Ask Me Help Desk - Uk male seeking marry US female

I am a UK national living in the UK. I visited the US in June 07 on the visa waiver program, I overstayed having not paid much attention to the time limits. After I met my girlfriend I realised that I had overstayed. I decided to leave as I was illegal, I left the US in May 08. I wasn't deported and I did not do any work.

We have decided that we want to get married. She is coming to visit in September and after that we have decided that we will get married in the US.

My questions is will be visa be refused if I have overstayed? What shall we do? All her family are in the US and her father is getting on in years so we can't live in the UK.

Was the overstay noted on your passport?

No - all I did was hand in the piece of paper that stated I should have gone in September 07 at the airport in June 08

May not be an actual notation in the passport, but you can be sure they know you overstayed. It will come up... and you could be turned away at the airport if you just came back over on your own.

Best bet would be to contact the US embassy in London (there are consulants in other areas, but London will handle visas) Explain to them what happened and see what your options are. Did you come over with the VWP card before? If so, you wouldn't be able to go that route again. See what your options are in regard to a fiancé visa (k-1) or maybe the visitor's visa (B2) (although this is not intended for someone planning to stay and could get very messy and may not even be a possibility).

Last I heard, if you overstayed longer than 180 days, you are looking at a 3 year ban. It may be that you will have to have your girlfriend come to the UK to marry... it is actually easier going that route in the first place... which would then put you in the situation of possibly being able to get a spouse visa (K-3).

Lots to take in, I know, and there have been a good number of changes in the immigration process over the last few years... (much more difficult than when my husband came over on a K-1 visa just several years ago).

Definitely contact the embassy to see what your choices may be... you may even call two different times and get to talk to two different people to make sure what they say is the same. There is the online site as well, but at times is not much more helpful with all of the various sections and provisions. You certainly want to go about it in the correct way as if you try to cut corners you could set yourself up for some very bad situations in the future.

Here's a good site that will give you some helpful info as well:

USA : British Expat Discussion Forum

Just getting married does not mean you will get to come to the US, that should all be arranged prior to getting married, but yes she may have to consider staying in the UK for some time till you can be cleared

Quote:

Originally Posted by ingm

I am a UK national living in the UK. I visited the US in June 07 on the visa waiver program, i overstayed having not paid much attention to the time limits. After i met my girlfriend i realised that i had overstayed. I decided to leave as i was illegal, i left the US in May 08. I wasnt deported and i did not do any work.

We have decided that we want to get married. She is coming to visit in September and after that we have decided that we will get married in the US.

My questions is will be visa be refused if i have overstayed? What shall we do? All her family are in the US and her father is getting on in years so we can't live in the UK.

You will not be allowed to enter US because you overstayed the VWP. Though there was no stamp in your passport but the DHS has your departure record from the passengers list submitted by all airlines.

What you should do is get married in UK. After that your spouse returns to US and submits petition to bring spouse to US together with a waiver on ground of inadmissible to USCIS. The whole process may take about 6-8 months or longer depends on workload of the consulate. It's recommended to have experienced immigration attorney to handle the case because filing a waiver is a very sensitive issue.