sunrisegirl

When I lived in the US I started my green card application. At the time I was holding an L-1 visa which had been extended once already and had a further 18 months to run. My attorney said it could be up to 5 years before the green card was approved and I'd need to get a further L-1 extension in that time which may or may not have been possible. I couldn't afford to stay that long in the role I was in. He didn't mention anything about a temporary green card in the interim, though things may well have changed since then.

I just wish I'd played things differently as I'd still be there now. Biggest regret of my life and one which still reduces me to tears when I think of what I threw away. The US may not be for everyone, but for me they were the happiest days of my life.

Fun is not a word I would use about going through the process!!

trueblu

I would also counsel against just pitching up under the vWP, after applying for a visa.

However, it is perfectly reasonable to enter the US under vWP to get married as long as you intend to leave without applying to immigrate [which is what I did last year]. And it is a shame that the OP's friend did not delineate this strategy from the start.

What I don't know about, is whether the application for a visa can be withdrawn 'without prejudice', and then to enter the US under vWP.

As is it currently stands, I would recommend arranging the wedding for outside of the US.

best of luck: organising a wedding can be stressful enough without these additional concerns!

tb

The Specialist

But if you hadn't we would never have been able to see your smiling face at LGW.

sunrisegirl

Aww, thanks so much (where's the kiss smilie?)

OPebble

As a matter of interest are you still helping out at T5 or have you been allowed to go "home" for good behaviour?

Fraser

It depends upon your intent at the time of entry.

I did exactly this, entered the US on the VWP and got married. The situation was rather complicated and I'd rather not go into exact specifics but I wasn't breaking the law in any respect, according to my immigration attornies anyway. The aforementioned K-1 actually went expired and unused.

At the time of entry into the US on the VWP my intent was to leave and I had a plane ticket booked, investments in the UK and a job to return to. According to my attornies this was sufficient evidence to prove at the time of entry my intent was to fly to the UK. However, a few weeks after my entry into the US, my situation changed, we got married (in the US) and I applied for my Permanent Resident Card. That was in late March. By July I had my advance parole (papers that allowed me to return to the US if I were to leave for any reason) in addition to employment authorization and by early September I had my green card.

We had no visit for authorities, no extra questioning at our interview regarding why the K-1 went expired or I entered under VWP. In fact it all went rather smoothly!

frankvb

Thanks - it now makes some sense to me. As long as you will adhere to the VWP rules you can get married, however that means you will have to leave the country again. Didn't immediately think of that possibility

Interesting to know that it will take months before you'll get employment authorisation, didn't really think that would take that long. Just doing some advance planning in keeping all options open

Boghopper

As many other posters have mentioned, it's all about "intent" at various points. It's basically a game you have to play and USCIS will not give you the rules. The lawyer will, though.

salut0

You can use a VWP to enter and even adjust status from it to Green Card inside the USA (although you need to pay a $1000 penalty on a supplementary form to the I485 adjustment) *as long as* you can convince the interviewer at your adjustment interview that you had no original intent to remain in the USA and as long as you didn't get married too quickly after you first entered using VWP (say, as close to 90 days after you entered, rather than within the first 30 or 60 days). With a big wedding planned long in advance (rather than a quick registry-office style marriage on the spur of the moment) that might be difficult to accomplish.

After you've submitted a change of status inside the USA application, you also need an "advance parole document" to leave the USA and reenter. Otherwise, they will deny your adjustment and not let you back in (unless you came originally on a dual-intent visa like an H-1B or L-1).

Once you adjust status inside the USA from either the VWP or another non-immigrant visa, you're considered a "pending adjustment of status applicant". That in itself is not a visa per se (in fact, as I mentioned above, you are "paroled" into the country rather than "admitted" when you return using an "advance parole document", as you must if you want to leave the USA and come back before you have a green card in hand.)

Not quite true... if you enter without inspection, unless you were in the USA since some date in 2000 or 2001 and have not left since, you cannot adjust status at all and have to go home and do what is called "consular processing" instead of adjustment of status inside the USA.

In short: find and lawyer, and to try to understand the morass of information yourself, take a look at the message boards at www.immigrationportal.com where there's a lot of good advice. It's a very complex business, and you definitely don't want to piss off the CBP or USCIS officials at all by not jumping through the right hoops.

sunrisegirl

I'm still helping at T5 (and T4 sometimes) and go back to LGW when my legs get tired of walking round T5! And I'm always on my best behaviour at work!

The Bees Knees

OP here...

Once again, many thanks to you all for such excellent advice. The breadth of knowledge here is staggering! I thought a quick update might be in order. My friend has met with an immigration attorney specialised in such matters - as he should have done from the beginning. The advice, as many of you have already posted (it looks like I could have saved him some money ), is that entry under the VWP is not unlawful - it is all about intent and perhaps most importantly, ability to prove his intent.

He was advised that he is not guaranteed entry, but by trying he is not doing anything wrong. It looks like the wedding is going ahead as planned, I have faith that he can get enough proof together that even a US Immigration Agent would be unable to deny him entry .

Thanks again.

Earthman

I'd suggest taking a flight from Dublin and going through U.S immigration there.
At least then if he is refused,it's only an hours flight from the UK and theres no hassle with holding cells etc.It will also be a lot less stressfull.

There was a documentary on Irish TV recently about a family where the wife was a U.S citizen and the husband was Irish.
They bought a huge ranch in the U.S and were going to be employing people.
The husband was refused entry and had to wait 6 months before he got the proper Visa to re enter the States and they were married for like 15 years or something!
So I think it is best to expect the worst and hope for the best in terms of proving your genuineness in intent and make your arrangements accordingly.