Visa info on closing the distance

[freckles1121]

Hiya ✋😊
So I'm just asking to see if any ldr couples have experience where they have travelled over to SO/Fiancé in the US on an ESTA visa and within the legal 90days married and then applied for a spousal visa after marriage had been registered. If so can you stay within the US with your then husband/wife legally while waiting on spousal visa approval or does the person applying have to return to their country while they wait on visa. TIA for any info and help.

[Caro1]

Hi,

ESTA is not a visa, it allows you to travel without a visa, thus being called the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

You can travel on ESTA and get married, but you're not allowed to legally stay in the US as you just said you have the intent to immigrate and the VWP is a non-immigration program.

You can get married in the US, come home and apply for a CR1 (spousal) visa, or you can file for a K1 (fiancé) visa right now.
The main difference is that if you enter on CR1, you'll have a (conditional) green card and employment authorization when you're entering the US.
If you enter on K1, you're technically not an immigrant until you get married and file paper work to adjust your Status from non-immigrant to immigrant. Meaning you can get married there and stay in the US while your status is being adjusted to be an immigrant. You won't however be able to work until you get work authorization (needs to be filed for seperatly on K1) or leave the US and be able to come back until you get a travel document to do so. That document is called Advanced Parole.

There is no legal way to cheat the system and skip visa processing times as you already expressed your immigration intent.

[WeNeverClosedDistance]

Be sure to get a return ticket, else you're fucked......sorry for the language....i had a tourist visa for 6months, valid for 10years, and at the American Embassy where I live they told me I don't need a return ticket, when I arrived in JFK, NY airport after 19hrs travelling they weren't going to let me in the USA, to go out side the airport. Get a return ticket and be sure to say you have an amount of money like 3-4k for the stay as they might give you a date themselves and you have to leave ...the ruined my visa....they wrote some codes in my passport. PLEASE inbox me. I can give you some advice.

[Caro1]

the ruined my visa....they wrote some codes in my passport. PLEASE inbox me. I can give you some advice.

That's because you were trying to do something illegal. (Or at least it looked like you were trying to do something illegal, if you didn't intent to immigrate and were just going on a long vacation)
I stronly advice you against giving advice to do something illegal. Not sure about the forum rules, but I know in other forums, giving advice to do something illegal is forbidden.

And I strongly advice OP against trying to follow through with the illegal advice, as it can result in a lifetime ban of entering the USA.

[freckles1121]

Thank you for your response and information on this much appreciated. Oh and no last thing I'd want is to ever to try cheat the system. I just wondered if/when we marry as planned in US and file for spousal visa can you legally stay while waiting for status to be adjusted and if so how long does it take before you can travel again. I've heard some say it can be anything from a 1yr to 3yrs.

[Caro1]

I just wondered if/when we marry as planned in US and file for spousal visa can you legally stay while waiting for status to be adjusted and if so how long does it take before you can travel again. I've heard some say it can be anything from a 1yr to 3yrs.

Adjustment of Status means getting a green card, which equals to being a legal immigrant.

For a spousal visa (CR1), there is no adjustment of status as you have an Immigrant Status as soon as you enter the US. This means you can also travel and work right away.

On K1, processing times for Advance Parole and Employment Authorization take about 3-4 months after you've entered the US. On K1 you are allowed to wait in the US while waiting for the adjustment of status.

Getting the visa (either one) is the part that takes the longest.

[differentcountries]

For most spousal visas, fiance visas etc, the biggest thing is for you to-be/or just became to prove that they can fully support you. Finances (as defined in the visa) is very important, and having a steady full time job is prefferable. Which of course for some of us may interfere with keeping up the visits (monwy, vacation time) while we wait for marriage or/and relocation.

[snow]

Thank you for your response and information on this much appreciated. Oh and no last thing I'd want is to ever to try cheat the system. I just wondered if/when we marry as planned in US and file for spousal visa can you legally stay while waiting for status to be adjusted and if so how long does it take before you can travel again. I've heard some say it can be anything from a 1yr to 3yrs.

Basically, entering the US planning to get married on an ESTA is illegal. People do it because there may be loopholes, but you can be deported for it and be refused re-entry forever.
People who do this are part of the reason why immigration into the US is so difficult and expensive.

Apply for a fiancé visa if you want to stay with your husband/wife while you wait for your greencard or apply for a CR1 visa if you are okay with staying apart from your husband/wife while you wait for your greencard.

[Michelle]

Someone private messaged me on Facebook after I posted this question on the Facebook page:

Before 90 days they should be married. And after the married they should file CHANGE OF STATUS. It cost $1,070... You can stay in US after you got married and file the status. After filling if it is approved they will send u schedule for biometric and once you've done the biometric you have to wait for your temporary green card. They will gave u 2 years to stay. After 2 years need to renew again for another 10years but u don't need to wait 10yrs u can apply citizenship in 3-5years.

I’m not 100% sure of the legality of this. But I think she is talking about going from a fiancé visa to green card and missed the ESTA part of the question. https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/fiancees

[kittyo9]

Someone private messaged me on Facebook after I posted this question on the Facebook page:

I’m not 100% sure of the legality of this. But I think she is talking about going from a fiancé visa to green card and missed the ESTA part of the question. https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/fiancees

The person who PMd you on FB is correct, but with a few caveats.

Caro and Snow are correct-- it is totally legal to stay in the US after getting married on the fiancee visa as long as you apply for change/adjustment of status (AOS). That's pretty much what it's for! AOS covers the transitional period between a temporary and permanent visa, but it also makes it difficult to leave and re-enter the country because the applicant's status is also transitional, which is why the applicant might need advance parole (AP), which is a document that allows them to leave and re-enter the country without losing their status. The link Michelle posted outlines the process of going from K-1 to green card.

It is not legal to enter the US on the visa waiver program (VWP) with the intention of getting married and applying for a green card. It is, however, still legal to apply for AOS having entered with an ESTA or B2 visa-- this page has some examples of situations where that might happen (note that I'm definitely not condoning its abuse, and also note that the 30/60/90 "rule" no longer applies as of last year [2017]-- see the legalese here). Unfortunately, this also means that the applicants who entered under the pretense of coming for a temporary visit must prove that they did not have the intent to circumvent the fiancee/spousal visas upon entering the country, in addition to proving that their relationship is genuine in order to qualify for a green card.

So in short, to the OP: yes, you can, but I don't recommend it. It would be better to apply for a K-1 if you want to stay in the US with your SO right after getting married. If you want to work and/or travel after you've applied for permanent residence (PR) but before your PR is granted, you should apply for work authorization and/or AP when you apply for AOS. It usually takes a couple months, but each case is different so don't make solid plans until you have AP.
USCIS has special instructions for if you want both. If you'd rather go back to your home country and continue working until you're approved for PR in the US, get married and then go for the CR-1 (spouse) visa.

[eednamoj]

Technically, yes you can. It's a complicated process. You can't marry within 30 days because it'll be considered fraudulent marriage. You can marry within 60 days, but it'll seem suspicious and you'll have to go through strict marriage interviews and such to prove your marriage is genuine. If you get married after the 60 day window but before the 90 day window, you can file for Adjustment of Status. You still have to prove that you didn't come to the US with the intent to marry (which you did), but others with similar intentions have gotten approved before. If you can, get in touch with an immigration lawyer. Otherwise just make sure you do the research so you don't make any mistakes.

[snow]

Why risk it? Go through the legal ways.

[kittyo9]

Technically, yes you can. It's a complicated process. You can't marry within 30 days because it'll be considered fraudulent marriage. You can marry within 60 days, but it'll seem suspicious and you'll have to go through strict marriage interviews and such to prove your marriage is genuine. If you get married after the 60 day window but before the 90 day window, you can file for Adjustment of Status. You still have to prove that you didn't come to the US with the intent to marry (which you did), but others with similar intentions have gotten approved before. If you can, get in touch with an immigration lawyer. Otherwise just make sure you do the research so you don't make any mistakes.

As I said in my previous post, this 30/60 day "rule" is no longer the case as of last year. The guidelines have been rewritten such that all applicants who apply for adjustment of status within 90 days of arrival on a non-immigrant visa or through the VWP are to be treated with the same suspicion.