If you're not married and want to initiate the paperwork before getting married, there is the fiancee visa which is filed with I-129F. But in your case it would be useless because you're already in the US legally with an H1.I am getting married in December 2010, I am swiss ( with H1 visa) and my fiance is American. We have been leaving together for almost 5 years and we were curious to know if we can apply for the I 130 and all the other papers work before getting married?