Any Aussies that left Australia?

[Newhawaiki 20]

I am a U.S. citizen and my partner is Australian. We are both in Australia right now and my flight out back to the U.S. is next week. Her flight was 10 days after mine but got cancelled and she got moved to my flight next week. We have a K1 being processed and her VWP is still valid from looking at her ESTA.

 

We're both wondering how it will go for her at border patrol, especially during these times?  

[Lil bear 4,130]

53 minutes ago, Newhawaiki said:

I am a U.S. citizen and my partner is Australian. We are both in Australia right now and my flight out back to the U.S. is next week. Her flight was 10 days after mine but got cancelled and she got moved to my flight next week. We have a K1 being processed and her VWP is still valid from looking at her ESTA.

 

We're both wondering how it will go for her at border patrol, especially during these times?  

There has been discussion and questions about whether or not fiancés entering under K1 meet the requirement of “immediate family” for entry into the US. I have not seen an answer .. if it’s “no” then someone entering on a K 1 will not be allowed to enter the US.  Hopefully you will get a response from someone who has been able to answer

Edited March 20, 2020 by Lil bear

[Newhawaiki 20]

17 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

There has been discussion and questions about whether or not fiancés entering under K1 meet the requirement of “immediate family” for entry into the US. I have not seen an answer .. if it’s “no” then someone entering on a K 1 will not be allowed to enter the US.  Hopefully you will get a response from someone who has been able to answer

 

Organiser hat on ... moved to K1 forum 

Thank you for taking the time to respond. She is not entering on a K1 but on a tourist visa (VWP), our K1 is being adjudicated and I know that will come up when the border patrol scans her passport.

[Lil bear 4,130]

25 minutes ago, Newhawaiki said:

Thank you for taking the time to respond. She is not entering on a K1 but on a tourist visa (VWP), our K1 is being adjudicated and I know that will come up when the border patrol scans her passport.

I’m hoping you’ve fully researched the impact of being a tourist in the US at this time. There are likely to be no flights back to Australia until June at the earliest , travel insurance obtained in Australia may well deny any claim attributable to COVID19 as it is a preexisting event.. hope you have plans in place to handle both these scenarios .. 

 

moved to Working and travelling during immigration 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2020 by Lil bear

[designguy 1,179]

With a pending k1 and the current situation. I would there is a high likelihood of being denied at the border with her potentially coming and adjusting 

[Boiler 45,229]

Well they have blocked Canada and Mexico, visitors from Australia I do not think so, well not yet, tomorrow who knows.

 

How long is she looking to stay?

[Newhawaiki 20]

47 minutes ago, designguy said:

With a pending k1 and the current situation. I would there is a high likelihood of being denied at the border with her potentially coming and adjusting 

Thank you for playing Devil's Advocate, this I think would be the most likely way border patrol would be looking at this.

[Lil bear 4,130]

Just now, Newhawaiki said:

Thank you for playing Devil's Advocate, this I think would be the most likely way border patrol would be looking at this.

I agree. Especially knowing that flight back to Australia are currently not available after next week.  Personally I’d rather ride this out in Australia than hmm in the US .. but that’s not an option for me .. hardest part  is knowing my 91 year old parents in Melbourne have a high risk of dying if they contract the illness .. and I will have no way of getting there .. 😢

[Newhawaiki 20]

17 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Well they have blocked Canada and Mexico, visitors from Australia I do not think so, well not yet, tomorrow who knows.

 

How long is she looking to stay?

She was thinking of 80 days with her VWP and then we would back to Australia with me being on a tourist visa. We're hoping for some definitive border closure soon so we have something black and white to work with. 

[Newhawaiki 20]

5 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

I agree. Especially knowing that flight back to Australia are currently not available after next week.  Personally I’d rather ride this out in Australia than hmm in the US .. but that’s not an option for me .. hardest part  is knowing my 91 year old parents in Melbourne have a high risk of dying if they contract the illness .. and I will have no way of getting there .. 😢

I'd rather ride it out here in Australia also but my visa just so happens to run out next week, it's crunch time. I'm sorry to hear about your parents, that must be agonizing to deal with. I'm in Melbourne and people have become much more civilized with groceries and it seems like everyone is taking it seriously.

[Lil bear 4,130]

1 minute ago, Newhawaiki said:

She was thinking of 80 days with her VWP and then we would back to Australia with me being on a tourist visa. We're hoping for some definitive border closure soon so we have something black and white to work with. 

Don’t count on being allowed to enter Australia on a visitors visa in 3 months. 

[Lil bear 4,130]

1 minute ago, Newhawaiki said:

I'd rather ride it out here in Australia also but my visa just so happens to run out next week, it's crunch time. I'm sorry to hear about your parents, that must be agonizing to deal with. I'm in Melbourne and people have become much more civilized with groceries and it seems like everyone is taking it seriously.

Yes. They need to do more extensive testing but it’s certainly ahead of what is happening here.    Plus, Medicare in Australia is a lot better safety net than anything here in the US 

[Boiler 45,229]

I would imagine Australia will have arrangements for those with expiring visa's.

[Newhawaiki 20]

2 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

Don’t count on being allowed to enter Australia on a visitors visa in 3 months. 

Thank you for this update, that was our original plan but now it's back to the drawing board at square 1 while we wait for more updates. I'm wondering if we should get married here sooner so that we have more to work with in terms of the logistics of being together at this point, but that's another can of worms entirely.

[Newhawaiki 20]

3 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I would imagine Australia will have arrangements for those with expiring visa's.

Yes I looked into it and they do. You have to prove (with paperwork) that you either can't make it home due to the flights being cancelled, that your country's border has closed, or that you are medically unable to travel. 

 

Since my flight is still leaving back to the U.S. next week (I believe) I am legally bound to leave the country on that flight. If that somehow gets cancelled then I can apply for the waiver. I could be wrong but this is how much I know at the moment.