demijonas

I can't quite tell if you're sending me this to tell me I'm wrong, make a snide remark or be helpful. Either way, I would appreciate any helpful comments or nothing at all.

Reddit mostly. A lot of people share their screenshots from the app Lawfully and it seems to be getting quicker at the moment which most people are saying. Also as I mentioned, the immigration lawyer we spoke to also said 8 months to a year, 15 months at a push he had seen personally.

Thanks for the info, I have seen all of the above on various sites so have taken this well into consideration. Thanks again!

Thank you for the info! An immigration lawyer we spoke to said most cases he works on at the moment have been taking around 8 months to a year for green card in hand and I had seen a lot of posts recently with similar timelines so now this worries me. Almost two years going back and forth was not what we were expecting. Not the first time, at all. But I have consumed SO much information over the last two weeks since I got married from various sites, forums and threads that everything is starting to jumble itself up and my brain is flooded with different form names and abbreviations so I am just simply asking for a bit of help to better understand everything. Everyone was at the beginning stages at one point and needed a helping hand I guess.

Odd but appreciate your comment. My whole (quite lengthy) post was asking for advice on entering to the US on my ESTA and how many times I can come and go. I was also asking for any other people in a similar situation so I can see some real life examples and hopefully some put my mind at ease. To be quite honest, I was asking because it seems as though a cop out for people switching to AOS and getting away with it and some of the threads kind of made me a bit jealous/pissed while a lot of people are waiting excruciatingly long times to be reunited, which is exactly what will happen to me and my spouse depending on however long USCIS decide to take with our petition. I'm married to an Active Duty USC in the Marine Corps and you can literally be given dishonourable discharge for this so I can assure you, we are doing things the correct and LEGAL way.

Ugh, so 8 months in now for you guys. We are yet to file as we're waiting for our marriage certificate to come back. We got married on March 1st. Forgive me for being a little clueless on the full entire process, but once USCIS approve the petition, is that the approval of the green card and you get the okay go? Or is there another huge fuss after this too?

The original comment was edited below somewhere by the commenter. The husband had urgent heart surgery so the wife was able to adjust whilst there to care for him. I think the original comment just missed out some of that vital info.

Understood. Definitely no intent of visa fraud there. I think heart surgery is enough of a reason to have a change in circumstances, wow.

My business runs in the UK whether I am there or not. I've worked really hard for some years to grow my business to a point where I have time freedom like I said and have staff that work for me now, which is why I can afford to be away from work for extended periods of time. It would be physically impossible for me to work on my ESTA as my business, which is a clothing brand, runs and operates from my offices in London and everything is made/shipped from there.

Oh you're so right! I'm riddled enough with anxiety about this whole process coming to visit on an ESTA let alone even attempt to try something like AOS. I'm certainly not brave enough to go down that slippery slope but really just wanted to understand what it was people were doing and how it was even legal. It is an expensive process going back and forth visiting, but I'm praying that USCIS are processing applications quicker than they were during peak covid times so that I won't have to come and go too much. I have seen some cases recently on Reddit being approved incredibly quickly but I know it's all pot luck. How far along in the process are you guys after filing in July?

Can see your original post was edited as it didn't say that to begin with. Thanks for the heads up, but I was merely replying to the commenter about someone else's situation. Nothing to do with mine as I have said I'll be doing consular processing and just wanted to know how it was even legal to switch. Thanks!

Thanks so much for this info. I'm glad it's worked out so well for you both all those times, I really hope I'll be in the same boat soon! I must remember this withdrawing to request entry if anything does happen, I have seen that posted a few times around this site but hadn't known if it applied to this type of circumstance. I think Dublin seems like a winning option for me. That long haul flight will be a lot more relaxing for me and my partner knowing I'm already through. LAX have been nice every time tbh, I can't say I've ever had a bad experience to be honest. I flew to JFK in 2018 with an esta and had a return booked for 3 months time, the only thing I was asked is what I would be doing for the time and where I was staying which was with a friend. Given I wasn't married to a US citizen with a pending case back then, haha.

Thanks for that Crazy Cat. I can assure you I am aware of this, but yes thank you for pointing out that visa fraud is not a nice option. Intent is made at the border. If the original commenter was explaining about a situation that involved a US spouse suddenly needing surgery and his wife having to care for him, then there is no visa fraud there, that would be a change of circumstances which I have seen and heard happens many times.

Hi Daphne! Thanks for your response. Absolutely understand AOS causes room for concern, I was more wanting to check this was even allowed at all as I'm only just seeing that some other posters have done so. I had no idea switching from consular processing to AOS was even a thing until about 20 hours ago. I guess it worries me the most that my husband and I will be apart from majority of the time whilst the CR1 is processing and with the way things seem to be going these days, it could take well over a year and going for a couple of weeks at a time, many times, will be very expensive. Plus, spending more time out of the US than in it will also need to be applied here. I know I'm not the only one in this boat, but my husband is active duty military and his schedule is a lot more fixed than mine so taking leave to come to the UK and visit me regularly isn't an option for us. Whereas I can come and go as much as I like in theory as I own my own business which enables me a lot of time freedom.

Wow! Now that's the first I've seen of a 6 month visa even being granted to a foreign spouse of a US Citizen. I had a B2 tourist visa appointment booked for next month but was told by so many commenters to cancel the appointment as it's not worth the risk. If they deny me the visa at the appointment, my ESTA is also automatically revoked and lord knows how me and my spouse would survive being completely separated that way. That would be hellish.

Funnily enough, this was my husbands parents route in as his mum is Filipino and Dad a USC. However, this was back in the 80's and I'm aware a lot has changed, ha. I wonder how long she was in the US for on her current tourist visa. It's definitely something I'm seeing on a lot of forums, wasn't aware it was something even allowed but yes, a really nice option like you mention.

Wow, this is great to hear! Just out of curiosity, how long has it been since you filed and how long did he stay back home in the UK between his visits? I'm seeing the rule of thumb is twice as much time outside of the US as you spent in. I'm in London and have heard good things about the pre-clearance at Dublin, so I am really considering flying there first and then over to LA. I feel slightly more confident that I'll be fine getting in either way now, but just to give me peace of mind, Dublin is a lot closer to London than LA is if I were to get turned away for whatever absurd reason.

I own and run a successful clothing brand in the UK, it is a LTD business so I’m fortunate enough to be able to have a lot of time freedom. While I’m away I have people to help keep the business running which is why I’m able to essentially not limited to any holiday/leave.

Thanks so much! Yes, I believe (and hope) that I have a good amount of proof showing I will return. Especially considering I’ve seen people with much less ties be granted entry so fingers crossed there. Any recommendations on how long of a trip I should be showing? Given the esta is valid for 90 days I’ve heard most saying to not do the full time. In regards to the first part of your message, what I meant was those that have already married, are in the process of/have filed a CR1 with the intent to go home and do consular processing, then switch to AOS whilst they’re in the US for whatever reason. This is obviously legal somehow because I’ve seen people on this site do it, but I’m wondering if it just became really tricky switching routes.

Yes I'm aware of this. I was just making note of the fact that I've recently come across some people doing this, when their original intent was to go and just visit as normal and go home to finish the process but for whatever reason, they have switched to AOS. I know intent is determined at the borders by an officer so just wasn't sure if switching was even allowed at all.

Hi all! Hoping for a bit of advice or even better, real life situations you’ve been through yourselves in regards to this. Had posted on Reddit but feel as though it's filled with not as helpful responses as this site. - My husband (US Citizen) and I (UK Citizen) got married last month in the US while I was visiting him for ten days and I returned home to the UK a few days after. We are planning to start the process for a marriage based green card (waiting for our marriage certificate to come back) and will fill out form I-130 as soon as and go the consular processing route. My question is, for how long will I be able to visit him in the US whilst the visa is processing? I’ve seen a mixture of answers to this and some really great outcomes but my anxiety makes me question everything. I’ve seen some going back and forth fine on their B2 visas, some on an ESTA. An immigration lawyer we briefly spoke to said I have strong ties to the UK, two mortgages/properties, I work for myself and have a LTD business registered in the UK, car on finance that has a few years left to pay off, can show sufficient funds to fund myself whilst I’m out there so I’m hoping I’d be able to provide enough evidence if I was questioned. He thinks we stand a good chance but said he’s had clients turned away and some come and gone multiple times with no issues. My husband is also active duty military and we were told this could help us although I’m not sure how true that is. Any advice on how long I should book to stay for if we go this route? I'm seeing most people say a couple of weeks, short and sweet trips cause less concern. Of course I want to be with my husband for as much time as possible, especially as it isn’t an option for him to spend nearly as much time in the UK with me whilst being in the military but am keen for more feedback. I have a concert planned in LA on the 11th May so would be going just before that. On a sidenote, I recently came across some posts where people had switched from consular processing to AOS whilst visiting their spouse on a tourist visa or ESTA. I hadn't realised this was an option. Is that incredibly risky? We have every intent to do the consular processing but just wanted to know for my own interest.