unclear longterm residence

[RedApple 0]

I am a US citizen and my European fiance is currently in the US on a student F1 visa. We are unsure where we will end up long term, either Europe or USA, but we know we will be in the US for the next two years.

My fiance will graduate in one year and will find a job for the second year locally waiting for me to finish my program. At that point our intention is to move to Europe, but it obviously depends on who hires us and where they are. If we find jobs in the USA that we prefer, then we would stay here.

We would like to get married, but we do NOT want to get my fiance a greencard until we know we will remain in the US permanently. If we move to Europe we would instead get a permanent residence for me there. It would be strange (impossible?) to get a US greencard for my fiance AND simultaneously a european permanent residence for me, so we want to be sure which ONE we need/want.

Questions:

Can their employer still sponsor them for a work visa even if they are married to a US citizen? Or will our marriage mean fiance has to get a greencard to stay in the US after graduating? Is there a non-immigrant spousal visa that would allow them to work (F3?)?

Thank you to anyone with insight!

(Worth noting: we do not foresee the work visa being hard to come by after graduation since this is pretty standard/common in fiance's field.)

[aussie_jason 195]

When do you plan on getting married? What work visa do you think she would be able to easily get? The only work visa I'm aware of that isn't that difficult to get is an E-3 and that is solely for Australians.

[RedApple 0]

We would be happy to get married now while my fiance is a student, but weren't sure if it would somehow make it difficult to get a nonimmigrant work visa after graduation. I guess the concern is that the US govt might assume marriage to US citizen implies intent to stay and live in the US longterm, which isn't the case for us.

If the marriage would make things more difficult in terms of visas, then we could wait until after we know where we will be longterm. I guess we just want to know whether this is something to take into consideration when planning the timing.

(My fiance is luckily graduating from a top university in a specialized field with high employment rates and many international students who have no problem getting sponsored for work visas. Though "easily" is probably an over statement, I agree.)

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

What visa is she expecting to get? It matters.

[hmh33 117]

You might consider applying for your spouse's US permanent residence even if there is a good chance that he will only hold it for a year or so before you move to Europe. Here are a few reasons why that might be a good idea:

1. Cheaper tuition

2. Easier/faster employment authorization, less hassle than getting sponsored for a work visa

3. Even if you move to Europe, he might be able to keep the green card alive for a while (years) if the move can in any way be considered temporary. That would make moving back to the US easier should you decide to do that.

Also, if he does abandon his green card to move to Europe, that is in no way prejudicial to applying for another one later, i.e. you can sponsor him again.