Applying for college financial aid for my wife (k1 visa) Add to Watch List Options

[powerlord86]

Hello!

I recently submitted my K1 visa in late September, in about 1 1/2 weeks I received notification of reception.

I am curious as to when she comes over, can she apply for financial aid...for loans, pell grants...after she receives her social security card?

What is her status is she when she gets married to me, before she gets her green card?

How long does it usually take to get adjustment status to permanent resident? Can it happen fairly soon?

Thanks

[Gary and Alla]

Hello!

I recently submitted my K1 visa in late September, in about 1 1/2 weeks I received notification of reception.

I am curious as to when she comes over, can she apply for financial aid...for loans, pell grants...after she receives her social security card?

What is her status is she when she gets married to me, before she gets her green card?

How long does it usually take to get adjustment status to permanent resident? Can it happen fairly soon?

Thanks

Your wife will not be eligible for Pell Grants until she has her green card. My wife is also a student so we have been through the college funding extensively. It is my part-time job!

She may be available for other grants, loans and scholarships which all have their own rules. Some states have a 1 year residency requirement for state funding, some states will waive the one year residency if you show she did not come for educational purposes. Private funding can give money to whoever they want and make their own rules. It is a real can of speghetti...get started on it now. Alla arrrived and started her courses just a few days later with a 50% private scholarship. she has since added Pell Grants and State grants as she became eligible for them. I have spent hours and hours and hours with applications, etc. The reward? She is attending a top private university for less than $1200 per semester (out of pocket) Hopefully less next semester.

Have her get her education records, she can get them now. Have them translated if needed. Send copies of the originals and translations to ECE (google ECE) they will do an evaluation of her education which can be used for further education, professional lisences, etc. The time to start on this is now. Start checking local universities, send her information. We decided on Alla's education path long before she arrived and had everything ready for her, literally to step off the plane and into class.

When she arrives, go to the SS office the next day and apply for her SS card in her maiden name. Do not mess with these people and do not leave until her application is processed, speak to whatever supervisors you need to train their personel. It would be nice if they trained their personel but often we have to. she will need her SS number to apply for most grants, loans and scholarships, so do not let any bubble brained, mouth breathing, paid-by-the-pound affirmative action hire get in your way! Your fiancee is entitled to a SSN the minute she enters the US, give them until the next day to record her legal entry into the SAVE system. If you unpack her bags before she has an SSN, you are headed the wrong way! We applied for Alla's SSN 16 hours after she arrived. We had the number 24 hours later and the card in hand 6 days later. There is no need to wait longer, information to the contrary is incorrect.

Adjustment of status takes 3-6 months from the time of filing (typically) which is done after you are married

[norrin]

When she arrives, go to the SS office the next day and apply for her SS card in her maiden name.

Gary I thought the guide said that you "should wait 2 weeks after you arrived in the US before applying for a SSN. If you go too soon your record of arrival will not be in the SAVE-ASVI system yet, and it will require manual verification from the
USCIS. As this will add weeks to the period it takes to process the SSN, it is advisable to attempt to wait the two weeks to be safe. If you have waited the 2 weeks and they tell you they can not verify you arrival record via the SAVE database, you may allow them to to process it (but remember the potential delay for manual verifications)."

Will they just try to verify it everyday until two weeks later it will pop up the verification and the card will be sent?

[powerlord86]

What is her status to colleges if she doesn't have a green card? Is she a foreign student?

[taurean]

What is her status to colleges if she doesn't have a green card? Is she a foreign student?

Not exactly, but at least for state schools, if she is not yet a permament resident then she will have to pay out of state tuition which can be considerably higher than in-state tuition. Of course her "status" is going to be different depending upon what school she attends. My opinion is that because there is so much red tape involved in determining whether she will be considered an international student or an out-of-state student or whatever, (at least in our experience), in your case I'd wait until she get her GC to apply for school.

[Nikita2Charles]

I would wait until she gets the green card to apply for financial Aid. I am not sure if she's able to come to visit, In california per example you can get a non driver ID that basically put you in the states, so later on when she gets the green card on the college application she can put the date she gets the non driver ID.