Stay in the US or go back home to file paperwork

[hezzy 0]

I am currently in the US on a I-20 going to school from Canada. The I-20 is good until Spring 2012 so long as I am going to school. I recently married a US citizen. I'm done school the end of April, then we are moving to another state because he's been transfered. As a result, I will NOT be going back to school because it is too late to register in that state. Should I go back to Canada before filing the paperwork to become a citizen to USCIS or can I stay in the US legally while the papers are being processed?

[Harsh_77 716]

Have you guys started your AOS paperwork?

I think you can do either way, while you will be waiting for AOS - technically you can be illegal or not depending if you filed the papers and waiting on response.

Your illegal stay would be forgiven, that should not be the case.

If you return back, then you kinda set a responsible citizen image infront of USCIS as you left the country when you were supposed - does it matter, not really since you married to USC....

[Little_My 463]

Road to citizenship is long - and at least three years away. First you will petition to become a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR). You have to be married and have had your green card for three years before you can apply for citizenship, so that isn't relevant for you just yet.

As for going for LPR status, you can stay in the US and apply. If you guys are already married, the best course of action would be to start getting the package together now and file as soon as possible. That way you can actually avoid being officially 'out of status'. For you it would be more or less irrelevant. Overstay is forgiven for spouses of US citizens who entered the country with a valid non-immigrant visa. You entered with your F1, therefor any possible overstay would be forgiven when you file for AOS.

Start by familiarizing yourself with the guides here on VJ - when you go under the "guides" link, the one that applies to you is the I-130 petition and adjustment of status guide. You will be filing the I-130 and I-485 forms concurrently, along with supportive documentation.

Once you have submitted the AOS documentation, you seize to be under F1 status and are legally here in the US. I am pretty sure that you won't actually occur any out of status-days here, so you don't need to worry about that.

Also download the form instructions for the relevant forms from USCIS.gov and read them carefully. It takes a while to accumulate all the needed documents, so I would get to it as soon as possible!

Good luck for the filing, and welcome to VJ

[Moosker 7]

My cousin did something similar, he did AOS while his student visa was ending. I think doing the AOS would be best in your situation, that way you can stay with your fiance! If you go back to Canada you can only visit, and sometimes the border may turn you away.

This may help..... http://www.visajourney.com/content/guides

Edited March 30, 2011 by Moosker