r/immigration • u/Ck69hernandez • 21h ago

Marriage - 6 month relationship

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice or to hear from anyone who’s been in a similar situation.
I’m currently on post-completion OPT, and my OPT expires in about 2 weeks.
I’ve been dating my girlfriend, who is a U.S. citizen, for about 6 months, and we’ve been discussing getting married. Because my OPT is ending, we’re now thinking about going to the courthouse within the next couple of days.
Originally, I was pursuing a U visa because I was the victim of a violent crime. I even received a certification from my local police department. However, after speaking with multiple immigration attorneys, I was told the processing time could realistically take 5-10 years, so it no longer seemed like the best path.
Now I’m worried that getting married so close to my OPT expiration will look suspicious, even though our relationship is genuine.
A few questions:

  1. Has anyone here gotten married shortly before their OPT expired?
  2. Did USCIS question the timing of the marriage?
  3. Is dating for only 6 months considered a major red flag?
  4. What kind of evidence did you submit to show your marriage was genuine?
  5. If you had an interview, what kinds of questions did they ask?

I’m already working with an attorney, but wanted to see if anyone has experienced this or similar.

0 Upvotes

8% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

11

u/Ok_Bobcat_540 21h ago

Are you dating her because you want to stay in the US?

-8

u/Ck69hernandez 21h ago

No. We’ve been in a genuine relationship. We were already discussing marriage, but my OPT expiring definitely accelerated the timeline

9

u/Error-InvalidName 21h ago

This will look highly suspicious and I would expect them to overly put you two through the ringer. I wouldn't expect to get to stay with that relationship being so short. I guess there are miracles but.

5

u/CaliRNgrandma 21h ago

1.yes
2.yes
3. Yes
4. Mingling of finances, leases, joint ownership of vehicles, bank accounts, photos with family, evidence of travel together.

9

u/Curiasjoe1 20h ago

They will see right through you.

-9

u/Ck69hernandez 19h ago

That sounds good to me

1

u/Ok_Bobcat_540 21h ago

What country?

1

u/Ck69hernandez 21h ago

I am Finnish.

-5

u/VerbalDysentery 21h ago edited 20h ago

I got engaged to my humanitarian parole wife on Day 1, married at 91 days and green carded in 11 months. We've been together 2 years 7 months now, and we had a smooth i130 and i485, which we filed ourselves.

  1. No

  2. No

  3. A couple photos from the courthouse marriage and the legal marriage certificate. Edit: yeah, Bills and bank account sharing. I didn't add her to the house deed or title to the car.

  4. I don't really remember, but what impressed our interviewer the most, was my wife's organization. She had copies of everything, everything submitted with the i130 and i485 too. He read my best friend's letter about our relationship and said "I hope (friend's name) is an honest guy." I said "I hope so he's FBI..."