AOS while on visa waiver

[Suzuka 0]

Hello,

I am American and my wife is Japanese. We were married in the US 7 years ago and, shortly afterward, moved to Japan. We lived in Japan for over 6 years until I was recently offered a job in Washington, DC and we decided to come back to the States. I moved back in July 2010, and my wife and our 3 year old daughter on October 20th, 2010. It is now December 29th (over 60 days) and we would like to file an AOS for my wife, as her 90-days expires on Jan 18th. We would like to do the paperwork ourselves in the coming weeks. Would anyone be kind enough to give us some advice of what to do and what NOT to do. My wife lived legally in the US for 8 years before we were married on a student visa and work visa, and therefore has a Social Security Number. Our daughter is currently a dual-citizen, so there will be no problems there.

Are we going to have a hard time getting through this process?

How long after filing will it take for my wife's status change to Pending?

Is filing AOS the same as filing a I-485?

Will we also file an I-130?

We already have joint bank accounts, insurance, etc.

Should we even bother with hiring a lawyer?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[Boiler 43,541]

Definitely one for a lawyer.

Time is also not on your side.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hello,

I am American and my wife is Japanese. We were married in the US 7 years ago and, shortly afterward, moved to Japan. We lived in Japan for over 6 years until I was recently offered a job in Washington, DC and we decided to come back to the States. I moved back in July 2010, and my wife and our 3 year old daughter on October 20th, 2010. It is now December 29th (over 60 days) and we would like to file an AOS for my wife, as her 90-days expires on Jan 18th. We would like to do the paperwork ourselves in the coming weeks. Would anyone be kind enough to give us some advice of what to do and what NOT to do. My wife lived legally in the US for 8 years before we were married on a student visa and work visa, and therefore has a Social Security Number. Our daughter is currently a dual-citizen, so there will be no problems there.

Are we going to have a hard time getting through this process?

How long after filing will it take for my wife's status change to Pending?

Is filing AOS the same as filing a I-485?

Will we also file an I-130?

We already have joint bank accounts, insurance, etc.

Should we even bother with hiring a lawyer?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!!

I disagree with Boiler regarding the lawyer. A bad lawyer can severely screw this up, and the consequences could be disastrous. Finding a good lawyer is like finding a good doctor or a good mechanic. It's not something that should be rushed, and you don't have much time. You'll need to dig up the documents and evidence that need to be submitted, and a lawyer can't help you do this any faster. You would also need to provide the lawyer with all of the information they would enter on the forms. It would be faster if you simply filled out the forms yourself. If you study, you can definitely get this done faster than you could find a good lawyer and get it done.

The I-485 is the petition for Adjustment Of Status, so yes - it's the AOS application. You will also need to file an I-130 because you need to establish that an immigrant visa number is immediately available to her. You may optionally file an I-765 to get an employment authorization document, but if she doesn't need to work before you get the green card then it may not be necessary. Don't bother with the I-131 advance parole. She probably shouldn't risk leaving the US while the AOS application is pending.

The VJ guides for filing AOS after entering with a visa other than a K visa are here:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

USCIS must receive the AOS petition before her authorized stay expires. Post marks don't count here. A USCIS employee must open your package, review the contents to ensure they are complete and that the appropriate payment has been included, and then stamp the petition as having been received. This is often done within a day after they physically receive the package, but it could take several days. Give yourself adequate time when you send it.

Her status will change when USCIS sends the first notice of action, usually a week or two after they receive the package.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

thread moved from AOS from a Family based visa to AOS from work,student and tourist visa as OP's wife is adjusting from the VWP