US citizen marries an alien

[ConfusedHusband]

I have a friend who is a US citizen and he plans to marry his fiance who is of foreign nationality. Can he marry her while she is here on B1 visa and then change her status without the need to go through the fiance visa process?

[Russell]

My cousin did this with his wife, who was initially here on a student VISA but to maintain legal status switched to a B-1 VISA. My understanding is that it is very important to always maintain status.

[ConfusedHusband]

So did it go well? I mean everything went fine and she got her green card?

[Russell]

I only see this cousin maybe 2 times a year at big family gatherings. I know his wife eventually got her green card but I do not know how long it took. Perhaps asking in the B-1 forum or the AOS forum would get a better answer than I have.

The wife did say that it was a PITA to stay in status and used several different employers, all the companies know that you need your job for the VISA so they pay you little money and exploit voluntary hours and such. She does not like to talk about these things so I did not get many details from her.