The Student Visa as a Fiancee
Visa Substitute
Today a client asked me whether he could
obtain a student visa for his fiancee to attend a local
community college rather than wait to obtain a fiancee
visa. He had researched the requirements to obtain a
student visa and believed that his fiancee met those
requirements. From his point of view the student visa
looked ideal because it could potentially be obtained
much quicker than a fiancee visa.
I advised him that a student visa was
not ideal or even practical for his situation for the
following reasons.:
1. It is dishonest to try to obtain a student visa to
enable a foreign fiancee to enter the United States
because the exclusive purpose of the student visa is
to enable a foreign student to study temporarily in
the United States. The student visa is a non immigrant
visa; it is not intended to be used by a foreign fiancee
to enter the United States to marry an American citizen
and live permanently.
2. On a related point the USCIS is well aware of the
purpose of the student visa and is very careful to ensure
student visas are not issued to foreign women who are
engaged to American men. In fact the USCIS specifically
asks the student visa applicant whether she has a fiancee
in America. Once the student visa applicant acknowledge
having an American fianc? the student visa application
is typically summarily denied.
3. If the student visa applicant/foreign fiancee does
not acknowledge having an American fiancee she may be
able to obtain the visa but she will be guilty of material
misrepresentation and or immigration fraud. Such misrepresentation
is always discovered by the USCIS when the student visa
applicant marries her American fiancee and seeks to
adjust status to permanent residency. At that point,
the USCIS typically denies the adjustment application
and issues a finding that the applicant is guilty of
material misrepresentation and therefore ineligible
to ever live in the United States.
For the above three reasons it is a terrible idea to
seek a student visa for your foreign fiancee rather
than wait for a fiancee visa to be issued. The USCIS
has prescribed that the fiancee visa is the only lawful
method to bring your fiancee to the United States. Finally,
the fiancee visa is great because unlike the student
visa or the tourist visa it is actually easy to obtain
if the petitioner and beneficiary follow all the rules
and requirements of the fiancee visa.
