K Visa US Citizen wants to marry UK citizen and move to UK

[katiemo]

Hey!

I've read through a good number of the topics in this forum - as well as other visa and immigration sites, but I cannot find any information specific to my situation.

I have been dating a UK citizen for a year and a half (will be 2 years by the time they visit the US again), and we want to get married during that visit.

We DO NOT want to live in the US after marriage, and in fact are marrying for the main purpose of moving to the UK - as with my skills and education (BS in Business) it is impossible for me to qualify for a work permit. I have seen that I might have to file a petition for a fiancee, but this specifies things such as "address where fiancee intends to live in US" - which is not our case at all.

Is it legal for him to enter on a visitor visa-waiver (since he will be visiting for less than 90 days) and us to marry legally? Does anyone know which forms I/we need to fill out? I could wait and marry in the UK, but for simplicities sake we were hoping to get married in the US during his visit in April. (If we waited to marry in the UK I would have to apply for a fiancee visa, and not be able to work until we got married. I would then have to convert/reapply for a spouse visa, and since we would get married as soon as possible becuase of money situations, this would be a bit more expensive and time-consuming. This also would have an impact on my ability to book flights to and from the UK, as I would not be able to book a year-long return flight, only one for 6 months or less.)

Any and all help is appreciated, I know this is a while off, but I would like to make sure that anything we do is done legally, so as not to harm my chances of moving to the UK - and our chances of returning to the US to live in retirement.

He is also a canadian citizen (his mother is canadian, he is a dual citizen through her) but does not carry a Canadian passport. If I am not mistaken he is able to carry a Canadian passport, but I am unclear whether he would need to give up his UK passport. He has a canadian citizenship card with his picture as a baby on it as proof of his Canadian citizenship.

Cheers!

 

[NYClex]

Your question affects the laws of three countries, but your actual purpose only the laws of two countries:

1. United States: Since you both do not want to live in the US after marriage no special proceedings are needed. The foreign fiancee can enter the US on a normal tourist visa, or in this case under the Visa Waiver Porgram as a British subject and can marry here. He would be allowed the usual maximum stay of 90 days. He should not mention his intention to marry at the airport, it is legal to do it, but they might suspect that he wants to stay in the US and therefore might make things complicated.

It is legal to marry in the US being here as a tourist, actually nobody will ask for his immigration status when applying for a marriage license.

Latest with the expiration of his 90 days he has to leave the country or he would have to apply for residence in the US.

2. United Kingdom
I don't know any details about British immigration law but that is what matters here. You have to obtain all the facts.

3. Canada
Canadian law is not affected by your purpose of marrying in the US and then living in the UK.

 

[katiemo]

Thanks! You confirmed what I had been thinking all along, glad to get agreement so I know that I'm reading all the terms right!

I didn't know if the Canadian citizen had any impact (I figured it would only if he needed a visa to come to marry on a visit, whereas I know Canadian citizens don't) and the UK immigration laws are as clear as day (I've been through the visa process before, so it's not a new thing to me).

Thanks for the help and clarification!