Immigration to the United States, some questions

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ac_claire

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Does anyone here have any experience with immigrating to the United States? We have a situation in our family where someone is moving from the UK to the US to get married. We’ve been told that whether he comes over permanently on a fiance visa (K1) or comes over on a temporary visitor visa and files for an adjustment of status once here, that it will take at least 3 months before he is authorized to work here.

Specifically I’m talking about that…The figure they were given is 3 months, but we understand it could be much longer than that. Does anyone have any experience with a situation like this? If so, how did you make it work? How did you support yourself and get by during the months spent waiting for the work authorization?

Are there any good resources (other than the USCIS) that might be able to help my family?

Thanks in advance for any replies…
 
You might try looking in the phone book for an immigration lawyer and ask him/her these questions. They might charge you a consultation fee, but at least you’d be getting credible answers.
 
You could try this site--visajourney.com
It has a series of forums like Catholic Answers, click on “forums” at the top of the home page. If someone hasn’t brougt up the questions you have, you can ask them yourself. This is a very active site, and I used it to help bring my foreign-born wife to the U.S. and for other related matters.
I have found you get the best advice, if you post questions, to ask one question at a time, rather then asking everything in one single message.
 
Thank you! I had already registered at britishexpats, and I just registered at visajourney.
 
ac_claire said:
Does anyone here have any experience with immigrating to the United States? We have a situation in our family where someone is moving from the UK to the US to get married. We’ve been told that whether he comes over permanently on a fiance visa (K1) or comes over on a temporary visitor visa and files for an adjustment of status once here, that it will take at least 3 months before he is authorized to work here.

Specifically I’m talking about that…The figure they were given is 3 months, but we understand it could be much longer than that. Does anyone have any experience with a situation like this? If so, how did you make it work? How did you support yourself and get by during the months spent waiting for the work authorization?

Are there any good resources (other than the USCIS) that might be able to help my family?

Thanks in advance for any replies…
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My wife came to the U.S. on a K-1 Visa. Although she wasn’t seeking employment at that time, if I recall correctly, she was authorized to work until the K-1 expired. (Six months after issue.) Upon the expiration of the K-1 Visa, she would have to stop working until she got either EAD (Employment Authorization Documents) or her Permanent Resident card. At the time, the EAD did not take as long as the Green Card…maybe a month or so. Maybe the processing times have changed since then.

As far as “supporting yourself” until receiving employment authorization… the sponsoring U.S. Citizen fiance has legally assumed responsibility for the immigrant’s financial support. (Perhaps not a practical answer for your particular situation, but that’s the way Uncle Sam looks at it.)

Good luck with the immigration process. Be prepared to fill out lots of forms and spend lots of money.
 
I do believe it is considered visa fraud to enter on a visitors visa with the intent to marry.
 
4Squarebaby said:
I do believe it is considered visa fraud to enter on a visitors visa with the intent to marry.
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No you can marry on a visitor visa, but if you intend to stay in the country afterwards on just a visitor’s visa, that is technically against the law.

Although it’s interesting that the government itself, which I assume makes these rules, offers it as a viable option to the K1 fiance visa. That’s actually where my family got the idea in the first place, by calling the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

They told us that the foreigner can either come over on a K1 visa to get married, or come over on a visa waiver (visitor visa), get married, then have the US citizen file an Adjustment of Status petition for her now-husband to stay lawfully in the States.
 
Nationals of so-called first world nations are treated differently. There is not the governmental prejudice that once in they will stay illegally. In most cases people who do this are trying to game the system but still run into road blocks because they can not get a visitors visa in the first place.
 
4Squarebaby said:
Nationals of so-called first world nations are treated differently. There is not the governmental prejudice that once in they will stay illegally. In most cases people who do this are trying to game the system but still run into road blocks because they can not get a visitors visa in the first place.
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I’m not sure I understand this. Is the UK then considered a “first world” nation?

So if we’d told the USCIS that he was from a different country, we might not have received the same advice?
 
The poster might have meant that you wouldn’t have gotten the same advice if he was from Mexico or a similar country, because USCIS is reluctant to give visitor’s visas to nationals of other countries. (At least, that’s what I would have said)

For example, (if my friends and acquaintances are representative of the general immigrant population), Mexicans will often remain in the country illegally and work while holding a visitor’s visa; therefore, it is very difficult for Mexicans to get such visas.

Of course the UK is a “first world” nation – the US even allows UK residents to enter without a visa under the visa waiver program, which is the most highly favored status that the US can grant to a country.
ac_claire said:
I’m not sure I understand this. Is the UK then considered a “first world” nation?

So if we’d told the USCIS that he was from a different country, we might not have received the same advice?
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ack said:
Of course the UK is a “first world” nation – the US even allows UK residents to enter without a visa under the visa waiver program, which is the most highly favored status that the US can grant to a country.
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Even so, they will still be interviewed when they enter the U.S. If there is any indication that they are anything other than a short-term visitor (such as coming to the U.S. to get married), they could be refused entry.
 
Coming on a visitor’s visa to get married…
This is a matter you should investigate to learn the actual situation. Someone may be tempted to get a vistor’s visa to come and get married since is the the very easiest visa to get from most countries. I know several instances of couples when the wife came to the United States on a visitor’s visa intending to get married and stay here through their marriage. This rather is what is legitimate to do–for someone to come on a visitor’s visa, meet someone they hadn’t known before on their visit and get married in the U.S. However, the U.S. government looks very dimly on someone coming to the U.S to get married without a proper visa as a fiance or as a spouse and coming instead on a visitor’s visa as a trick. As a matter of fact if the U.S. government later learns, even decades later, thaf this sort of visa fraud occurred, the person legally can be stripped of their status as a U.S. citizen or permanent resident because of fraud and kicked out of the country.
4Squarebaby said:
I do believe it is considered visa fraud to enter on a visitors visa with the intent to marry.
Click to expand...
 
mdgspencer said:
Coming on a visitor’s visa to get married…
This is a matter you should investigate to learn the actual situation. Someone may be tempted to get a vistor’s visa to come and get married since is the the very easiest visa to get from most countries. I know several instances of couples when the wife came to the United States on a visitor’s visa intending to get married and stay here through their marriage. This rather is what is legitimate to do–for someone to come on a visitor’s visa, meet someone they hadn’t known before on their visit and get married in the U.S. However, the U.S. government looks very dimly on someone coming to the U.S to get married without a proper visa as a fiance or as a spouse and coming instead on a visitor’s visa as a trick. As a matter of fact if the U.S. government later learns, even decades later, thaf this sort of visa fraud occurred, the person legally can be stripped of their status as a U.S. citizen or permanent resident because of fraud and kicked out of the country.
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We will do more research on it. But what’s interesting is that it was actually the government’s USCIS office that gave us the idea in the first place. Not once but twice; two separate calls and two different immigration reps. 🤷
 
Just make sure they know about transportation in the U.S.

We meet up with a lot of internationals because we are involved with the sport of figure skating.

Often they come over here with no perspective of distances. We were at a competition in Minnesota once, and one of the international families was planning to drive down to Disney World for the day. They had no idea that a drive to Florida from Minnesota would be well over 20 hours!

And a lot of internationals assume that there are trains that will take you anywhere in the country. Ha ha! I wish! 😦 We live in one of Illinois’ largest cities only 65 miles from Chicago, and there’s no train! (Working on it–if we get the Olympics in Chicago, a train is supposedly guaranteed between our city, Chicago, and St. Louis! Yay!)

And a lot of internationals assume that they won’t need a car in their new American city. Ha ha! Unless you like to walk for many miles just to get a gallon of milk, you’ll need a car to go pretty much everywhere. Most cities are not designed for pedestrians and bike-riders.

Bottom line–you’ll need a car in the U.S. This isn’t Europe.
 
ac_claire said:
We will do more research on it. But what’s interesting is that it was actually the government’s USCIS office that gave us the idea in the first place. Not once but twice; two separate calls and two different immigration reps. 🤷
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Are you sure they understood that the couple intends to stay in the US and not return to the UK after the wedding?
 
As I suggested, I think you should check everything out instead of relying on anonymous posts. Why an immigration agent would tell you to get a tourist visa to get married on is something I would not understand. When the person applied for a tourist visa for marriage purposes they would have to lie about why they wanted the visa. Had someone told you they had called the USCIS instead of your doing it yourself?
ac_claire said:
We will do more research on it. But what’s interesting is that it was actually the government’s USCIS office that gave us the idea in the first place. Not once but twice; two separate calls and two different immigration reps. 🤷
Click to expand...
 
The only thing I can think of is that a UK Passport holder is given his “visa” at the port of entry. The only restriction he has is that he can not work legally. Therefore just come over, get married then adjust the staus. There is no need to go to London Embassy to get a visa.
 
4Squarebaby said:
The only thing I can think of is that a UK Passport holder is given his “visa” at the port of entry. The only restriction he has is that he can not work legally. Therefore just come over, get married then adjust the staus…

There is no need to go to London Embassy to get a visa.
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There is if he wants to get married here.

While a UK passport holder is given his visitors visa at the point of entry, he will be interviewed and asked the purpose for his visit. If he says, “I’m here to get married,” he’ll be on the next plane back to the UK.
 
^
That is my understanding also. Perhaps the USCIS phonebank is as messed up as the IRS phonebank? The Homeland Security Agent can spike plans to game the system.
 
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