Quote:
Originally Posted by d0mino
Hello,
I am an Australian born gentleman who met a very lovely American lady around six years ago while studying graphic design at university. We moved in together and have managed to get her permanent residency (through defacto status) here in Australia, and just recently, Australian Citizenship.
We are both a little tired of Australian life and would like to move to the states for a while. What are our options? Marriage is not off the cards, but I understand there would be some limitations to my availability to work? Am I better off holidaying in the USA and trying to apply for sponsorship through an employer? I saw on the usic.gov website that my spouse/sponsor would have to be able to support me to 125% above the poverty line, but did not see mention of me not being able to work.
I also saw the Fiancee visa there, which stipulates we need to get married within 90 days of arriving. Does this then make me as good as USA citizen?
Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.
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Well this one's wandered off to be no help at all to the OP! For the record, a natural born citizen is not going to lose their citizenship without a trip to a consular officer and a formal renouncement. A naturalized citizen could also add judicial revocation.....but it's extremely rare unless you covered up a former life featuring high crimes.
OP: if you want the best route immigration wise, marry now and then apply for a CR1 immigrant visa by
filing a I-130 directly at the consulate. This gives you the right to live and work here (permanent residency) from day one of arrival. Budget 6 months from application to receipt of visa, and you have another 6 months from the issue of the visa to come over.
The financial obligation requires the sponsor to show earnings at 125% of the
federal poverty level. In the case of a
USC overseas, this earnings must be viable when they have moved to the US. Assuming they're not, you can substitute capital at 3 times the figure. If you fail to meet either of these, you can use a co-sponsor.
If you come over on the fiancée visa (K1), permission to work is sketchy until you've married and additional paperwork has gone through. It may be up to a year until you gain permanent residency and will need to use temporary permission while awaiting your green card.
You cannot attain citizenship until you have been a permanent resident for 3 years while married to a
USC.
Under all circumstances, avoid the K3 visa.