my fiance is british and we want to live in the United States. but we don't want to wait about 7 months for the fiance visa to get married. is there any way to speed things up or a way we can get married sooner?
2006-08-21 12:31:48 · 10 answers · asked by mira t 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Immigration
Rob, I am a U.S. CITIZEN trying to get my british fiance here ASAP.
2006-08-21 13:06:49 · update #1
What you can do is bring her over here and marry her within the US then file for Adjustment of Status (I-485)
What to do:-
Get her over here on the Visa Waiver Program, in case you don't already know, this is a kind of vacation without a visa, visa. The idea is for her to come over as a tourist, any hint that she is in the US for anything other than a holiday could get her denied entry. She also must be able to prove she has sufficient funds for the "holiday". The VWP is valid for 3 months from time of entry so have her return ticket booked for the day before this visa expires. Have her bring with her birth certificate.
Don't get married right away, there is a precedent set that if you marry after 60 days, your petition can not be turned away on grounds of her entering the US under false pretenses.
Now you can begin the USCIS paperwork. You'll have to Petition for an Alien Relative, form I-130 and your new wife will have to file for Adjustment of Status, form I-485. Everything you both need to have and do will be on these forms so it's just a matter of completing everything and filing at least two weeks before her visa is to expire. The costs will be roughly $800, not including the medical she will have to go through which could be anywhere from $200 to $600.
Hope this is helpful to you and good luck.
2006-08-22 07:01:04 · answer #1 · answered by archernz 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm in the same situation - but i'm the british fiancee and my fiance is the us citizen. He's been living in the UK or 2 years and with the military has to go back to the states. I really dont want to be apart for the long time that the visas are being issued either!! The trouble is that if your fiancee tries to enter the us on a visa waier programme and you get married - when the time comes to applying for her k3 visa (marriage), they might see this as cheating the system and not like it at all! Also as said previously, any hint of marriage or fiance etc when coming to the states, she might be sent back straight to england unless she has enough proof of ties to her home country and that she will return within the given 90 days.
Basically i will be visiting my fiance on the 90 days visa waiver and we will submit the k1 application the moment i arrive. This will mean that i will be with him for at least 3 months and then i will fly back to the uk and wait for the interview. I have contacted many people and have been told this is perfectly acceptable. Dont try and cheat the system as it may result in a far longer seperation period
2006-08-23 05:21:00 · answer #2 · answered by Tamzyn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can marry there and use the Marriage Visa which is slightly faster, but the financial requirements are higher. If you want to do it right, just wait the 7 months. If you try to use a visitors visa to enter the country, then get married, you can be charged with visa fraud. If convicted, he'll be banned from ever entering the States. Trust me, my husband is British. We did the fiancee visa. The wait was horrible, but when all was said and done, our i's were dotted, our t's crossed and our case air-tight. You can's speed up the process, but give as much info as possible. What helped me was NOLO's Marriage and Fiance Visa book. I got it from amazon. Really laid it out in plain english. Had all the forms and contact info. Knowing how it was all going to go down really took the stress off of me (course, there was still the usual wedding stress, but oh well)
2006-08-21 20:36:35 · answer #3 · answered by Ananke402 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Good Luck!
Whatever you do with the INS, play it by their rules, they are lousy and slow and very easy to outsmart, but the HATE when you point this out and try to go around their systems. I came from England as a K-1, got married and filed my AOS I-485 over 4 years ago and I'm still waiting for it to adjust. I have to file papers every time I want to go to England and once a year to renew my work permit. I knew they were slow when I came out here, but it's getting beyond a joke.
Just plan to get married and come into the country as a K-1 in 7 months, you could visit on the visa waiver program, but I wouldn't recommend marrying on it, the 7 months will pass - eventually, and in the mean time you can set things up like your apartment and your bank accounts etc. Just be prepared for a bit of a struggle and a rather huge pain in the *** for a few years to come.
Good Luck!!
2006-08-29 15:49:18 · answer #4 · answered by s_x_i 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, that's bad news for you, because 7 months isn't anything... Take your own country for instance. You have to live in Great Britain for 8 years as a resident before you can gain citizenship.
After your 7 month wait, you'll have to pay a few thousand dollars each unless one of you is a citizen.. But then again, you'll have to wait a little over 7 years to gain citizenship, on top of the wait list...
They are currently working on the fiscal year 2000...So, as you can see-- you're going to be in line for awhile.
--Rob
2006-08-21 19:56:06 · answer #5 · answered by stealth_n700ms 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am Polish , my husband is American and we had similar problem. What we did I just came here on my tourist visa and we got married by a judge. Make sure she brings her Birth Certificate though. Then all you have to do is get married in whatever way you want and what your state law is. Once you do it, you need to apply for residency for her at INS. Make sure you have plenty of proofs that you got married in good faith - having a joint bank account , putting her on the lease for your, car insurance ect. The things normal couples do:-).
They may have a problem on her coming on the tourist visa and marrying, but they cannot penalize you for it by not giving her green card. There is a precedence.
We had a immigration lawyer and he did all the filing for us and it was a huge help, considering INS is not particularly customer friendly. And Aplications fees a rather high, you dont get them back just because you need refile some documents because you messed up a form. Just find a lawyer who is Board Certified, they charge a bit more but you have guarantee that he knows what he talks about.
So all the best luck to you both:-)
2006-08-21 19:47:46 · answer #6 · answered by Katarzyna A 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Just have here come to the states on a tourist visa then marry her right away and she won't have to leave.
2006-08-28 10:44:17 · answer #7 · answered by nbr660 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure, listen to Katarzyna - why bother obeying the law when there are so many ways to manipulate the system and get around the requirements!
2006-08-22 06:43:20 · answer #8 · answered by Curious1usa 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
fly here and marry him file the i130 at least your wait will get him permanent residency at the end
2006-08-27 11:51:00 · answer #9 · answered by aldo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I prefer American Express
2006-08-21 19:47:02 · answer #10 · answered by tripledigit 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋