Marrying a Japanese citizen in this US?

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kalyper

Registered Users (C)
Hello. My fiancee is a Japanese citizen. She is visiting here from Japan for a few months (maximum 90 days). We've been talking and decided we'd like to get married. Now I've talked to some people and we want to avoid having to get a fiancee visa for a few reasons. 1) she is already here in the US. 2) It takes 6-8 months to get the fiancee visa and we'd like to get married soon, very soon, like within the next month or two.

Someone told me that since she is a Japanese citizen and that she has been here for 30 days at least, we can get married. I wanted to get another opinion on this. Can we do this legally? Can we get married here in the states?
 
A sudden impulse to marry does happen. However, she should marry you and you two file her paperwork before her 90 days expire to be on the safe side. It will also help to show that it was not planned in advance that she would come as visitor with the intent of marrying and filing for a greencard.

Will she need to apply for advance parole for the purpose of going back to wind things up? You know, give up an apartment, pack her belongings and ship things here? Whatever?

OR was she living with her parents and not have that need to go back? OR worse, was her home destroyed... Sorry if it was.

Marriage laws are controlled by each state, look to your local laws or to the laws of the place of intended marriage.
 
When you say file her paperwork, are you talking about applying for a green card?

She would need to go back to Japan to take care of a few things, such as quit her job, sell some stuff and pack things she wants to keep.
 
kalyper said:
When you say file her paperwork, are you talking about applying for a green card?

She would need to go back to Japan to take care of a few things, such as quit her job, sell some stuff and pack things she wants to keep.
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After you marry, you file an I-130 (with fee) and she files CONCURRENTLY with your form: an I-485 for adjustment, I-765 for work authorization and I-131 for advance parole (all one price for these 3 forms) PLUS all the required evidence. The I-765 and I-131 are taken care of first as INTERIM Benefits. She cannot leave until she gets her advance parole or the whole process is deemed abandoned and she cannot re-enter without an Immigrant Visa. Once she gets the advance parole, she can exit and re-enter BUT it may take 3 months to get the advance parole. Plan accordingly.

You can marry and only file the I-130 and then she can leave and pursue Consular Processing for an Immigrant Visa in Tokyo (I think that's the only location but things change--check on that). Check the DOS website for the US Consulates in Japan as to locations. processes, and time frames.
 
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kalyper said:
Ahh I see. Would I also need to file I-693, I-864 & G-325a?
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Whichever course she chooses to follow has its own particular process. The various forms are filed at different times based on the instructions of the underlying forms (I-130 and either I-485 etc... OR DS-230 etc...).

For instance: an I-864 may be filed with the I-485 and if not, it will be requested, USCIS does not charge a FEE for it. However, if Consular Processing, NVC will request it afterwards and charge a fee.

Read the instructions for the base forms start with the I-130.
 
kalyper said:
Someone told me that since she is a Japanese citizen and that she has been here for 30 days at least, we can get married. I wanted to get another opinion on this. Can we do this legally? Can we get married here in the states?
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You can get married in the US, file the I-130 (without I-864, I-485 etc.) and then she would complete the process in Japan through a US consulate.

Or if she is going to stay in the US to complete the process, make sure all the green card paperwork is filed before the end of her 90 days. Various court rulings have made adjustment of status difficult to impossible for visa waiver overstayers.
 
Thanks, Jackolantern. If she decides to stay here in the US to complete the process, I understand that she would need to file an I-131 form. Would you happen to know how long that takes to process? If it takes a while, it may be the deciding factor whether she completes it here or in Japan, since she has a full time job back there.
 
kalyper said:
Thanks, Jackolantern. If she decides to stay here in the US to complete the process, I understand that she would need to file an I-131 form.
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I-131 is needed only if she decides to pursue the process in the US and she wants to leave the US before the whole process is completed.

The I-131 normally takes 2-3 months to get approved, and she must not exit the US before it's approved. So once the I-485 and I-131 are filed, she's basically stuck in the US for 2-3 months (they won't physically stop her from leaving before, they'll just deny the green card after she leaves without it). And she must be in the US for fingerprinting and the interview(s).

Would you happen to know how long that takes to process? If it takes a while, it may be the deciding factor whether she completes it here or in Japan, since she has a full time job back there.
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If she pursues the process in the US, 4-6 months is a reasonable time frame to expect for the whole process. But this comes with being stuck in the US for a while, and having to be in the US at specific points in time as I mentioned above.

If she wants to complete the process in Japan, 6-12 months is the usual time frame. But she can leave the US whenever she wants, and the fingerprinting and interview will occur in Japan, when the process is near completion.

Note that the paperwork is very different depending which path is chosen. There is no I-485 or I-131 or I-765 when pursuing it through a consulate. And with the consulate the financial affidavit (I-864) is required only at the last stage, unlike within the US where it's required up front with the I-485. Either path will require an I-130, but the answer for Question 22 will be different based on where she'll complete the process.
 
Will she be allowed to leave and re-enter the US when she opts for consular processing? Won't the VWP be unavailable to her since she will have shown immigrant intent?
 
cafeconleche said:
Will she be allowed to leave and re-enter the US when she opts for consular processing? Won't the VWP be unavailable to her since she will have shown immigrant intent?
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I don't expect she'd have a problem, as long as she waits at least 3-4 months before attempting to reenter. By selecting consular processing, and leaving the US after the I-130 is filed, she would counteract concerns that she has the intent to immigrate while on the VWP. If she wanted to file for AOS she could have done it on the prior trip when the I-130 was being filed.

Of course, this is assuming she leaves without overstaying, because overstaying when on the VWP makes one ineligible to use the VWP again.
 
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