James Lindsay

i am engaged to an aussie. we want to get married in the u.s. when we go
back soon. he is going over on the visa waver program. after we are
married, what do we do to have him stay in the u.s.?

meauxna

If you are in Australia, please consider getting married there and filing your visa paperwork at the Consulate in Sydney.

What you propose to do (enter on the visa waiver with plans to marry and stay) is illegal and you won't find much support for it here. Especially as you have a fast, legal and superior option available to you in Australia (unique).

You can always have your fancy wedding in the US once you're there.

Read more about the process called DCF (Direct Consular Filing) at this website: http://k1.exit.com/dcf.html and find current experiences of other Oz/US couples there.

mcjimbo

Get a K1 fiancee visa application filed asap (i-129f). As meauxna said, get your fiancee to do his part of the paperwork in Australia, not America. Otherwise your going to have all types of complications with him staying in the country, and being able to work.

This website gives a good account of what needs to be filed (and lists forms) in the US:

http://www.k1visafaq.com

here are a few Aussie/American K1 Fiancee visa websites describing peoples personal accounts:

http://members.tripod.com/~Diva_Vee/index.html

http://users2.ticnet.com/reese/visa/

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Breakers/3604/

http://www.geocities.com/imd41/index.html

http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/.../ourstory.html

Hope this helps.

James

meauxna

Follow up for clarification:
Australia is well known for being a humane place to file DCF/Direct Consular Filing.

For married couples, this means the ability to file petition I-130 and application for Immigrant Visa all at once and have it approved (usually) in one day.

The alien then enters the US as a Permanent Resident and has no AOS/Adjustment of Status to go thru. They are able to work from Day One.