What should we do as an international student who got married?

[Berni claude 0]

Hello everyone,

My wife (who is a US citizen and French) and I (French) got married 3 weeks ago, we have lived together for 8 months now. I wouldn't hide that I am very scared of what I should do and not do. I have been an international student from Paris and traveled back and forth from Paris (my home) to Seattle since 2007.

We're getting graduated soon, in a few days, and we want to move in New York together, and most importantly I would deeply like to support my wife financially through her studies and our projects, I do not want her to work alone for our us, and we love travelling around.

Most of the documents are quiet complicated to fill. What should I do after my graduation day? Can my wife sponsor me with our common account? Should I be a K1 visa? Where could I find the I-94 departure record?

We are students and live together, what can we do to proof that we are good financially to support ourselves? My student visa expire at the end of July 2012.

If there is anyone who can advice me, or light me, I would be very, surely graceful, thanks in advance.

Ramy Kader

sonly19_@hotmail.com

[canadian_wife 1,823]

Dont' wait until your visa expires, follow the link below to work on adjusting your status

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

Your I-94 is stapled into your passport, look for it there.

If you cannot meet the financial requirments, a co-sponsor must be obtained.

PS - your student visa expires in July 2012, however it requires you to be a full time student, if you are not then obviously your student visa isn't authorizing you to stay. File NOW, before you graduate, to avoid any problems or complications

Good luck

[Little_My 464]

As Canadian_Wife said, even though the expiration date on your visa might say 2012 it does not mean it allows you to stay here until then. Once you have graduated, you have a 60 day grace period within which you would either have to enroll into a new study program and get a new I-20 which reflects your new school and program, or you have to leave US. As long as you submit your AOS-package before that grace period runs out, you avoid accumulating any overstay. It can take USCIS up to 30 days to acknowledge they have received your paperwork, so better to submit it early before your authorized stay runs out. Though you should aim to have your paperwork send early, it is still good to keep in mind that even if you end up accumulating a few days/weeks of overstay, it won't be the end of the world -I am only pointing this out so you can avoid unnecessary stress and freakouts about that

Follow the guide under the link Canadian_wife posted. It's not that complicated - just a lot of paperwork that requires attention to detail. It will take about 70-90 days for you to get the combination EAD/AP-card (employment authorization document and advance parole document) which will allow you to both work and travel Before that comes, you cannot work or leave the U.S. If you move to NYC before filing or during the process, you can expect a much longer overall processing time than anywhere else - NYC seems to be hugely backlogged. Some people who filed in November and December last year are still waiting to get their interview appointments.. but there is a whole separate thread just for NYC filers, so you can check the process and timelines of other people there.

Good luck!

[Berni claude 0]

Thank you very much for your advices. I wil do my best, and hopefully, the immigrations office won't be to hard on my wife!!! I do not like the idea that my wife has to go through all this. Again thank you!!!

[Maxximus1074 14]

Thank you very much for your advices. I wil do my best, and hopefully, the immigrations office won't be to hard on my wife!!! I do not like the idea that my wife has to go through all this. Again thank you!!!

Here's my thoughts and experiences as a former F-1 myself.

You can always file for adjustment of status while being in the US, which means in about 4 months from filing the forms you will have your conditional green card (since you are married less then 5 years, but that's the only "restriction" with it, you can work and travel, stay with no problems).

Downsides of filing for AOS while in the US compared to Fiance visas is that you only can travel abroad with a so called "Advanced Parole" which needs to be filed and approved first before you would leave the country but usually is filed with the whole package right away.

Also, pending on state, school officials you may run into problems on what tuition they will charge you as with filing AOS you change status from your visa international student to an intending immigrant. It may be a problem, but maybe not, depending on how desperate you would want to pay instate compared to your previous tuition rates.

Upsides - once you file you are in lawful presence in the US, and it doesn't matter if you are still going to school or dropped out, no matter if your visa is valid or expired, a marriage to a US citizen is reason enough for them to let you be here during the AOS process. So you don't have to worry about being deported.

You also can file with your package the Employment Authorization and use that for finding employment while they are working on your adjustment application.

No more restrictions like limited hours of work, on campus work only - it's a free pass to work anywhere and anytime.

I was married once during my college time but due to circumstances beyond my control I was unable to file for AOS, eventually even had to go through a divorce.

Luckily destiny ment it for me to meet my now wife during my separation and we filed for AOS last October and the only question the Immigration Officer at the interview had was if there was anything filed from my ex wife in my prior marriage and no comments of me being out of status due to expired visa.

Feel free to ask any questions and we'll tell you more about our experiences and share our knowledge too

Welcome to VJ

Maxximus

[canadian_wife 1,823]

Here's my thoughts and experiences as a former F-1 myself.

You can always file for adjustment of status while being in the US, which means in about 4 months from filing the forms you will have your conditional green card (since you are married less then 5 years, 2 years but that's the only "restriction" with it, you can work and travel, stay with no problems).

After 2 years, 90 days before your green card expires, you must also file removal of conditions! Doing so will allow you to get a 10 year green card

Good luck

[Maxximus1074 14]

wops....am not up to date ... I remember years ago it was 5 years of marriage on approval of AOS in order to get the "unlimited" green card .... thanks for correcting this

Maxximus