Married in Australia

[Seve G 0]

My wife in US citizen and i am UK citizen and we married 2001 and have 2 kids (last one born 6 weeks ago in US). In 2001 we went to Australia for a week’s holiday and decided to get married there. It seems that i (as the UK citizen) now need to go to Australia for visa? is it a joke or can i go to the London embassy that i can see from my home window. What about the police documentation that i can only get from London as that is my home town?

My wife now wants to stay in US with her family in the US as we have be in London for the last 6 years. I travel to US every few weeks on visa waiver...Our 6 year old has just started school in US.

Any help please

[C and J 1]

My wife in US citizen and i am UK citizen and we married 2001 and have 2 kids (last one born 6 weeks ago in US). In 2001 we went to Australia for a week’s holiday and decided to get married there. It seems that i (as the UK citizen) now need to go to Australia for visa? is it a joke or can i go to the London embassy that i can see from my home window. What about the police documentation that i can only get from London as that is my home town?

My wife now wants to stay in US with her family in the US as we have be in London for the last 6 years. I travel to US every few weeks on visa waiver...Our 6 year old has just started school in US.

Any help please

For the K3 you must go through the embassy in the country in which you married. So, unfortunately, for the K3 Australia it will be. However, I am under the impression that the I130 (CR1/IR1) does not have the same regulations and you are able to interview etc in London.

As you have stated you are the main breadwinner, the I130 would be better in this respect too, as you would not be authorised to work for roughly 3 months from entering the US on a K3 and filing for adjustment of status.

The difference in processing times between the IR1 and the K3 is only a couple of months at present.

[MargotDarko 0]

If your wife is still resident in the UK, you are in the ideal situation actually. Your wife can file the I-130 directly with the USCIS office in London. The whole process to get you a IR1 visa (which automatically grants you a 10 year green card with work authorisation upon arrival in the US) should only take about 6 months and sometimes even less.

It sounds like your wife is currently in the US, but if she has recently lived in the UK and still has authorisation to live and work in the UK, it should be okay for her to come to the UK for a bit and file the I-130 in London.

Otherwise, she should file the I-130 with the USCIS service center for her area in the US, and I would skip the I-129f for the K3 visa as that would mean you would need to go to Australia and it wouldn't be a ton quicker than the IR1 visa anyway. There are a lot of advantages to the IR1 visa as well.