Getting married to H1B holder while I'm on B2

[Kaybee]

Hi,
I'm an IT professional and going to be unemployed soon. My fiance is in USA and working on H1B visa.
I'm planning to get a B2 visa for myself and then get married in USA and then apply for H4 either while in USA or after coming back to India.
I want to ask -
1. Will it be a good idea to get married in USA for the purpose of applying H4?
2. Will the marriage certificate and pics received after USA marriage valid and sufficient to start H4 processing?
3. Should there be a suggested time gap to get married after entering USA so that USCIS doesn't think that marriage is the sole purpose to visit USA. (Though I'm getting married to an alien. He has no GC and neither any processing like that is going on)
4. Where should I file for H4, India or USA?

Thanks in anticipation !
- Kaybee

[raghvi]

Hi,
I'm an IT professional and going to be unemployed soon. My fiance is in USA and working on H1B visa.
I'm planning to get a B2 visa for myself and then get married in USA and then apply for H4 either while in USA or after coming back to India.
I want to ask -
1. Will it be a good idea to get married in USA for the purpose of applying H4?
2. Will the marriage certificate and pics received after USA marriage valid and sufficient to start H4 processing?
3. Should there be a suggested time gap to get married after entering USA so that USCIS doesn't think that marriage is the sole purpose to visit USA. (Though I'm getting married to an alien. He has no GC and neither any processing like that is going on)
4. Where should I file for H4, India or USA?

Thanks in anticipation !
- Kaybee

Any particular reason why you dont want to marry in India or in your Fiancee's home country (if not India)? Primary purpose of B2 is tourism and getting married on B2 is not advisable as when one files a Change of Status from B2 to H4 the intent of B2 gets questioned. Advisable to get married in India and fiel H4 in India. This is my opinion not legal advice.

[Kaybee]

Any particular reason why you dont want to marry in India or in your Fiancee's home country (if not India)? Primary purpose of B2 is tourism and getting married on B2 is not advisable as when one files a Change of Status from B2 to H4 the intent of B2 gets questioned. Advisable to get married in India and fiel H4 in India. This is my opinion not legal advice.

Thanks Raghvi for a quick reply.
The only reason to get married in USA is that my fiance cannot travel to India for the next 6-8 months due to some priority project assignment. So, we had a thought to get married in this way to start H4 processing ASAP. Though we are planning to get married in India somewhere mid next year. Do you think to get married on B2 after spending 3-4 months is USA will be less objectionable while filing for change of status?

[raghvi]

Thanks Raghvi for a quick reply.
The only reason to get married in USA is that my fiance cannot travel to India for the next 6-8 months due to some priority project assignment. So, we had a thought to get married in this way to start H4 processing ASAP. Though we are planning to get married in India somewhere mid next year. Do you think to get married on B2 after spending 3-4 months is USA will be less objectionable while filing for change of status?

See the issue is not much about marriage, the difficulty is in getting a successful Change of Status from B2 to H4. Sometimes it takes a long time and by the time decision comes , if in negative, the B2 I-94 would have expired and one would have been out of status. Many a times the time taken for B2 to H4 COS approval is much more than the time taken for getting a fresh H4 in one's home country. All these are hypothetical situations as you still haven't got a B2. I would say that you should first focus on getting a B2 as getting a B2 for a single non earning lady is in itself a not so easy task nowadays. This is my opinion not legal advice.

[mickey_mouse]

See the issue is not much about marriage, the difficulty is in getting a successful Change of Status from B2 to H4. Sometimes it takes a long time and by the time decision comes , if in negative, the B2 I-94 would have expired and one would have been out of status. Many a times the time taken for B2 to H4 COS approval is much more than the time taken for getting a fresh H4 in one's home country. All these are hypothetical situations as you still haven't got a B2. I would say that you should first focus on getting a B2 as getting a B2 for a single non earning lady is in itself a not so easy task nowadays. This is my opinion not legal advice.

To add - the whole situation looks fishy. Even if your fiancee cannot travel to India at this time for you to get married there, the USCIS would wonder why you couldn't wait - getting married is (usually) not a snap decision. To add even more - it is well known that indians do this whole tap and dance of "fire ceremony" and whatnot, and getting married is a bit of an event - again, USCIS would wonder why you two skipped that & denied both families of the wedding reception.

Up to you, but I don't see this working out. And as raghvi said - with your current situation (age, employment) I wouldn't count on even getting a B2 visa.

[erca]

Can a B2 Visa holder in US marry H1 Visa person in US?

Hi Kaybee,

I've been in same situation and where my Fiance`is on B2 in US and I am on H1 Visa status in US. I can't go back to India due to some reason and we decided to marry here in US. She is already in US and will complete more than 90 days before our wedding. I am curious to know about happened to your case and situation? I see the post is long back in 2012, and now laws are changed but still want to touch-base with you regarding same.

Please let me know what challenges you had faced and how you overrode them?


Regards,
ERCA