I just got married to my wife 10 days ago and her visa expires in mid January. I am a USA citizen and am googling how to go about adjusting my new wife's immigration status. I really would appreciate any advice or help pointing me in the right direction to get this started. We honestly don't have much money to pay an attorney at this time and will try our best to gather as much info as we can to complete this process properly. If anyone has any useful information that might help us figure this out or knows the actual steps to what's exactly involved in this process we'd really appreciate it so much. I will continue to google what steps to take next but if anyone has any useful facts or information to offer, please feel free to share. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you guys so much in advance. Hope to hear from you guys soon. Happy thanksgiving to everyone as well.
Actually I would hesitate to call USCIS and I would contact an immigration attorney immediately for a consultation.
If your wife arrived in the US on a tourist visa while knowing that you would get married and then apply for a green card, she might be found guilty of visa fraud. This is because a tourist visa is intended for those who will only visit for a short time and leave. If you get married on US soil soon after arrival, the visa application may be interpreted as having been made in bad faith. If you wait longer you may improve your chances of changing your wife's immigration status (also known as the 30/60 Day Rule or sometimes the 30-60-90 Day Rule.) The determining factor is whether you had a premeditated intention to get married (potential fraud.) The flip side of the coin is that after a longer period of time being in the US on a tourist visa (such as greater than 2 months), the two of you spontaneously decided that you wanted to get married to your beloved.
Immigration attorneys usually do not recommend getting married on a tourist visa.
And wishing the two of you a very happy life together and hoping for your success with immigration officials.
