Can a spouse of a U.S. citizen visit the U.S. without intentions to stay there permanently?
Suppose Alice and Bob get married in country C. Alice is a citizen on the U.S. and Bob is a citizen of country C. Both of them live permanently in country C.
Suppose that Alice and Bob want to occasionally visit to the U.S. together without staying there permanently. What type of visa does Bob get? He is worried about the different options:
- A tourist visa application might be rejected because Bob is married to a U.S. citizen and it is hard to make the case that he doesn't intend to stay in the U.S.
- An application for an immigrant visa wouldn't make sense because Bob isn't intending to immigrate to the U.S.
- A K-3 visa is technically a non-immigrant visa, but it seems like in effect it is a visa to visit the U.S. while waiting for an immigrant visa application to finish processing, which has the same problem as the previous point.
- Even if Bob obtains a green card, he could lose it by staying outside the U.S. for more than a year.
Alice and Bob might want to immigrate to the U.S. at some point in the future (10 years, say) and don't want to do anything that would prevent that option.
Ideally, Alice and Bob would like the freedom to enter and leave the U.S. at any time and stay for as long or as short as they like, and as often or as rarely as they like.
What should Bob do?
Best Answer
The only appropriate visa would be a visitor visa (or visit on the Visa Waiver Program, if Bob's nationality is part of the VWP; or if Bob is Canadian, just enter as a visitor without visa), since Bob's intention is to visit temporarily and leave. Yes, he might be denied the visa for failing to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent. He should provide strong evidence of his ties to his home country, that he doesn't intent do leave that country in the near future, that his US citizen spouse doesn't intent to leave that country in the near future either, etc.
There are nonimmigrant visas that are not affected by immigrant intent, e.g. H or L work visas, but he is not intending to work in the US. Applying to immigrate would involve a long and expensive process, and, as you said, he doesn't intent to stay in the US, so would lose his permanent residency anyway, so it's a big waste.
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Can U.S. citizen spouses enter the US?
If you are a U.S. citizen you have two ways to bring your foreign spouse (husband or wife) to the United States to live. They are: Immigrant visa for a Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR1 or CR1) - An immigrant Petition for Alien Relative, Form I-130 is required.Can my spouse visit me on tourist visa USA?
Can my fianc\xe9(e) visit me in the United States on a tourist visa? The short answer is yes, you can. The same rules for spouses of U.S. citizens (as described above) also apply to engaged partners with a pending K-1 (fianc\xe9 or fiancee visa).What happens if a tourist marries a U.S. citizen?
As long as you married your U.S.-citizen spouse \u201cin good faith\u201d \u2014 that is, you did not marry for the sole purpose of obtaining a green card, which you'll need to prove to the U.S. government \u2014 you should be able to receive your green card within 5 to 16 months from the time USCIS receives your application package.Can I apply for visitor visa for my spouse?
Legally yes your wife can come and visit you during the process \u2013 but will she obtain the visitor visa, that is the real question. If your wife is from a non-visa exempt country \u2013 meaning she first needs to obtain a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) to travel to Canada, she might get the visa or she might not.GETTING MARRIED While on a Tourist Visa? Caution!!! Watch This First!
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Answer 2
Ideally, Alice and Bob would like the freedom to enter and leave the U.S. at any time and stay for as long or as short as they like, and as often or as rarely as they like.
The simple fact is: this freedom will be next to impossible to achieve.
If Bob wishes to visit for extended periods of time with his US spouse, the authorities will almost certainly suspect immigrant intent, and the only way to convince them that Bob won't settle in the US is bringing solid proof that Alice also isn't going to settle there anytime soon.
And even then, that evidence is going to mean less and less if Bob and Alice keep visiting often for long periods of time. Bob will eventually get in trouble for this.
So sorry to say this, but US law just isn't designed to fit the desires of Alice and Bob. The authorities want to be able to clearly profile each foreigner: either they're a visitor, in which case they don't normally spend extended periods of time there, or they're a resident, in which case they consistently live there.
Answer 3
Ideally, Alice and Bob would like the freedom to enter and leave the U.S. at any time and stay for as long or as short as they like, and as often or as rarely as they like.
This freedom is only guaranteed to US citizens, therefore the only proper answer to your question is: have Bob become a US citizen. It will take time, effort and dealing with the bureaucratic machinery but at the end of the day Bob will be free to do whatever he wants in the US, whenever he feels like it.
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