Q: Is entering on visa waiver program and getting married but not looking to adjust status considered visa fraud ?
The scenario is she enters the USA on visa waiver program and we decide to get married during the week she will be here visiting and she returns back to Europe and once she’s back in Europe we begin the spouse immigrant green card process from there seen as acceptable ? I understand visa fraud is committed when the intent is to adjust status after marriage while on US soil . Since she’s already returned to Europe , didn’t adjust here and did t overstay her tourist visa is this ok?? Thank you.
A: Arguably, so long as your fiancée intends on returning to the U.K. to conclude a family-based immigration case at the U.S. Embassy, there is nothing fraudulent or illegal about marrying in the United States while here in visitor status under the Visa Waiver Program. The U.S. Department of State's own Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) contemplates the propriety of this. Discussing B-2 visitor status, which is akin in certain respects to visitor status under the Visa Waiver Program, 9 FAM 402.2-4(B)(1) provides in relevant part: "The fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (LPR) may, however, be classified as a B-2 visitor if you are satisfied that the fiancé(e) intends to return to a residence abroad soon after the marriage."
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A: In my prior answer, I assumed you were speaking of the U.K. (as another almost identical question was posted elsewhere on this website).
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