US Immigration from Australia

In the Guide on Filing an I-130 for a Spouse Inside the US, the warning at the top states (in part):

Quote

If your fiance/fiancee came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, and you are not yet married, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the K-1 visa should be filed (using an I-129f) instead of the I-130 to avoid a denial, deportation, or even being banned from re-entry to the US.

If you are already married, and your spouse came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the I-130 (or along with an I-129f for a K-3 Visa) should be filed with the relative outside of the U.S. to avoid denial, deportation, or even being banned from re-entry to the US.

I am currently in the US on a B1/B2 visa, and will be married this weekend. We intend to submit I-130 & I-485 (and all other associated forms) as soon as possible, so I just want to know if I am actually required to leave the United States to start the process?

In my application for the B1/B2 visa I stated I was coming to the US to meet my fianc s family before we get married, and that I intended to return to Australia in March. My I-94 is good until April 5th 2021. Returning to Australia right now is not so easy due to COVID, so our intention is to marry and start the Green Card process for myself as the spouse of a US citizen (my soon to be wife). We were not planning to be married so soon, however we decided to marry sooner rather than later to avoid any more separation. I was stuck in Melbourne for 7 months after my fianc returned the the US in March... she left about a week before travel restrictions came in while I was waiting for my passport to come back from e US consulate.

So I sort of fall between these two... I came on a Tourist/Business visa, not intending to marry immediately, but at the time of submitting I-130, I-485 etc we will be married.

Thanks in advance for any responses, my eyes are opening up to the labyrinth that is USCIS!

My husband arrived here in the US in July expecting to do his 90 day visit, get our packet together to start our spousal visa, and continue the testing steps needed to become my kidney transplant donor. A week before he was to return to the UK, we got an email from Delta canceling his return flight and giving him credit for a future one instead.

We immediately called USCIS to find out what to do and if there was an extension available until he could rebook his flight, etc. The woman we spoke to said there was, good for 30 days at a time, and started giving us the info we needed. During this convo though, it was mentioned by my hubby that an extension would be great right now anyway, as I was having abdominal surgery 2 days before his original leaving and now he'd be able to be there to help me after. This led to a further convo about why I was needing surgery, my kidney failure, and him testing for my donor, and she told us to stop and scratch all the info just mentioned.

Instead, she told us to file our I-130 and I-485 concurrently while he was still here and NOT to return home. As our intention was never for him to remain after this trip, there wouldn't be an issue with trying to circumvent the system. He is essentially being considered for a waiver (for lack of a better way to explain this) under humanitarian reasons.

So, which timeline am I supposed to fill out since we're kind of "skipping" steps? There's no consulate visit there in London, etc. And what can we expect to happen going forward? We have our notice that the paperwork was received and have our receipt number, but no idea what kind of time frame we should expect since it's all been sent together instead of the normal step-by-step procedure.

Thanks!

Hey guys,

Just checking in to see if anyone else is experiencing this:

I've gone to check the status of my CR1 visa and the CEAC tracker won't let me in. It keeps saying the captcha code I've entered is incorrect, but it isn't...

Anyone else? I'm hoping this is a system glitch and it doesn't mean there's something wrong with my visa specifically, though I can't fathom what that might be...

I'm hoping to find assistance with current/up to date information (Other topics in the forums are from years ago, and many changes have been made to immigration since their posts) regarding the process I would need to undertake to obtain my CR-1 (?) visa so that once I've gotten everything in order, I can move to live closer to my husband, who is currently serving a Life Without Parole sentence in Pennsylvania. Obviously I know he's unable to fully sponsor me, and I'm a bit reluctant to ask his family to be joint sponsor, but I have a friend who is willing to be joint sponsor for me. Is it still possible that the joint sponsor doesn't have to live in the same State? How much money will I need to show I have saved to support myself? Is there a time-frame that this money has to 'last' me for? How long is the joint sponsor legally responsible for me? Is there anyway I can provide for myself without a joint sponsor? Would I need to have letters of offers of employment before submitting the paperwork? Will I be able to purchase a property in Pennsylvania whilst I'm still residing in Australia? If I am able to buy a house, would it be better to put the house in both names? If I start the visa process, can I still visit hubby without being turned away at the border? Should hubby and I have a joint bank account? (To help prove bona fide marriage) So many questions already, and I'll probably have more to ask once I start getting answers too!

A bit of background history, hubby and I met thru his mother, who has now passed away, and have been in communication for almost 6 years. We first met in 2018, and since then I have visited a further 3 or 4 times, for several weeks at a time. On one visit we got officially engaged and on the next visit we got married on November 9th, 2019. I've planned on making the move to PA (Pennsylvania) basically ever since we started growing close. As he is a Lifer, with no current hope of ever getting out (although laws may eventually change) I would just like to be living in the same time zone as him, same zip code if possible, but, once contact visits start up again, be able to go visit him in person every week, and not just once or twice a year depending on savings.

Any assistance/advice is extremely welcome as I've tried reading the 'legal' information on the immigration website, but I get lost in all the mumbo jumbo legal speak!

Thank you for your time reading this, and I hope some of you are able to help me/us out with our journey.

Naomi & Jason

Everything was perfect at our interview except they requested court docs on a thing from 11 years ago on my partners AFP cert. There was no conviction but they still wanted these. He has already submitted the docs to them, but my question is, does the Sydney consulate email you with their verdict or if they need even more information or are you just expected to constantly check some website to see what they decided?

thanks all