Is K1 Visa Needed?

[bigtntx]

If my fiance has a passport from a country that does not need a visa to visit the US does he still need to apply for the K1 Visa to start the immigration process? He comes to the US about twice a year with his normal passport. Would we not be able to just get married when comes to US again and then start the process?

[Guest]

If my fiance has a passport from a country that does not need a visa to visit the US does he still need to apply for the K1 Visa to start the immigration process? He comes to the US about twice a year with his normal passport. Would we not be able to just get married when comes to US again and then start the process?

It's risky because tourist visas do not allow dual intent. So if USCIS thinks that your fiance came to get married, you could have a misrepresentation of intent issue. If someone comes to the US and gets married within a certain period of time (you'd have to check, I think it's 60 or 90 days), there is a presumption that they came with intent to marry, which is a visa violation.

Your fiance cannot lie about their intent to come to the US & get married, basically.

A lot of people do it, sometimes it's fine and sometimes it's not.