haymaker18
New Member
OK all...details
Me=US Citizen
Her=Canadian in US on a one year extension of an F-1. She is in the US right now and wants to go to Canada to get married. We want to get married soon, and the K-1 fiance visa will take too long (plus she's in the US for the next few months anyway...I read somewhere that she should be back in original country during filing of K-1).
The deal is this: can we go to Canada to get married while her F-1 is still valid (valid through May) and then I return right away to go back to work. She returns a few weeks later because she has legitimate work in the US near the end of May. From what I understand, the F-1 is a non-immigrant visa, but if she enters the country on the F-1 for a valid reason that is not immigrating, we could then conceivably decide to change status after her work.
I have little concern that she would successfully re-enter the US after getting married in Canada because her F-1 should get her in without a problem. My main concern is how cranky the US will get when we file our status change forms. Will they dislike the fact that our marriage certificate will be from Canada and that she re-entered the US on an F-1 after the wedding? Anyone think this very legitimate wedding between us would be given a hard time by the USCIS?
As I've read, getting married doesn't nullify the validity of the F-1, just makes convincing a nosy border patrol officer that you don't intend to immigrate on it rather difficult. Where in the application process are we likely to get in trouble for this kind of plan.
*tangent* -- how the heck do you enter the US without intent to immigrate if you're trying to plan a legitimate marriage? Wedding plans and these forms do not coexist peacefully. Even the K-1 fiance visa, if I'm correct, forces her to be out of the country during processing. She has to be here for work. But yet, we need to have at least a ceremony in Canada. If we marry in US first, then go to Canada for ceremony, she has intent to immigrate and that's fraud. If we marry in US first and begin applying the proper forms, she can't leave at all or she doesn't get back in without Advance Parole.
It's kind of a mess no matter what--especially if your love is legitimate and you want to get married soon. If it was a sham wedding, who cares if you have to wait? What's annoying is that we can get married today and start processing the forms since we're both in the US right now. Only problem is, when we actually plan something in advance so it can be special, that's when we start dealing with intent. I should hope legitimate couples have intent...intent to immigrate too. Why shouldn't they. If they don't have intent to immigrate when they're considering marriage, they didn't think enough beforehand...seems we reward those who don't think and plan ahead.
Help greatly appreciated!
Me=US Citizen
Her=Canadian in US on a one year extension of an F-1. She is in the US right now and wants to go to Canada to get married. We want to get married soon, and the K-1 fiance visa will take too long (plus she's in the US for the next few months anyway...I read somewhere that she should be back in original country during filing of K-1).
The deal is this: can we go to Canada to get married while her F-1 is still valid (valid through May) and then I return right away to go back to work. She returns a few weeks later because she has legitimate work in the US near the end of May. From what I understand, the F-1 is a non-immigrant visa, but if she enters the country on the F-1 for a valid reason that is not immigrating, we could then conceivably decide to change status after her work.
I have little concern that she would successfully re-enter the US after getting married in Canada because her F-1 should get her in without a problem. My main concern is how cranky the US will get when we file our status change forms. Will they dislike the fact that our marriage certificate will be from Canada and that she re-entered the US on an F-1 after the wedding? Anyone think this very legitimate wedding between us would be given a hard time by the USCIS?
As I've read, getting married doesn't nullify the validity of the F-1, just makes convincing a nosy border patrol officer that you don't intend to immigrate on it rather difficult. Where in the application process are we likely to get in trouble for this kind of plan.
*tangent* -- how the heck do you enter the US without intent to immigrate if you're trying to plan a legitimate marriage? Wedding plans and these forms do not coexist peacefully. Even the K-1 fiance visa, if I'm correct, forces her to be out of the country during processing. She has to be here for work. But yet, we need to have at least a ceremony in Canada. If we marry in US first, then go to Canada for ceremony, she has intent to immigrate and that's fraud. If we marry in US first and begin applying the proper forms, she can't leave at all or she doesn't get back in without Advance Parole.
It's kind of a mess no matter what--especially if your love is legitimate and you want to get married soon. If it was a sham wedding, who cares if you have to wait? What's annoying is that we can get married today and start processing the forms since we're both in the US right now. Only problem is, when we actually plan something in advance so it can be special, that's when we start dealing with intent. I should hope legitimate couples have intent...intent to immigrate too. Why shouldn't they. If they don't have intent to immigrate when they're considering marriage, they didn't think enough beforehand...seems we reward those who don't think and plan ahead.
Help greatly appreciated!