Legal Question in Immigration Law in North Carolina

Re: Vietnamese lady marriage to US citizen while here on tourist visa

You have a few options. One of them is to get married while she is here in her valid "visitor for pleasure" status. By the way, you should check when her I-94 expires because an alien's authorized stay in the US is governed by the I-94 and NOT by an alien's visa. After you get married, you need to file for adjustment of status (AOS). Along with your AOS application, you submit form I-131 and in a few months you should be receiving her "travel document" in the mail. With the "travel document", she can travel to her country and re-enter the US. You other option is not go get married while she is here this summer. Rather, when she goes back to Vietnam to attend to her business, you can start the K-1 process that would eventually allow your girlfriend come back here as your fiancee. At that point you would have 90 days to get married. Please note that in your case a "double intent" issue is likely to come up, which might be very tricky. Should you decide to retain an immigration attorney, I would be happy to help you. I have a lot of experience with clients from "post-Communist" countries.