Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
That's very different from my experience. My husband is English & visited the US a number of times before we got married a few years ago. He was able to stay in the US for a maximum of 90 days on the regular tourist visa (meaning that he just showed up with his passport).
That would be correct, although it's worth pointing out (as it's clearly causing confusion already on this thread) that this isn't a visa - it is entering the U.S. on what's called the Visa Waiver Program, in which citizens of a number of countries are permitted to stay in the U.S. for a maximum of 90 days at a time. This is the normal method of entry for the vast majority of visits of those from the EU.
My parents got tourist visas 10 years ago and now, every time they come to visit, they get a grillling from Immigration as to why they have visas in their British passports even tho they are both in their 70s, retired and never come for more than 3 weeks.
Keep in mind how to explain his reasons for visiting when he shows up with his passport. If marriage is a possibility, sort it out before he comes. One can enter as a tourist, decide to get married, do so and then get status adjusted, but to the ICE this smells like a fraudulent workaround to skip the review needed to get a K1 visa. Which it usually is.
If he is visiting because he loves you but is not committing, he is a tourist visiting a friend. Talk to an immigration attorney after he arrives if you later agree to marry - screwing up the sequence can lead to really unhappy results. I had a top-notch immigration attorney represent my (Canadian) wife and myself, and the INS in Jacksonville FL. gave us a pretty hard time.
Keep in mind how to explain his reasons for visiting when he shows up with his passport. If marriage is a possibility, sort it out before he comes. One can enter as a tourist, decide to get married, do so and then get status adjusted, but to the ICE this smells like a fraudulent workaround to skip the review needed to get a K1 visa. Which it usually is.
If he is visiting because he loves you but is not committing, he is a tourist visiting a friend. Talk to an immigration attorney after he arrives if you later agree to marry - screwing up the sequence can lead to really unhappy results. I had a top-notch immigration attorney represent my (Canadian) wife and myself, and the INS in Jacksonville FL. gave us a pretty hard time.
Before I got married to my US wife I visited on the 90 day waiver. You can do this, but keep in mind that they can shoot you down forwhatever reason they want when you see them. I got married on a 90 day visa, you can then stay in the US for as long asyou want pretty much so long as you dont work. If you want to work etc you need get visas etc.
Before I got married to my US wife I visited on the 90 day waiver. You can do this, but keep in mind that they can shoot you down forwhatever reason they want when you see them. I got married on a 90 day visa, you can then stay in the US for as long asyou want pretty much so long as you dont work. If you want to work etc you need get visas etc.
The OP or any other readers do need to realize that if you enter on the VWP with the intent to marry and stay then this is immigration fraud - might be hard for them to prove but fraud nonetheless. If you feel it's ok to tangle with the INS then go for it.
Immigration had no problems with my plans when I told them.
Doesn't really make much difference what any individual employed by immigration tells you, many of them at best only have half an idea of what they're doing.
Incidentally - who did you tell? Was it the person who stamped your passport on entry or someone else?
The OP or any other readers do need to realize that if you enter on the VWP with the intent to marry and stay then this is immigration fraud - might be hard for them to prove but fraud nonetheless. If you feel it's ok to tangle with the INS then go for it.
Technically this is true and it's very good to let the OP know this. However, I know a number of Brit/US couples who married in the US and in every case the Brit half of the couple came over on the Visa Waver Program & they married before the 90 days were up. None of these couples were accused of fraud & none of them were forced to separate.
Alchem88, there was a time when my future husband and I could not live in the same country because of the various travel restrictions & visa regulations you're facing now. We traveled back and forth to see each other when we could. On one of those trips, I got a thorough grilling from an immigration officer in the UK. I was taken to a little white room with other non-Brits where I waited for hours. My luggage and my body were thoroughly searched. I was interviewed in a separate room. The entire ordeal went on for 6 hours. Most of the people who were waiting with me were forced to get back on planes and were shipped out of the country immediately, but I was allowed to stay for a few days. The immigration officer confiscated my passport & they arranged for my return flight home. Then the immigration officer told me the hard truth: she told me that if I really wanted to have a relationship with this man, I seriously needed to consider marriage because it was the only way we were going to be able to stay together.
So that's my advice to you. Think about it. Good luck.
Technically this is true and it's very good to let the OP know this. However, I know a number of Brit/US couples who married in the US and in every case the Brit half of the couple came over on the Visa Waver Program & they married before the 90 days were up. None of these couples were accused of fraud & none of them were forced to separate.
Alchem88, there was a time when my future husband and I could not live in the same country because of the various travel restrictions & visa regulations you're facing now. We traveled back and forth to see each other when we could. On one of those trips, I got a thorough grilling from an immigration officer in the UK. I was taken to a little white room with other non-Brits where I waited for hours. My luggage and my body were thoroughly searched. I was interviewed in a separate room. The entire ordeal went on for 6 hours. Most of the people who were waiting with me were forced to get back on planes and were shipped out of the country immediately, but I was allowed to stay for a few days. The immigration officer confiscated my passport & they arranged for my return flight home. Then the immigration officer told me the hard truth: she told me that if I really wanted to have a relationship with this man, I seriously needed to consider marriage because it was the only way we were going to be able to stay together.
So that's my advice to you. Think about it. Good luck.
Yours was truly a terrible experience and by the sounds of it not uncommon.
I hear what you say about the earlier poster, and about other Brits, "getting away with it" with regards to arriving on the VWP fraudulently with intent to stay - people get away with lots of things all of the time but it doesn't mean that everybody manages to and when there's something this important riding on it....? And they should keep quiet about it once they're in, as it only takes a click over to the 'immigration' forum to see what many Americans think of illegal immigrants (although I'll grant you that some of the comments on there are nothing more than ill-disguised racism against Mexicans).
And if enough people misuse the VWP....? Maybe they'll end up tightening it up or even scrapping it one day and so mess things up for everybody.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
