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Dear Mentor:
| If I marry my boyfriend now, can he get an F2 visa? |
I am from the Czech republic and I have had student visa and status F1 for 11 months I have had already exlarged [extended?] my visa for next year. I would like to ask you about my boyfriend who has just requested for the student visa and his temporary visa will be gone November 20. If I get married to him, for example in 2 weeks, can he ask immigration for status F2? Like a student's husband, he should have a right to do so. Please try to answer my question as fast as possible.
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Marriage for Visa, New York, New York, USA
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Dear Marriage for Visa:
Just some terminology for those who are not familiar with the jargon. The F1 visa in the US is issued to international students. the F2 visa is issued to the dependents of the F1 visa.
We should state that we are not immigration lawyers. You would be well advised to seek appropriate legal counsel from professionals.
It may seem like a minor issue, but we wish to express a difference of opinion. No foreign national has the "right" to a US visa; it is a privilege. The US INS (Immigration & Naturalization Service) determines whether someone should be issued a visa. One may meet all the stated requirements but the INS can still reject the visa application due to various reasons, not the least of which includes the applicant's motives and background. In other words, meeting the letter of the law is not sufficient, but one must also meet the spirit of the law.
A hasty marriage to secure a visa for your current boyfriend is likely to raise all kinds of flags for the INS. They would wish to make every effort to ensure that your marriage is a "real" marriage and not a marriage of convenience for the purposes of securing a visa for your boyfriend. Regardless of what you say, at least the appearance of this hasty marriage would not be looked upon favorably by the INS officials. In a free country like the US, you are free to do what you please, but you might encounter significant challenges from the INS for a visa for your boyfriend.
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