Immigration worries

[UnderBlue]

Right now I''m wanting to tear out my hair and get in the fetal position and cry!

My bf has a non-immigrant visa approved to come work in the US. We just realized some of the implications of the terms of his visa: like not being able to get engaged or married becasue it might look like he''s only coming to the US to marry a US citizen. It sounds like there''s some rule about being accused of entry fraud if he takes any action that could lead immigration to thinking he wants to stay here permanently within 30 days of his entry. I think we''d be OK if we were entering the US and staying there until we got married, but we''re taking a trip mid-summer, so there''d be a 30-day waiting period again. And it seems like INS will get suspicious if the wedding doesn''t seem "spontaneous." So we certainly can''t have the wedding we were planning if that''s the case. I would think going ahead and telling everyone, but telling them to keep quiet would be akin to lying, so wouldn''t be a good solution.

There goes getting engaged soon! I thought everything was going to be OK. He was even going to propose the other night, but then got drunker than he thought he was going to and didn''t want to propose drunk. I guess we''d be in a different boat if we had gotten engaged and told everyone already.

So much red tape and bureaucracy! Have any of y''all had to deal with immigration issues?

 

[cally]

I mean, I know they have to worry about these sort of things because it''s their job, but it seems terribly unfair to deny someone that sort of thing... I''d think a spontaneous wedding would be more suspect? I don''t know. I don''t have any immigration issue insight, I''m just sorry you have to go through this.

 

[jjdav]

Hi Underblue,

Sorry to hear you''re faced with potential red tape issues, my hubby and I had to work through some paperwork also and it was rather stressful. A few things I can share with you are, check his status with an immigration lawyer, best to know what all of the rules are first. If you only require a short consultation, you may not even need to pay. We found out there were quite a few nuanced rules that were subject to interpretation. Do a Google search on immigration forums, there are a lot of people out there going through the same thing and you can submit specific questions based your BF''s visa type. I think it''s against PS rules to post links to these sites, but don''t worry, they are very easy to find.

Best of luck!

 

[choro72]

1. ask a lawyer!

2. Now here is what I think, but keep in mind that I am NOT an expert. I had a student visa, and finished my immigration process last year.
Did you meet him AFTER he has entered the US to work? How long has he been working with the visa? How long have you been dating? Did he find a job, enter the US, work a while, then met you? All of this matters. I think if he has been working under the visa for a while, they will understand that a vacation is just that. Visa workers leave overseas for vacation, family related issues, or for work all the time. INS is not going to simply look at his re-entry stamp and say "AHA! FRAUD!".

I'm assuming that he is going to apply for a Green Card once you are married. They are going to ask you questions like "How did you meet?" "What does he wear to sleep?". Things that show that your relationship is real. They are trained for this, and they will know if he is trying to take advantage of the system.
Some things that can help you is joined credit card statements, joined cell phone bills, pictures, joined rent, joined insurance, joined anything. We printed out tons of pictures of us dating. Anything to prove that we decided to get married because we wanted to.

My suggestion is to ask an immigration lawyer. Your company or your boyfriend's company might have someone who can help you. I was on a Student Visa, but I think the issues are pretty similar. My FI's company had lawyers that can represent the workers for free, so we went to him to help us. He ended up been useless, but it ended very smoothly. Enjoy your relationship! From my experience "spontaneous" wedding is actually bad, but I don't want to be held responsible for such a statement. I can elaborate more of my experience if you would like, but again, I'm not an expert.

ETA, FI and I left the country a few times to travel. No trouble. It was actually good, because we had lots of pictures to show.

 

[UnderBlue]

Date: 2/8/2010 3:07:07 AM
Author: choro72
Did you meet him AFTER he has entered the US to work? How long has he been working with the visa? How long have you been dating? Did he find a job, enter the US, work a while, then met you? All of this matters. I think if he has been working under the visa for a while, they will understand that a vacation is just that. Visa workers leave overseas for vacation, family related issues, or for work all the time. INS is not going to simply look at his re-entry stamp and say ''AHA! FRAUD!''.

We''ve been dating just over 2 years. He hasn''t entered the US yet. We met online while we were in different countries, I moved to his country to live with him for the last 17 months and now we''re moving back to the US since he''s gotten a very good job (and my visa for the other country expired). So we have an established relationship, which is kind of the problem. We have been keeping paperwork to prove how long we''ve been together for the PR paperwork in the future: Leases, utilities for the same address in our separate names, we have *tons* of photos from traveling together and hanging out with friends.

We''ve asked his company''s lawyer and hopefully he''ll get back to us tomorrow, but I''m not expecting it to be good news.

Bleh, we''ll see. It''s especially annoying since I thought things were going to work out and now, not so much.

 

[luckynumber]

i know it''s frustrating, but this whole process is a great test of your relationship and a chance to come through a major problem together, and be stronger for it.

i''m just trying to look for a silver lining i guess!

i''m sorry you are going through this, good luck to you both

 

[purselover]

What a tough situation! I unfortunately can''t offer any advice but I want to send ***HUGS***

 

[janinegirly]

UB: based on this and your previous thread (re: wanting to plan a wedding before a proposal), I would take your time and not rush into marriage. A lot of things going on here.

And he was about to propose but then got too drunk? Sorry just seeing red flags everywhere.

I wish you a lot of luck though!

 

[zipzapgirl]

I''ve been through the residency application interviews for my husband and my experience was very similar to what choro72 was describing earlier. We had to produce all kinds of financial docs to show that we were establishing joint financial accounts, owning cars/property, and that we were also having a public relationship (as in, our families and friends were aware of it, we celebrated a wedding, we had integrated into each others'' lives, etc).

It seems like you have all of the background to be able to easily prove your relationship is "bona fide " (and by the way, that always seems weird to say!

) I think your biggest issue seems to be that your boyfriend has the wrong type of visa. There are a lot of suggestions I''ll make below that might be inconvenient or not ideal, but i think ultimately you''ll make your life easier if you try not buck the system.

1) Look into switching to a fiance visa. Or another type of visa.
2) Don''t take the summer trip. No need to push the envelope and get punished for this 30 day technicality.
3) You will be seeking to prove later on in the process that your wedding was not spontaneous and based on a LT relationship. I think you''re shooting yourself in the foot if you try to argue one thing and then argue another later.
4) You have a positive on your side in that you met in the other country. Immigration officials are then less likely to believe the marriage is a sham marriage to stay in the country because of this.
5) Don''t get formally engaged, announce anything in writing or contract with vendors while he is in his blackout stage. Again, just avoid these technicalities.
6) If you''re having a lot of issues with the immigration authorities, consider living in a third country for a bit. Let the smoke blow over and it will be a lot easier once you can prove you''ve been married for a while.

I think you just need to be creative in how you approach the situation and accept that having two citizenships might complicate things a little bit sometimes. Remember that ultimately you will be going through these marriage interviews, so keep your story consistant and straight. It''s a love story after all, right?

 

[Prana]

I tried to post earlier but it wouldn''t let me.

I''m sorry you are going through this, UnderBlue. I don''t really have any advice to offer, but I hope all of your problems work themselves out smoothly, and in your best interest.

I am seeing a few red flags here, as well. In your last thread, you were worried about planning a wedding without a proposal. Now we learn that there are immigration issues. I would hate to think that you are making decisions for the wrong reasons, or rushing to get married for the wrong reasons.

Another red flag: He was going to propose but then went and got too drunk??? Um, huh? So getting drunk was more important than asking you to marry him? Or BECAUSE he was drunk, he decided that if he wasn''t drunk he was going to propose? Either way, not good.

You also said in your other thread that you didn''t want people to think your BF was a jerk. After having you tell us that your BF was going to propose but then got drunk instead, I''m sorry, but I think he''s a jerk!

I just really hope that you are being true to yourself and your best interests.

 

[LilyKat]

Zipzapgirl has given you great advice and I have nothing more to add on that front.

I also strongly agree that you need to talk to an experienced lawyer and find out what the situation really is.

And just a caution - you mentioned in your previous thread that you have been contacting vendors, bartering with photographers, and generally taking steps that would be seen by immigration officials as PLANNING A WEDDING. If you are intending to that the wedding look/be spontaneous - you''d better stop that now. Your email and phone records aren''t as private as you might think.

 

[4ever]

BF and I are having deal with immigration issues at the moment as well, so while I don''t live in the US, I totally feel for what your going through.

BF and I met online as well about five and a half years ago but lived in differnt countries. I went to the UK for three months to live with him and he went trough the process of trying to move to NZ to live with me. He got a working holiday visa which means he can be here for two years and work for one. He got a good job so is only a few months away from having worked here a year so needs a residency visa to continue to work. He''ll apply for one with his job, pervious experience and education which should IN THEORY allow him to get the visa but we are also going to apply for a relationship visa incase the other dosn''t work out for whatever stupid reason.

I am mad that I have to come up with all this "proof" of our relationship so some random person can judge weather or not we get to live together in my native country. Rationally I know this should work out and there is no reason for them to refuse either visa but I am scared we will be forced to leave the country to be together. I love living here

.

 

[UnderBlue]

We just got a response from the company lawyer and he seems to think us getting/being engaged won''t be an issue and as long as we wait at least 30 days (60 days is better) after entering the country to get married, it shouldn''t raise red flags. Even with the summer trip he seems to think there won''t be any issues.

I honestly didn''t think of or realize these issues until a couple days ago.

There are no red flags in my relationship. By drunk, I mean we went out to dinner and split some sangria like we always do. Sometimes one glass gets you all tipsy, sometimes it takes three, so that night for him it was the one glass. And he didn''t want to propose while not being 100% present, which makes total sense.

Getting married has zero to do with immigration and there aren''t any issues yet, it was a breeze for his employment visa, it''s just making sure we do things right so there aren''t issues in the future, he wants to be a citizen one day.

So thinking about these things I realized John Krazinski (Jim on the Office) is getting married to Emily Blunt (she''s British right?) how do they deal with immigration crap like this? Very expensive lawyers I''m sure, haha.

 

[rierie26]

Date: 2/8/2010 7:54:04 PM
Author: UnderBlue
We just got a response from the company lawyer and he seems to think us getting/being engaged won''t be an issue and as long as we wait at least 30 days (60 days is better) after entering the country to get married, it shouldn''t raise red flags. Even with the summer trip he seems to think there won''t be any issues.


I honestly didn''t think of or realize these issues until a couple days ago.


There are no red flags in my relationship. By drunk, I mean we went out to dinner and split some sangria like we always do. Sometimes one glass gets you all tipsy, sometimes it takes three, so that night for him it was the one glass. And he didn''t want to propose while not being 100% present, which makes total sense.


Getting married has zero to do with immigration and there aren''t any issues yet, it was a breeze for his employment visa, it''s just making sure we do things right so there aren''t issues in the future, he wants to be a citizen one day.


So thinking about these things I realized John Krazinski (Jim on the Office) is getting married to Emily Blunt (she''s British right?) how do they deal with immigration crap like this? Very expensive lawyers I''m sure, haha.

Dealing with immigration is one of life''s biggest hassles. I would still see a separate immigration lawyer since immigration rules can be very complex and nuanced (as you are finding out!).

It''s seems so counterintuitive that they would think he was marrying for a greencard since he was already approved for a working visa, but that''s immigration laws for you.

Good luck!

 

[AustenNut]

UnderBlue, I''m glad that the immigration lawyer was able to soothe your worries a bit. I second the idea of getting another immigration attorney''s opinion, just to be safe.

And considering all of your worries of late, I would not necessarily try and rush to the altar as it appears as though a lot is going on.