Buddi

Hi,

I'm hoping someone will be able to help me with a couple of questions.

I'm an Australian citizen and my fiance is a U.S citizen. We both live
in Chicago. I have an F-1 visa lasting till middle of next year or so.
We've decided to get married in Sydney at the end of the year in
December. We also think that since we're both in chicago, it's best to
go the U.S way (apply change of status etc.) instead of going the
direct consular office way in Sydney (even if Sydney might be faster)

So here's my problem.

If we get married here first before we get officially hitched in
Sydney, I would have to go and apply for the chaos that is advance
parole. (I have a couple on inevitable overseas trip this year)

If we get married in Sydney, then come back to U.S on my F-1 visa,
then request change of status, the fact that we're already married and
I came back on a student visa might look bad in the interview- (That I
had an intention to stay whilst on a student visa).(but I have to come
back, I still have a couple of quarters to go in university!)

So my question is this:

Can we get married in U.S After we come back from Sydney. That is
after our wedding in Sydney? Is getting married in U.S legally
recognised if you're already married somewhere else? I figured then we
can use the U.S date of marriage for the application for change of
status.

I know this is confusing. But I hope someone can help me.

Liv

Mark Slater

I have a friend that was in a similar situation... do not let what
happened to her happen to you. She was told by INS that she would have
to go home and apply for a new visa from her home country. That's not
the case... it seems you're already aware of this.

You can only get legally married one time, but you can have as many
ceremonies as you want. From what I know of this process, it would be
best for you to be legally married here in the US ASAP. You can then
apply for a change of status and advance parole all at the same time.
My understanding is that advance parole is usually granted and has
little to no problems. I'm assuming your overseas trips are related to
conferences of some sort? Some of my international friends have gone
through this same process and I have not heard them speak of
difficulties in going to international conferences (but I'll admit
that doesn't mean they did not have any).

Your marriage in the US should be recognized in Australia legally (and
vice versa if you don't choose this route). You can still have a
ceremony there; the major difference is that you don't sign any kind
of marriage paperwork (unless you're getting married in a church that
has its own paperwork unrelated to the government).

The bottom line is that everything I've seen and read suggests that it
is far better to get legally married here (less processing time, and
fewer hoops to jump through), and have your ceremony/ceremonies
wherever you want.

Good luck!!

[email protected] (buddi) wrote in message news:...
    > Hi,
    >
    > I'm hoping someone will be able to help me with a couple of questions.
    >
    > I'm an Australian citizen and my fiance is a U.S citizen. We both live
    > in Chicago. I have an F-1 visa lasting till middle of next year or so.
    > We've decided to get married in Sydney at the end of the year in
    > December. We also think that since we're both in chicago, it's best to
    > go the U.S way (apply change of status etc.) instead of going the
    > direct consular office way in Sydney (even if Sydney might be faster)
    >
    > So here's my problem.
    >
    > If we get married here first before we get officially hitched in
    > Sydney, I would have to go and apply for the chaos that is advance
    > parole. (I have a couple on inevitable overseas trip this year)
    >
    > If we get married in Sydney, then come back to U.S on my F-1 visa,
    > then request change of status, the fact that we're already married and
    > I came back on a student visa might look bad in the interview- (That I
    > had an intention to stay whilst on a student visa).(but I have to come
    > back, I still have a couple of quarters to go in university!)
    >
    > So my question is this:
    >
    > Can we get married in U.S After we come back from Sydney. That is
    > after our wedding in Sydney? Is getting married in U.S legally
    > recognised if you're already married somewhere else? I figured then we
    > can use the U.S date of marriage for the application for change of
    > status.
    >
    > I know this is confusing. But I hope someone can help me.
    >
    > Liv

Des

Hi there,

I had a similar scenario - I married my USC while in the US but left
for thesis research later in the year, applying for AOS about a year
later.
We did not file for AOS right away because my student visa was good
for another two years, and we were not sure where we wanted to live at
the time.
As my graduation drew closer, we decided on the US and filed for AOS -
no problems whatsoever at the interview. However, the interview took
place in early 2002.

Given the current climate, I would go the safe way - marry in the US
(that IS legally recognized anywhere in the world, you can get a sheet
of paper attached to your marriage certificate called an apostille
which will make it legally valid in any other country), then file for
AOS/AP immediately, and then go to Australia and enjoy your wedding!!!
If you get married in Australia first, you should probably go DCF to
return but that's just my opinion given the times...

- Des

Terje Johan Abrahamsen

On 17 Feb 2003 18:55:02 -0800, [email protected] (buddi) wrote:

    >Hi,
    >I'm hoping someone will be able to help me with a couple of questions.
    >I'm an Australian citizen and my fiance is a U.S citizen. We both live
    >in Chicago. I have an F-1 visa lasting till middle of next year or so.
    >We've decided to get married in Sydney at the end of the year in
    >December. We also think that since we're both in chicago, it's best to
    >go the U.S way (apply change of status etc.) instead of going the
    >direct consular office way in Sydney (even if Sydney might be faster)
    >So here's my problem.
    >If we get married here first before we get officially hitched in
    >Sydney, I would have to go and apply for the chaos that is advance
    >parole. (I have a couple on inevitable overseas trip this year)
    >If we get married in Sydney, then come back to U.S on my F-1 visa,
    >then request change of status, the fact that we're already married and
    >I came back on a student visa might look bad in the interview- (That I
    >had an intention to stay whilst on a student visa).(but I have to come
    >back, I still have a couple of quarters to go in university!)
    >So my question is this:
    >Can we get married in U.S After we come back from Sydney. That is
    >after our wedding in Sydney? Is getting married in U.S legally
    >recognised if you're already married somewhere else? I figured then we
    >can use the U.S date of marriage for the application for change of
    >status.
    >I know this is confusing. But I hope someone can help me.

Get married in Chicago first. With a judge, that is done in 15
minutes. Then start the process. So, go to Australia to marry for real
there. Then the process gets started, and you can get a working permit
faster. Chicago is slow, and they do only give you working permits for
about 8 months, instead of the one year that is normal. This is what
we did.....

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Legally speaking, what you propose is fine if you intend to return to school on the F-1 upon your return.

There is a BIA case from 1974 entitled Hosseinpour which states that an F-1 student does NOT violate status by applying for adjustment of status based upon a marriage if they continue to attend school.

That said, I see practical difficulties that give me pause -- at the POE, the INS officers have total discretion whether to admit or return. There is no review.

On a legal ground, I'd say OK, but on a practical ground, I'd be quite conservative and advise against it.