# UK Citizen wanting to marry a US citizen in the USA, and plan to live in the USA.



## Jlst73 (Jul 15, 2013)

Hi all, thanks for taking the time to read. 

Title pretty much says it all; my fiancé is a UK citizen and I am a US citizen. We want to get married here in the USA as soon as possible and start living here as well. Could anyone possibly walk me through the steps we should take to attaining whatever documentation he will need in order to live and be able to work here in the USA, after we have attained our marriage license?

Thank you again, any help at all is appreciated.


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## 2fargone (Jun 14, 2011)

Jlst73 said:


> Hi all, thanks for taking the time to read.
> 
> Title pretty much says it all; my fiancé is a UK citizen and I am a US citizen. We want to get married here in the USA as soon as possible and start living here as well. Could anyone possibly walk me through the steps we should take to attaining whatever documentation he will need in order to live and be able to work here in the USA, after we have attained our marriage license?
> 
> Thank you again, any help at all is appreciated.


If you want to get married in the USA then you want to do K1: Nonimmigrant Visa for a Fiancé(e) (K-1)

If you get married in England which sounds like you don't want to do then you would do CR1: Immigrant Visa for a Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR1 or CR1)


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## leo27 (Jul 15, 2013)

hi ! Are u a Heterosexual couple ?


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Doesn't matter. The process is identical.


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## snowgoose (Oct 7, 2012)

A uk lady went on an esta visa,married and then did all the paper work there,got her green card etc and is fine,living in Texas.


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## 2fargone (Jun 14, 2011)

snowgoose said:


> A uk lady went on an esta visa,married and then did all the paper work there,got her green card etc and is fine,living in Texas.



Snowgoose,

You have posted this before,

That is NOT the way to do it. It is very very risk. 

CR1 or K1 is the right way.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

snowgoose said:


> A uk lady went on an esta visa,married and then did all the paper work there,got her green card etc and is fine,living in Texas.


It is possible to do this - but if you don't meet the conditions (and one of them is that the marriage has to have been "spontaneous" while the foreigner is on a VWP - i.e. not the reason the person was coming to the US), the process can go very, very wrong. 
Cheers,
Bev


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## snowgoose (Oct 7, 2012)

Thank you Bev,

The lady looked into it all thoroughly and is now happily married with all her correct documents required.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

snowgoose said:


> Thank you Bev,
> 
> The lady looked into it all thoroughly and is now happily married with all her correct documents required.


Hearsay and third party information can be very misleading. There are ways of following correct protocol with a high rate of success and walking a tightrope hoping to cross the void.


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## darrenj (Jul 24, 2013)

How long on average does the process take for UK citizen to marry and gain a us visa on average or would it her quicker for the us fiancee to apply to move here. We qualify for us poverty check and for UK equivalent .


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

darrenj said:


> How long on average does the process take for UK citizen to marry and gain a us visa on average or would it her quicker for the us fiancee to apply to move here. We qualify for us poverty check and for UK equivalent .


6-12 months depending on the individual petition


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

twostep said:


> 6-12 months depending on the individual petition


With the caveat that your US spouse cannot apply for a spouse visa until AFTER the wedding. If you go the fiancé visa route, the same waiting period applies for the visa - and once you get to the US, you have 90 days (I think it is) to get married and apply for the change in status.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

snowgoose said:


> A uk lady went on an esta visa,married and then did all the paper work there,got her green card etc and is fine,living in Texas.


and I can name 20 who failed


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

I'm concerned about the "poverty check" comment. (And what is a U.S. poverty check anyway? SNAP? SSI?) Note that USCIS has a minimum financial requirement for bringing a foreign spouse into the U.S., and the U.K. has very similar requirements. Basically international couples both in poverty can't get immigration permission to live together unless (in the U.S. case) there's somebody willing to provide financial support to the couple.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

OP probably wanted to say "poverty limit" as referenced for Affidavit of Support.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Probably so, but out of an abundance of caution -- and based on the English as written -- I thought I should mention the issue.


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## mamasue (Oct 7, 2008)

snowgoose said:


> A uk lady went on an esta visa,married and then did all the paper work there,got her green card etc and is fine,living in Texas.



It's your choice.....but this is totally not recommended.
The visa waiver is purely for tourism.
Try telling the person at the US border that you're coming with an intention to marry and stay....and see what the reaction is.
Also... this counts as visa fraud, and can incur a very long ban from entering the USA.
Another thing.... if the adjustment of status is refused...there's absolutely no appeals process for a VWP.

Is it worth the risk??


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Spontaneous marriage and AoS does not constitute visa fraud.


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## mamasue (Oct 7, 2008)

twostep said:


> Spontaneous marriage and AoS does not constitute visa fraud.
> 
> 
> No...I agree....but there's nothing spontaneous about planning to marry on a tourist visa and staying.
> ...


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

It's also a _dumb_ risk to take. If the goal is to live happily ever after with your spouse in the same country, why would ever risk not being able to stay in that country?

Sometimes it's OK to take calculated risks, but this isn't one of those times, at least if you care about your spouse.


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