TN Visa Holder Marrying a USC

M

marcopolo

Registered Users (C)
Hello,

I hope someone can guide me into the right direction:

I am a TN Visa holder and have been living in the US since 2006 under that same status. I got engaged to a USC in October 2010 and we have been planning to get married this November 2011 ever since. Two weeks ago I had a meeting with the company immigration attorney regarding a different case and I decided to ask her what she recommended to do since my Visa is expiring on August of this year, she said to get married now and not wait for my TN Visa to expires because it would look bad at the time of the interview, being that a TN Visa a Non immigrant Visa and I would be basically lying about my "temporary status".

Taking that advice we got married April 20th, 2011. I am planning to submit all of the forms needed to obtain my green card but are now facing a new issue:

My wife's family is Christian and old fashion, I respect them a lot but since we basically only got married this April to expedite my green card application, we are not planning to move in together until the ceremony and reception takes place in November 2011. I have been reading a lot about the interview questions and I am afraid we will not be able to pass it since we are not living together. We have sufficient documentary evidence to prove the bona-fide marriage (joint bank accounts, driver license with the same address, pictures of us before, during and after the marriage, etc.) but I definitely want to avoid lying about the fact that we are not living together.

Is there a room in the law that would entitle us to live apart until we have the religious ceremony and reception?

My wife currently lives with her grand parents (she takes care of his grandparent who suffers from a heart condition). We have an outstanding relationship, we see each other almost every day and she sometimes spends the night at my house (which I own).

I definitely don't want to put pressure on the relationship by having her move in with me now against her family wishes.

Please help with advice! Thank you!
 
Given that there are no pressing external circumstances forcing you to be apart, such as military deployment or job relocation, you're risking serious problems in the interview if you're not living together.

Don't set yourself up for an immigration nightmare that's going to end up costing tens of thousands of dollars in lawyer fees and lots of time in immigration court. I'll suggest these two options to avoid trouble:

1. Move the ceremony to sometime in the next 2-3 months, so you can move in together before the interview.
or
2. Renew your TN status, and use consular processing instead of I-485/adjustment of status. After renewing your TN, have your wife file I-130 without the I-485, and select a consulate in Canada for question 22 of the I-130. Then some months later you will interview in Canada for the green card instead of in the US. When you interview outside the US, they don't expect you to be living together yet, and your recent TN renewal also would not be an issue because the potential problems surrounding immigrant intent etc. are not applicable to people who interview outside the US, they are only applicable to people who stay in the US to pursue I-485.
 
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Unlike some countries where you have both a civil and religious ceremony, in the US you are married when you have either one by a properly licensed officiant. As long as you have a legally recognized civil ceremony, you are married in the view of US law. The religious ceremony is not your marriage; you will not have a license for the officiant to sign. The excuse for waiting for a ceremony that has no legal implications makes no sense. This entire thing sounds bizarre in that there is no reason for you not to live in the same home. Have her parents been told of the civil ceremony?
 
Concerned4us said:
This entire thing sounds bizarre in that there is no reason for you not to live in the same home.
Click to expand...

For some Christians (and especially Roman Catholics) the church wedding ceremony (where the sacrament of marriage is performed) is a pre-requisite for co-habitation. This does not only apply to 'old fashioned' Christians either.

There is therefore an important difference from a religious standpoint between having a civil ceremony and a religious ceremony as the civil ceremony will not include the sacrament and that is a good reason not to live in the same home until after the church wedding ceremony.
 
Thank you Jackolantern, I have more questions to your response:

Regarding point No. 1.
(A) Let's say me and my wife decide to move in together in a couple of weeks but I send in form I-130 and I-145 this week, should I list her grandparents address as her current address being that at the time of the filing that is going to be her current address? Thus confirming that she is not living with me at the time of the filing.
(B) Could this confirmation be a red flag for USCIS, or create more questions as to why we are not living together at the time of the filing?

Regarding point No. 2
(A) I am unfamiliar with consular processing but it is my understanding that once married to a US Citizen I cannot apply for non-immigrant Visas such as the TN mainly because of immigrant intent? And how will this not create a problem in the future surrounding immigrant intent since I will be basically telling them that I'm coming back to the US "temporarily" when I'm not? Could this not create a problem once I'm ready to adjust status?
(B)My biggest concern is being able to remain in the US and not loose my job, so doing this would not put in jeopardy my status/ability to live here (Arizona) and work?
(C) I am a Mexican citizen so does that changes at all in terms of consular processing and what is applicable for my case?
 
Thank you for your response.

I am a Mexican Citizen and our cultural/legal customs regarding marriage are pretty similar to the ones in the US. The only reason why we are not living together is because when we got engaged in October and we planned to get married until November not considering the fact that mi Visa expires in August. I received counsel two weeks ago that getting married now was the best option so we followed that advice and we had our church's pastos marry us last week. We never considered the fact that the interview would take place before the "big day" which for us is in November. So now we are looking into living together ahead of time which is going to be awkward for her family, so I'm trying to avoid that by looking into another option that will get us to the same place without having to deal with the whole family issue.
 
marcopolo said:
(A) Let's say me and my wife decide to move in together in a couple of weeks but I send in form I-130 and I-145 this week, should I list her grandparents address as her current address being that at the time of the filing that is going to be her current address? Thus confirming that she is not living with me at the time of the filing.
(B) Could this confirmation be a red flag for USCIS, or create more questions as to why we are not living together at the time of the filing?
Click to expand...
You can't hide the fact that you're living apart. The interview will be intense, and you'll mess up if you try to pretend you're living together.

Regarding point No. 2
(A) I am unfamiliar with consular processing but it is my understanding that once married to a US Citizen I cannot apply for non-immigrant Visas such as the TN mainly because of immigrant intent?
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That's not true. It's harder to get TN status when married to a US citizen, but it's still done. However, now that I remember you can only renew it by stepping outside the US, maybe it's not a good idea to attempt that.

And how will this not create a problem in the future surrounding immigrant intent since I will be basically telling them that I'm coming back to the US "temporarily" when I'm not? Could this not create a problem once I'm ready to adjust status?
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You wouldn't adjust status if you interviewed for the green card at the consulate. After approval at the consulate, once you enter the US again (with the immigrant visa) you're instantly a permanent resident; there is no adjustment of status process. They don't have a problem with people who have tourist or TN status and then leave the US to interview for a green card at a consulate. Their problem is with people who directly immigrate within the US after entering with such nonimmigrant status.


(C) I am a Mexican citizen so does that changes at all in terms of consular processing and what is applicable for my case?
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Yes, that make it even more difficult for you to renew your TN than if you were Canadian.

After all that's been said and done, it really seems the consular processing option doesn't make sense for you.

Unfortunately, the combination of the lack of a real ceremony and the lack of living together will set you up for slaughter in the interview. If it was just one or the other you'd probably be OK, but both will create a major hurdle. Does her family understand how SERIOUS this is? You could find yourself in court fighting deportation if the interviewer thinks you have a fake marriage. Will her family agree to pay $20,000 for lawyers if that happens? Plus more money to support you because you won't be allowed to work until it's resolved?
 
Thank you Jackolantern:

It seems like the best option is to start living together and file forms I-130 and I-485 as soon as possible.

1. If the fact that we haven't had big a ceremony/reception jeopardizes bona-fide marriage and concern is raised at the time of the interview, how can we best prove a bona-fide marriage according to your knowledge/experience?
2. If that is indeed raised as concern at the time of the interview, would it be wise to say that we are saving for the "big day" in November and show copy of all of the contracts we have with the wedding vendors?

Thank you!
 
marcopolo said:
1. If the fact that we haven't had big a ceremony/reception jeopardizes bona-fide marriage and concern is raised at the time of the interview, how can we best prove a bona-fide marriage according to your knowledge/experience?
Click to expand...
By living together and supplying the evidence that arises from living together!

2. If that is indeed raised as concern at the time of the interview, would it be wise to say that we are saving for the "big day" in November and show copy of all of the contracts we have with the wedding vendors?
Click to expand...
Yes, that would help.

If you had a big ceremony OR you lived together you'd have a good chance of getting through the interview without too much difficulty. It's when you lack both that you can expect big problems, especially since the reason for living apart is not something like employment/university in a different state or distant city.
 
Hi,

I contacted an immigration attorney and presented the fact that I am married to a US Citizen and we are not living together because our religious ceremony and reception are set for November 25th, 2011. My wife family's religious beliefs conflict with the fact that it wont be easy to prove bonna-fide marriage if we will not live together until we are married under God. This is what she said.

"I did a little more research after speaking to you on Tuesday and because you and your wife are not living together due to religious beliefs, Immigration will not have problem with this. "

Can anyone tell me if this is in fact correct?

Thank you
 
It's kind of true -- it depends on how much the immigration officer will believe your story.

First, unless the IO is in the same religion, they would have to do some research to verify that it is indeed is against the rules of your religion to live together when legally married without a religious ceremony.

Second, you would have to provide evidence that you are serious followers of that religion, such as affidavits from the pastor/priest/rabbi/bishop/etc. confirming your regular attendance.

Third, your story looks fishy when you emphasize the importance of the ceremony so heavily, then walk into the interview still without having done the ceremony.

So although it's not hopeless, you'll still be leaving a lot to chance if you go into the interview without having lived together. It might be better to request a reschedule of the interview if you haven't had the religious ceremony and started living together before the interview date.

The reschedule request will put you at risk for a long delay for another interview date ... but given your situation, you're risking a long delay anyway if you attend the interview without living together, as they could put your case on hold and require a second interview and/or have you submit additional evidence after you've started living together.
 
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Thank you for your reply.

Basically we got "married" in April as a strategy to start my AOS process before my TN Visa expires in August. For my wife's family this was just a "procedure" we needed to get done to move forward with the filing but for them the actual wedding is going to take place the day of the ceremony and reception before God and our 300 guests. We have been planning our wedding since November of 2010 and we have contracts with all of the vendors for the wedding day. We already paid out more than $7,000 in deposits to these vendors and that doesn't includes the $10,000 engagement ring I gave her last October. To all of us (myself, my wife, our families and friends) this is very real but it's proving it to the government what makes it hard, thus my concern to do things right and to the best of our abilities.

Would you recommend me file maybe late this summer and overstay maybe a month and hopefully by the time the interview comes we will be living together? Or is it safe enough to do it now and gather as much evidence as we can to bring to the interview and prove we will star living together after the ceremony/reception takes place?

Thanks,
 
I forgot to tell you that my wife's Dad was one of the founders of the christian church we attend, the Head Pastor married his cousin so all of her family is involved and committed to God, their church and community.
 
marcopolo said:
Would you recommend me file maybe late this summer and overstay maybe a month and hopefully by the time the interview comes we will be living together?
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I would recommend rescheduling the interview if you're not living together by the interview date. If you walk into the interview while living apart, and you face a strict or hostile interviewer, you're at real risk of an expensive and lengthy immigration nightmare.

Or is it safe enough to do it now and gather as much evidence as we can to bring to the interview and prove we will star living together after the ceremony/reception takes place?
Click to expand...

If you're not renewing your TN, you need to apply for the green card and employment authorization (I-765) right now. Employment authorization takes 2-3 months to be approved, so if you delay the GC filing any more, you're at risk of having your TN expire before the employment authorization is approved. That could result in you losing your job.
 
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