Resident getting married to tourist [closed]

I'm a permanent resident of the USA and my fiancé came as a tourist with her son for 3 months. After been together here, I don't want her to go back to Chile and have her wait another year for her to come back. Her son just started school here, we are planning to get married so she doesn't have to go back. Will this prevent her from having to go back so we can stay together as a family?

Best Answer

The process for getting permanent residency inside the US is Adjustment of Status; the process for getting permanent residency at a US consulate abroad is Consular Processing. Both of those processes require a visa number to be available first. The spouse of a permanent resident is in the F2A category, which has a wait for visa numbers of around 2 years. That means you have to wait until about that long after filing the I-130 petition (which can only be filed after the marriage) before she can proceed to either AOS or CP if she qualifies. (For AOS, in some months, it is possible to file a little earlier, but it doesn't make a significant difference in your case.)

Since she is not in the Immediate Relative category (spouse, unmarried under-21 child, or parent of US citizen), she is required to be in status at the time of applying for Adjustment of Status. If she is on B2 visitor status, that is usually for no more than 6 months, far shorter than the 1-2 year wait for visa numbers before she can file. If she is a visitor on the Visa Waiver Program, she is not allowed to do Adjustment of Status at all since she is not in the Immediate Relative category.

The proper way would be for her to leave on time and wait to do Consular Processing abroad when a visa number becomes available. If she stays illegally in the US, there is no way for her to get permanent residency no matter how long she waits, unless you become a US citizen.

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What happens if you get married while on a tourist visa?

Legally, there is nothing wrong with getting married while you are in the U.S. as a visitor (on a B-2 visa), if you return home at the end of your permitted stay.

Can a permanent resident marry a tourist?

How to Get a Green Card If You're On a Visitor Visa. If you're visiting the United States for business or pleasure on a B-1/B-2 visitor visa and you recently married a U.S. citizen or green card holder (permanent resident), you can apply for a marriage visa to live with your spouse in the United States.

Can I marry a visiting foreigner?

Can I Marry A US Citizen on A Tourist Visa? The short answer is: yes, you can get married in the US while on a B-1/B-2 tourist visa or on a visa waiver program. There is nothing in the regulations that say individuals who are in the US as visitors cannot get married.

Can a permanent resident marry a foreigner?

As a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you're free to marry a foreign national or non-citizen immigrant - but you'll need to consider immigration laws to move your new spouse to the U.S. permanently.

GETTING MARRIED While on a Tourist Visa? Caution!!! Watch This First!

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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