Get married in US or China?

[gamespeed]

I am going to marry a wonderful girl some time this year. She has green card and I am on F-1 visa.

We plan to have a wedding in China and a smaller wedding in US. We want to register for marriage in both US and China.

My visa has expired, so I will have to apply for visa again during our trip in China. If I apply as "married", the visa officer may suspect that I have intention of immigration thus reject/delay my visa approval (I am not sure if VO will do this). I will have to keep my status of F-1, since without it I cannot enter US right after marriage. Yes I do want to apply GC via marriage. I could also apply for H1-B then GC after I graduate, but that would be longer and have more hassles.

Some possible ways I could think of:

1. Go to China, apply for visa as "single". While the visa is being processed, register for marriage and have wedding. But I am not sure if this is counted as "cheating to visa officer". Then go back to US, register for marriage. Last step is to apply for GC.

2. Same as 1, but apply for visa as "married". I guess I will have to tell that I am married with GC holder. Possible risk is rejection/delay of visa.

3. Get married in US. Go to China, apply for visa as "married". Same risk as 2. If I could get visa, go back to US and apply for GC.

Any idea how to work this out?
Thank you in advance and I will appreciate all comments!

 

[Jackolantern]

Once you marry a permanent resident or US citizen, you risk being refused entry with an F1 visa.

So unless you have switched to H1B, get married inside the US and stay inside the US until you switch to H1B or become eligible for Adjustment of Status and Advance Parole.

1. Go to China, apply for visa as "single".

Apply for what kind of visa? Nonimmigrant visa applications require you to state whether you have a fiancee or spouse who lives in the US. So failing to mention your fiancee and then getting married soon after would be seen as fraud.

If you'll be applying for an H1B visa, there's no need for that trickery. H1B allows immigrant intent, so having a permanent resident spouse or fiancee won't be a problem for obtaining or using the visa.

 

[newacct]

Getting married to a permanent resident or citizen is not immigrant intent. Even if an I-130 petition was filed for you it would still not be immigrant intent. But it would definitely get harder to prove that you intend to leave.

But you said you intend "to apply GC via marriage". And it sounds like you intend to do that inside the U.S. after returning from this trip to China. That is immigrant intent. You cannot apply for an F1 visa OR enter the U.S. on F1 with intent to immigrate based on that entry. (Note: it's not only when you apply for the visa. Even if you already have the visa, you must ALSO not have immigrant intent when you enter the U.S.) So based on that, you should not leave the U.S., because you will re-enter on an F1, and it is fraud to do that when you intend to immigrate after entering (without leaving again first).

Just because the visa officer or the officer at the border doesn't suspect you have intent because you are still single, doesn't mean it's not fraud (it's just harder for them to prove it's fraud in that case, because they wouldn't have asked you about it). Just because they let you into the U.S. also does not mean it's okay.

If you are worried about the "single"/"married" thing, you can always just do a ceremony in China but not "officially" get married, and then actually get married in the U.S. However, again, you are missing the point; whether you are single or married is not the issue; the issue is that you intend to immigrate in the U.S. after entering without leaving first.

 

[gamespeed]

Thank you, Jackolantern.

I am not graduating within at least 2 years, so I won't be having H1-B for more than that long.

I need to keep F-1 status before I have GC. Actually I got administrative processing during last visit to China. Lots of troubles and cost me a lot in money too.

It seems like I cannot marry her and go back to China (before I have GC or graduate & have H1-B)?

We have been talking about getting engaged soon. So it seems to prevent me from going back to China....

So my current conclusion:

1. Get married in US and stay in US until I have GC.

2. Don't get married or engaged, so I can still go back to China. Then I can get engaged/married and safely go back to China when I have H1-b. (Sounds like a joke, H1-B is the new visa for marriage~ Hah!)

Once you marry a permanent resident or US citizen, you risk being refused entry with an F1 visa.

So unless you have switched to H1B, get married inside the US and stay inside the US until you switch to H1B or become eligible for Adjustment of Status and Advance Parole.


Apply for what kind of visa? Nonimmigrant visa applications require you to state whether you have a fiancee or spouse who lives in the US. So failing to mention your fiancee and then getting married soon after would be seen as fraud.

If you'll be applying for an H1B visa, there's no need for that trickery. H1B allows immigrant intent, so having a permanent resident spouse or fiancee won't be a problem for obtaining or using the visa.

 

[gamespeed]

Thank you, newacct.

From your comments, "intent" seems to be very important.

When I applied my last visa for re-enter US, I did not have the intention to immigrate. This seems to be OK. If I get married now and apply for GC, it is not fraud.

If I get married now, and re-enter with a new F-1 visa, I must have no intent to immigrate upon entry. However, if I LATER decide to apply for GC, say 1-2 years later, is this fraud? Do I have to LEAVE US before applying for GC (I mean, I do need to go to school and cannot just wait in China for 2+ years)?



Well, there is another solution I could think of:
Get married and not applying for GC now. When I have H1-B, I can apply for GC if I want, via either work or marriage.

Getting married to a permanent resident or citizen is not immigrant intent. Even if an I-130 petition was filed for you it would still not be immigrant intent. But it would definitely get harder to prove that you intend to leave.

But you said you intend "to apply GC via marriage". And it sounds like you intend to do that inside the U.S. after returning from this trip to China. That is immigrant intent. You cannot apply for an F1 visa OR enter the U.S. on F1 with intent to immigrate based on that entry. (Note: it's not only when you apply for the visa. Even if you already have the visa, you must ALSO not have immigrant intent when you enter the U.S.) So based on that, you should not leave the U.S., because you will re-enter on an F1, and it is fraud to do that when you intend to immigrate after entering (without leaving again first).

Just because the visa officer or the officer at the border doesn't suspect you have intent because you are still single, doesn't mean it's not fraud (it's just harder for them to prove it's fraud in that case, because they wouldn't have asked you about it). Just because they let you into the U.S. also does not mean it's okay.

If you are worried about the "single"/"married" thing, you can always just do a ceremony in China but not "officially" get married, and then actually get married in the U.S. However, again, you are missing the point; whether you are single or married is not the issue; the issue is that you intend to immigrate in the U.S. after entering without leaving first.

 

[Jackolantern]

If I get married now, and re-enter with a new F-1 visa, I must have no intent to immigrate upon entry. However, if I LATER decide to apply for GC, say 1-2 years later, is this fraud?

That would be OK ... except that if they know you're married to a permanent resident when you're entering, they may suspect that you're going to stay and immigrate, which could make them decide to refuse entry. If they harass you about being married, you would have to convince them that when your studies are done you're going to leave the US and wait in China or another country until you're eligible to get a green card.

Once you marry a permanent resident or US citizen, using your F1 visa after that becomes risky.

Do I have to LEAVE US before applying for GC (I mean, I do need to go to school and cannot just wait in China for 2+ years)?

If your spouse is still a permanent resident when your F1 status expires, you will need to leave the US unless you have already waited long enough after the I-130 filing (2+ years) to become eligible for adjustment of status, or you have switched to another status like H1B.