New member

[riss 12]

Greetings everyone,

I've just joined this forum and am hoping to find some advice and company along the way as I start my new life in the US. My fiance and I became engaged a few weeks ago and we hope to be married before the end of the year. So I'm trying to learn as much as I can about all the different documents and forms and processes that we'll need to get organized. I'm from Australia and have just spent three months with my fiance in the US, traveling on the 'visa waiver program', which allows me 90 days at a time. I had to leave the country at the end of the 90 days, but I'll be going back at the end of this week for another 90-day stay, again on the visa waiver program, and we'll be getting married as soon as possible once I'm there.

I'm not really sure which folder I should be posting in, because I don't need a fiance visa, given that I will already be in the US when we get married and then apply for resident status. I gather that I need to file the I-130 and the other two or three forms that you lodge concurrently. But if anyone has some general or specific advice for me I'd be most grateful!

Oh, and if anyone can tell me what sort of documents or medical testing or other things I might need in order to get married, that would be a great help too. There's so much information out there on the internet and so often one thing contradicts the other. A little confused!

Riss.

[max+patricia 24]

If I understand you right, you're talking about coming here under VWP, marrying and filing I-485 to adjust status.

Be warned that coming here with the intent to marry and, most importantly, stay/file for AOS is visa fraud. There are countless threads about it (search: marrying and VWP). Coming to the US, marrying here, filing for a CR-1/K-3 (which requires you to return to your home country, interview, etc) is legal. My wife and I did the same thing, although on an actual tourist visa. It's understandably tempting to marry here, stay and file for AOS - but you should understand in advance it's seriously sketchy.

[Touch of Treble 39]

Well said M+P i was about to say the same thing. VWP will NOT allow for a change of status. you MUST return to Aus at the end of your 90 days. Also be aware that you MIGHT, but MIGHT NOT, be allowed entry at L.A.X. Especially if they think you are planning to get married and then AOS. Please do your homework while you are over there, so you can get as prepared as possible. Best of luck to you.

[riss 12]

Wow. Thanks for letting me know, you guys. I thought I saw something like that on one of the web pages I visited but it seemed ambiguous and I thought maybe I just wasn't understanding it properly. If only I'd known this before! We could have arranged a fiance visa for me this time before I went back again. I doubt we can get one now in three or four days!

Our plan was to be married by the end of the year, and then I would be flying back to Australia two or three months later to visit family and organise my things there, pack up and put stuff in storage, organise any paperwork etc. So I guess I'd be leaving the country anyway. Is there any disadvantage to us getting married now? Would it be better to wait till I'm back in Australia three months from now, and then apply for a fiance visa, arrive in the US and then get married and go through the immigration process? Or is it just as straightforward (or more straightforward) for me to do what m & p mentioned - marrying first and then going back to Australia and applying for the CR-1?

I'd like for us to be married soon, but at the same time it seems like if I was going to be sitting around biting my nails about the results of applications or interviews, and filling out all these forms and things, it might be a lot nicer if L and I could be together while all that is going on, i.e. if I was in the US on a fiance visa, rather than being married but apart on opposite sides of the planet... I'd love to hear any thoughts on this.

Riss

Edited December 12, 2011 by riss

[max+patricia 24]

Keep in mind about VWP (and any visa) is that officials look for stamps to see when you come/go. If it appears to them that you're residing in the US (or trying to) you should probably expect to be vibed. Attempting to stay more than 180 days (IIRC, 2x visits of 90 days each) in the US in a calendar year will raise eyebrows and possibly have you denied entry. Flying back to Australia (at your expense) after a denial would be pretty traumatic. My wife had been to the U.S. on her tourist visa 3 times just this year (including this most recent time) and was GRILLED by Immigration in Miami about why she comes and goes here so much. She told the truth of course, but still, it's at their discretion whether or not to even let you into the country. How long ago were you here?

Going for a K-1 or CR-1 is something that gets asked alot here. Generally, the K-1 will get you to the U.S. "faster" than a CR-1 - but with a K-1 you arrive on a non-immigrant visa and have to marry and adjust status within 90 days. AOS costs something like an additional $1000 and you are unable to work during the wait for it - if that matters to you. With a CR-1, your passport is stamped on arrival with a temporary green card that gives you the right to work in the U.S. as you wait for your actual green card in the mail. There is no additional $ to adjust status since you're already a permanent resident. Either way, you'll be waiting for some period of time in your home country. Processing times vary for everyone - there are couples on here that have had their petition for a K-1 or CR-1 approved by USCIS in less than 2 weeks and some push more than 7 months. Start to finish (file to interview) can be anywhere from about 3 months to more than a year. Our K-1 was 8 months from file to interview date, which is pretty quick all things considered. Whatever you decide to do, read everything in the guides above before you file your petition. Good luck!

[riss 12]

Thanks for your reply, m+p. Wow, I had no idea this was so complicated!

I will have been away from the US for just under four weeks, when I fly back end of this week. So yeah, I'm doing two 90-day stays back-to-back. I was concerned about running into trouble beyond that, so the plan was that we would marry before the end of my second visit. Then I had planned to return to Australia anyway to tidy up things and spend a couple of months with family - but I didn't realise that there might be a wait of several months before I could come back to the States. The CR-1 sounds like it would work out better in terms of the cost and perhaps less fiddling around with the AOS, but the thought of spending what could be many months apart really doesn't sound appealing. Do I understand correctly that with the K-1 I would be able to apply for and receive the fiance visa in a relatively short time, then be able to go to the US, get married within 90 days, and then file and wait there until my interview and AOS were finalised?

Thanks again for your help, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. And congratulations on your own wedding and successful 'journey'! You two make a gorgeous couple.

Riss.

Keep in mind about VWP (and any visa) is that officials look for stamps to see when you come/go. If it appears to them that you're residing in the US (or trying to) you should probably expect to be vibed. Attempting to stay more than 180 days (IIRC, 2x visits of 90 days each) in the US in a calendar year will raise eyebrows and possibly have you denied entry. Flying back to Australia (at your expense) after a denial would be pretty traumatic. My wife had been to the U.S. on her tourist visa 3 times just this year (including this most recent time) and was GRILLED by Immigration in Miami about why she comes and goes here so much. She told the truth of course, but still, it's at their discretion whether or not to even let you into the country. How long ago were you here?

Going for a K-1 or CR-1 is something that gets asked alot here. Generally, the K-1 will get you to the U.S. "faster" than a CR-1 - but with a K-1 you arrive on a non-immigrant visa and have to marry and adjust status within 90 days. AOS costs something like an additional $1000 and you are unable to work during the wait for it - if that matters to you. With a CR-1, your passport is stamped on arrival with a temporary green card that gives you the right to work in the U.S. as you wait for your actual green card in the mail. There is no additional $ to adjust status since you're already a permanent resident. Either way, you'll be waiting for some period of time in your home country. Processing times vary for everyone - there are couples on here that have had their petition for a K-1 or CR-1 approved by USCIS in less than 2 weeks and some push more than 7 months. Start to finish (file to interview) can be anywhere from about 3 months to more than a year. Our K-1 was 8 months from file to interview date, which is pretty quick all things considered. Whatever you decide to do, read everything in the guides above before you file your petition. Good luck!

[riss 12]

Okay, wait a minute. If I read that correctly... Are you saying that your wife had to wait back in Venezuela for 8 months before she could have an interview to receive her visa to enter the US? Or... Hm. Sorry, I'm a bit confused. Hope you don't mind me asking so many questions!

[Ryan H 3,834]

riss:

If you decide to follow the K1 route, this is a general outline:

Your US Citizen fiance(e) files the I-129F

Posted times by USCIS from filing to adjudication decision of petition is 5 months

After approval, file is transferred to the NVC and assigned a case number before being sent to the Consulate in Sydney (for K visas, the NVC is only a mail stop)

Times vary from the time the file leaves the NVC to the time it will arrive at the appropriate Embassy or Consulate (Consulate in Sydney in your case)

Interview scheduling is Consulate specific, other VJ members from Australia can help you in this regard

If approved, you must enter before the visa expires

You and your fiance(e) must marry within 90 days after your arrival

You file for AOS after you marry, when you file for AOS, you can also file for an employment authorization document (EAD); the EAD would permit you to work while the AOS is pending, be aware that you are looking at a timeframe of many weeks or months before an EAD would be issued to you

If you follow the CR-1 route:

Posted times by USCIS from filing to adjudication decision are the same as K1

File is transferred to the NVC

Estimate 1 month for a case number to be assigned to your file after approval by USCIS

Financial Support documentation and civil documentation must be submitted to the NVC

NVC "completes" review of the case (case complete)

NVC will schedule interview at Consulate in Sydney based on what the Consulate tells the NVC they have available

You must enter before the visa expires

m+p explained the rest

[max+patricia 24]

Okay, wait a minute. If I read that correctly... Are you saying that your wife had to wait back in Venezuela for 8 months before she could have an interview to receive her visa to enter the US? Or... Hm. Sorry, I'm a bit confused. Hope you don't mind me asking so many questions!

Technically yes, but as we filed the petition after my wife was here on her tourist visa, she was able to stay here while the petition was pending. That isn't to say the petition does ANYTHING to a tourist visa (or in your case, VWP) meaning you MUST leave the country before the date stamped on your I-94.

The CR-1 sounds like it would work out better in terms of the cost and perhaps less fiddling around with the AOS, but the thought of spending what could be many months apart really doesn't sound appealing. Do I understand correctly that with the K-1 I would be able to apply for and receive the fiance visa in a relatively short time, then be able to go to the US, get married within 90 days, and then file and wait there until my interview and AOS were finalised?

Nope. Ryan H said it nicely above. For K-1, your fiance would file a petition for you, USCIS would approve/deny it, forward it to NVC, they give you a case number and send it to the embassy. You then interview at the embassy, get the visa (if approved) and come to the U.S., marry within 90 days, then apply for adjustment of status. Once you are married in the U.S. and apply for adjustment of status you're fine to stay in the U.S. until you interview for that, but it doesn't make you a permanent resident in the mean time. Think 3-5 months for USCIS, a few weeks for NVC, 1-2 months for an interview - then come to the U.S. and get married - then file for AOS, which can be another 3-5 months. For CR-1, USCIS is also 3-5 months, 1-2 months at NVC (varies depending on a number of things), 1-2 months for an interview - then you'd come to the U.S. (already married) and you're done for 2 years. Get it?

Good luck to you guys

[riss 12]

Oh boy...

Thanks so much for the responses. After I received your first lot of advice and did a bit more research, I phoned my fiance to tell him that I'd realised things weren't going to be so straightforward after all. Like me initially, he'd only seen the USCIS website information which says things like 'visas are always available for spouses of US citizens', and 'there is no waiting time for immediate relatives of US citizens', and he insisted that I was wrong, that I shouldn't believe everything I read in a forum, and that when I got back to the US we'd be able to get married and apply for a green card without spending any time apart. I told him I really wished he was right but I just didn't think so. In the end he said he'd contact a lawyer as soon as he could.

The lawyer affirmed to him that after we married I would still need to go home and apply for a CR-1, which he said would take around 3 months. Then he told my fiance that when I re-entered the US (which was to have been yesterday), I should be prepared for the 50% chance that I would be denied entry, based on the fact that I was engaged/in a serious relationship and I guess therefore I would be suspected of planning to marry and apply for AOS without going back to Australia first. At first I thought I would just take my chances, if I got knocked back I'd just go back home. The lawyer had said to make sure I told the 100% truth and wore my engagement ring on my finger etc. and did not allow there to be any suspicion that I was trying to conceal anything, and I figured that was best since I'm really not much into making up stories. But then I researched 'denial of entry' online and came across a bunch of stories of people who had honestly disclosed their situations, admitted that they were engaged, etc. but explained that they intended to return to their home countries to apply for green cards, and who were nonetheless treated roughly, interrogated for hours, sometimes handcuffed and put into jail cells... I also read that being denied entry once could lead to you being 'flagged' and having trouble every time you travelled in future... I wasn't sure who paid for the trip back because as far as I knew I wouldn't be able to change my flight booking on the spot to return home, and booking a new flight at short notice would be prohibitive ($3500). We couldn't get in touch with the lawyer at such short notice for further advice, and after much heartache I decided to cancel the trip, the day before I had meant to fly.

Now L and I don't know how long it'll be till we see each other next. He'll have to consult the lawyer again and get the K-1 forms started. I've gathered that it's also not a simple matter to go over to visit him during the processing/waiting period for the K-1, due to the same concerns that I could enter the country and then apply directly for AOS and not leave. We just didn't have a clue! L and I both had looked up the USCIS website long ago and we read that if the spouse was in the US, then we should simply apply for the I-130 and there was no waiting list. We thought it sounded pretty straightforward! I guess that was pretty silly/naive.

Everyone we have met since beginning our relationship has said it's such a lovely story, the way we met and fell in love and I ended up going halfway round the world for something that seemed like a 'long shot'. One lady even wanted to write our story, lol! All I can think is that this is going to make for an interesting and eventful chapter.

Thanks so much for your help & advice, Ryan and m+p. I'll study what you've said carefully and get on to the next step of the process.

I'm a bit confused about whether I did the right thing, missing that flight - but chances are that you saved me going through what could have been a pretty harrowing experience.

riss