On-shore or off-shore processing

[Jasper001 0]

My daughter is currently in the US on a B1/B2 visa and is now pregnant and engaged to a US citizen. Is it better for her to remain in the US, marry and start a change of status to receive a green card or should she return to Australia, have the baby and marry here and start the spouse visa process. Does anyone know the approximate times for each process at the moment?

Thanks for any help

[Jasper001 0]

Need help! If anyone knows the quickest processing times please reply. My daughter is engaged to a US citizen and they are due to have a baby in November. They are in love and want to marry.

My question is should they stay in the US, marry and apply for change of status, they have been told this will take approx 4 months or should they come to Australia to have the baby, marry and then when her husband returns to the US he can then apply for spouse visa to bring her back to the US with baby.

Does anyone know processing times for both options?

[Lainie B 465]

If she is in the US right now, the best option is to stay, marry and adjust status. 4 months is about right, give or take. She would follow this guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

The other option would take considerably longer (around a year)

Edited September 26, 2014 by Lainie B

[Jasper001 0]

Thank you for your response, your comments are in line with what they are being advised in the US.

If baby is born in the US to Aussie mum and American dad is there any pros and cons to this or will the baby have both Australian and American citizenship no matter what, also does anyone know about applying for travel documents so my daughter can travel to Australia while change of status is being processed. Thank you for your help

[Lainie B 465]

She can apply for AP (advance parole) while her AOS is being processed which will allow her to leave the US and re-enter before she gets the green card. It will take 60-90 days. If there is an emergency she can apply for emergency AP.

What is her status in the US right now? She may need to be careful about leaving the US before she gets her greencard, even with AP.

The baby will be a US citizen if born in the US, and if born in Australia will be eligible for US citizenship via CRBA

For Australian citizenship, if the baby is born in the US see http://www.citizenship.gov.au/applying/how_to_apply/born_overseas/

[Jasper001 0]

Thanks again, my daughter is on a B1/B2 visa which expires late January, but if she left the US to visit Australia before the change of status is approved she would have the baby with her to show family.

I guess if the green card takes about 4 months it might be safer to wait till then, they will be applying at the end of October for the change of status from California.

[NikLR 13,232]

Thanks again, my daughter is on a B1/B2 visa which expires late January, but if she left the US to visit Australia before the change of status is approved she would have the baby with her to show family.

I guess if the green card takes about 4 months it might be safer to wait till then, they will be applying at the end of October for the change of status from California.

She should AOS right away. She will have to wait until the baby has their US passport before she can fly anywhere. If the father is not going with her she should take a notarized letter that specifically states she can fly with the child on XX dates to XX place.

She can fly with the AP card, which takes about 90 days to receive, but I don't know when her due date is and airlines won't let her fly after 8 months pregnancy generally. I personally wouldn't fly with a child who is under 1 month old. My daughter took her first flight at 3 months old.

[Ryan H 3,834]

Moved from What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration forum to Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas forum.