Is a K-1 Fiance Visa an absolute MUST to get married in the States?

Question

My fiance's in the States, I'm in Germany with our daughter. We wanna marry soon, I'm a German citizen. Fiance Visa's expensive & takes long. Could I just go over there as a "tourist" & "spontaneously" we decide to marry right away, then file for permanent residency? Or could we get in trouble for not having the K-1 Visa? But it wouldn't look "planned". I would make it seem as I was living with my parenst until we decide to marry, then go "visit" him, and we decide to tie it right away. Of course with a round-trip ticket. We have no idea how to go about this the fastest, cheapest, and easiest way. It seems the government wants to rip off with all those petitions. So many illegal Mexicans walk the streets, though. But spouses have such trouble. Please help.

Answer 1

Do it the right way.  

Yes, things are expensive but that is because of all the background and medical testing that is necessary.

Please don't put yourself in the category of an illegal criminal alien invader.

Answer 2

I know several people who have done this, most have been able to get their green card, but there are a couple who have been denied and then banned. Coming here on a B1/B2 visa, which is what I presume you are planning to do is considered Visa fraud by immigration, which of course they don't like.  If you are really considering this I would have your fiance contact a GOOD immigration lawyer and see what their take on the situation would be, but then you might end up spending more on a lawyer and facing delays in processing due to the fact that you came here and committed visa fraud.  In essence, you could spend more money and take longer doing what seems to be the 'fast' way than you would if you waited for the Fiance visa and did things the correct way.  The only advantage in coming on the temporary visa is that you can wait here in the states with your then husband whilst everything is processed. Technically however, as you are a German citizen, you don't even need a Visa to come here, you can come for 90 days on the visa waiver program...... I have no idea though how that would work if you came on that and then decided to stay and get married etc... again, something to consult a GOOD immigration lawyer on. In my experience I have always found it best to play by the rules with immigration, and I now have my green card, but some people do play the system and get away with it, it just depends if you want to run the risk..... and if you did get banned - slim chance of that happening but still possible, what would happen to your daughter - stay in the US with her father, or go back to Germany with you? Good luck.

Answer 3

It's possible but I wouldn't recommend it.

You can try to make it look like and "seem" and "visit" all you want thinking you're smarter than them, but they've seen that before and they're trained to bust your spiel -- and you can trust them to try to bust you if you do that. And if they do bust you, you're in trouble.

I agree that the hoops legal immigrants have to go through may seem ridiculous sometimes but that's the way it is. Dura lex sed lex.

I was a K-1 myself and it ain't that bad. You have the Internet to keep in touch, and while nothing can replace the human contact, it really is not that bad. Your fiance can visit you in Germany, and you may even visit him in the US. That's allowed, although with a pending fiance visa petition you'll want to bring genuine, serious ties to your home country that would compel you to go home and respect the terms of your visa.

Also consider that the fiance visa is not expensive compared to what you'll be paying later on in various mandatory immigration fees. The fiance visa is $455. The green card is $1010. Removal of conditions is $545 (2 years after you get your green card). Then naturalization is $675 I believe, though that's not mandatory. Renewing the green card (every 10 years after removal of conditions and if you don't become a citizen) is currently $370.

The fees went up a lot in July 2007. The fiance visa used to be $170, the green card $390, etc. There's no fee increase planned that I know of but it could happen in the upcoming years.

Back to your main question, like I said, yeah, it's possible, but again like I said, I don't recommend it. Think about it: do you want to do it and run the risk of being deported and barred from re-entering the US for up to 10 years? Can you afford the huge fines? Your fiance/husband would have to move to Germany if you wanted to be together. If his German isn't good, it's not gonna be a fun time for him until he gets a good grasp of German. Is such a risk worth taking over waiting a few months as described above?  Ask yourself that and think it over.

Answer 4

You need to get a K-1. If you do what you are thinking, that is immigration fraud. You could be deported and face a lifetime ban from returning. The K-1 petition fee is only the beginning. Once you are married you will be filing applications and paying fees for another 4 years.

The fact you both have a child and you have no home of your own in Germany would only make immigration suspicious of you. You would be very unlikely to be able to prove you didn't plan this fraud.

Answer 5

you would want to chance getting your permanent resident status denied because you attempted to circumvent immigration laws? the K-1 visa has a filing fee of $455.00 and takes about 6-9 months for you to get to the u.s. then you have to pay the adjustment application fee of $1,010.00.  if you come as you plan you will pay $355.00 plus the $1,010. and if you get denied because they determined that you used your tourist visa in fraudulent manner, you will have to file a waiver with a fee of $ 545.00 and prove an extreme hardship to your u.s. spouse to be granted the waiver. in this case the cheapest way is the right way.  illegal mexicans walking the streets don't help your case.