Marrying an American in England but wanting to live in US.

11-26-2006, 04:30 PM

Can any one give us some advice? My mum is in the US at the moment on a
6 month visa, visiting a friend, to whom she has just got engaged to. Great
news! They want to get married in England but live in his home town of
Nashville. What steps do they have to take to live as man and wife together
in America, without having to go backwards and forwards between the two
countries once the visa has run out. They are both in their retirement years.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

One concerned daughter

__________________
Message posted via http://www.immigrationkb.com

11-26-2006, 05:22 PM

> Can any one give us some advice? My mum is in the US at the moment on
> a
> 6 month visa, visiting a friend, to whom she has just got engaged to.
> Great
> news! They want to get married in England but live in his home town
> of
> Nashville. What steps do they have to take to live as man and wife
> together
> in America, without having to go backwards and forwards between the
> two
> countries once the visa has run out. They are both in their retirement
> years.
> Any advice greatly appreciated.
>
> One concerned daughter
>
> --
> Message posted via http://www.immigrationkb.com

Get married now in the US .... file for adjustment of her status ..
go back to the UK when thats all sorted out ...

11-26-2006, 06:19 PM

> Get married now in the US .... file for adjustment of her status ..
> go back to the UK when thats all sorted out ...

He will need a visa in order to marry in the UK then she will need a
visa to live in the US.

britainusa.com has the info on UK visas. uscis.gov has the info
on US visas.

11-26-2006, 06:33 PM

> Get married now in the US .... file for adjustment of her status ..
> go back to the UK when thats all sorted out ...

I agree with Ray -- do a civil wedding in the US (or they can make it a
bigger affair if they want) -- they need a marriage certificate to be
able to file for her green card. (File I-130 and I-485, plus
accompanying forms as specified in the instructions to those forms. Add
I-765 if work permit while GC being processed is desired, I-131 if
Advance Parole -- permission to travel while GC being processed -- is
desired, also see note below.)

If she is still in legal status when they file for her green card, she
can also apply for Advance Parole. When they get that they can go to
the UK for a more formal ceremony/celebration there.

Sometimes people (especially younger couples) get hung up with the order
of things, do not want to marry in a civil ceremony first etc. If your
mother wants to do the UK wedding first, she can do that, but it makes
the US immigration part more complex and will likely result in a period
of separation after the wedding while she waits for USC spouse to file
I-130, for I-130 to be approved and sent on to US consulate in the UK,
then wait to be processed for an immigrant visa in the UK.

11-26-2006, 07:00 PM

> Can any one give us some advice? My mum is in the US at the moment on
> a
> 6 month visa, visiting a friend, to whom she has just got engaged to.
> Great
> news! They want to get married in England but live in his home town
> of
> Nashville. What steps do they have to take to live as man and wife
> together
> in America, without having to go backwards and forwards between the
> two
> countries once the visa has run out. They are both in their retirement
> years.
> Any advice greatly appreciated.
>
> One concerned daughter
>
> --
> Message posted via http://www.immigrationkb.com

Hi concerned daughter,

If they really want to get married the way you say, they will have to go
backwards and forwards between the two countries, there's no getting
around it. He will apply for the correct visa to be married in the UK
(which I think is a quick process, for that visa). They will get
married in the UK, then HE will return to the USA and submit an I-130
petition for spouse visa for your mom. At this point, there will be a
period of separation while the process of her immigrant visa goes
on....perhaps about 6 months. When she gets her immigrant visa in hand,
she can come and join him in the USA to live permanently in Nashville
with him. While this is processing, she can come visit again, as long
as she has proof of her ties to the UK. It's easier if he visits her
during that time.

Or, if they don't mind getting married now, in the USA, they can do that
and they can apply to adjust her status to perment resident (AOS), but
she will have to remain in the USA for now. She can apply for AP at the
same time of filing her AOS paperwork, which will allow her to travel
and return to the USA while waiting for her green card to process. Then
at some point later they can have a ceremony in the UK.

Best Wishes,
Rene

11-26-2006, 07:17 PM

> Can any one give us some advice? My mum is in the US at the moment on
> a
> 6 month visa, visiting a friend, to whom she has just got engaged to.
> Great
> news! They want to get married in England but live in his home town
> of
> Nashville. What steps do they have to take to live as man and wife
> together
> in America, without having to go backwards and forwards between the
> two
> countries once the visa has run out. They are both in their retirement
> years.
> Any advice greatly appreciated.
>
> One concerned daughter
>
> --
> Message posted via http://www.immigrationkb.com

Did the answers you got the last time you asked this question not help
in any way?

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t@9623&highlightºckwa-
rds+forwards

11-26-2006, 08:02 PM

Hi Rene,

I seem to recall something about both parties needing to reside in the UK
for a minimum of 6 weeks before applying for a marriage license, and then
the license itself can take quite a while to process (they're about as
accurate as an NTL engineer when it comes to giving you a time frame). I'm
sure this is the problem I had, which is why we ended up just having a
ceremony here with no legalities so that I can start the K1 process and then
get legally married over there - assuming I ever get there at this rate.

Not meaing to sound pessimistic, but isn't there also some concern over
someone entering the US as a tourist and just spontaneously getting married,
i.e. don't USCIS get a bit touchy about things like that when filing for
AOS?

Kind Regards,
Alex

11-26-2006, 09:45 PM

> Hi Rene,
>
> I seem to recall something about both parties needing to reside
> in the UK
> for a minimum of 6 weeks before applying for a marriage license,
> and then
> the license itself can take quite a while to process (they're
> about as
> accurate as an NTL engineer when it comes to giving you a time
> frame). I'm
> sure this is the problem I had, which is why we ended up just
> having a
> ceremony here with no legalities so that I can start the K1
> process and then
> get legally married over there - assuming I ever get there at
> this rate.
>
> Not meaing to sound pessimistic, but isn't there also some concern
> over
> someone entering the US as a tourist and just spontaneously getting
> married,
> i.e. don't USCIS get a bit touchy about things like that when filing
> for
> AOS?
>
>
> Kind Regards,
> Alex

You could be right, I don't know anything about marriage requirements in
the UK. I had heard that actually obtaining the visa to get married in
the UK is very easy, but once in the UK, I have no idea.

Entering as a tourist and spontaneously marrying is OK. If you did not
have the intent to get married when you entered the USA, you can also
stay and AOS in the USA. If you have the intent to come to the USA on a
visitor visa, get married and stay to adjust status, then yes, you could
have potential problems.

Rene

11-27-2006, 11:06 AM

Hi Rene,

> Entering as a tourist and spontaneously marrying is OK. If you did not
> have the intent to get married when you entered the USA, you can also
> stay and AOS in the USA. If you have the intent to come to the USA on a
> visitor visa, get married and stay to adjust status, then yes, you could
> have potential problems.

Is that not essentially what they would be doing though? Heck, if they can
pull it off then more power to them, I wish I'd had the balls to do it
instead of still wasting time and money hanging around in this country apart
from my fiancee, but many people advised me not to due to the complications
it causes.

Kind Regards,
Alex

11-27-2006, 02:37 PM

> Hi Rene,
>
> > Entering as a tourist and spontaneously marrying is OK. If you did
> > not
> > have the intent to get married when you entered the USA, you can
> > also
> > stay and AOS in the USA. If you have the intent to come to the USA
> > on a
> > visitor visa, get married and stay to adjust status, then yes, you
> > could
> > have potential problems.
>
> Is that not essentially what they would be doing though? Heck, if
> they can
> pull it off then more power to them, I wish I'd had the balls to do it
> instead of still wasting time and money hanging around in this country
> apart
> from my fiancee, but many people advised me not to due to the
> complications
> it causes.
>
> Kind Regards,
> Alex

It wasn't clear from the original post what her mum's intent was when
she entered the USA. She only said they are now engaged.

Rene