Australian Citizen marrying US GC holder. Can I move there after marriage and work?

M

Mike Jebin

New Member
Hi everyone,

Need some help pls.
I am an Australian Citizen marrying a US GC holder. I want to know what happens next. Can I move there on some sort of temp visa and work (start my life) while waiting for GC? She will be Citizen in Feb 2016. what are my options. I am traveling there on Visa waiver to get married. I will return to Australia after. Thank you
 
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After marriage, she can petition you. You will be in the F2A category which currently has a wait of 1-2 years. Only when your priority date becomes current for the category can you do Adjustment of Status (if you are in the U.S. at that time) or Consular Processing (if you are not). You cannot enter the U.S. as a tourist with intent to do AOS while there, so you would almost certainly do CP. If she becomes a citizen before your priority date becomes current for F2A, you will move to the Immediate Relative category which has no wait, and then you would immediately file AOS/CP at that point.
 
Mike Jebin said:
She will be Citizen in Feb 2016.
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I don't think so. They don't give citizenship oath dates that far in advance. You probably mean she becomes eligible for citizenship in February. Actually completing the process may take longer.

Anyway, given that she is very close to becoming a citizen, I would suggest delaying the immigration paperwork until after she becomes a citizen. Initiating the process right now while she is a green card holder won't really help, as the I-130 will collect dust for a year anyway in the slower F2A queue, and then you will have the hassle of upgrading it after she becomes a citizen.

So I would either (1) use the fiance visa route, which means delaying the marriage until after she becomes a citizen and the visa is approved (and then you marry in the US); that gets you into the US within 3-6 months
or (2) get married soon and then after she is a citizen have her file for your immigrant visa via I-130 consular processing -- this takes some 6-12 months, but at the end of it you enter the US as a permanent resident, immediately eligible to work, whereas the fiance visa requires additional time and processing after entering the US in order to adjust to permanent resident status.
 
Jackolantern said:
I don't think so. They don't give citizenship oath dates that far in advance. You probably mean she becomes eligible for citizenship in February. Actually completing the process may take longer.

Anyway, given that she is very close to becoming a citizen, I would suggest delaying the immigration paperwork until after she becomes a citizen. Initiating the process right now while she is a green card holder won't really help, as the I-130 will collect dust for a year anyway in the slower F2A queue, and then you will have the hassle of upgrading it after she becomes a citizen.

So I would either (1) use the fiance visa route, which means delaying the marriage until after she becomes a citizen and the visa is approved (and then you marry in the US); that gets you into the US within 3-6 months
or (2) get married soon and then after she is a citizen have her file for your immigrant visa via I-130 consular processing -- this takes some 6-12 months, but at the end of it you enter the US as a permanent resident, immediately eligible to work, whereas the fiance visa requires additional time and processing after entering the US in order to adjust to permanent resident status.
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Thank you for
Jackolantern said:
I don't think so. They don't give citizenship oath dates that far in advance. You probably mean she becomes eligible for citizenship in February. Actually completing the process may take longer.

Anyway, given that she is very close to becoming a citizen, I would suggest delaying the immigration paperwork until after she becomes a citizen. Initiating the process right now while she is a green card holder won't really help, as the I-130 will collect dust for a year anyway in the slower F2A queue, and then you will have the hassle of upgrading it after she becomes a citizen.

So I would either (1) use the fiance visa route, which means delaying the marriage until after she becomes a citizen and the visa is approved (and then you marry in the US); that gets you into the US within 3-6 months
or (2) get married soon and then after she is a citizen have her file for your immigrant visa via I-130 consular processing -- this takes some 6-12 months, but at the end of it you enter the US as a permanent resident, immediately eligible to work, whereas the fiance visa requires additional time and processing after entering the US in order to adjust to permanent resident status.
Click to expand...

thank you so much. Great info.
 
You are right by the way, she will be eligible in Feb. Any idea how long it takes for her to get citizenship? I also have the option of E3 Visa (work visa) for Australians which is a bit tricky with finding a sponsor.
 
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