US Citizen with an Irish Girlfriend, in need of advice.

[IrishAmerica]

First off, I'm so glad I found this forum. We've been lost for awhile now searching for answers. So thanks for the resource!

I am an America citizen, my girlfriend (for the past year) is an Irish citizen. Her and her family own a house here, and have been coming here for around 20 years now (every time on visa waivers).

We fell in love, but now she has to leave in a few days, perhaps for up to 9 months. When I first met her she was on a J1 visa (internship) for a year, then she had to go home (in Oct 2010), she returned around Christmas time on a visa waiver and is now due to go back to Ireland.

She originally believe she could get a J1 visa again after this waiver expired, but was recently told she couldn't because although she deferred her enrollment, she was told that because she hadn't taken classes in over a year, she was ineligible.

Now to where we currently stand. Our worst fear is that she might have to leave until she can (at worst) be able to come back over again at the beginning of next year on the waiver.

We would honestly like more time to figure everything out together before doing anything rash like getting married, but the way these visas are working out it makes it difficult. She never intended to be a immigrate, we were just testing the waters together and seeing how things went. Although we are fairly sure now we'd eventually like to get married, we are still young, and our families aren't thrilled at the idea of doing it so soon. But if it is between that, and her having to leave for an indefinite period of time, then I'd say it is worth the chance.

So we are between a few options, and aren't really sure which would be best, so I'm hoping someone here might be able to give us some much needed advice.

The way I see our options now:

1) She goes home, and hopes to get a B1/B2 (or even J1?) visa and is able to return, giving us more time to actually figure out our lives. (I know coming over on one of those you aren't supposed to _intend_ to stay).

2) We get married immediately (she'd have to leave in a few days, or else overstay her visa).

3) Overstay her visa for a short period of time (under 6 months), allowing our families to come over for a wedding. This would be both of our top choices (if she had a poor chance of getting another visa soon), but what is holding us back is: If she returned back home, would she then be banned from the US ? (both if we got married, and if we didn't... we don't know how it all works).


I apologize for the lengthy story, I could really use any advice I can find on this matter.


Thanks in advance!

 

[Jackolantern]

Did her J1 have the 2-year home country residence requirement? When you said "Our worst fear is that she might have to leave until she can (at worst) be able to come back over again at the beginning of next year on the waiver." did you mean the visa waiver program, or were you referring to a J1 waiver that exempted her from having to spend 2 years in her home country?

1) She goes home, and hopes to get a B1/B2 (or even J1?) visa and is able to return, giving us more time to actually figure out our lives. (I know coming over on one of those you aren't supposed to _intend_ to stay).

2) We get married immediately (she'd have to leave in a few days, or else overstay her visa).

3) Overstay her visa for a short period of time (under 6 months), allowing our families to come over for a wedding. This would be both of our top choices (if she had a poor chance of getting another visa soon), but what is holding us back is: If she returned back home, would she then be banned from the US ? (both if we got married, and if we didn't... we don't know how it all works).

If she overstays, she will lose eligibility to use the visa waiver again, and probably won't be able to get a B1/B2 for years. However, a short overstay (under 180 days) won't prevent her from returning with a fiancee visa or immigrant visa. And even if she doesn't overstay, they probably won't grant the B1/B2 for months because she just spent so much time in the US with the visa waiver.

Another obstacle to obtaining the B1/B2 or J1 visa is you. The visa application asks about having a fiance in the US, and the immigration status of the fiance (in your case, US citizen). If she says she has a US citizen fiance, the visa will probably be denied. If she says no, it becomes suspicious if she marries you after entering with the visa in the near future.

The fiancee visa (K-1) seems to be the right one for your situation. The process takes about 3-6 months, and her recent stay in the US won't be an obstacle (provided her J-1 isn't subject to the 2-year home country requirement). After obtaining it at the consulate, she would have 6 months to enter the US, and then after entering the US she would have 90 days to marry you. Then after marriage you file the necessary paperwork for the green card process. So those 90 days would give the both of you some time to figure out your lives; if she doesn't marry you, she must leave the US before the 90 days are done.

 

[sonibago]

Very good advice Jackolantern....it seems as if the fiancee visa is the best option for the OP and his girlfriend right now.

I also want to add that in recent times I've read that people who entered the US on the visa waiver have been getting serious problems when filing for an adjustment of status (AOS). OP please look into this while making your decisions...