Fiance wants to marry...

[Paul.G. 0]

My fiance has a K-1 visa here as she works as an Au Pair, but the visa has the 2 year HRR on it...If we marry can she then apply for the green card and stay here or will she still be required to go back to her home country?

[Mal and Meg 12]

Are you sure its a K-1 visa shehas as they are only valid for 90 days once entering the country and do not permit her to work until she would do the AOS. Also if she is on aK1 it means someone else must have sponsored her to come to the country.

[coraliesolms 47]

Yeah, a K-1 visa IS a fiance visa. If you did not petition for that K-1 for her, it means somebody else did, and she can only marry that somebody else.

Now, assuming you misunderstood her visa, and it is actually a work visa, then you can get married, and file to adjust her status within the United States. After about 4-5 months she will get a conditional green card that is valid for 2 years. After those 2 years to proceed to remove her conditions and then she receives her 10 year green card. And dont worry if there is a little overstay on her visa, because it is generally forgiven for immediate relatives of a US citizen (which she becomes when you get married)

If she really does have a K-1.... then you guys need to have a chat.

Edited February 24, 2011 by coraliesolms

[Krikit 1,163]

It sounds like she is here on the J-1 with home residency requirement? You may want to read up on it here:

Exchange Visitors

I am going to move your thread from the US Citizenship forum to the General Immigration Discussion. Hopefully someone with knowledge of this particular visa will be along with their experience.

Edited February 24, 2011 by Krikit

[KirstyDustin 1]

My fiance has a K-1 visa here as she works as an Au Pair, but the visa has the 2 year HRR on it...If we marry can she then apply for the green card and stay here or will she still be required to go back to her home country?

Hey Paul.G

She is on a J1 work visa - I was also on a J1 visa as an Au Pair...

I know of an ex Au Pair that worked with the family i worked for before me that got married to a USC and she didn't have to return to her home country. They just had to Adjust her Status...

Hope this helps?

Good luck!

[SabrinaFrance 8]

Until recently (about a year ago) J1 visas for au pairs (obtained through an authorized au pair agency) did not have any home residency requirement, but it might have changed recently. You might want to see her visa and double check. It would be written on it.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I believe he said that her J-1 DOES have the 2-year HRR on it. You can get married, but she cannot stay here and adjust status, or rather, her AOS would be denied because of the 2-year home residency requirement. You can apply to waive that residency requirement, however. You would need the results before you apply for AOS.

This person was successful in getting a waiver, and some of the steps are in his signature.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/279089-so-excited-cant-function-need-help/

Good luck.

[F@rsc@p3 0]

I came to the USA as an au pair(J1) almost 5 years ago. 5 months after my arrival, I married my husband because we were so in love and the Au Pair company was moving me to another State (2000 miles apart, hubby was also getting deployed to Iraq and only had 4 months left in the country). We got married and then applied for a green card. We never had any problems with the process. I just became a USC a week ago.

The J1 visa is valid for one year, you can get a year extension if you decide to stay and work with your host family for an extra year.

I hope this helps.

[Paul.G. 0]

Okay I thank all of you for the replies.

She has a J-1 Visa as an Au Pair.

She has already extended for the extra year.

The extended J-1 visa expires March 29 and she has 30 days to stay after that.

Her visa (J-1) says she has the 2 year HRR.

So my question is if we marry can she stay here and just file for a AOS or will she have to return home and wait for the waiver in her country before she can return?

[F@rsc@p3 0]

Okay I thank all of you for the replies.

She has a J-1 Visa as an Au Pair.

She has already extended for the extra year.

The extended J-1 visa expires March 29 and she has 30 days to stay after that.

Her visa (J-1) says she has the 2 year HRR.

So my question is if we marry can she stay here and just file for a AOS or will she have to return home and wait for the waiver in her country before she can return?

If you marry her then she can just file for a AOS and stay here...That was exactly what my husband and I did. Good luck!!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

If you marry her then she can just file for a AOS and stay here...That was exactly what my husband and I did. Good luck!!

No, your J-1 visa did NOT have the 2-year Home residency requirement, the OP's DOES. They are under different circumstances, even though they have the same visa. Some J-1's have it, and others do not.

OP- you cannot file an AOS unless you first get the 2-year HRR waived. You can do this from the US. I don't know whether or not you will be successful but you do it from in-country. Please read the thread I linked and study what John+noemy did. They succeeded. Some countries won't allow you to waive it - it's not the US's decision, it's her home country.

You cannot file AOS while she is subject to the 2-year HRR - you have to get that waived or go home.

[F@rsc@p3 0]

No, your J-1 visa did NOT have the 2-year Home residency requirement, the OP's DOES. They are under different circumstances, even though they have the same visa. Some J-1's have it, and others do not.

OP- you cannot file an AOS unless you first get the 2-year HRR waived. You can do this from the US. I don't know whether or not you will be successful but you do it from in-country. Please read the thread I linked and study what John+noemy did. They succeeded. Some countries won't allow you to waive it - it's not the US's decision, it's her home country.

You cannot file AOS while she is subject to the 2-year HRR - you have to get that waived or go home.

Wow, I see things have changed since 2006... I had a j1 and applied for AOS just a few days before it was expired (7 months after our wedding) We never had any problem with our application. We didn't even need a lawyer. I'm so happy that our journey with Immigration is over. Best luck to you guys.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Because your J-1 didn't have the 2-year residency requirement. This requirement is usually there if a government or other institution is paying for education or something, and they want the person to go back home and share their newfound skills or knowledge. Not all J-1 visas have this, but some do. If the OP didn't have the 2-year HRR, then they could AOS right now, like you did, but since they have this other special condition attached to the J-1 visa, there are more steps involved.

Here is someone who tried to AOS without getting the 2-year HRR waived - they got denied.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/290053-what-to-do-while-waiting-for-2-year-rule-is-pending-after-getting-i485-denial/

Here is another thread that may be of help

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/289012-j1-waiver-no-objection-italy-timeline/

Edited February 25, 2011 by Harpa Timsah