future husband, filing the petition while he is in USA on visitor visa

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dandydana

Registered Users (C)
Hi there,
I am a recent citizen of US, about to get married in Scotland this July. My lawyer is getting the 130 and g325 ready for me to petition for him coming over here with a greencard, it is called consular processing as he is applying while living in UK.
As newly weds, we do not like the idea of being apart for 6-9 months right after our wedding in Scotland (i have to return to work in USA.) When i asked my lawyer about him coming to visit during this process he said
"very strong chance he be turned away, big red bull when they see the application come up on the computer"
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That made me nervous as a flight wouldnt be cheap and to be turned away upon arrival would be horrible. But to be apart for however long it takes is also not a pleasant thought.
One thing we could do is have him come over right after the wedding for 3 months on a visitor visa and then i submit the form while he is here. Then at least we are together for our first 3 months of marriage and i would try to make trips to Scotland to visit once he goes back until we get him his greencard.
Is there any problem with filing this petition while he is visiting me? I figured it is less risky than potentially being refused entry on a visitor visa after it is submitted.
Thanks for help!
 
We didn't know about the fiance visa at the time,and we planned the wedding before we found out, also we wanted to get married in Scotland as we are Scottish. :)
Why would he be refused entry if the form had not been submitted yet?
This is the idea:
Now- lawyer is preparing forms so they are all ready
July: get married in Scotland
August: both come back to USA, me as citizen, him on 3 month visitor visa
August: Once both in USA submit forms (130 and G325)
October: after his visitor visa ends he would return to UK until he gets greencard.
December - i get to visit UK
thereafter- sad cos we are apart
later: get greencard we are happy again :)
 
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dandydana said:
Why would he be refused entry if the form had not been submitted yet?
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Because it's so easy for him to just apply to adjust status directly while here.

Another thing you may not have considered is, just because he is doing consular processing does not mean you guys can't see each other. He can get a tourist visa to visit you in the middle of it. (There is still no guarantee that he will get it of course.)
 
i guess i dont understand then. He has come to visit me many times over the last 2 years with a visitor visa. When we are married, what will be the difference? If my 130 petition for him is not in the system yet, how will they know he wants the gc? Is it because of what he says on the visitor B2 visa? Does it ask whether you are married to a citizen from USA? I never thought of that...
 
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dandydana said:
i guess i dont understand then. He has come to visit me many times over the last 2 years with a visitor visa.
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Was he using an actual visa, which he obtained by interviewing at a US consulate and it was stamped in his passport, or did he use the visa waiver? UK citizens who enter the US as tourists usually use the visa waiver. If he's using the visa waiver he wouldn't have to answer spouse/fiancee questions on a visa application form, although there would still be the possibility of being asked at the port of entry.

You mentioned a plan to travel together to the US in August. If you do that, when you're in the immigration line try not to make it obvious that you're together, or you'll invite questions like "Is she your wife?"
 
Thank you everyone for you help. I really appreciate it!!!!
Of course I have been worried about your answers all night as they just threw me for a loop.I will have to ask him what kind of tourist waiver or visa it is, then we can see.

Ok, to get around this problem of being apart for months right after we get married.
What if, we still get "married" in July- we have a church wedding planned, but we don't submit the marriage liscence. Then we apply for a fiance visa and actually get married in states (file paperwork). Is this going to take less time? Be easier in the long run?

I dont know how i feel about having a sort of sham wedding, not liking the idea, bet he wont either. But then it would be just the paper work, as it is our vows in front of our family that really matter.
 
Thanks, that is true.
I asked my lawyer about it.. he said
The wait process for a fiancé visa will be approximately the same, still have to go through a consulate, and will be coming to the United States on a non-immigrant visa, having to adjust status from a fiancé to a green card holder in the United States. A foreign spouse of a U.S. Citizen will be coming to the United States with a Green Card.

I suggest to move forward as you originally discussed with Attorney
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So yeah.. if it takes the same amount of time, there is no point to changing our plan don't you think?
 
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With the fiance visa, it's true that the total wait from initiation to green card approval is about the same as the immigrant visa route which you were originally planning.

But with the fiance visa the waiting outside the US is about half the time, as the last half (approx.) of the process is done with both spouses inside the US. I'll use an example with approximately average time frames:

Immigrant visa:
File I-130, wait for I-130 approval: 5 months
I-130 is forwarded to consulate, wait for consular interview and approval: 5 months

Fiance visa:
File I-129F, wait for approval: 2.5 months
Wait for NVC to forward it to the consulate and get an interview: 2.5 months
Get married in the US, file for adjustment of status, wait for green card interview and approval: 5 months

In both cases, the green card took about 10 months, but with the fiance visa they were able to move to the US in 5 months instead of 10 months.
 
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Thank you Jack. You are very helpful. I think we will still go for consular processing. I talked to the future hub today and although the K visa, would mean he could be here and even work here (i think) for that 2nd time period of processing.. we still dont want to be apart for the 2.5 months right after the wedding.
To your previous Q, I found out that he has only had to fill out an ESTA and not a tourist visa, he would not have to answer tricky Q's on it he remembers. Also, every time he has been at the arrival desk this past year and a half (4 times i think), he has never been asked more than 'why are you visiting the states' It is Orlando, Scots come here all the time and maybe that helps :) I think we will be fine getting him in on the ESTA, cross fingers. Then we will file the 130 and we can start our married life together for 90 days before he has to leave. After that, i am thinking they will not question him too much on arrival i he visits again, as he would have successfully arrived and left while the 130 was filed.
hopefully.
Wish us luck :) I can give you an update as to how it worked out.
 
Interesting thread, we actually are planning a very similar move except I am Canadian and live in Hawaii (lots of tourists here as well). I came to the same conclusion as well, the consular processing is the way to go with a couple of tourist visa visits in the interim. I would love to hear any updates from you as you start this process and your fiancé comes to visit you in the US.
 
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