Q: Can I marry my French boyfriend on a tourist visa and stay there without having to apply for a long-stay visa?
I've done the age-old thing by falling in love with a French guy. I'm a US citizen and I know about PACS but it requires a year of living together. I want to be able to go to France on my tourist visa, marry him, and then stay there. But I won't have enough money or medical coverage to apply for the long-stay visa. Can we just get married and call it good?
A: You can get married, but if you overstay your tourist visa you will be in France illegally and your overstay period will not count towards any US naturalization tolling (counting) period for your French BF/husband. If you decide to get married, make sure to file the certificate in both France and the US. If you want more information you can do the following: (1) contact an immigration attorney (a few hundred dollars), visit the USCIS webpage (tons of info, but a little hard to find things) or request an office visit at the USCIS Regional Office in Denver (nice building, helpful people, wait times are not too bad--make sure to bring photo ID).
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