Help Requested: What's Our Best Option?

[BritishAmerican9290]

I would like to find out what our best options are to get my finance her papers and moved to the US as soon as possible and in the easiest fashion.

My finance is from the UK and we have been together for 7+ years and recently got engaged in March 2022.

We previously applied for a K1 visa in 2017 which was approved by the embassy in London but we decided to let it expire as we weren't ready to move back to America at that time.


Now we are ready to move to America. We wanted to get married in America then apply for a change of status petition so that we wouldn't have to go through the K1 visa again. However, this is risky since the US government has records of our previously approved K1 visa which could lead them to suspect visa fraud.

My question for change of status petition:

• Are we right on this? Will the immigration authorities know about the past application and raise questions about intentions of her ESTA visit? Will they suspect visaa fraud?
• Should this option be removed from consideration?

The other option that we are looking at is getting married in the US while she visits (on ESTA) for a few weeks then her returning back to the UK and applying for a marriage visa while she remains there.

My questions:

• Is this allowed? Her coming to America on an ESTA and getting married then going back to the UK?
• If this is allowed then does this constitute or will it appear to be visa fraud to USCIS?\
• How long will this process take from start to finish? Submission of paperwork to approval and issuance of green card?

The final option is to apply for a K1 visa. But I prefer this option the least as it means that she won't be able to work as she applies for status change after arriving in the US and getting married.

My question:

• How long will this process take from start to finish? Submission of paperwork to approval of K1 to approval of status change

Thank you all for reading and appreciate your guidance/help!!

[newacct]

Now we are ready to move to America. We wanted to get married in America then apply for a change of status petition so that we wouldn't have to go through the K1 visa again. However, this is risky since the US government has records of our previously approved K1 visa which could lead them to suspect visa fraud.

My question for change of status petition:

• Are we right on this? Will the immigration authorities know about the past application and raise questions about intentions of her ESTA visit? Will they suspect visaa fraud?
• Should this option be removed from consideration?

No. She should NOT enter the US on the Visa Waiver Program with preconceived intent to apply for Adjustment of Status during that stay.

The other option that we are looking at is getting married in the US while she visits (on ESTA) for a few weeks then her returning back to the UK and applying for a marriage visa while she remains there.

My questions:

• Is this allowed? Her coming to America on an ESTA and getting married then going back to the UK?
• If this is allowed then does this constitute or will it appear to be visa fraud to USCIS?\
• How long will this process take from start to finish? Submission of paperwork to approval and issuance of green card?

That is perfectly fine. Visitor status is appropriate for a foreigner who is temporarily in the US to get married and then leaves. (But there is still the chance she could be denied entry if the officer doesn't believe she will leave.) You would have to file I-130 after marriage and wait for the I-130 to be approved before it goes to NVC and the consulate. I don't know about the timeline but it is more than a year.

Another option you haven't mentioned is you go to the UK and you guys get married in the UK, and then you petition her with I-130. The timeline would the the same as the option where she visits you in the US to get married and returns to the UK.

[BritishAmerican9290]

No. She should NOT enter the US on the Visa Waiver Program with preconceived intent to apply for Adjustment of Status during that stay.


That is perfectly fine. Visitor status is appropriate for a foreigner who is temporarily in the US to get married and then leaves. (But there is still the chance she could be denied entry if the officer doesn't believe she will leave.) You would have to file I-130 after marriage and wait for the I-130 to be approved before it goes to NVC and the consulate. I don't know about the timeline but it is more than a year.

Another option you haven't mentioned is you go to the UK and you guys get married in the UK, and then you petition her with I-130. The timeline would the the same as the option where she visits you in the US to get married and returns to the UK.

Thank you. Getting married in the UK isn't possible as the UK government requires a marriage visa to be granted before anyone is allowed to marry there.

Follow up question - Is it possible to revive/continue our K1 visa application (approved in 2017)? Or do we have the start again from square one?