adjustment of status while on Visa Waiver Program

Hi everyone.

My fiance is a US citizen, and I am in the USA as an F1 student. I am set to graduate in May next year. We are getting married in England, we are both orginally from the UK and therefore he holds dual citizenship and I am a UK citizen. We chose to get married in the UK due to family commitments and our general ties to our home country.

My student visa expires obviously after I graduate, and I do not have time to apply for OPT before we have to go back to the UK to get married.

So, can I come back to the USA on the visa waiver program and apply for adjustment of status as I will then be a spouse of a US citizen?

I'm just worried that if we are already married when I come back to the US they will think it's weird or something. Or is it ok to do so?

nicky_192 wrote:Hi everyone.

My fiance is a US citizen, and I am in the USA as an F1 student. I am set to graduate in May next year. We are getting married in England, we are both orginally from the UK and therefore he holds dual citizenship and I am a UK citizen. We chose to get married in the UK due to family commitments and our general ties to our home country.

My student visa expires obviously after I graduate, and I do not have time to apply for OPT before we have to go back to the UK to get married.

So, can I come back to the USA on the visa waiver program and apply for adjustment of status as I will then be a spouse of a US citizen?

I'm just worried that if we are already married when I come back to the US they will think it's weird or something. Or is it ok to do so?

It's not ok at all. It's illegal to enter the US as a visitor with the intent to adjust status. If you do so, your AOS application may well be denied. You have two options: either get married in the US and apply for AOS, or get married in the UK and then apply for a CR-1 immigrant visa (which takes about 10 months or so to obtain).