Brit marrying US citizen

[lucielou]

I'm hoping I can hear from some of you who have had a similar experience to date.
I am British and living in France and my US fiancee who I have been with for 8 years is working at sea which has made a wedding very tricky in our limited time frame. We have a 6 year old daughter and want to settle in the US together.
We have explored the option of applying for a fiancee visa and then making the move to the States however while my partner was in Grenada with his boat, the US consulate advised that the speediest way would be for us to enter Florida on a tourist visa, then marry and apply for a change of situation.
Has anyone else had experience of this? I would love to hear from anyone who has gone through this process and hear their thoughts

[cat_haidz]

Brit marrying US citizen

Hi! Im a British Citizen and got married to an American. We have been together for 10 years but were geographically apart as I had to wait for my husband's immigration status. I moved to the US on tourist visa last November as per advise by our lawyer then applied for a change of status. My petition is still in progress but I have already received my Authorization to work card to enable me to legally work here.
So Yes, its the quickest way to get permanent status then get petition whilst you are in your homeland which will take years.

[lucielou]

Thanks Cat that is very interesting information! I'll definitely look into it further

[mclarenfan316]

I am in a similar situation. All the attorneys I spoke to said you shouldn't think about coming on a visitor visa and changing your status as it is illegal to come on a visitor visa with the intention of marriage. Hmmmm I am thinking if I should choose this option as it is the fastest, but risky.

[peace999]

People do this all the time but there is a definite risk in this. Most risk-free situations are those when there is no intent to do this when entering US as a visitor.
For example , you enter as a genuine visitor , meet someone in US , get married and adjust to GC.

At the green card interview they will probe the situation when you met , where you met and what you said when entering as a visitor.

On the other hand, adopting the safer route ;
waiting for an immigrant visa at home country just takes 6-7 months longer which is a small duration looking at the importance of this process.