K Visa or a Tourist Visa?

[Eloise]

Hi everyone,

I'm an American citizen and eventually will be marrying a foreigner and bringing her here. We want her to visit the US for 1-2 weeks, and during her stay,
we'll get engaged. She has a good job in her country, so it will take a while for her to quit her job and move to the US. I'd say it would take somewhere between 6 months to 1 year.

Should I bring her with a fiancee visa, or can she get a tourist visa? I read somewhere that if she comes with a tourist visa and we get married, she can get penalized for that.

Basically, she will only visit the US for a couple of weeks then go back to her country and once we get all the paperwork done and she gets her legal status, she will move here.

 

[SusieQQQ]

If the plan is for her to come, get married and return home to await paperwork etc, a tourist visa is appropriate. Make sure she has evidence of plans to return home and await her spousal visa (job, etc) to show CBP when she enters. The only time using a tourist visa to get married is a problem is when the person then just stays and adjusts status, rather than returning home.

if she comes on a K1 visa, you have to marry within 90 days of arrival, and she has to adjust status. That can take a year or more to complete the process in some parts of the US, plus she won’t be able to work or travel out of the US until she receives the appropriate permits/papers (EAD and AP), 5-7 months usually. I gather this is not the scenario you envisage so a K1 is not appropriate.

Be aware 6 months for a spousal visa process to complete is very optimistic, the year is more likely and it could be longer. (A k1 takes about as long as that too, so that’s not even a time saver should you be tempted on that front)