Very confused please help

[amanda85 0]

Hello all!

I am very confused about how this whole process works, and would really appreciate any advice or guidance. I am an american Citizen, but i am currently living in Australia. I've tried calling the embassy & immigration, only to be passed and transfered around before i finally reached someone that said they would help, but then just read the website to me.

It is probably easier if i just explain my situation. My boyfriend is from Norway and we have been together for about a year and a half. We met in the US last year when he was on a Q1 visa working for disney world in Orlando Florida. When his visa expired in July we both decided to move to Australia for Australia for a year on a work and travel program. The original plan was to stay here for a year, then he was going to apply for another visa to work for disney again(he has to wait a yr from when it expired (July 17th)to apply again. After that we were planning on traveling around europe for a year, and evenutally get married, but that was in our 5 year plan. Anyways things changed right after Christmas when i found out that I was pregnant. We are both very excited, however this changes a lot of things. Now we are planning on going back to the states in May, as I am due the beginning of September.

So the questions i have are;

- which would be the best option? Get married here in Australia or have him go over on a fiance Visa and get married in the US.

-We would want the option that would allow him to work as soon as possible, as I'm sure not a lot of companies will hire me being 6 months pregnant. How soon is he able to work w/ each of these options?

-From what i understand if we got married here in Australia he could come over to the US immediately is this correct?

-If we did the Fiance visa, i know he is able to come over to the US and we have to marry w/ in 90 days, and then he has to apply for something else. Is he able to stay in the country while this is all being processed?

Basically I am looking for the best option that would allow him to go into the US in may, and be able to stay.

and also the option that would allow him to work as soon as possible.

I've spent so many hours trying to research online, I've thought about calling an immigration attorney, which i can its just very expensive on top of how expensive it is to call from australia. Like i said any advice and info about which option is the best and how i would go about starting each i would very much apprecaite.

Thanks for all your help!

Amanda

[alizon 77]

Congrats on the pregnancy! Right off the bat, you can't just bring your spouse immediately to the US. He would very possibly be turned away at the border once it becomes evident that he's actually immigrating (no ties to Australia/Norway, bringing all his stuff, etc.) without the proper visa.

If you do the fiance visa, he will be able to stay in the US while you adjust his status to permanent resident, but he won't be able to work until that adjustment is made (that's as far as I know. We didn't take that route, and I don't know how long that adjustment will take).

If I were in your situation, I would get married as soon as possible in Australia and get started on the CR-1 visa. For US citizens applying from abroad, USCIS is approving petitions in a matter of weeks or a couple months, as opposed to the 4-7 months that everyone else is waiting. Once you get out of USCIS, you'll still have to wait on NVC and the embassy in Australia, so you probably won't make it back to the US by May, but once you get through it all, your fiance/then husband will have a green card and be immediately eligible to work. IR-1/CR-1 is cheaper to do than the K1 (last time I checked), and there's no period during which your fiance won't be permitted to work.

But that would just be my strategy, and of course that's influenced by the fact that we went the CR-1 route. You should look at the K1 forum to see how that works.

Edited February 4, 2012 by alizon

[Laure&Colin 562]

Unfortunately, no type of visa allows a husband or fiance to join their spouse immediately into the US.

If you want your boyfriend to be able to work asap when you're in the US, then the CR1, spousal visa, is your best option.

You'd have to get married in Australia as soon as possible, and then file the I-130 petition to the USCIS. Like Alizon said, these are usually automatically expedited when the USC is residing abroad, at least they have been since September-October, but only for the 1st step. After USCIS, you'll still have to go through the NVC and then the embassy.

However, I don't think you could possibly be together in the US in May, it's just too close. I'd say at least July, but it's just a wild guess.

Since you won't be working in the US when you go back, you'll need a co-sponsor who will have to prove they have sufficient income to support your husband if necessary. That's something you need to plan ahead.

If you decided to go for the fiancé visa, he'd be able to stay after you get married in the US, while you file for Adjustment of Status so he is granted legal permanent resident status. But he wouldn't be able to work for a while, not until he receives a work authorization.

The fiancé visa process is usually thought to be a little faster than the spouse visa, but in your situation, the spouse visa would actually be faster, thanks to the auto-expedite at USCIS step. The CR1 visa is also cheaper (adjustment of status that fiancé visa holders must do when in the US is a little over a thousand dollars).

[GandK 168]

Now we are planning on going back to the states in May, as I am due the beginning of September.

Sorry, but this is not going to happen. May is way too close, you will not get immigrant visa in May without an expedition across the board.

So the questions i have are;

- which would be the best option? Get married here in Australia or have him go over on a fiance Visa and get married in the US.

Fiancé visa is for fiance/fiancee, if you decide to get married in Australia, he cannot apply for fiancé visa but must apply for spousal visa instead

-We would want the option that would allow him to work as soon as possible, as I'm sure not a lot of companies will hire me being 6 months pregnant. How soon is he able to work w/ each of these options?

Fiance visa will get him to the USA the fastest but he will have to wait an additional 2-3 months in the USA for employment authorization to be able to work.

Spousal visa takes longer than fiancé visa to get but he will get a greencard and hence be able to work right when he gets to the USA.

So, to get to work as fast as possible, both are almost the same. Spousal visa is a lot cheaper and more convenient though. Fiance visa has to be followed by Adjustment of status application and etc.

-From what i understand if we got married here in Australia he could come over to the US immediately is this correct?

Not correct, if you get married in Australia and he travels to the USA on VWP, there is a very good chance that he will be turned away at the port of entry unless he can prove strong ties to his home country.

-If we did the Fiance visa, i know he is able to come over to the US and we have to marry w/ in 90 days, and then he has to apply for something else. Is he able to stay in the country while this is all being processed?

If he is issued a fiancé visa, he can come to the USA and get married within 90 days, then he applies for adjustment of status and during this time he can stay in the country waiting for his green card.

But during the fiancé visa process, if he is in the USA, he must return to his country for medical exam and visa interview.

Basically I am looking for the best option that would allow him to go into the US in may, and be able to stay.

and also the option that would allow him to work as soon as possible.

I've spent so many hours trying to research online, I've thought about calling an immigration attorney, which i can its just very expensive on top of how expensive it is to call from australia. Like i said any advice and info about which option is the best and how i would go about starting each i would very much appreciate.

You don't need an attorney, you need to read this

http://www.visajourn...content/compare

Thanks for all your help!

Amanda

Edited February 5, 2012 by GandK

[amanda85 0]

Thanks for all the quick replies I guess i should have done a little more research on this site before i wrote this.. This website and you guys have been very helpful! I guess Im going to look into CR-1 visa. I'm going to be applying from abrod, but from what i can tell the policies have changed since last august, so I'm not sure that it will even expidate the process at all anymore. We were planning on staying with my parents until the baby was born so, may-beginning of september. We obviously wouldn't try to have him enter the country illegaly as i wouldn't want to do anything to jepordize the visa process. Do you guys by chance know if he is allowed to come over on a 3 month tourist visa while he waits for the other visas to be processed. The issue of work isn't an issue anymore, the main thing is i want him to be able to be there for the birth, and as much as the pregnancy as possible. Thanks again for all your help

[alizon 77]

Thanks for all the quick replies I guess i should have done a little more research on this site before i wrote this.. This website and you guys have been very helpful! I guess Im going to look into CR-1 visa. I'm going to be applying from abrod, but from what i can tell the policies have changed since last august, so I'm not sure that it will even expidate the process at all anymore. We were planning on staying with my parents until the baby was born so, may-beginning of september. We obviously wouldn't try to have him enter the country illegaly as i wouldn't want to do anything to jepordize the visa process. Do you guys by chance know if he is allowed to come over on a 3 month tourist visa while he waits for the other visas to be processed. The issue of work isn't an issue anymore, the main thing is i want him to be able to be there for the birth, and as much as the pregnancy as possible. Thanks again for all your help

The policies did change in August in that there is no longer a DCF (direct consular filing) option for most places, but since that change, people have found that if the USC is abroad when the application is filed, you get just as fast of approval as if you were still able to do DCF. Look at Laure's signature and you'll that they got very quick approval when filing in November 2011.

Visiting is possible if he can show sufficient ties to Australia to prove that he will go back, but it's always at the border guard's discretion, and a 3 month visit might raise red flags and get him denied.

[jaycali 415]

Thanks for all the quick replies I guess i should have done a little more research on this site before i wrote this.. This website and you guys have been very helpful! I guess Im going to look into CR-1 visa. I'm going to be applying from abrod, but from what i can tell the policies have changed since last august, so I'm not sure that it will even expidate the process at all anymore. We were planning on staying with my parents until the baby was born so, may-beginning of september. We obviously wouldn't try to have him enter the country illegaly as i wouldn't want to do anything to jepordize the visa process. Do you guys by chance know if he is allowed to come over on a 3 month tourist visa while he waits for the other visas to be processed. The issue of work isn't an issue anymore, the main thing is i want him to be able to be there for the birth, and as much as the pregnancy as possible. Thanks again for all your help

Congrats on finding you a Norwegian

He CAN visit the US in 3 month increments while you wait for the CR-1 visa to process. Since Norway is a visa waiver country, he won't need a visa to do so. He fills out an ESTA form online, and all he needs to show up with at the airport is his passport. However:

1. He can only stay for up to 90 days at a time, and he may NOT work.

2. He has to prove at the port of entry that he has every intention of leaving the country within 90 days.

Part one is easy. Part two is not so easy, especially when he has a wife and kid (on the way) in the US. When he enters, the border officer will ask him what the purpose of his travel is, and where he will stay. Lying will get him a lifetime ban, so he'll have to say "visiting my wife." That'll obviously get them worried he won't leave. And since he lives in Australia, he'll have difficulty showing strong ties to Norway.

So:

Have him bring anything and everything he can to prove he intends to return to Australia/Norway within 90 days. This can be employer letters stating they expect him back on a certain date, lease contract showing he's renting a house or apartment etc. Also, have him bring the Notice of Action 1, proving that he has a pending CR-1 case. This might be a good idea because he can then argue that he has absolutely no intention of staying illegally, when he'll have an immigrant visa in just a few months.