Going to the US and Marry My Girlfriend While We’re There

Q: My girlfriend and I live overseas and we want to take a trip to the US for a few days to visit family and friends. My girlfriend is Asian and I’m a United States citizen living and working abroad for years now. The problem is we want to make it “legal” while we’re in the U.S. and then return to our current residence, but we don’t want to make the U.S. our permanent place of abode, at least not yet. Should we travel to the U.S. on a Fiance Visa or a Tourist Visa? 

A: Yes, it is okay to go to the US on a tourist visa, so long as your trip is temporary and not to make the US your permanent home. However, there are some things to consider while you’re applying for your girlfriend’s tourist visa at the U. S. Consulate abroad. 

The question comes down to intent, and a tourist visa’s mere purpose is to provide a foreign national an opportunity to enter the US with a non-immigrant intent, basically to travel and tour for pleasure or business opportunities. Thus, you saying to your U.S. Consular Officer that you are going to the US and then marry your girlfriend is actually in direct negation of the non-immigrant intent even though you are not planning on starting your permanent residence petition until years down the road. Your intent will be determined at the time of processing her tourist visa, and based on documentation you submit and her answers at the interview, the Consular Officer will be able to gauge whether she has enough ties in her home country and will return after the end of her travel, additionally, he/she will gauge whether her intent really is to just come for a short visit or whether it’s to defraud immigration laws and overstay the duration of her visa.

That being said, you can probably see that I cannot advise you to lie to the Consular Officer as to your true intent, but my motto has always been to be as truthful as possible, without having to divulge all the nitty gritty details. Broad strokes.

The legal hurdle you face at the moment is in obtaining a tourist visa for your girlfriend because most women in their twenties/ thirties that are “single” have a hard time obtaining a tourist visa to the US. This is mostly due to the fact that most applicants who violate immigration regulations are normally in this immigration profile. However, if upon showing sufficient ties to her home country (i.e. business, social network, financial investment, education, children), you may very well be able to get your girlfriend Tourist Visa to the US.  When you are ready to move forward with her permanent residence status, there are a few options available to having a multiple entry Tourist Visa.