AOS as a Canadian visitor married to US citizen in the US

[machmar]

Hello,

I am hoping to get some insight/advice about my situation. I will try to be as clear as I can.

I am a Canadian citizen. My boyfriend is American. We have been dating for a year. We entered the US in August 2017 by land. I entered the US as a visitor with the intention of leaving in November 2017. My plan was to drive to Texas where my boyfriend goes to school, stay there for a couple of weeks, then meet some rock climbing friends in Yosemite NP, and then go back to Canada in November, all of this while working remotely for a Canadian company. I told my plan to the immigration agent at the border, no problem. I was planning to fly to France in November to spend some time with my father who is not doing well, my boyfriend was planning to meet me in France as he has a month off over the holidays, we would spend some time in France with my family, then go to Spain to rock climb. In January, he would have flown back to Texas, I would have flown back to Canada. At the time of crossing the border, I was not sure about what my work situation would be in January. I knew I had to be in Canada to get more work in January and that I had a good chance to get a big contract with a Crown Corporation in British Columbia.

Since we arrived in the US however, my boyfriend proposed. We both realized we want to spend our life together so why wait. We had talked about the future before, about getting married before, having kids and buying a piece of property in Canada. But there was no plan, and it was several years down the road. We thought about waiting until my boyfriend is out of school at the minimum ( a year and a half from now). When I entered the US in August 2017, I definitely had no intention to stay. I revealed all my honest intentions for the reasons of my trip to the immigration agent.

My family can testify that I was planning to go to France during the Holidays (I won't be able to go if I decide to apply for AOS in the US). My friends can testify that I was planning a rock climbing trip to Yosemite in the fall (I am still going to do that). The Crown Corporation can testify that I have been doing this contract over the last two years and that they discussed with me the possibility that I would get this contract again in January 2018.

My boyfriend and I are now planning to get married.

I also got this big four-month contract with a crown corporation in British Columbia, Canada. I am trying to arrange to work remotely so that I can possibly be in the US if I decide to apply for my green card within the US.

I am aware that there are different solutions for us:
1) get married in the US and apply for AOS from the US
2) get married in the US, leave the US, and apply for green card from Canada
3) Leave the US and go back to Canada, apply for a K1 fiance visa.

I am aware that option 1) is the option that will allow me to spend the least time away from my fiance. From what I have read on diverse immigration forums, I am also aware that, even though my intentions were never to stay in the US, this situation may cause a lot of suspicion in the eyes of the immigration.

I am just looking for advice. Has anybody here been in a similar situation? Even though, I have done nothing wrong, could the immigration arbitrarily decide that my intentions were not honest? And if so, on what ground? Should I even be worried?

Thank you for your comments!

[newacct]

Get married and do AOS from the US would be the best option.

Even if you intended to do AOS at the time you entered, you still cannot be denied AOS in your category, as long as you didn't lie to the officer.

[coffeeaddict]

Take a breath and relax. You are fine. You didn't do anything wrong. You can stay in the US with your boyfriend, get married and apply for AoS. You don't need your family and friends to testify about your original plans to return to Canada. I'm in the same situation as you (Canadian citizen, entered as visitor, now married to an American).

Your "intent" is determined at the border or POE (port of entry). You answered CBP's questions honestly. They determined then and there that you had no immigration intent and your visitation plans were in line with your entry as "tourist". You entered the US legally and that is the end of it.

There are people who will say that coming into the US on a tourist visa, changing your mind and getting married is somehow "less legal" or even downright "wrong". Some people will say that the fiance/spouse visas are the "only right" way to do it. This is NOT true for most people. People come to the decision to get married in different ways and their life circumstances dictate a lot of it. It IS fraud if you and your boyfriend decided to get married BEFORE you came to the US and you lied to CBP by stating, "I plan on leaving on the US and going back to Canada."

As far as USCIS goes, once you file your paperwork, they will be primarily concerned with making sure your relationship and marriage are REAL. They don't care about "intent" because that's long gone and it's the job of CBP to determine intent the moment you are speaking with them to enter the US. The interview is to see what kind of couple you are and to see that you have a developed relationship that is continuing to develop. They are looking for established intimacy within the couple, which is something that's hard to **** . Hope this was helpful; I went through the exact same questions as you're asking now, so feel free to PM me with other questions.