Back from Bogota

[Pescador]

Hi all,

Just got back from 40 days in bogota and ready to go back. I didnt get married but have a very serious novia from my visit. I felt the Explosion from the El Nogal and saw the flames. It was pretty horrible. I watched it all from my novias apartment.

While there I took spanish courses and most the time talked with my novia in spanish I met her whole family etc. She was embarrased to tell them she met me through an agency so told them she just met me on the net. It was Ok with me, since that is how we pretty much met. She wrote me first. Crazy thing about the agency she and I went and removed her data but the agency has sold her foto and data to others one is TLC magazine spring issue. I was suprised to see her foto in there knowing that she probably wont take anyone that writes her now seriously. So to the guys that buy that magazine, id say its a good chance a lot of those women could not be available. By the way her number is AJ381 to save some stamps.

She is coming to visit me on a toursit visa in June, is it possible to marry someone on a tourist visa in the USA or does that get complicated?

Nos vemos..

[thundernco]

... in response to Back from Bogota, posted by Pescador on Mar 14, 2003

Yes you can, and yes it is complicated.  I did exactly that in regards to my marriage.  She was here on her tourist visa and we decided what the heck.  If I recall correctly from my research, the INS frowns on it, but really think there's something fishy if you do it within the first 30 days.  The process takes much longer to receive a visa, but there is a form that she can file, I think it's the Advanced Parole form, while her app is pending so that she can go home for short visits.  What did I do?  Well I'm no fan of paperwork, and since I was already splitting my time between SF and Cali, I just chose to make my bas of ops Cali and spend more time here.  Now I'm glad I did because the fine little filly and I will soon be divorced, say 6 1/2 months to make it final.  Good Luck!

[Pete E]

... in response to Back from Bogota, posted by Pescador on Mar 14, 2003

The INS,and presumably whatever they are called now frown on you getting married with her here on a tourist visa.I know a couple that did that and they got it worked out,I think it took a year or two.She told my wife she didn't know how lucky she was to just come in on a spousal visa.I know they had to stand in line at the local INS office at 3.00 AM a few times.
Bottom line she won't get deported and you will eventually get it worked out.In the meantime she will not be able to travel and return if she overstays her tourist visa.

Pete

[Edge]

... in response to Re: Back from Bogota, posted by Pete E on Mar 15, 2003

Pete - I know that you and Jebster have advised that a woman who marries here on a tourist visa would not be allowed to travel, but I am not so sure.  If she has applied for the I-485 to adjust her status to become a resident she can apply for advanced parole.  Advanced parole allows a person to leave and come back in the country based upon their pending adjustment of status application.  The INS knows that in some cases it can take years for their application to be approved so this is how they allow people to leave and come back while their application is pending.  The advanced parole papers are good for one year only and then you need to do another application.  When you apply for the advanced parole papers you check "pending AOS or I-485" as the reason and you provide a copy of the I-485 receipt.  I am pretty sure, but not positive, that they do not tie in that this particular I-485 applicant got married on a tourist visa.

One disadvantage of getting married here in the states and going the I-485 adjustment of status route is that the time that a person can apply to become a citizen starts after you are approved as a conditional resident, not when you file or are married.  Depending upon where you live, this can add months or years to that timeline.

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: Re: Back from Bogota, posted by Edge on Mar 16, 2003

I'm not an expert in it at all.all I meant to say is that untill you get it blessed to some extent by INS or successor she can't travel.What form that blessing takes I'm not sure.I was just pointing out what I thought would be the only real problem,since they will not deport her.I guess another issue is a SS card,not sure when she could get that.

Pete

[Edge]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Back from Bogota, posted by Pete E on Mar 16, 2003

Pete - I am no expert either on most of this but I have had some experience with the INS forms.  What I am trying to do is make suggestions that may or may not be valid.

From what I understand, the SS requires INS approval before they issue a card. Once again, if a woman has filed the AOS paperwork she can use that as a basis to obtain an EAD card (employment authorization) from the INS.  This is what my wife did.  You then take this to the SS office and after a background check, they issue the card.

If I was involved with a woman from Colombia and she had a tourist visa, I would use the time that she is able to spend with you in the states to get to know her here.  If you decide to get married I would seriously consider marrying in Colombia because of the ability to DCF.

It is almost the best of both worlds because you can have her here which is why guys go the K-1 route without having to do the K-1.  Then you can take advantage of the DCF and forget about messing with the INS here.  Many of the women would prefer to marry in Colombia anyway.

[Yalg]

... in response to Back from Bogota, posted by Pescador on Mar 14, 2003

We have received conflicting reports on this issue in the past.  There are at least a couple guys on this board who did it, probably more.  Immigration lawyers usually dont recommend them, but some woud say thats because you dont need them for this.  From what I understand, the crux of the issue is that you dont "plan" on getting married.  She must come here with the intention of just being a tourist and visiting the USA.  The marriage must be a spur of the moment, unplanned event that just "happens."  How you prove this I dont know.  How the INS proves fraud is a mystery as well unless they can find out you planned it by some means.  One guy even posted that his lawyer told him its better if you wait until her visa has expired to get married.  Dont understand that one either.
Personally, I think you would probably be ok as long as you convince the INS person who interviews you that the marriage is real and was not planned in advance, but I suppose there is no way to know for sure.  If you go to the interview with your new baby (if you have one) then I would say your set.  

I think the best way other than getting married in Colombia is to file for a fiancee Visa while she is here. Have her bring all her paperwork from Colombia and then file it.  While you are waiting for approval here in the USA, she can stay with you and then return after you receive the US approval to wait for her fiancee visa interview....

[Jersey Mike]

... in response to Re: Back from Bogota, posted by Yalg on Mar 15, 2003

I married my FSU wife (with whom I am presently separated) while she was here on tourist visa.  Our civil service marriage took place a couple of days after her tourist visa had expired.  When we went for our AOS interview, the INS interviewer said that it was a good thing that we had not gotten married too much earlier because that is considered a red flag by INS.  Of course, it helped that we had traveled back to her country about 6 months later to have a large family wedding there, complete with many pictures, proving there was not visa fraud.

From what I have seen, there must be a pretty compelling case for fraud to flag the INS.  There are so many obvious cases of paid green card husbands or wives, yet few of them seem to be denied AOS (especially in the FSU community in the NYC area.)

[Edge]

... in response to Re: Tourist visa marriages, posted by Jersey Mike on Mar 17, 2003

Jersey Mike - since you have been through this process, perhaps you can shed some light on a few of the questions that have come up.  You mention that you traveled about 6 months after your marriage here in the states, did she travel on advanced parole?

Did she obtain a SS card before the AOS approval??

[Red Clay]

... in response to Re: Back from Bogota, posted by Yalg on Mar 15, 2003

I married my wife while she was here on a tourist visa. The marriage doesn't have to be "spur-of-the-moment", just that you two had no marriage plans when she arrived. Since 9-11, tourist visa stays are often times shorter than before. In our case, my wife got 6 months granted for her tourist visa stay, then extended it another 6 months, making one year in the US legally before we married. Obviously we didn't rush it, and the INS seemed to agree, no problems in interviews, etc.

Our immigration attorney thinks that had we married soon after she arrived, we might have had more problems. She agreed to take our case because we met first in Peru, then spent another year here together before marriage. Now I'm hearing that the time granted for a tourist visa can be as short as a one month stay, making it impossible to marry without suspicion of marriage intent before her tourist visa alloted time expired.

My view--We did it without any problem but I'm not sure I would try it again since 9-11.

[Buck]

... in response to Re: Re: Back from Bogota, posted by Red Clay on Mar 15, 2003

Pete,I called Miami Airport immigration.Said"If I do not know how long they will give a stamp on the visa for,how do I know how long to schedule the return ticket for?"I was told that if I bought a round trip ticket with a return date 6 months in the future,they would usually stamp the visa for 6 months.This is what I was told.FWIW-Good Luck-Buck

[Jebster]

... in response to Back from Bogota, posted by Pescador on Mar 14, 2003

It's not advisable to marry on a toursit visa. The reasons:

1. A tourist visa is a "non-immigrant" visa. If your wife comes here as a tourist and marries, the government can make a case for visa fraud (although they seldom do it)since she came to immigrate (that is, if you both decide that she will live here).

2. If uncontested, the documents you file here in the US to get her immigrant, "spouse" visa, will take up to two years to process. During that time, your wife will not be allowed to leave the country. If you marry in Colombia, you can file at the USA Embassy and the process will take about 5 weeks to complete. (I just did this with the final intervew set for next Friday)

3. Getting married in Colombia as a foreigner can be complicated since you will need a marriage visa issued by the Colombian government. It requires a lot of documents and notarization and translation of same. You can find some places in Colombia where you can marry without this visa, but they are few. The USA only is interested that you get a legal, civil registry of the marriage as notarized by a public notary. They could care less that you had, or didn't have, a Colombian marriage visa.

Afte studying all the options, I decided to marry in Colombia. It's less risky and still gets your wife's visa at least a year sooner and without the travel restriction.

Here are two web sites which can help you a lot:
www.visa-attorney.com/    
This is Gary Bala's web site. He is an immigration attorney specialist for marriage/fiance type visas. His web site is free and has a lot of terrific and updated info. Gary assisted me on my visa process and I was extremely happy with him.

usembassy.state.gov/colombia/wwwsmane.shtml
This is the USA Embassy in Bogota's web page and is very informative.

Good luck.