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U.S. citizen marrying an Australian citizen in the U.S.--requirements?

Asked almost 4 years ago - Tacoma, WA

I am a 47 year old U.S. citizen engaged to marry a 61 year old Australian citizen. We would like to marry as soon as possible. My fiance currently resides in the U.S. when he is not working in Australia--he returns to the U.S. every 6 weeks to stay for 4 weeks, then returns to work in Australia. He will retire in about 6 months, and will not be seeking employment in the U.S. What is the best and hopefully quickest route to our marrying? Do we need to look at U.S. citizenship for him, or is it legal/workable for him to continue to reside permanently in the U.S. as my spouse while he is an Australian citizen? Do we need to apply for a fiance visa in order to marry? Is there a better visa to use in our case? How long will the process take? Do we need a visa or other document to just get married in the U.S. (apart from the issue of citizenship)? Are there problems he will face re-entering the U.S., coming home from work? He has no criminal record, is financially secure. Thank you for your help!!!!!!

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Attorney answers (1)

Steven Alexander Culbreath

Reputation Level 10

Answered almost 4 years ago. Immigration Attorney in Saint Petersburg, FL.

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does your fiance currently have any valid U.S. visa(s) ?

given that his retirement is near, you are potentially facing an issue in terms of financial support.
as part of a Green Card application based on marriage, the sponsoring U.S. relative and Beneficiary
need to provide adequate minimum income, based on the number of people living in the household.

If your fiance has a U.S. visa, he could enter the U.S. and at a later point, while in the U.S.,
get married, and you could then file a petition for his Green Card with USCIS. But beware of issues of
potential "entry fraud", or so-called "intent issues".

While your filing of an I-130 petition is the first step, after marriage, where and how to process your
then-husband's second part of the appliication will depend on whether he will be in the U.S.
to file for an "Adjustment of Status", or whether to "Consular Process" his immigrant visa application
in Australia.

If your fiance is currently not in possession of any valid U.S. visa, and you are not yet legally married,
the best course of action would be to apply for his K-visa as your fiance, so he can enter the U.S. legally,
for the specific purpose of getting married.

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