I have been told by other foreign graduate students that getting married in another country (possibly even married at all) violates that student visa agreements. One girl is French and marrying an American, she was told that if she goes to France to have a wedding ceremony that she would not be allowed back in to America. This sounds exactly like what happened to this student. It's shameful and bizarre, but it appears like these are the rules however poorly they are communicated (my friend had NO idea as the university filled out her visa application and did so incorrectly 4 years ago).
Student visas (F1 and J1) are valid only so long as you do not have 'immigrant intent' (as compared to, say, an H-1B, which doesn't have this requirement). Marrying an American (even in another country) can suggest to the DHS that you may actually intend to immigrate to the US after all. At that point, though, you have other options (can apply to be sponsored for a green card by your spouse).
I've never heard of student visa problems caused by getting married to a non-American, which seems to be what happened in the case discussed in the OP.
> marrying an American, she was told that if she goes to France to have a wedding ceremony that she would not be allowed back in to America.
My cursory reading of the USCIS website tells me her fiance would need to apply for a K1,K3 visa. Being married she is entitled to rights the typical J visa holder does not have.
This is where the immigrant/nonimmigrant visa process breaks down. USCIS makes it painfully expensive to change a nonimmigrant visa into an immigrant visa. I guess what they want to avoid is having people jump the greencard queue, and marriage moves you right to the top, by flying in on a tourist visa, find a willing US citizen to marry.
A 'marriage of convenience'[1] in that sort of situation is typically treated as fraud, with potentially high penalties (deportation for the incoming, jail for the citizen). I've heard from more than one recently married couple that they've been separated and intensively interviewed about their personal lives, marriage, and backgrounds. IIRC one was returning to the US, and another was entering Canada. In both cases one of the couple was a native citizen.
If that were the actual reason, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a standard form letter or actual reason for denial. I suppose 'Go Away, We Can't Talk About It' might get used in marginal cases or when the appropriate authority can't be bothered doing the actual research.
Or they just lost at Top100 Terrorist Names Bingo.
No it doesn't. It only matters if a student's spouse is an US Citizen. F1 is a non immigrant visa and student is not allowed to have an immigrant intent.A student can no longer prove non immigrant intent if you are married to USC (Note: H1B is a dual intent visa and it is perfectly legal to have an immigrant intent). Therefore a student on F1 can be denied entry at POE if his/her spouse is USC.
