USA Citizen Marrying Australian Citizen Moving to USA - which country marriage?

[Stewburrner]

Hi, my USA fiance will be in Australia in August - we are hoping to marry and move back to the USA. First question - is it OK for him to just come here on a tourist visa and marry me and then fly back to the US to file a petition for me with USICS or is it better for him to apply for a Prospective Marriage Visa before entering the country and if so, how long do they take to be issued? That is, if we applied for one now would he have it before August? Thank you for any advice.

[aratamorne]

Hi, my USA fiance will be in Australia in August - we are hoping to marry and move back to the USA. First question - is it OK for him to just come here on a tourist visa and marry me and then fly back to the US to file a petition for me with USICS or is it better for him to apply for a Prospective Marriage Visa before entering the country and if so, how long do they take to be issued? That is, if we applied for one now would he have it before August? Thank you for any advice.

If you wish to return to the US with him as his spouse and reside in the US you will need to go through the process for a spousal visa. Because Australia has the VISA waiver program, you can certainly visit him, but in order to obtain all the rights as his spouse, you must go through the visa process for immigration. http://canberra.usembassy.gov/mobile...e-fiancee.html

I am not sure what a Prospective Marriage Visa is since he does not need a Visa to enter Australia, but there may be requirements for Australia to allow the marriage.

Good Luck