Laws On Crossing Mexican/U.S. Border

[Pencey]

If a Mexican girl meets and gets married to an American man visiting down in Mexico, is she allowed to cross the border now that she's married to a U.S. citizen?

What does she need to show the border patrol to cross?

[pantalone]

Thankfully the border guard is there to protect us from our drunken excesses.

Being married to a citizen CAN provide you with a legal reason to stay in the country. This is not an automatic perk. I have a friend who was deported from Australia last June, for staying past his visa. He had been married to an Aussie for 8 months already, and not given the ok to stay. After petitions, and police records and job histories he was able to go back in March.

True that is AUS, not USA. But the same bureaucratic nonsense is in effect here. But the question is, is nationality and legal status important to the story? I mean people cross the border every day. And not just Americans going down to shop for cheap booze, jewelry and drugs. Mexicans cross the border as well. Some for work, some for personal reasons.

Did you know that the INS is no longer the INS... Check out these pages...

uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/fiance.htm (http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/fiance.htm)

uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/hdiknonimm.htm (http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/hdiknonimm.htm)

uscis.gov/graphics/servic...chor431398 (http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/tempbenefits/index.htm#anchor431398)

[BannedFromTheBoard2]

She'd need to go to a US embassy or consulate in her own country and apply for a visa/change of status, etc. That could take months.

--Needless to say, that particular story beat in your script is really gonna have them on the edge of their seats!

If she had a tourist visa or work visa to enter, then she should lie and not mention the marriage or anything along those lines, otherwise she'd be denied entry.

If she lies and gets in, then she should not leave the country under any circumstances until her status has changed. To do that she would have to contact immigration, inform them of her desire to change her status from legal alien to full national, and then go through that process to get her green card. Again, it takes months.

She wouldn't be able to cross the border just because she married a US citizen. Immigration would turn her away. Since 9/11 and the draconian laws that have come into being, under the aegis of 'homeland security', it's very difficult for law-abiding, decent people to enter and stay in the US. For terrorists and others wishing to explode a dirty bomb in Times Square all they need do is cross over at any point along the thousands of miles of unprotected US border adjacent Canada or Mexico and disappear never to be heard of again. That is, until they choose to be heard of again.

[Gobo]

Pencey,

Banned is right. (Haven't we talked about Immigration before Banned?) Just to repeat things....

If she got married in Mexico and wanted to live in the US, in her current situation she is screwed. She should keep quiet about the marriage, cross the border with a visitors visa or even a K1 fiance visa which would give her 90-days from date of entry to get married (again) and file for residency. This can take over a year to process (if she isn't flagged for anything and Immigration deem the marriage not for convenience!)

She could enter on a b1/b2 visa valid for 6 months and apply for permanent status having gotten married in the US (this needs to take place 90-days before the 6 month visa expires) or she could stay in Mexico, apply for a K1 fiance visa (you may have to check to see if this is applicable in Mexico, for some reason I think it might be different due to the border situation) and do the whole thing legally and with time under her belt. But where would the cinematic quality be in that?

Hope this helps.

Benedict