Hello,
Ok I have a concern that I'm sorta confused about...My fiance was granted her visa recently!!!! Finally...BUT..We are BROKE! buying plane tickets and paying phone bills have put us into the negitive..So when my fiance comes I'm hoping she can find work to help me pay some of the debt. She has aaquired a BS in nutrition from the university in her country. IM curious how she can go about transfering her international university education to US's so that she can work in her field of work. Will she be required to go back to school here in the US?

Thanks

Here is a link that might help you. She will need to get her credential evaluated by Approved Agencies. If you cant get into this link then do a search on transcription of foreign degrees.

http://www.sonoma.edu/nursing/ApplicForms/...ntranscript.pdf

It will really be employer dependent. If she will require specialized licensing of any sort she will more than likely require an evaluation of her degree but that is determined by the licensing board so get in contact with them for the requirements.

You will also have to file paperwork so whe can work. She will need a SS card also. You will have to spend more money before she can make any. Sorry for more bad news.

And you'll need to consider the affidavit of support for the AOS phase (not to mention the next round of fees for that process as well). If you are broke, you'll have to find a co sponsor.

In order for her to work she'll at least need her EAD, which fee is 180 dollars plus the expenses of getting the package ready and sent.

I think you need to be prepared for more expenses and her not being able to work for at least 6 months or so. You have not mentioned which country she is from - so there may be more problems with communicating in English to be able to look for and get a job here also - many have to go to school to learn English (My wife did this for 3 semesters and has now acquired enough language skills to start working.) Lastly, since she doesn't have any experience - she may not be able to get into her line of work and therefore may not make much money. Most end up in Retail or clerical jobs etc. and eventually find their career (many have to go to school here to get a US degree before they would be accepted in their desired line of work.) Of course some do get lucky - but at no point should you assume that she will be fully employed and supporting herself (plus you) for at least 4 to 6 months. Talk to your relatives for help and/or get a second job to help pay your bills. Good Luck

Just a note how to save some money, my fiancee and I have been doing this for a while and it is simply amazing that it is possible. I decided to post this because you specifically mentioned phone bills.

1) your fiancee must have a computer and be connected to the internet (broadband is best)
2) your fiancee has to sign up for yahoo messenger and you have to pay voice.yahoo.com $2.99 a month for their "phone in" service
3) you must have a cell phone with minutes available to use.

With this option she will be assigned a phone number from the U.S., you simply call that phone number while she is connected to yahoo messenger with voice (she must have a headset) and voila .. FREE PHONE CALLS .. her at her computer, you wherever your cell phone is. As long as you don't go over the minutes included in your cell phone plan, there are no charges. You also have the option of paying for yahoo's "phone out" service and she can call you on any phone in the US for $.01 per minute.

I call my fiancee as much as I like and she calls me as much as she likes, what a bargain.

Hope this helps you with your money situation. Congrats on your approval of K-1, I hope you can be together soon.

Don Roach
dad@fiddlers.us

OK go over this again Sorry need more coffee i guess. We both use Yahoo every time we talk, I have cell goes thru internationl at Cingular that i call on to his cell, for now he doesnt call out on his tho. We were just playing around and hit the phone call on messenger, i could hear him but he couldnt hear me (well) and we didnt know if there was a charge for what we had just done. I was going to check into it.

My wife wasn't able to work for 6 months after she got here. Once she got her EAD and Social Security Card, it took her another two months to find a job. It took three weeks after that before she got her first paycheck. So, all in all, it was almost ten months after she got here before she was able to start contributing towards expenses.

Keep in mind that you can only file for the EAD at the same time as or after you apply for AOS. The fees for AOS and the EAD aren't cheap.

The K1 is good for six months, so if you're in a cash crunch right now, you can always delay your fiancee's arrival if necessary while you save up a bit.

Using the first option he can call you from his cell phone anytime you are on the computer for free .. with broadband it is even better than direct phone calls in my experience.

login to http://www.yahoo.com, the account that you use for yahoo messenger (where you check your mail) goto http://www.voice.yahoo.com read the "phone in" link (right side of page in blue letters), sign up for this service (it takes about 2 days to verify your credit card - charge is $2.99 per month)

Using this second option you can call him from your computer to his cell phone anytime you like for $.01 per minute (the website says $.10 per minute, but if you watch your counter it is actually $.01 per minute if you are signed up for the phone in service)

login to http://www.yahoo.com, the account that you use for yahoo messenger (where you check your mail) goto http://www.voice.yahoo.com click the "phone out" link (right side of page in blue letters), sign up for this service, add $5 or $10 to your account by credit card

START CALLING EACH OTHER

Don Roach
dad@fiddlers.us

thanks think we are going to check into this the 200. phone bills got to stop

Thank me by telling your neighbors, friends, and contacts about this. It is a great thing and has saved me many hundreds of dollars that I can set aside for our life together since we have found out about it.

GOD knows that the relationships that each of us have chosen to enter will be challenging enough financially, any help that I can offer .. I will gladly do so.

If you need further assistance with this (or if you have any money saving ideas that you may have for me; example .. plane tickets .. hehe) add me on yahoo messenger username countryboydonnie

Donnie Roach
dad@fiddlers.us

Yep. I arrived March 30th, 2006 and am finally getting my first paycheck this Friday.


They could file for EAD prior to filing for AOS but chances are they wouldn't get the card in time. She could also get the temporary EAD from JFK.

A K1 cannot file for an EAD prior to filing for AOS. A concurrent filing if necessary for that visa type.

K3 can file for EAD prior to AOS - not K1.

Have the rules changed? I'm pretty sure you were able to file using code "a 6" & your I-94. It was usually a waste of time and money as the card came pretty close to the I-94 expiry date making it useless.

I have seen some memos flitting about that speak as if they are going to eliminate the K-1 ability to obtain an EAD, but I didn't think it was final yet.

As far as I know, a K-1 can still apply for an EAD based on (a)(6) category but as you say it is a waste of time since it is rarely obtained before the 90 days expire, or has little validity time if it does. I remember someone that submitted one a while back as a K-1 and it was valid for only 2 days so it was definitely useless!

Carrie, I believe you are speaking of the EAD that District Offices have pretty much stopped issuing. Form I-765 was still used in those cases, the EAD was short-lived (90 days I believe) and was non-renewable.