So I must quit my job and stay apart till my K-1 is aproved?

I asked the following question to a lawyer: I am a Canadian citizen, living
close to the Buffalo border. I work in thoroughbred racing, and travel
to Florida every November on a B-1 visa. This year I met my fiance,
"Angel," and sadly had to leave him when my visa was up in May. We
filed the fiance-visa petition in July. (Ironically . the processing wait is
backlogged till Feb 2008), and I am due back in Florida (on a B-1)
long before that--in November. Since I am entering legally, can't I just
get married and file an adjustment of status? What's more, can I even
marry now (in Buffalo NY), and request that my fiance visa ap be
processed as a mariage visa ap? We just want to be together. Thanks in
advance, Charlotte

and got this discouraging response:
Unfortunately, I don't have good news for you. You should cancel your
trip in November, and for the time being not even cross the Rainbow
Bridge, and wait until the fiance petition is approved. There is a good
chance that you will be turned around at the border in November, and if
not, you are inviting trouble. At the very least, make sure you return to
Canada after completing your trip to Florida.

With a B-1, you are expected to be a *temporary* visitor. The fact that
you already stated the intent to remain in the USA (and get married)
is incompatible with that.

OK, let me rephrase all that: people do get away with doing this kind
of thing, but it is illegal.

Ironically, if you had simply stayed in the USA and gotten married to
Angel in May, you could have stayed and directly filed for Adjustment of
Status. The difference is that you did not *enter* with the intent to
do that. Changing your mind after you arrive is legal

Is this the be-all and end-all of the matter? I stay back in Canada while my company goes to Florida in November, and sit around waiting till my ap is )hopefully) approved in Feb?

I don't know why the lawyer would say you cannot go down there on a B1, as far as I know, it would be perfectly legal (but I'm not a lawyer).

When did you send in the petition for the K1? What's the receipt date on it, and which service centre is processing it?

People who have fiance and marriage based petitions in with their names on them cross the border all the time with little to no problem. Do you already have your B1 visa? Or do you usually apply for that when you get to the border? (sorry, I know nothing about how they work or how to get them).

He/she is right however in that you can't switch a fiancee petition to a married petition, it doesn't work that way, you'd have to cancel it and start all over. And to enter the US with the intent to get married and stay without the proper visa to allow you to do so is illegal.

If you have a long history of entering the US on the B1, and always always always left when it was expired, and never had any overstay or any reason to make them think you'd stay illegally, you should be ok. Just know in advance that because you do have that fiancee petition in there already that whoever takes your application for B1 will know about it as soon as they search, and your B1 may well be denied. Or it may be granted. You never know. Nor does the lawyer.

The law says that when you (anyone) enter the US, you have to prove to the border officials that you are there to do what you say you're there to do. If they suspect even a smidgeon that you are intending to stay illegally, they'll turn you around and send you home.

Hi Reba.

I don't have a B-1 yet. I usually get that at the border (with no problems, as I have never overstayed).

The application was mailed to Vermont at the end of July, and we haven't even got a delivery confirmation receipt yet, let alone a NOA of any kind! I am almost hoping it got lost, as the processing time at Vermont is 7 months.

But I am having suspicions that I did not fill out the paperwork properly, and therefore the process may take a lot longer! I am getting cold feet and want to scrap it and do this another way. Since the person who takes my B-1 application will see the Fiance Petition in there, can I safely cancel the application *asap* and be OK by the time I go to the US in December? Or will the record of the cancelled petition still be in the computer, casting doubts on my intentions?

Cheers,
C

if you cancel the K1 petition, they will most definitely deny your B1 with suspicions that you intend to stay illegally to get married.

Thanks Reba. Funny how a straight answer can sort things out, when immersing yourself in all this stuff for 2 months only serves to make one more confused.

Try being immersed in it for several years, then get back to me