Immigration Site

Hello. My fiancee is a Japanese citizen. She is visiting here from Japan for a few months (maximum 90 days). Weve been talking and decided wed like to get married. Now Ive talked to some people and we want to avoid having to get a fiancee visa for a few reasons. 1) she is already here in the US. 2) It takes 6-8 months to get the fiancee visa and wed like to get married soon, very soon, like within the next month or two.

Someone told me that since she is a Japanese citizen and that she has been here for 30 days at least, we can get married. I wanted to get another opinion on this. Can we do this legally? Can we get married here in the states?

A sudden impulse to marry does happen. However, she should marry you and you two file her paperwork before her 90 days expire to be on the safe side. It will also help to show that it was not planned in advance that she would come as visitor with the intent of marrying and filing for a greencard.

Will she need to apply for advance parole for the purpose of going back to wind things up? You know, give up an apartment, pack her belongings and ship things here? Whatever?

OR was she living with her parents and not have that need to go back? OR worse, was her home destroyed... Sorry if it was.

Marriage laws are controlled by each state, look to your local laws or to the laws of the place of intended marriage.

When you say file her paperwork, are you talking about applying for a green card?

She would need to go back to Japan to take care of a few things, such as quit her job, sell some stuff and pack things she wants to keep.

When you say file her paperwork, are you talking about applying for a green card?

She would need to go back to Japan to take care of a few things, such as quit her job, sell some stuff and pack things she wants to keep.
After you marry, you file an I-130 (with fee) and she files CONCURRENTLY with your form: an I-485 for adjustment, I-765 for work authorization and I-131 for advance parole (all one price for these 3 forms) PLUS all the required evidence. The I-765 and I-131 are taken care of first as INTERIM Benefits. She cannot leave until she gets her advance parole or the whole process is deemed abandoned and she cannot re-enter without an Immigrant Visa. Once she gets the advance parole, she can exit and re-enter BUT it may take 3 months to get the advance parole. Plan accordingly.

You can marry and only file the I-130 and then she can leave and pursue Consular Processing for an Immigrant Visa in Tokyo (I think thats the only location but things change--check on that). Check the DOS website for the US Consulates in Japan as to locations. processes, and time frames.