Australian citizen marrying US citizen

My girlfriend(us citizen) and I (aussie) are looking to travel to USA in March 2001 and get married in Feb 2002. How can I stay in the USA for the 1 year period prior to the marriage? I am thinking of getting a B-2 tourist visa but that only lasts for 6 months and renewal is not guaranteed?

Any ideas/tips for renewing B-2 visa after 6 months or other ways to stay for the year prior to marriage?

We are both living in Australia at the moment and due to circumstances cannot get married here.

File a I-129 finance petition with the INS. It usually takes about 4-6mos to get the petition processed.

Heya...

I am an aussie who married an american citizen and went through the process mentioned by the previous poster- the fiance visa...so I will just give you my thoughts on the subject..i'm not a lawyer though this is just my personal opinion..ok?

As you mentioned there is no guarantee of having your B2 extended and to be honest, if the consulate knows that you are planning to get married while in the USA they may be reluctant to issue a B2. They usually want you to prove that you ties back to australia and that you will return.

If you were to go down the road of the K1 (fiance visa) you MUST be married within 90 days of you arriving in the States which is not what you are after as you mentioned you wanted to spend a year there first.

You can get married in the States while visiting but I wouldn't advise it because when it comes to adjusting your status to a resident you may have to prove that you did not intend to get married, that it was a last minute decision. I think if they think it had been your intent all along to get married it is in violation of the conditions set on a visitors visa.

OK! So you have two choices really..

K1 (fiance visa)- it's a relatively easy process, you don't need a lawyer to complete it, my fiance and I did it on our own and I am now living in the States waiting to become a permanent resident. You can START this process while you are still in the States as well, but you will have to go home to Australia to go to an interview at the consulate in Sydney or Perth (whichever is closest) to obtain the visa. It should only take about 3 months or so to get it all done. If you would like some more detailed info about this one then head over to http://www.txdirect.net/users/mike38/k1faq.htm
which is a wealth of information.

I-130 (petition for alien relative)- this one is if you have already married your fiance in Australia and she goes back home and asks that you be brought over to the USA as her hsuband. I did not go through this process so I know only small bits about it. I know that it can take alot longer than the K1 visa. I don't have any URLs for this one- sorry.

And finally, http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/index.htm . This is a pretty good website and may be able to answer some of your questions as well.

Hope that was a bit of help..

Christie

i need help please

i am within the same situation but somehow different my husband from Australia and I am a US citizen. I am trying to get him here but I have no idea which papers I need to do. In other words, I am so lost and confused with so much form. I need to be more honest with you guys; he was in the united stated before which in 4 years ago and we have done the wedding; which at that time I have worked on his papers for the I 130 and so now, they took forever to send back and he had the 6 months visa so we were worried if it going to be over on his visa so he went back home to renewal. When he get back they told him at the airport he need to have a visa which they named it as (immigrants visa) at that time he sand back to Aus. I have looking for this form and I didn’t found any resource that can help me. I really need help if anyone can give me more information on which visa I need to do for him. Which I just need him to come for the 6 months and then we are going to work the papers here in state. So, any idea? Anyone can help with which visa papers or work papers I need to do for the 6 months? Please I need someone to help me ASAP!!!!
Thank you!!

Please start your own thread. The original thread is 9 years old.