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  • #1

    Immigration to US

    My fiance is currently in law school while I work. We live in separate states. Her parents keep saying we should do a quickie wedding in the mean time. It's good for my taxes. When she gets out of school, having her green card will make it easier for her to find a job. Otherwise whoever she applies for would have to go through a work visa and why do all that paperwork when they could just hire someone who lives here?

    What do we actually need to do for her immigration? I don't know anything about the process. Do we just get married and fill out paperwork after? Or is it reversed? I only know what to do as far as my job goes (security paperwork and such). She's not planning on getting American citizenship.
    "I've found that when you want to know the truth about someone, that someone is probably the last person you should ask." - House
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  • #2
    No idea, either. This would be the best place to start. http://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship

    I hope this helps ^_^;>
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    • #3
      Quoth EricKei View Post
      No idea, either. This would be the best place to start. http://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship

      I hope this helps ^_^;>
      She doesn't want to be a US citizen though. She wants to keep her current dual-citizenship that she has.
      "I've found that when you want to know the truth about someone, that someone is probably the last person you should ask." - House

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      • #4
        I found http://www.uscis.gov/family/family-u.../fiancee-visas within a couple of links of the site EricKei posted.

        http://www.uscis.gov/family/family-u...nent-residents is relevent if you marry outside the US.
        Last edited by Seshat; 10-06-2014, 01:13 AM.
        Seshat's self-help guide:
        1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
        2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
        3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
        4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

        "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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        • #5
          I thought it would have been a lot more complicated than me filling out one form and her filling out one form (she already lives in the US).

          Holy crap it's expensive.
          Last edited by Greenday; 10-06-2014, 01:25 AM.
          "I've found that when you want to know the truth about someone, that someone is probably the last person you should ask." - House

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          • #6
            Quoth Greenday View Post
            She doesn't want to be a US citizen though. She wants to keep her current dual-citizenship that she has.
            Quoth Greenday View Post
            I thought it would have been a lot more complicated than me filling out one form and her filling out one form (she already lives in the US).

            Holy crap it's expensive.
            She shouldn't need to give that up; some countries make it illegal for their citizens to give up their citizenship. For example, in the UK and Commonwealth countries, you have to have permission of the Queen to do that (there's an office that handles that), but you can't just renounce it like you can US citizenship.

            And yes, it's expensive. ICE reviews these kinds of cases very carefully to prevent fraud. I think they would take a good look at your case and might deny your application because you and your fiance live in separate states.

            If you're really serious about doing this, hire an immigration attorney.
            They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

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            • #7
              As far as I'm aware, if she does go down the route of becoming a US citizen (note that I'm saying if here) she can keep her Canadian citizenship (I do believe you guys are still part of the commonwealth?). I'm only guessing as a friend of mine has done a similar thing, but substituting Australia for Canada (her husband is an Aussie born, her daughter I believe is us and Aussie by birth)
              The best professors are mad scientists! -Zoom

              Now queen of USSR-Land...

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              • #8
                Quoth Sapphire Silk View Post
                I think they would take a good look at your case and might deny your application because you and your fiance live in separate states.

                If you're really serious about doing this, hire an immigration attorney.
                Yea, I was worried about that. It doesn't look good to get married but not live together. What I DO have though is a paper trail through my security paperwork describing the advances in my relationship every step of the way going back two years. Plus I was hoping my work would give me some kind of preference but it might just add scrutiny.

                Probably should, just going to be super expensive. I make enough to cover rent and such but not much else.
                "I've found that when you want to know the truth about someone, that someone is probably the last person you should ask." - House

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                • #9
                  Honestly, I think what you'll save in taxes will get eaten up by what it will cost to get married.

                  And heaven help you if it doesn't work out and you have to get divorced.

                  Honestly, I would wait until you guys can live together and then get married (I presume after she graduates?).
                  They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth Greenday View Post
                    Yea, I was worried about that. It doesn't look good to get married but not live together. What I DO have though is a paper trail through my security paperwork describing the advances in my relationship every step of the way going back two years.
                    it would likely be denied, I was looking into it at one point and talked to several people who had already been through the process. INS can and will come to your house at any time day or night during the first two years to confirm the marriage isn't a sham.

                    Some info here

                    the immigrant must be coming from another country -- a fiancé visa won't be given to someone who is already in the United States.
                    More here
                    Honestly.... the image of that in my head made me go "AWESOME!"..... and then I remembered I am terribly strange.-Red dazes

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                    • #11
                      Fiance Visa doesn't matter. We aren't doing that. She has a student visa for another two years.

                      Not sure why it matters if we live together. Spouses live apart all the time. Hell, half her class is married and lives in different states from their spouses.
                      "I've found that when you want to know the truth about someone, that someone is probably the last person you should ask." - House

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                      • #12
                        My one suggestion to you: document everything. Especially since she still has two years left of school. Why do I say this? Well, I was in a unique position many years ago. On the one hand, I had my British fiancé. On the other, had my longtime friend who happened to work for Immigration. Her job was specifically to dig out the fraudulent green card marriages from all their cases of Americans marrying foreigners who applied for green cards. As my friend told me, in the first email I sent her with pictures of myself and The Brit, there were more photos of the two of us than there were in most of my friend's case files. Basically, the idea here is to prove that you two ARE a couple, and that you want to get married for the usual reason, not for your fiancé to get a green card and stay in the USA. Documentation helps towards that end.

                        "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is                         Still A Customer."

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                        • #13
                          In regards to citizenship, both the USA and Canada allow for dual citizenship. If she has nationality of another country, she should see what their laws are in regards to acquiring another nationality via naturalization: in some cases, she may automatically lose that nationality if she becomes american. For example, unless you apply for retention, you automatically lose South African nationality upon naturalization to another country. The Netherlands also does the same thing, unless you are married to someone with the same nationality.

                          It can get complicated
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                          • #14
                            She doesn't want American citizenship so that's not an issue.

                            We are getting married next month so we'll start the new year with immigration. Should be fun.
                            "I've found that when you want to know the truth about someone, that someone is probably the last person you should ask." - House

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                            • #15
                              Quoth Greenday View Post
                              She doesn't want American citizenship so that's not an issue.

                              We are getting married next month so we'll start the new year with immigration. Should be fun.

                              talk to an immigration lawyer FIRST, getting married to a foreign national without permission from INS is the quickest way to get a student visa revoked, and placed on a ban list from ever returning, as it can be illegal. And filling out the forms wrong can get them rejected and your spouse deported.

                              the application fees are around $1400, plus various other forms are necessary.
                              forms needed are here
                              Honestly.... the image of that in my head made me go "AWESOME!"..... and then I remembered I am terribly strange.-Red dazes

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