Getting married to my Fiance then what?

[sanders]

Hi, I'm an American citizen and my fiancee together with her 2 daugther (both minors) are coming over to the U.S. for a visit next month on a Visitors visa. We plan to marry early next year while she is in the U.S. She is divorced to her first husband. What should our next step be in order that she and her daugthers could stay permamently here in the U.S. without going back to her home country? Thanks so much in advance!

[taco]

They created a fiancee visa(k1) for fiances of US citizens to come to US and
get married. They take a dim view of people getting married on visitor visas especially people who already have plans to get married when they arrive
on a visitor visa. This is because a visitor visa is meant for visits and
and not for permanent stay.

If your fiancee is going to apply for a visitor visa for this purpose,
she will be denied. If she already has one, there may be trouble later.

I advise you take the proper route---
* file for her fiancee visa(takes some time) OR
* go get married where she lives and file for her
immigrant visa at the US consulate there
*OR get married where she lives and come back and file at the Immigration in US.

[joeelove]

I'd like to add one thing. No matter which way you decide, make sure that you significant other never overstays the tourist visa, even if you get married. I agree with the other responder and think the best thing to do is have your fiancee go back home and then you file for the fiancee visa. And even if you get married as soon as she arrives her tourist visa will have expired before any I-130 paper work is even approved. And if you get married on a tourist visa, you will have to answer for that later.

Also, I've learned the hard way that immigration laws are so complex that only the people writing them and interpreting them actually know the correct way for your situation. The lawyer I spoke to initially wanted 4k per person, I didn't have it, decided to file papers myself and my wife was rejected last week because she overstayed her visa.

Remember, they want you to screw up so that they can deny you. And they have no problems splitting up families.

[timinden]

I know I have worried over the fiance' visa process to get my girl to the united states. I searched long and hard to find the way to do it correctly. If I was you I would think about what your intial proposel was and follow all the rules that apply to the fiance visa. There is no reason why you cant start the process and file the petition while your fiance is in the united states on the visitor visa. But I think she will have to be in her country for the interview.