A bit of a late question: My fiancée and I are going to marry soon. I'm here on an ESTA (I'm from the Netherlands), and from my understanding marrying while on an ESTA should be fine, as long as there is an intent to leave and as long there's no adjustment of status shenanigans, I wasn't intending on it.
What's the quickest way to immigrate to the US with work authorization?
My thoughts: go through the CR-1 process. It'll take about 18 months, but as she is a born and raised US citizen living in the US, there seems to be no other way. Direct consular filing (DCF) can only be done if she lives abroad somewhere.
18 months is a long time. Is there a way for it to go faster? Are there options I'm not seeing? I have looked in to the K-1, but that doesn't seem to help much, if at all. Is there a way to make sure that the CR-1 gets processed faster? It's the first reason I was looking into DCF at all. It seems one cannot really influence the process. USCIS seems to be clogged, and we all have to wait longer than what IMO is reasonable.
Immigration based on marriage in the Netherlands definitely doesn't take that long.
A K-1 might be a bit faster bit not by much. The only other option is get a work visa (such as an O-1 or L-1) and then when you are in the U.S., file your marriage-based green card application, which in most instances is taking less than 6 months. The immigrant visa process, as you correctly note, is taking a while, anywhere from 12 to 18 months, depending on the Consulate.
What's the quickest way to immigrate to the US with work authorization?
My thoughts: go through the CR-1 process. It'll take about 18 months, but as she is a born and raised US citizen living in the US, there seems to be no other way. Direct consular filing (DCF) can only be done if she lives abroad somewhere.
18 months is a long time. Is there a way for it to go faster? Are there options I'm not seeing? I have looked in to the K-1, but that doesn't seem to help much, if at all. Is there a way to make sure that the CR-1 gets processed faster? It's the first reason I was looking into DCF at all. It seems one cannot really influence the process. USCIS seems to be clogged, and we all have to wait longer than what IMO is reasonable.
Immigration based on marriage in the Netherlands definitely doesn't take that long.