US Immigration from Australia

Hi, my wife and I applied for SB-1 (I didn't realise at the time, but I now know I shouldnt have done this) form after having been out of the US as an LPR for over 2 yrs due to covid, but we were both denied in December 2022. We are now looking to travel to the US in the next 1-2 months to visit family and have applied for an ESTA, my wife was approved but I was not.

Some questions I have that I would greatly appreciate some advice on:

1) why was my wife approved her ESTA but not me? seeing as SB-1 was denied in 12/22, I would have thought that means our LPR is no longer linked to our passports and are therefore eligible for ESTA, as evident in my wife getting it approved. FWIW we applied together and answered 'no' to all security related questions.

2) my greencard expired in 07/22 whilst being overseas, is it worth taking the risk to travel to the US on my expired greencard and subsequently go through the process of filing/not filing an I-407 once there even though my SB-1 was denied? Based on this document, expired green card holders can board a flight to the US however I've seen conflicting reports on whether this is applicable to a GC holder who's card expired whilst being outside of the US for over a year.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone has had any recent experience with the US Consulate in Sydney, and the estimated wait times for their IR1 interview? Our application was documentarily completed on 1 April, and we have yet to hear from the NVC regarding our interview time. I am so missing home and am really keen to get our visa so we can start the move process back! (I am from the US and have been in Australia for nearly 14 years now).

Thanks!

Where can I find an official listing of the rules about this?

Thanks!

To cut a long story short (try to cut short), I originally visited the US on an ESTA (I have visited US two times before on esta and stayed a few weeks each time) with the intent to marry my girlfriend and then travel back home to canada and file the CR1. Though due to unfortunate events and poor planning on my part, we were unable to. I was divorcing my ex at the time and the divorce was supposed to go through just before my arrival though ex dragged their feet and there were other processes that dragged it out. So when it came to the end of my 3week stay, i was still not divorced. I initially decided to stay longer since at the time i was being told by my divorce lawyer it was not going to take more time. still was looking good to be divorced and then remarried before my 90days were up. that did not happen. It was a further several months till i was actually dicorced, then there was a further wait till i could remarry. by the time I was able to marry my new wife (who i have known for almost 4 years at this point) I had passed the 90 days, Overstayed. I've been panicing and scared for a long time now. I'm australian, though i have canadian permanent residency, where i live, well...lived for almost 10years previous to this. I love my wife and i cant bare the thought of not seeing here if i have to leave and not return. I'm been trying my best to research this all myself but there is so much conflicting infomation on what i need or should do. I can prove i didnt intend to overstay and i can very much prove its a real marriage. So I going to do the AOS and pray. Apart from the i-130 and the i-485 what else should i fill out?

How long does it typically take for the National Visa Center (NVC) to schedule an interview with the Sydney consulate for an immigrant visa (CR1)?