa stamp if you have a valid I 120 with it.
The bottom line is you are a legal resident of America and Alaska is a part of America.
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That is correct. However, we take a cruise to Alaska and it will end in Vancouver. Majority of cruise lines are of foreign registration and according to Johns Act all of them have arrive from or to foreign port, even if the trip is within US! So for example if you travel to Hawaii, every ship will stop in Ensenada, Mexico to fulfill the Johns Act requirements. The same is with cruises to Alaska...

smiriyal said:
I am assuming you have been in uSA for a year atleast as a F1 student.
And coming to love love has no boundaries and no time frames or no immigration rules .. you could have fallen in love the very day u entered in usa and married the next month The adjustment of status for a legally entered person should be easy if you can prove your love and your marriage eventually are bonafide ..not when you fell in love or after how long you fell in love after you entered USA ..
Just my opinion
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:) Thanks. I have been a student for 3 years. We have been a couple for almost the whole time, but we got engaged in January. We are very much in love and can prove that by showing multiple photographs from trips, meetings with both of our families, financial minglings, etc.
 
F1getsMARRIED said:
What are the advantages of consular processing?
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The main advantage of CP in your situation is that they can't deny your case for issues of immigrant intent, which they could do if you get married or file I-485 too quickly after entering with an F-1 visa. If you file I-485, they will focus on the first 90 days right after you entered the US to see if your actions indicate that you had a preconceived intent to immigrate at the time you entered with the F-1, and you may be denied on that basis.
Can I do it while leaving in the US?
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Did you mean living in the US? Yes, you can. You can wait inside the US with your F-1 visa until it is time for you to leave the US to go for the consular interview.
Will it take longer than regular I-485 path?
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Maybe yes, maybe not. It is not reliably slower or faster. But for marriage to a US citizen, it is usually within 6-12 months either way.

Also, what are the consequences if I am denied AOS? Am I on deportation list?
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You would be out of status and they will tell you to leave the country. If you don't leave, maybe they will deport you, maybe they won't, but you will have problems with continuing your studies, getting a job, renewing your driver's license, or anything else in the US that involves proving your legal status. If you don't leave quickly enough on your own, you may be banned from reentering the US for years.
How soon could I re-apply?
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Maybe never, maybe immediately (but you won't be able to AOS, you'd have to wait outside the US and do CP if you reapply). Depends on how much fraud they think was involved when you attempted to AOS after entering with a nonimmigrant visa.
 
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Thank you Jackolantern! I learned a lot from you:)

I called the cruiseline and they might let us cancel the trip. The prices for cruises might never be as low as they are right now, but the price difference will surely be less than having to get a lawyer in case something goes wrong...
 
So you're going to stay within the US until the wedding and AOS filing, in order to keep your last entry a long time behind you?

That's not a bad idea. You could still go to Alaska this summer ... by flying so you won't have to stop in Canada.
 
Hello

Could anyone confirm that it is the first 90 days during which marriage would be considered preconceived immigration intent?

The reason I ask is because I have heard it is the first 60 days from someone else.

Also, can this rule/recommendation be found on any official source like the USCIS website?

Thank you all for your help.
 
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