As 2025 remains the year of President Donald Trump’s massive immigration crackdown with around 39 countries on US travel ban list, one of the frequently asked questions is if one can still get married in the US on a visitor visa. The answer is yes if they are from countries that are being issued a visitor’s visa in the first place. Many African countries are on the list of complete travel ban — they can’t travel to the US to get married. Immigration attorney Brad Bernstein said it’s completely legal to get married in the US on a visitor’s visa. “If you come in and get married and then fly home, no probem. But if you are coming on a visitor’s visa and planning to stay after you get married, you need to know the 90-day rule,” the attorney explained. “If you marry within the first 90 days of your entry on a tourist visa, when you go to apply for your Green Card, immigration can say you lied. You said you were coming to visit, you got married, and applied for your Green Card. You had the intention of getting your Green Card and no intention of visiting. That’s misrepresentation and that just destroys your case,” Benstein said. The right way to do things would be, as the attorney said, you enter, you visit, you stay more than 90 days, you genuinely changed your mind and decide to stay in the US. “Then you marry. Then you adjust your status. That keeps you safe, that gets you a work permit in 90 days and a Green Card in less than a year.”
What is the 90-day rule?
The 90-day rule is a guideline used by the USCIS and the US consulates to assess the intent of the visa applicant. If an individual on a visitor visa marries a US citizen within 90 days of entry and then applies for adjustment of status, it raises a visa scam alert. But if the same action happens after 90 days, there is no automatic presumption of fraud, but there is also no guarantee of approval.
Legal path from visitor’s visa to Green Card
The legal path is to enter the US legally on a valid visitor visa with a genuine intention of a temporary visit, The decision to marry and stay in the US takes place after entering the US, then you marry a US citizen (not just a Green Card holder) and then apply for change of status in “good-faith change of plans”.
