Harps

Hello all;

I have not posted on this board before so i hope everything goes ok,
... i would very much appreciate any help and advice anyone has to
offer.

My and my wife have known eachother for 8 years, for the past 2 years i
have been visiting her in the USA (VWP) every month and a half or so
for about 1 month each time. I have never overstayed or borken any
immigration laws.

In January we got married in the USA, i have now returned to the UK
within 90 days and plan to going back in March to file the packet for
adjustment of status. I am expecting to stay in March for a few months
while my application is pending. I have been told by an Immigration
officer i spoke to vis InfoPass that i could get a greencard within 3
months of filing provided i do it in the USA, can anybody relate to
this as it seems too good to be true??

Also, if i immediately apply for work aurthorisation with the rest of
forms in March when will i get the work authorisation? WIll it be
before or after my initial petition is approved? Does anyone know if
its best to mail the forms or take them to the local immigration centre
in the USA?

I am more concerned with getting my work authorisation than the green
card as it will let me find work, get a SSN and earn money.

Any help would be very much appreicated, i need it and would be very
grateful.

Thanks, ...

Crg14624

> Hello all;
> I have not posted on this board before so i hope everything goes ok,
> ... i would very much appreciate any help and advice anyone has to
> offer.
> My and my wife have known eachother for 8 years, for the past 2 years
> i
> have been visiting her in the USA (VWP) every month and a half or so
> for about 1 month each time. I have never overstayed or borken any
> immigration laws.
> In January we got married in the USA, i have now returned to the UK
> within 90 days and plan to going back in March to file the packet for
> adjustment of status. I am expecting to stay in March for a few months
> while my application is pending. I have been told by an Immigration
> officer i spoke to vis InfoPass that i could get a greencard within 3
> months of filing provided i do it in the USA, can anybody relate to
> this as it seems too good to be true??
> Also, if i immediately apply for work aurthorisation with the rest of
> forms in March when will i get the work authorisation? WIll it be
> before or after my initial petition is approved? Does anyone know if
> its best to mail the forms or take them to the local immigration
> centre
> in the USA?
> I am more concerned with getting my work authorisation than the green
> card as it will let me find work, get a SSN and earn money.
> Any help would be very much appreicated, i need it and would be very
> grateful.
> Thanks, ...

Once you decide that you intend to immigrate to the US and depart
foreign then it is unlawful for you to seek entry to the US under the
visa waiver program with the intention if adjusting status to permanent
resident. You should seek an immigrant visa in your country before
returning to the US. With an immigrant visa, you will recieve work
authorization and permission to travel at entry. Adjusting status will
usually take more than 3 months. You will have peace of mind when you
do it the right way. You may be able to visit the US while the
immigrant visa is processing provided that you can prove to the officer
that you plan to depart and get the immigrant visa versus adjusting
status. You can be denied entry for fraud (and barred for life) or for
being an intended immigrant if you intend to adjust and still seek
admission under the visa waiver program. Good luck.

--

Elvira

> Hello all;
> I have not posted on this board before so i hope everything goes ok,
> ... i would very much appreciate any help and advice anyone has to
> offer.
> My and my wife have known eachother for 8 years, for the past 2 years
> i
> have been visiting her in the USA (VWP) every month and a half or so
> for about 1 month each time. I have never overstayed or borken any
> immigration laws.
> In January we got married in the USA, i have now returned to the UK
> within 90 days and plan to going back in March to file the packet for
> adjustment of status. I am expecting to stay in March for a few months
> while my application is pending. I have been told by an Immigration
> officer i spoke to vis InfoPass that i could get a greencard within 3
> months of filing provided i do it in the USA, can anybody relate to
> this as it seems too good to be true??
> Also, if i immediately apply for work aurthorisation with the rest of
> forms in March when will i get the work authorisation? WIll it be
> before or after my initial petition is approved? Does anyone know if
> its best to mail the forms or take them to the local immigration
> centre
> in the USA?
> I am more concerned with getting my work authorisation than the green
> card as it will let me find work, get a SSN and earn money.
> Any help would be very much appreicated, i need it and would be very
> grateful.
> Thanks, ...

Not just too good to be true, but illegal. I suspect the officer you
spoke to misunderstood what you were asking, or vice versa.

The information you need can be found at the USCIS website.

--

Frank

Uhuh,

It is too good to be true.

The right way to do what you want is to get a CR-1 or K-3 visa. Your wife
start the process by filing petitions to her service center in the US and
once approved you will continue the process via the US embassy in London.
Once issued you'll be able to use that visa to enter the US as an immigrant.

As already pointed out you may be able to visit the US on the VWP while the
visa is being processed but you'll have to prove at POE that you will
definitely be leaving the US as required by the terms of the VWP.

The advice about adjusting status is plainly bad. While such a process is
technically possible it immediately places you under suspicion as having
lied at POE in order to bypass doing it the right way.

And you turn up at POE with the VWP form saying you are married to a USC and
intend to enter and adjust status to immigrant while on that visit I don't
see how they could even admin you. You'd be held and returned on the next
flight.

So have your wife get that I-130 petition in to her service center ASAP.
You'll need to get a UK police clearance and they say that takes 40 days so
apply early. Join visajourney.com and britishexpats and read up on the
process. Get all your ducks in a row right and early and it should only take
a few months and no problems. If your case is not complicated (trouble with
police, previous overstays, legitimate marriage etc. etc.) you probably
won't need a lawyer.

Good luck
-F

Pandyav@Gmail.Com

Hi Frank,
Can you please explain a bit on CR1 visa? If I am not wrong, it is a
faster way of settling down in the US compared to K3?

Thanking you in advance,
Vishal

Frank

> Hi Frank,
> Can you please explain a bit on CR1 visa? If I am not wrong, it is a
> faster way of settling down in the US compared to K3?
^^^
IR-1/CR-1 is the immigrant visa issued to the spouse of a USC to enter as an
immigrant.

K-1 was the visa issued to a fiance of a USC so they could travel to the
USC, get married within 90 days and then adjust status to permanent resident
while remaining in the US.

But IR-1/CR-1 processing ended up taking much longer than K-1's to process
and I guess that led to the scenario that boyfriends/girlfriends of USC's
got to be seperated less from thier loved ones than legitimate spouses.

So the K-3 was brought in to allow spouse to enter to the US and continue to
paperwork there in much the same way as a fiancee visa.

It appears these days that IR-1/CR-1 process has gotten faster, so its not
such an issue. It's possible to apply for both visa's and take whichever is
approved first.

Thats the (mostly accurate) summary - I'm not a lawyer; its well documented
on USCIS and also use google.

-F

> Thanking you in advance,
> Vishal
>