Q: My partner got denied a tourist visa for the US. We want to get married, should we wait till I become a US citizen?
Hello. My girlfriend and I want to get married in Europe. I already applied for my US citizenship. She applied for a US tourist visa in 2018 and then again 2 weeks ago to visit the US but it got denied both times for not showbg enough ties in the UK where she works and lives. I wanted to know if we can get married anytime or should we wait for my citizenship. our fear is is that the embassy might not grant her a visa as my spouse because her tourist visa request was denied. I don't know if those go hand in hand. I want to apply for her to be here with me after I get my US citizenship. I've been a green card holder for 19 years and decided to become a US citizen as I'm not planning to move back to Europe. I appreciate your time. Thank you!
A: There is no need to wait until you are a U.S. citizen to marry. Once you are married, you can file the I-130 petition while still a permanent resident. This can be processing while your naturalization application is being processed. Once you become a U.S. citizen, update USCIS. The previous tourist visa denials should not impact an immigrant visa case. I recommend retaining an immigration attorney to assist you with this process.
A: It will be hard for her to show ties to the UK is she is planning to come to the US to marry you. Applying for an immigrant visa is very different. The expectation is that she will immigrate to the US. If the nonimmigrant visa was denied simply because she couldn’t show connections to the UK, then that won’t impact an immigrant visa application at all.
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