E3 Visa holder marrying US Citizen - CR-1 Application and Travel

[Chosen_Two 0]

Good afternoon,

This is my first post, and I have a question for y'all.

I am an Australian citizen currently living and working in the US under an E-3 visa (set to expire March 2014). I will be marrying my US Citizen fiancee in March, 2013. I plan to file for a CR-1 shortly after getting married. My fiance is doing a short semester in Australia for her university degree, and I plan to briefly travel with her to Australia, returning to the US after approximately 10 days, in May, 2013.

I understand that there are issues with living and working in the US under an E-3 visa, and travelling while an CR-1 application is in progress.

Will there be an issue if I submit our application for my CR-1 in March (immediately after we get married), and we then travel to Australia in May? Or should we delay submitting the CR-1 application until I return to the US after the short trip to Australia?

We are eager to get the application process started ASAP, but do not want to risk issues with getting back into the US under my E-3, as this would not be great from an employment standpoint. However, would it be considered disingenuous to not file our CR-1 application until May (approximately 2 months after we get married)?

I appreciate any suggestions or advice y'all could give me.

Thanks!