US Military member a lil confused about the whole visa thing!

[rareneau 0]

Hi I just recently got engaged to my fiance who is currently here from Australia on a Visitor's visa, when she first got here she had no plans at all to use her visitors visa as a method to immigrate here, and now we are trying to figure out the best way to do the paperwork. From reading the site it seems as though the preferred method would be to have her go back to Australia and then we could file for a K1 Visa, however we would like to get married in about 2 months and it doesn't appear that the K1 visa would work for that, the other option is for us to get married before her visitors visa expires and then submit the I-130 and the 485? overall this whole thing is fairly crazy. The only things that might affect this process is me being in the US Air Force, and my fiance was born in Costa Rica and was raised in Australia (she has dual citizenship) any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

[Labhrais 6]

Hi I just recently got engaged to my fiance who is currently here from Australia on a Visitor's visa, when she first got here she had no plans at all to use her visitors visa as a method to immigrate here, and now we are trying to figure out the best way to do the paperwork. From reading the site it seems as though the preferred method would be to have her go back to Australia and then we could file for a K1 Visa, however we would like to get married in about 2 months and it doesn't appear that the K1 visa would work for that, the other option is for us to get married before her visitors visa expires and then submit the I-130 and the 485? overall this whole thing is fairly crazy. The only things that might affect this process is me being in the US Air Force, and my fiance was born in Costa Rica and was raised in Australia (she has dual citizenship) any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

First, thank you for your service! Next, congratulations on your engagement.

You are correct in surmising that the K1 is not likely to come through in 2 months; however, I don't think you'll encounter very many problems with being in the military or with your fiance holding dual citizenship. You might have a bit of extra paperwork to sort out, but that's about it. There are multiple threads here about the extra hurdles relating to proving bona fide relationship when the marriage takes place while the foreigner is here on a visitor visa, a forum search should turn those up pretty quickly.

Good luck!

L.

[truffles 2]

Hi...Congrats,

I dont know for sure if they can help but it might be worth asking....It might be possible to get some assistance from perhaps your CO?

Or he could refer your to some dept that deals with this kind of thing to see if there is anything that they can do for your circumstances - I just think that the very nature of military is to serve abroad as well as at home and the situation must come up time and time again?

Best wishes

[Thai family 0]

Congrats!

Go visit your friendly JAG office on base. I'm sure that they deal with these issues frequently.

[pushbrk 13,375]

Hi I just recently got engaged to my fiance who is currently here from Australia on a Visitor's visa, when she first got here she had no plans at all to use her visitors visa as a method to immigrate here, and now we are trying to figure out the best way to do the paperwork. From reading the site it seems as though the preferred method would be to have her go back to Australia and then we could file for a K1 Visa, however we would like to get married in about 2 months and it doesn't appear that the K1 visa would work for that, the other option is for us to get married before her visitors visa expires and then submit the I-130 and the 485? overall this whole thing is fairly crazy. The only things that might affect this process is me being in the US Air Force, and my fiance was born in Costa Rica and was raised in Australia (she has dual citizenship) any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

First, thank you for your service! Next, congratulations on your engagement.

You are correct in surmising that the K1 is not likely to come through in 2 months; however, I don't think you'll encounter very many problems with being in the military or with your fiance holding dual citizenship. You might have a bit of extra paperwork to sort out, but that's about it. There are multiple threads here about the extra hurdles relating to proving bona fide relationship when the marriage takes place while the foreigner is here on a visitor visa, a forum search should turn those up pretty quickly.

Good luck!

L.

Unless she has a need to leave the US, you'll find it far more convenient to simply marry and adjust status. She'll need to stick around until the adjustment is finished though. The issue isn't proving a bona fide relationship though. It's avoiding the impression she intended to circumvent US immigration law. Since she didn't, you'll probably accomplish it fine, if she had a round trip ticket and unfinished business in Australia, like a job or apartment, etc.

[KimandRuss 0]

Unless she has a need to leave the US, you'll find it far more convenient to simply marry and adjust status. She'll need to stick around until the adjustment is finished though. The issue isn't proving a bona fide relationship though. It's avoiding the impression she intended to circumvent US immigration law. Since she didn't, you'll probably accomplish it fine, if she had a round trip ticket and unfinished business in Australia, like a job or apartment, etc.

Just wanted to reiterate what pushbrk said so there is no question. good luck.

[mRx 16]

Unless she has a need to leave the US, you'll find it far more convenient to simply marry and adjust status. She'll need to stick around until the adjustment is finished though. The issue isn't proving a bona fide relationship though. It's avoiding the impression she intended to circumvent US immigration law. Since she didn't, you'll probably accomplish it fine, if she had a round trip ticket and unfinished business in Australia, like a job or apartment, etc.

Just wanted to reiterate what pushbrk said so there is no question. good luck.

I'm military as well. Not sure which branch you're in, but the Army and Air Force bases here in Washington have a immigration officer visit on base every other week.

I'd assume since many military members are trying to become naturalized citizens, that most bases would offer this service. Check with your Family Support Center, or equivalent.

[rareneau 0]

Unless she has a need to leave the US, you'll find it far more convenient to simply marry and adjust status. She'll need to stick around until the adjustment is finished though. The issue isn't proving a bona fide relationship though. It's avoiding the impression she intended to circumvent US immigration law. Since she didn't, you'll probably accomplish it fine, if she had a round trip ticket and unfinished business in Australia, like a job or apartment, etc.

Just wanted to reiterate what pushbrk said so there is no question. good luck.

I'm military as well. Not sure which branch you're in, but the Army and Air Force bases here in Washington have a immigration officer visit on base every other week.

I'd assume since many military members are trying to become naturalized citizens, that most bases would offer this service. Check with your Family Support Center, or equivalent.

Thanks I'm in the USAF at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho, I'll go to the family support center tomorrow to see what services they offer

[lostinblue 1,989]

My supervisor was in the service and married a woman from korea. The army handled things very well in his opinion. This includes speeding up her citizenship from what I recall. (maybe only by a few months. )