Two days left and dont know what to do

[DanielleandChad 0]

We got online tonight to find people that have been and are still going through the same things that we are. This Forum is great! We've been looking at some of the questions posed and all of the information that is on here. I'm a UC citizen and my fiance is an Australian citizen and he is here on a visa waiver right now visiting me. He's due to go back to Australia in two days and we don't know what to do. We've contacted several attorneys and none of them have given us the same advice or information. Everything they say is conflicting and it's so confusing. We want to do things the "Right" way but we want to be together in the shortest time as possible. We know we're looking at being apart for several months but we just don't know which way is the best route to go. We wanted to get married now while he's still here in the states but we've been told that you cant get married on the first meeting, and also that you have to ask permission to marry here (K-1). That if you do they will deny your visa. He wouldn't be staying here int he US after we got married. He would fly home and I would file the papers. Is that a smart way to go? Should we get an immigration attorney or is this something that we can deffinetly do ourselves? We're so lost and running out of time, if you have any advice or stories to share we would so appreciate that. Thank you all for taking the time to read this.

Danielle & Chad

[Dakine 26]

If you guys didn't have intentions of marrying when he came you can marry and he can stay and adjust status right away. He can't return home until he gets his GC tho.

You can also marry and he can go home and you apply for a CR-1 spouse visa.

[meowmeowmeow 1]

what do you mean, he's here on a visa waiver?

take lots of pics! and get proof ready to validate your relationship in the eyes of the govt.

i suppose you may have to file the k-1 visa thing....sorry.

but might be a challenge to prove you guys didn't have any intentions to get married while he was in the states...so dunno, maybe best to try the k-1 route..or as the above poster said, get married and do a cr-1.

i suppose others can put their input in as well.

best of luck to you! i'm sure it'll turn out fine but do take a crapload of pics in different places, wearing different clothes, before he leaves...!

Edited July 28, 2009 by enraptured

[Carlawarla 1]

We got online tonight to find people that have been and are still going through the same things that we are. This Forum is great! We've been looking at some of the questions posed and all of the information that is on here. I'm a UC citizen and my fiance is an Australian citizen and he is here on a visa waiver right now visiting me. He's due to go back to Australia in two days and we don't know what to do. We've contacted several attorneys and none of them have given us the same advice or information. Everything they say is conflicting and it's so confusing. We want to do things the "Right" way but we want to be together in the shortest time as possible. We know we're looking at being apart for several months but we just don't know which way is the best route to go. We wanted to get married now while he's still here in the states but we've been told that you cant get married on the first meeting, and also that you have to ask permission to marry here (K-1). That if you do they will deny your visa. He wouldn't be staying here int he US after we got married. He would fly home and I would file the papers. Is that a smart way to go? Should we get an immigration attorney or is this something that we can deffinetly do ourselves? We're so lost and running out of time, if you have any advice or stories to share we would so appreciate that. Thank you all for taking the time to read this.

Danielle & Chad

Hello Danielle & Chad, and welcome to VJ! You can get married while he's here if you'd like. If you had no intention of marrying when he came here, you could technically get married, and he could stay here and adjust status, however you mention he wouldn't be staying, so I suspect he has to clear things up back in Australia before making a permanent move to the U.S. That's okay as well! If you want to be together the fastest, you could decide not to marry, and put together the paperwork while he's still here (well, sign the papers you need to while he's still here) and use the 129F (fiance visa) petition. This would allow him to return home, be interviewed at some point down the road in Australia, to come here on a visa, specifically to immigrate, marry you and remain. Additional paperwork would be needed to be done and approved once he's here and you were married, in order to remain here, and work.

Or, you could get married in the next few days, and after receiving your marriage certificate, file for a CR-1 visa. Again, he would return to Australia, and it might take a few months longer to get an interview over a K-1 interview, but, it would allow for him to come here and then he wouldn't have to adjust status once here...well, not for 2 year anyway. He would also be able to work right away when he came, and return back to Australia without waiting for the AP process.

Those are options available to you. You can look above at the K-1, and CR-1 Guides to get a more detailed description of how those two visas work. You can also go to Immigration Timelines and see how long others who are going through the process are waiting from Australia.

Best of luck!

[Frenchwife 1]

yes take a lot of pix

I think

you can get married now

you can postpone marriage (think a little...)

he should not overstay a Visa Waiver even if waiting for Adjustement of status

you could married and have filed for Adjustment of status but will not have time to wait for it

you cannot plan to come back under Visa waiver for getting married in the US and filing for Adjustment of status.

he can come back under Visa Waiver to visit you even if K1 or K3/CR pending showing he needs to go back to Asutralia for strong tights

you can go to Australia to visit him

etc...

[Krikit 1,164]

yes take a lot of pix

I think

you can get married now

you can postpone marriage (think a little...)

he should not overstay a Visa Waiver even if waiting for Adjustement of status

you could married and have filed for Adjustment of status but will not have time to wait for it

you cannot plan to come back under Visa waiver for getting married in the US and filing for Adjustment of status.

he can come back under Visa Waiver to visit you even if K1 or K3/CR pending showing he needs to go back to Asutralia for strong tights

you can go to Australia to visit him

etc...

I've highlighted the statements which are incorrect. If he applies to adjust status and is approved, the overstay will be forgiven..... as long as he doesn't leave the US prior to greencard approval.

I am going to move this thread from the K-3 forum to the AOS From Another Visa forum so you can explore those options. Good luck, and welcome to VJ.

[Melian 0]

I may be wrong, but I've heard that although what Krikit said is true, such an overstay would be forgiven if your AOS is approved, you may get in trouble for the overstay between the time his visa waiver expires and the time you get your NOA1 for the AOS. I've always heard it was a good idea to file as quickly as possible. We certainly did (in hindsight, we rushed too much and didn't look over the paperwork carefully enough). The marriage certificate can take a couple weeks, and then you have to gather everything together and file - during that time, he'll be out of status.

Another thing is, if you want to marry and adjust status, you have to be able to prove he only came for a visit and changed plans when he was already here (proof of ties to Australia). It sounds like he did and you would have proof, but just to make sure you know.

You could also get married here and file for a visa after he goes back, but last I heard K1 visas were processed quicker than spouse visas, so you'd actually be together again faster if you waited to get married.

[DanielleandChad 0]

I cant tell you all how much we appreciate all of your advice. This is such a long and stressful process we have ahead of us and we just didn't know what to do or where to start. We are so glad that this site exists and that all of you are on here. Our families are both very supporative but they aren't able to realate with what is going on right now and what we are facing. We're so blessed to have found you guys on here and thank you all again for taking the time to talk with us.

And we have a bit of news tomorrow we will be getting married. Actually it's today since it's after midnight. =)

I'm so excited~!!!!! That's why I'm still up at 1:18 in the morning. Wow I need to get some sleep.

Again thank you all. Next time I sign on I'll be Mrs instead of Ms. Yayyyyyy =)

[DanielleandChad 0]

I may be wrong, but I've heard that although what Krikit said is true, such an overstay would be forgiven if your AOS is approved, you may get in trouble for the overstay between the time his visa waiver expires and the time you get your NOA1 for the AOS. I've always heard it was a good idea to file as quickly as possible. We certainly did (in hindsight, we rushed too much and didn't look over the paperwork carefully enough). The marriage certificate can take a couple weeks, and then you have to gather everything together and file - during that time, he'll be out of status.

Another thing is, if you want to marry and adjust status, you have to be able to prove he only came for a visit and changed plans when he was already here (proof of ties to Australia). It sounds like he did and you would have proof, but just to make sure you know.

You could also get married here and file for a visa after he goes back, but last I heard K1 visas were processed quicker than spouse visas, so you'd actually be together again faster if you waited to get married.

The reason why he was going to go back after we got married tomorrow was because he has a doctors appointment that took months to get with a specialist. But we have those same specialists here and I called one and even though Chad's insurance isn't any good here the doctors fee's aren't extremely high. Chad's parents are going to mail his medical files over here to us so he has then for the appointment and we'll just pay for him to see the doctor here in the states.

His parents are sad of course because they thought he'd be home in just a few days but they are very supporative and told him they know how much in love we are and how happy we make each other and that's all they can ever ask for is for him to be happy. His parents are so wonderful! =)

[DanielleandChad 0]

yes take a lot of pix

I think

you can get married now

you can postpone marriage (think a little...)

he should not overstay a Visa Waiver even if waiting for Adjustement of status

you could married and have filed for Adjustment of status but will not have time to wait for it

you cannot plan to come back under Visa waiver for getting married in the US and filing for Adjustment of status.

he can come back under Visa Waiver to visit you even if K1 or K3/CR pending showing he needs to go back to Asutralia for strong tights

you can go to Australia to visit him

etc...

I've highlighted the statements which are incorrect. If he applies to adjust status and is approved, the overstay will be forgiven..... as long as he doesn't leave the US prior to greencard approval.

I am going to move this thread from the K-3 forum to the AOS From Another Visa forum so you can explore those options. Good luck, and welcome to VJ.

We're getting married tomorrow, should we immediately file the day we receive the certified copy of the marriage license in the mail?

[milimelo 4,508]

yes take a lot of pix

I think

you can get married now

you can postpone marriage (think a little...)

he should not overstay a Visa Waiver even if waiting for Adjustement of status

you could married and have filed for Adjustment of status but will not have time to wait for it

you cannot plan to come back under Visa waiver for getting married in the US and filing for Adjustment of status.

he can come back under Visa Waiver to visit you even if K1 or K3/CR pending showing he needs to go back to Asutralia for strong tights

you can go to Australia to visit him

etc...

I've highlighted the statements which are incorrect. If he applies to adjust status and is approved, the overstay will be forgiven..... as long as he doesn't leave the US prior to greencard approval.

I am going to move this thread from the K-3 forum to the AOS From Another Visa forum so you can explore those options. Good luck, and welcome to VJ.

We're getting married tomorrow, should we immediately file the day we receive the certified copy of the marriage license in the mail?

Don't wait for it to come in the mail - you go and personally take it to the clerk's office so they can issue it with a number of copies.

[Lili 3]

Enjoy your special day! Try to file ASAP as soon as you get the certificate! And like the previous poster, just go and get it the same day!

[trillium13 84]

Congratulations!

File as soon as you can, but don't rush through it so fast that you miss anything. Take the time you need to get everything filed right the first time.