Just to let you know I have asked the attorney (see residency into the USA legal advice post) If because my fiancé is incarcerated or on parole and therefore can not show 3 years worth of salary paid or as some people have mentioned a pardon by the state for his crime does it effect our petition for a fiancé Visa,

After a whole of worry and crying I finally see a cloud with a silver lining

For anyone else in this predicament please see the response:

The petition [[Fiancé Visa]] can be filed now. The fact he is in prison or on parole does not matter as long as someone else is willing to sign an affidavit of support showing that you will not become a public charge or in need of government assistance.

Wow that's great news Joanna !!! :)

Now you can concentrate on this wedding dress !!! :D

Phil

Speaking of that Phil VERY off topic but I had to let you know, I have just been really naughty (pay day) and bought myself a Christian Dior bag for my trip to the states. Its beautiful

joanna...please email or pm me coz girl...they are making it more difficult then it is! i can tell you all you wanna know about this!!! you dont even need the fiancé visa!!!!!! you need permission from the prison to get married, then enter the States on a normal tourist visa and marry your luv. then you stay in the States and apply for residence permit. you need a sponsor, any familymember will do. it takes a while and maybe even go to court, but in the end you have your greencard. i became an expert in this hahahaha.
take care

I hate to be such a downer on people's dreams, but folks contemplating this should think carefully about they are doing and the possible consequences.

Mara, what you are advocating here is breaking the law and it has some heartbreaking consequences should it all go wrong.

Read the small print on the "tourist visa" (the Visa Waiver I-90) and it asks questions about the tourist's intent when entering the US.

Entering the US under false pretence can (as you said) result in a court appearence.

This is not to be taken so lightly!

If that court appearence goes wrong the result is a fine, imprisoned and/or deportation.

It doesn't matter whether one has a sponsor or not, the issue is entering under false pretences which is illegal, and someone doing this is taking a terrible gamble that the court isn't feeling "hard-assed" that day and just issues a deportation order.

The presence of a sponsor may pursuade the court to be magnanimous that day, but it may just as easily go the other way.

How can you assume the court appearence always goes right and results in a green card?

If this were so, there would be a queue of foreigners seeking to enter the US via prisoner marriage....it would be used as a scam by those seeking profit on one side and a green card on the other.

Some of the hurdles in the current *legal* process were placed there in the 1970s to block this method of entry into the US

It is unlikely the result will be imprisonment, the habit of the INS is to just kick people out of the country, which is why these failed cases don't make the news....the people are just kicked out.

Once deported, it is a mandatory 2 year wait before the deportee can re-apply for a tourist visa.

Once deported, the person forfits their right for an automatic visa waiver, again, read the small print on the I-90, it asks if the claiment has even been deported previously.

After 2 years one can apply, but it does not mean even a tourist visa will be granted and permanent exclusion is a real possibility.

Anyone contemplating this, I wish you the best of luck......but please think carefully about the consequences of your actions.

That sounds like very good advice please don't do anything that could be turned around on you Joanna. Make sure that every thing is on the up and up it is worth waiting for. Love Barbara

I had an idea that I got the I-number for the "Tourist Visa" (Visa Waver) wrong....and I did!

It's not an I-90, it's proper title is "I-94W Arrival/Departure Record for the Visa Waiver Pilot Program". It's the green card form passengers (typically from Europe but not always) fill in on the plane.

The only time "Tourist Visas" proper are issued these days are for citizens of the countries not included in the list of 29 countries who are in the Visa Waiver Program.

Thanks everyone, to be on the safe side I will not be marrying my fiance this August :-(
I have decided to wait (its not long until he has served his max time, 1 1/2 years) so I will do it properly, the last thing I want is to upset the INS in a country I'm hoping to take up residency in!

Joanna, I know it seems like that 18 months will last for ever, but just think of the benefits.....when you get wed, he will be a free man and there will be no guards gate-crashing your wedding!

You also won't spend years worrying and looking over your shoulder wondering if the whole INS house of cards is going to collapse on you, leaving you deported and unable to be with the one you love.

If he was doing life or 50 years or something, then it would be worth pursuing it with a lawyer......but jeopardizing everything for the sake of 18 short months?? That's not a good gamble.

Think about what a wonderful wedding you will have with family and friends - - - and NO guards and NO rules!! It will be wonderful day I am sure :-))

Red Roses,
Thanks for your kind words, still dont know how Im going to tell my fiance but I know he will understand!
and again thanks everyone else for the support!