Getting Married and live in USA

There are two ways to approach your situation.

You may apply for a Fiancee Visa, which will require you to marry within 90 days of your arrival in the USA.

You may also enter the USA on a Tourist Visa and get married.

Once married you will need to return to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service and submit all the necessary forms in order to change your visa status and obtain a work permit, paying all the necessary fees.

In either case it is likely you will be permitted to remain in the USA while the process is completed, it is rare that once married legally anyone is ordered to return to their home country to wait for approval. It can happen, but it is not likely.

You will, of course, need to meet all the other requirements for permanency including having a clear criminal history. You will be required to produce a Criminal Records Check from your home country.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Thank you William .. I appreciate ur help.

wjwoodward wrote:

In either case it is likely you will be permitted to remain in the USA while the process is completed, it is rare that once married legally anyone is ordered to return to their home country to wait for approval. It can happen, but it is not likely.

I've heard of people who went back to their home country while the paperwork was going through and weren't allowed back in the US.

Yes I have heard about that 2..
m just trying to find the best way to do it..
whether get married to her in Egypt then travel.. or travel then get married.. which is better I can't decide.
Thank you for your comment.

wjwoodward wrote:

You may also enter the USA on a Tourist Visa and get married.

Once married you will need to return to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service and submit all the necessary forms in order to change your visa status and obtain a work permit, paying all the necessary fees.

In either case it is likely you will be permitted to remain in the USA while the process is completed, it is rare that once married legally anyone is ordered to return to their home country to wait for approval. It can happen, but it is not likely.

Last year, I looked into the procedure for a non-American to marry an American and according to my information, if you want to use a marriage that takes place in the USA as the basis for residence in the USA, you cannot do it on a tourist visa. Marriage in the US with the intention to reside in the US after the wedding took place had to be done on a fiancé(e) visa. Maybe this rule has changed though?

Yes That is true, as u have to prove that you are going on pleasure and you have to show also that you are returning back to your country by the end of your visit.. this is what I understand though of what I have read. 
Thank you for your comment.

Fiancee Visa is a good option for you where they give the best service for you.

thank you rjones,
if it was like that then fine.. I'm just a fraid so they starting hassling us,
I still can married her here .. then we travel.. but I don't know which is better to do.
but it sounds like the best way so far fiance visa..
do I need alot of money so they could accept my visa or how it works ???

Thank you

Hey Ahmed,

Let me share my personal experience. I'm French and I fell in love with an American girl during my vacation in the USA 4 years ago now. After traveling back and forth for one year, I decided to come back in the US with a tourist visa for 3 months and marry her. The papers took a while (even with a lawyer) and cost some money but I don't regret a thing.

-Lucca

every thing will be fine:)

Hey fatlucas,

that really gave me a push and chair me up ..
But m not sure if I can even got a visit to here..as m Arab and as u know.. it took too much hassle to get even a tourist visa.. and I guess it also require enough bank balance which i don't have.. I mean u got to be rich so u could visit the stats.. m not rich.. or what do u think ????
but it is still something to considerate.
Ahmed..

Thank you air mattress

I have fiance in Michigan,USA.Now we are trying our best so i can go to USA and we can get married there.But things not so simple than we thought because for Indonesia people if wanna asking USA visa not easy to do.USA Embassy in Jakarta said that i must hv a good deposit at least from 3 months before and it's about $10.000. I don't know it's that true or not.Actually if it is that true i guess we are stuck,both of us.Guys....do you have any idea about how am gonna fix and solve this problem?Thank you.

Hi All,

I am a South African engaged to an American lady. She lives in the USA and I live in South Africa. We want to get married next year in America after she visits RSA for 3 months. I'll get the fiancee visa in order to do it and then know I have to (once married) apply for premanent residency and a work permit and apply to have my status changed.......that whole process. The two things I want to know are, once married and I apply for the change of status, how long before I will be able to get a job and work.....and is it possible for me to get a visa that will allow me to travel to RSA and return to America before my perminent residency has gone through. I am recently divorced and have two youngish children, so would not like to wait a whole year before I can go and visit them again.

Any suggestions or perspective would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

ECS wrote:

wjwoodward wrote:

You may also enter the USA on a Tourist Visa and get married.

Once married you will need to return to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service and submit all the necessary forms in order to change your visa status and obtain a work permit, paying all the necessary fees.

In either case it is likely you will be permitted to remain in the USA while the process is completed, it is rare that once married legally anyone is ordered to return to their home country to wait for approval. It can happen, but it is not likely.

Last year, I looked into the procedure for a non-American to marry an American and according to my information, if you want to use a marriage that takes place in the USA as the basis for residence in the USA, you cannot do it on a tourist visa. Marriage in the US with the intention to reside in the US after the wedding took place had to be done on a fiancé(e) visa. Maybe this rule has changed though?

I would be very careful entering the U.S. as a tourist, marrying your fiancée and applying for legal permanent residence in the U.S.  The U.S. immigration services could consider that you had the intention to immigrate when you entered the U.S. as a tourist (non-immigrant status) and this could be a ground for them to deny your case.  That being said, being under tourist visa would not warrant an automatic denial of your case.

You have different options but in any case you will have to establish that it is a real marriage and provide proofs of this...

Good luck !

Florian/ Florida wrote:

I would be very careful entering the U.S. as a tourist, marrying your fiancée and applying for legal permanent residence in the U.S.  The U.S. immigration services could consider that you had the intention to immigrate when you entered the U.S. as a tourist (non-immigrant status) and this could be a ground for them to deny your case.

yes, this is exactly what I said in my own post. I was looking into marriage in the US for a different purpose. We are both living legally in another country and the USA is simply the place where a wedding is likely the cheapest, and the paperwork is simplest. We'd basically be using the US as a destination wedding venue, and neither of us have any plan to use our US-based wedding as basis for immediate permanent residency in the States.

My information is the same as yours- if you're coming to the US to marry a US citizen with the intention to use that marriage as a basis for staying, you have to come in on a fiance visa.

ECS:" yes, this is exactly what I said in my own post. I was looking into marriage in the US for a different purpose. We are both living legally in another country and the USA is simply the place where a wedding is likely the cheapest, and the paperwork is simplest. We'd basically be using the US as a destination wedding venue, and neither of us have any plan to use our US-based wedding as basis for immediate permanent residency in the States."

I know you made this post a while ago but perhaps you can help reassure me. Like you, I live legally with my American fiance in another country and I am planning to marry him in the US before returning to our home. It is just easier for many reasons, for us to marry in his home city. I have no intention of residing in the USA on the basis of the marriage. We may do much later in which case, we will apply through the appropriate embassy and complete the process from abroad. Did you already get married, and do you have any advice?
I'm told that my intentions are totally legal and legitimate - I just can't help being a little anxious especially as wedding planning is stressful enough!
Thank you in advance

I would definitely suggest using getting a fiance visa. It;s the easiest way to do it and shows your intentions. I am English and my husband is American and we live in the US so I went through the same thing. It's frustrating and takes a while but it's worth it in the end!

Florian/ Florida wrote:

I would be very careful entering the U.S. as a tourist, marrying your fiancée and applying for legal permanent residence in the U.S.  The U.S. immigration services could consider that you had the intention to immigrate when you entered the U.S. as a tourist (non-immigrant status) and this could be a ground for them to deny your case.  That being said, being under tourist visa would not warrant an automatic denial of your case.

You have different options but in any case you will have to establish that it is a real marriage and provide proofs of this...

Good luck !

That's absolutely right. American INS authorities look very closely at any marriage that takes place on a tourist visa, and will do everything to prove that it was your INTENTION to marry when you applied for that visa. This is a clear immigrations violation and can result in you being barred from entering the USA for 5 years. If you were to travel outside of the country for any reason you would stand a great chance of NOT being allowed back in. That is really not worth the risk.

BishopK wrote:

I would definitely suggest using getting a fiance visa. It;s the easiest way to do it and shows your intentions. I am English and my husband is American and we live in the US so I went through the same thing. It's frustrating and takes a while but it's worth it in the end!

I don't think a fiance visa is appropriate for our situation as we have to return to a different country, the one where we currently live, for our work commitments, apartment etc. A fiance visa is only suitable for those intending to convert their residency status following the marriage, right?

Regardless of those that have successfully done this, to those thinking of coming in with a tourist visa, getting married and then staying, please understand that the penalty of a failed application is up to a lifetime ban.

The issue is intent.

When you applied at the embassy for a tourist visa, did you tell the CO that you're going to get married? I think not as the application will be denied and you'll be asked to file for fiancé visa.

When you arrive at the Poe and you're asked for the purpose of your visit and you tell them for tourism then you'll have lied to immigration.

Do yourself and your fellow countrymen a favor, don't abuse the visa process and maybe folks from mena countries will find it easier to get tourist visas in the future.

It's not that hard to get a fiancé/ spousal visa as long a you meet the requirements and can convince the co that yours is a valid and viable relationship.

VillageHeadMaster wrote:

The issue is intent.

Bingo.

Hi everyone,  thank you all for the information about the visas,  this is a great help. And thank you for VillageHeadMaster for his good advice. Its true, the best way is to do things clearly as much as possible.
Best regards

Momone

Thank you for the responses. I am going to get married in the USA while traveling on my ESTA and I will make sure I tell the truth when asked about the purpose of my trip at immigration. I'm not breaking any laws by getting married there as long as long as I don't lie, or try to stay past the 90 days. Good luck to everyone in similar situations!

Excellent info!  Thank you kindly!! Positive!