Need advice. CR-1 AUSTRALIA

[carey01 0]

I am a US AirForce Memeber. In december I am going to marry the love of my life in Sydney Aus. after that we will be married and apart for however long this takes. We are both pretty torn up about this. I had some general questions. Forgive me if my typeing is off I have been reading over webpages all day.

1. if my wife gets a b-2 or a visitation visa, then comes to vist me for how every long she can stay, if I file the i-130 while she is here visiting will it get denied due to her being here on a visitation. She fully intends to go back to Aus and complete her interview there, this might just take a little bit of the sting away from us being apart.

2. will my wife loose citizen ship in AUS be doing the CR-1? I ask because she worked really hard to have dual citizen ship with AUS and HUN?

thanks for any replys my head is pounding

[Lainie B 465]

Why would she need a B-2 visa? She should be able to use the visa waiver program.

There is no reason they would deny her I-130 just because she is visiting. There is a slight chance she could be denied entry when she comes to visit the US under the VWP, but she just needs to bring proof that she intends to return to Australia after the visit and wait for the CR-1.

Your wife won't lose her Australian citizenship. She will not be a US citizen when she migrates to the US, just a legal permanent resident (green card holder). After three years she can apply to become a US citizen if she wants to (or she can just continue being a legal permanent resident). Even if she becomes a US citizen, she won't lose her Australian citizenship, Australia allows dual citizenship.

[carey01 0]

thank you so much

the b-2 visa you can visit for 6 months, the vwp your limited to 90 days. If she can stay here for 6 months that would be amazing, then it might only be a few months more when she gets back till her interview.

If we get married in Dec, then she comes to visit in Feb on b-2 (and they let her stay 6 months) that means I can file the I-130 after she gets here in Feb. I know this is legal. But was worried it would mess up the i-130.

[Lainie B 465]

thank you so much

the b-2 visa you can visit for 6 months, the vwp your limited to 90 days. If she can stay here for 6 months that would be amazing, then it might only be a few months more when she gets back till her interview.

If we get married in Dec, then she comes to visit in Feb on b-2 (and they let her stay 6 months) that means I can file the I-130 after she gets here in Feb. I know this is legal. But was worried it would mess up the i-130.

If she applies for a B-2 and gets denied (a very strong possibility since she has a US husband and shows immigrant intent with the I-130 application), then she can no longer use the VWP for a period of time as she will have a visa denial. Then there is no way to enter the US until she gets the CR-1

Why not petition for CR-1 in December straight after the marriage? That would speed up the time to getting the visa.

[carey01 0]

she is applying for the b-2 now before we get married, and there will be no i-130 filed until she is already here visiting. You understand what I am saying?

If I file for the 130 before she comes to visit there is a bigger chance of her being denied entry. We just want to spend some time together. even if it means waiting to file the 130.

If I file the 130 right after we get married I will not see her for 6 months to god knows how long

Edited October 26, 2012 by carey01

[carey01 0]

any ideas.

for the recorder I have called USCIS 4 times and on 3 of those times they have told me to have her come over on the B-2 and then file the i-130 and the i-485 at the same time while she is here. 1 time they told me it was fraud, the last time they told me to do that I told them it was fraud and they said it was not.

this is soooo confusing.

[Ryan H 3,810]

she is applying for the b-2 now before we get married, and there will be no i-130 filed until she is already here visiting. You understand what I am saying?

Regardless of whether she applies for a B2 now or later, she would still have to show strong ties to Australia and will likely have to make a compelling case as to a CO as to why the allowable time in the US the VWP grants wouldn't be sufficient time for her. Since she would be required to answer any questions a CO asks her truthfully (i.e. CO asks "why you want to spend more than 90 days in the US?"), she is unlikely to make a strong case to overcome presumption of immigrant intent and would be denied a B2. As another poster previously stated, if she is denied a B2, she will not be able to use the VWP.

any ideas.

for the recorder I have called USCIS 4 times and on 3 of those times they have told me to have her come over on the B-2 and then file the i-130 and the i-485 at the same time while she is here. 1 time they told me it was fraud, the last time they told me to do that I told them it was fraud and they said it was not.

this is soooo confusing.

Since USCIS does not issue visas or has anything to do with the VWP, they are not the people to be seeking advice about your situation or advice about visas in general from. B2 visas and the VWP are not for immigrating.

[carey01 0]

Regardless of whether she applies for a B2 now or later, she would still have to show strong ties to Australia and will likely have to make a compelling case as to a CO as to why the allowable time in the US the VWP grants wouldn't be sufficient time for her. Since she would be required to answer any questions a CO asks her truthfully (i.e. CO asks "why you want to spend more than 90 days in the US?"), she is unlikely to make a strong case to overcome presumption of immigrant intent and would be denied a B2. As another poster previously stated, if she is denied a B2, she will not be able to use the VWP.

Since USCIS does not issue visas or has anything to do with the VWP, they are not the people to be seeking advice about your situation or advice about visas in general from. B2 visas and the VWP are not for immigrating.

Hmm I see your point about the b-2, I mean she obviously wants to come see me, but she was an exchange student here in highschool (which is how we met) and wanted to travel around to see all of her stateside friends. I just felt with the 3 month VWP she wouldn't get to do all that. Oh well looks like I might get to see my soon to be wife when we get married then for about a week, then again in like a year for forever. So sad,

also how do you joint own anything when you both live in two separate countries? I can add her to my bank account , and once we are married I could put her in all the military systems as my wife, but not sure how I can prove anything beyond that.

[Ryan H 3,810]

also how do you joint own anything when you both live in two separate countries? I can add her to my bank account , and once we are married I could put her in all the military systems as my wife, but not sure how I can prove anything beyond that.

Couples living apart in separate countries will not be expected to own property together or have joint accounts.

[carey01 0]

Couples living apart in separate countries will not be expected to own property together or have joint accounts.

Oh thank you so much, we both have been really stressing out about this part of the interview. I mean we have high school buddies that are filling out affa's saying they knew we were close in high school. we have one picture of us together then and we are both in the same yearbook. then we have letters and emails from the past year. We actually spent two weeks in vegas about 4 months ago which is when I proposed. We were completely scared after reading some of the stuff others went through in their interviews.

thanks again that takes a big weight off our shoulders.

[Lainie B 465]

Oh thank you so much, we both have been really stressing out about this part of the interview. I mean we have high school buddies that are filling out affa's saying they knew we were close in high school. we have one picture of us together then and we are both in the same yearbook. then we have letters and emails from the past year. We actually spent two weeks in vegas about 4 months ago which is when I proposed. We were completely scared after reading some of the stuff others went through in their interviews.

thanks again that takes a big weight off our shoulders.

I haven't been through a CR-1 interview myself (I did the K-1), but remember that consulates are very different. Stick to reviews of the Sydney consulate, that should ease your mind.

I'm not sure why your fiance (wife) can't still visit you on the VWP? You say that you are going to be separated for up to a year after the marriage. Applying for a B-2 is risky, with a 23% rejection rate for Australian applicants, but why can't she come for a 90 day visit under the VWP?

Also if you are really concerned about being apart after marriage, have you considered the K-1? It has several disadvantages over the CR-1 (more expensive, can't leave the US for several months after entering, can't work for several months after entering, hard to plan the wedding, have to go through adjustment of status), but it is generally faster, and there would be no separation after the wedding itself, and she can visit while you are waiting.

[carey01 0]

I haven't been through a CR-1 interview myself (I did the K-1), but remember that consulates are very different. Stick to reviews of the Sydney consulate, that should ease your mind.

I'm not sure why your fiance (wife) can't still visit you on the VWP? You say that you are going to be separated for up to a year after the marriage. Applying for a B-2 is risky, with a 23% rejection rate for Australian applicants, but why can't she come for a 90 day visit under the VWP?

Also if you are really concerned about being apart after marriage, have you considered the K-1? It has several disadvantages over the CR-1 (more expensive, can't leave the US for several months after entering, can't work for several months after entering, hard to plan the wedding, have to go through adjustment of status), but it is generally faster, and there would be no separation after the wedding itself, and she can visit while you are waiting.

well I think what we might do is have her file the vwp come over after we are married and then go back after 90's then file the i-130. I would have done the K-1 if we had had more knowledge of it a while back but we have already planned and paid for a wedding in Sydney. invitations and everything have already been sent out. if the i-130 takes a long time they might let her come back and visit me on another vwp later if we are lucky. she has been to america several times and always left.

all her family is Australia, but it might be hard to prove ties as she has moved back in with her mom to save on money, and her contract for her job ends in Feb. she will still be doing her other job which is legal filing and some house keeping stuff, but I can see how it might be hard to prove all that after we start the i-130 process. the 90 days after we are married will be nice. we have never had that much time with each other since highschool. we just wanted a little time to celebrate and let her meet the members of my family she never met when we were in highschool.

[Lainie B 465]

well I think what we might do is have her file the vwp come over after we are married and then go back after 90's then file the i-130. I would have done the K-1 if we had had more knowledge of it a while back but we have already planned and paid for a wedding in Sydney. invitations and everything have already been sent out. if the i-130 takes a long time they might let her come back and visit me on another vwp later if we are lucky. she has been to america several times and always left.

all her family is Australia, but it might be hard to prove ties as she has moved back in with her mom to save on money, and her contract for her job ends in Feb. she will still be doing her other job which is legal filing and some house keeping stuff, but I can see how it might be hard to prove all that after we start the i-130 process. the 90 days after we are married will be nice. we have never had that much time with each other since highschool. we just wanted a little time to celebrate and let her meet the members of my family she never met when we were in highschool.

I see why you prefer the CR-1. The K-1 makes it really hard for wedding planning! However I don't see why you would delay the submission of the I-130 until after she has visited and returned. If your aim is to get her to the US as quickly as possible after the wedding then if I were in your situation I would submit the I-130 as soon as I had the marriage certificate. She should have no problem visiting under the VWP while the I-130 is being processed. You can also submit the I-130 while she is visiting you in the US. Then she would return to Australia and have the visa interview.

[carey01 0]

I see why you prefer the CR-1. The K-1 makes it really hard for wedding planning! However I don't see why you would delay the submission of the I-130 until after she has visited and returned. If your aim is to get her to the US as quickly as possible after the wedding then if I were in your situation I would submit the I-130 as soon as I had the marriage certificate. She should have no problem visiting under the VWP while the I-130 is being processed. You can also submit the I-130 while she is visiting you in the US. Then she would return to Australia and have the visa interview.

i was afraid if I started the i-130 before she came to visit that at the POE they might deny her entry based solely on the i-130 being in the system. I don't even know if they check honestly. I have never been out of this country without being on military orders. I was planning on starting the i-130 while she was here, but was still checking on the legality of that.

yay me just made Jr Member

Edited October 30, 2012 by carey01

[Lainie B 465]

i was afraid if I started the i-130 before she came to visit that at the POE they might deny her entry based solely on the i-130 being in the system. I don't even know if they check honestly. I have never been out of this country without being on military orders. I was planning on starting the i-130 while she was here, but was still checking on the legality of that.

yay me just made Jr Member

They usually don't know about pending petitions at the POE. I visited the US while waiting for my I-129f petition and actually brought the receipt notice with me as part of my proof that I intended to visit my then fiance and return to Australia for the visa interview. It wasn't even needed, nor was any of the other proof I brought. That's not to say she won't have any questioning/problems, only that myself and the majority of people her on visajourney who travelled to the US under the VWP while waiting for their petitions to be approved had no issues. However if she has had several recent long stays in the US under the VWP, then it could look like she is using the VWP to "live" in the US, and that can be a problem.

There's no reason why you can't start the petition before or while she visits.