Esta and marriage

[TK73076]

Hi im new to the forum .
Any advice would be great and much apreciated .

Im going to be honest from the start

Im in the uk and English and in love with a girl in the US. She is costa rican .
Thats the easy part
Now it gets a little complicated

Currently sorting out a divorce. Been separated but never went the divorce route untill now . Married for 4 years

Dont shoot me down on this please but i met a girl online . Maybe not divorced but separated so not a case of going behind wifes back. Just friends to start and it has became so much more over the last year.
She has visited the uk and we have spent weekends together .
Pictures together . Whats app chats . Etc and calls
Met her children now 11 and 15.
I havent been to the states as yet .
She works for american airlines and once my new passport comes through i will be added to her passes . Looking to visit in january for a week. My passport expired and i never renewed it . Ive just done it online and very straight forward.
Now we have been reading alot and found things have changed some . More noticably the 90 day rule and the esta visa which Previously we believe anything over 60 days we could marry and aos was a little easier
Question is .
If we decide we want to marry can this work with an esta ? And apply for adjustment of status ?
We have talked regarding marriage and know its what we both want at some point
Its more the 90 day rule . How does this work with a 90 day esta waiver ? If i was over and we decided to marry ?
We have read varied stories of marrying just after the 90 days even though this goes past the 90 day period and things were fine and aos was achieved


How would it look on record if i was still married when we met ? Would this cause issues atall ? Or no issue as long as my divorce is through and we legally marry.
I have my own place in the uk seperate from my to be ex wife .


I know we can file for a fiancee visa but that could stop me travelling while waiting for the visa ?

Any advice would be great and taken onboard
These are just queries i am asking .yes i know if we done this route that it is not the most ideal route If we went the esta route and decided to marry quicker then any advice would be taken on boards


Thank you

[ember]

Hi im new to the forum .
Any advice would be great and much apreciated .

Im going to be honest from the start

Im in the uk and English and in love with a girl in the US. She is costa rican .
Thats the easy part
Now it gets a little complicated

Currently sorting out a divorce. Been separated but never went the divorce route untill now . Married for 4 years

Dont shoot me down on this please but i met a girl online . Maybe not divorced but separated so not a case of going behind wifes back. Just friends to start and it has became so much more over the last year.
She has visited the uk and we have spent weekends together .
Pictures together . Whats app chats . Etc and calls
Met her children now 11 and 15.
I havent been to the states as yet .
She works for american airlines and once my new passport comes through i will be added to her passes . Looking to visit in january for a week. My passport expired and i never renewed it . Ive just done it online and very straight forward.
Now we have been reading alot and found things have changed some . More noticably the 90 day rule and the esta visa which Previously we believe anything over 60 days we could marry and aos was a little easier
Question is .
If we decide we want to marry can this work with an esta ? And apply for adjustment of status ?
We have talked regarding marriage and know its what we both want at some point
Its more the 90 day rule . How does this work with a 90 day esta waiver ? If i was over and we decided to marry ?
We have read varied stories of marrying just after the 90 days even though this goes past the 90 day period and things were fine and aos was achieved


How would it look on record if i was still married when we met ? Would this cause issues atall ? Or no issue as long as my divorce is through and we legally marry.
I have my own place in the uk seperate from my to be ex wife .


I know we can file for a fiancee visa but that could stop me travelling while waiting for the visa ?

Any advice would be great and taken onboard
These are just queries i am asking .yes i know if we done this route that it is not the most ideal route If we went the esta route and decided to marry quicker then any advice would be taken on boards


Thank you

Is this woman a citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the US?

If she is a citizen, you can marry on ESTA and remain in the US while it's pending. HOWEVER, your application can be denied if you committed visa fraud, which is what you are talking about doing. The reason that people say to wait 60 days before marriage on ESTA is because there is a presumption of fraud if you arrive as a visitor and marry within the first 60 days. Since visitor visas/ESTA are SINGLE INTENT (meaning you can't intend to stay), coming to the US with the specific intention to marry can be considered fraud and they can deny you. Even if you marry after 60 days, they can look at other factors like: did you sell your home/car? Did you quit your job? Did you buy a ring or make wedding plans beforehand? Etc. You may remain in the US while the adjustment is pending.

If she is a green card holder, you must wait for a visa to become available (currently about 1 year, I believe - you can check the Visa Bulletin[but be sure to check the CORRECT table, this month it should be 'Dates for Filing' rather than 'Final Action Dates']) and you may NOT be in the US without permission and you may NOT work without permission. This means that you can marry on ESTA and she can file the I-130 Petition for Alien Relative for you, but you MUST RETURN to your country (or at least leave the US, I guess they don't care where you go).

[TK73076]

Hi and thanks for the reply
We are just looking at every angle to be together .
She is originally from costa rica and been in the usa 18 years as she did get married and divorced 4 years ago .
Before that she was spending alot of time working on behalf of AA.

Would this mean that if we did go the esta route which a few do ask about . That it would be different in our case and i would have to leave the usa once married ?

Idid read this recent thread

https://www.immihelp.com/forum/showthread.php/237213-Marriage-ESTA-60-days-or-90-days

Thank you for taking the time to reply

[miiki]

So is she a US citizen? You that will change your course of action.

[krypton9591]

My advice assuming your lady friend is a US Citizen, is just go the K1 route. Yes it takes longer, but once approved you come over, you get married within 90 days, and you can file for your green card without being scrutinized for fraud like you are risking with the ESTA route. Again this is just my advice, you can obviously go whichever route you would like. Best of luck

[TK73076]

Thank you again for the info .
Yes she is a US citizen

- - - Updated - - -

Can you point me to the visa bulletin please
New to the boards and using phone for access

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

You could also get married here and pursue consular processing. Let me put it to you this way. It is easier to expedite consular processing than it is to expedite adjustment of status. Once your case leaves the hands of USCIS and gets to the NVC, a US senator can work their **** * and get you to the front of the line for a good reason.

If we were to do it all over again, we would choose the consular processing route. I did not really understand all the ins and outs. My husband is also from Malaysia and we feared him being persecuted for being married to a man. As it turns out, once you are within the US Embassy, everyone is chill about same sex marriage. But outside, pray for your life.

Consular officers have much less discretion over immigrant visas. Yes, you have to proof your marriage is bona fide and you do have to evidence of sufficient financial means to sponsor the immigrant. And yes, they can deny you but it has to be on hard concrete evidence. They cannot just say "I have the discretion to suspect this intending immigrant will become a public charge", if the numbers show that is not the case. Immigration officers have a LOT of discretion. Consular officers do over k-1 but NOT over IR-1/CR-1.

My advice to anyone pursuing consular processing is to just get married, and then file the I-130 and go from there.

All the best,

USCFFS