"Adjusting Status" from a B2 Visa

[panclox 0]

Hi everyone...

my name is Juan, I've been doing my homework, reading forums, asking lawyers and did one consultation, BUT im still confused in what to do about the proceedings to "adjust my status" after marrying a US citizen. This is my story, is a little long so please beg with me on this, I will truly appreciate your comments and help.

I am a citizen of Colombia who came into the United States as a B2 status, My wife and I just got married, but we have been together for over a year and a half. I also studied here as a F-1 status for 4 years (thats how I met her). When I entered the country the last thing on my mind was to get married, I will explain my reasons and then you guys can tell me if its believable or not. My wife flew to COlombia for NEW YEARS celebrations, at the time she was only my gf ( she has been to Colombia 3 times), after we came back from Colombia, I was inspected by the officer, me and my brother were accepted into the country, him on a f-1 status, and I got a B2 status for 6 months, I even told the officer my gf was also flying with us from COlombia and I also told him I was coming into the US to my brother graduations which was on MAY 14/2011, my returned ticket was for may 28th 2011. My parents flew into the US from Colombia for my brother's graduation( we have the commencement book, pictures of graduation) after that we were supposed to go to Florida and do tourism. during the next week following my brothers graduation I got sick and had appendix surgery, it was an emergency, the doctor told me I couldnt fly for at least 2 weeks, so I had to change my flight. I had to also go for an appointment with him a month later to follow up my recovery because this kind of surgeries are consider dangerous in a way. I changed my flight to july 14/2011 which is the last day on my I-90. 2 weeks after my surgery, my girlfriend asked my to marry her because she felt we were ready to make this commitment, so we decided to get married and we are going to file the forms so I can adjust my status. This are my questions.

1) It was something that wasnt planned, it just happened along the way, would I have any problems?

2) If I file my documents before my !-90 expired, would I be out of status once july 14 comes? or if I file the documents I would have like a "temporary" status while my application is pending? I have the I-130, I-485, I-765, I-131, THe medical examination will be done this week, I-864 ( my sponsor is my wife, and my cousin who is also a US citizen and he also submitted a separate !-864, G-325A for my wife and myself..

3) what evidence do I have to send with my applications?? should I send everything I have?? or should we wait until I get my interview and show them all what we have?

- MArriage certificate

- Joint Account, showing we are both the account holders

- We have a LEASE on the apartment for 6 months.. is it better a year lease?

- We are Independent business owners, we are under the same account and business.

- The electric, Gas, and cable bills are on my name, they told me only one could be the one appearing on the bill, but SHE IS A USER under the account.

- Cellphone plan, she is the account holder and I appear as a user, also my brother appears as a user and the address to which the phone bill is sent is the Apartment we are renting, same goes with all the bills.

- We own a dog, we have the paperwork when we got him 10 months ago, he is under both of our names, the vet bills go to our apartment and they are under my wife's name.

- She has been in Colombia 3 times, spent holidays with my family, and I have also spent Christmas with her family and holidays here int he US, we have pictures of all that, also we have the passport stamps, receipts of her visit to Colombia, and boarding passes.

- The day of our wedding, all her family was present, even though it was a unexpected wedding, they all came to our wedding, and there are pictures of it ( her dad, mom, sister, grandma, and other relatives).

I dont wanna leave my wife, if anyone is reading this and can help me out, I would truly appreciate the help..

thank you for your time and comments.

Juan

[VanessaTony 3,567]

you should be posting/reading here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/130-adjustment-of-status-from-work-student-tourist-visas/

[panclox 0]

THank you! I will start reading there..

[lady26 0]

1) Nop,you won't have problems (I adjusted from B2 too)because you never planned to immigrate with your non-immigrant visa.

2)once, you send your AOS file and USCIS received it ..you are in new temporary legal period to stay in the country until the approved your case.if your are saying your wife is your sponsor then, your cousin is the only joint sponsor.

3)wait until you get your interview and show them all what you have. remember send your file with every form they asking and supportive documents like birth certificates,marriage certificate,taxes,passports,(only copies).Pictures from the wedding,bill,cell phone bill,lease contract can be shown in the interview.

for my experience,AOS is not a painful process like other people think and the final interview is fine as long as you can show proof of bona fide marriage.

GOOD LUCK

[milimelo 4,502]

Moving to AOS from tourist, work, student visa.

[panclox 0]

Lady 26 and milimelo.. thank you soo much for your advice!!! and I will surely do it being inside the US, i was worried because of what i read on the forums, but i also read that it is possible, i just needed someone like you to tell me it is possible if it is a bona fide marriage, which it is in my case, and i didnt wanna just stay here, it just happened.. thank you and i will keep you posted of how everything goes.

Lady 26, how long ago did you get your green card? and if you can give me a time line of your case it would help me and my wife know how long is the process gonna take for us..

thanks again!

[lady26 0]

so far this was my timeline:

03-03-2011: AOS file sent

03-05-2011:AOS file arrived to Chicago Lockbox

03-23-2011:E-mail response from USCIS

03-26-2011:Checks cashed

03-28-2011:NOA1 received

04-02-2011:Biometrics letter received

04-26-2011:Biometrics done

05-04-2011:EAD arrived

05-12-2011:letter for interview arrived

06-16-2011:interview

06-20-2011:welcome letter received

06-24-2011:Green Card arrived!!!

As you can see AOS from B2can be pretty straightforward make sure send a very organized file so that,you won't get any RFE.

GOOD LUCK

[panclox 0]

Did you send any pictures??? or just documents?? and if is possible can you tell me what documents did you sent?? and by the way, congratulations for your green card!! your process was really fast hopefullt mine w ill be like yours..

[lady26 0]

I did not send any pictures..when you are going to read the instructions to fill every form,some forms need passport size pictures ..those are the only kind of pictures I sent.

My pictures from the wedding,before the wedding,trips,with family and so forth, I showed them in the interview.

Basically I sent documents (forms and copies of every document they asked for).

you need:

I-485

I-130

I-864 ( two: sponsor and joint sponsor)

G-325a (two:one from you and one from your spouse)

I-765

G-1145

all these forms and the instructions to fill them out are in the USCIS web site.

Good luck

[prep.mac 7]

Hi everyone:

I am on the same boat so to speak with you, Juan and lady26's experience is very encouraging. Thank you for sharing it.

Like you,, I didn't intend to marry my husband now...lol! But, life has twists and turns so here we are. As long as we can prove to them that the marriage was into with good faith, that it is valid and true, then you should be ok. My journey so far:

10/2009 - met online

11/2010 - came here on B1/B2 visa

12/2010 - first meeting in person in Chicago, IL

03/2011 - moved in with him in IN

4/25/11 - got married in Mitchell, IN

5/02/11 - sent AOS packet (I-130/I-485/I-765) to Chicago Lockbox

5/04/11 - AOS packet received by Chicago Lockbox

5/23/11 - Received NOA for RFE (I-693)

5/27/11 - Sent RFE to DHS Lee's Summit, MO

6/02/11 - DHS Lee's Summit received REF reply

6/06/11 - Biometrics done at Louisveille, KY as per NOA schedule

6/24/11 - Received NOA for July 25 interview in Indianapolis

Everything looks fast to me..though nothing about my EAD yet..and I have a final job interview tomorrow!Haha!

Good luck to us!

prep.mac

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Panclox,

what you are going is standard procedure, happens tens of thousands of times every year. I don't anticipate any problems on your journey to that of a resident. You don't have to "front-load" your I-485. Take the big guns (photo album of the wedding and reception) with you to the interview.

Welcome to America.

[panclox 0]

Thank you! and I will keep you posted on how did everything go... i have the last question, and thanks again.

How was your interview?? were they really trying to find out why you married on a B2 status? and what kind of questions did they asked you?

[Pinkranger 0]

Hi Panclox,

I did my AOS from a B2 visa just like you and we did not encounter any problems during the interview. I submitted most of all the required documents stated on the forms except for the affidavits (which the IO did not ask anyway) with all the forms for the AOS. However, just like what Just Bob said, you don't have to send all the pictures. I did that as per suggestion of the lawyer we got but the IO did not even know they were in the file until she asked for the actual pictures from me (told her the pics I have with me are just the same I submitted, and she said... "Oh, you have pictures in your file?").

Don't worry too much for your interview. As long as you both are honest, nothing can go wrong. Good luck on your journey!

[karah0215 0]

Hi everyone:

I am on the same boat so to speak with you, Juan and lady26's experience is very encouraging. Thank you for sharing it.

Like you,, I didn't intend to marry my husband now...lol! But, life has twists and turns so here we are. As long as we can prove to them that the marriage was into with good faith, that it is valid and true, then you should be ok. My journey so far:

10/2009 - met online

11/2010 - came here on B1/B2 visa

12/2010 - first meeting in person in Chicago, IL

03/2011 - moved in with him in IN

4/25/11 - got married in Mitchell, IN

5/02/11 - sent AOS packet (I-130/I-485/I-765) to Chicago Lockbox

5/04/11 - AOS packet received by Chicago Lockbox

5/23/11 - Received NOA for RFE (I-693)

5/27/11 - Sent RFE to DHS Lee's Summit, MO

6/02/11 - DHS Lee's Summit received REF reply

6/06/11 - Biometrics done at Louisveille, KY as per NOA schedule

6/24/11 - Received NOA for July 25 interview in Indianapolis

Everything looks fast to me..though nothing about my EAD yet..and I have a final job interview tomorrow!Haha!

Good luck to us!

prep.mac

Hi prep.mac,

we are on the same boat. i met my hubby when i went to the states on May 2008. i left the country after almost 6months. he visited me in the Philippines 3 times. i came back to the US again on Sept 2010 and on Feb 2011, a month before i left, he proposed to me and got married. Our interview would be on July 27. Do you think, they would ask us about our prior tourist visa?Thanks.pls let me know what would happen on your interview...

TIMELINE

03/25/11 sent AOS package I-130, I-485- I-765)

03/27/11 USCIS received the AOS package ( Chicago Lockbox)

04/30/11 received hardcopy of NOA1

05/07/11 received biometrics appointment (05/20/11 biometrics appointment )

05/09/11 medical appointment done

05/20/11 Biometrics done

05/26/11 Mailed RFE response (06/02/11 USCIS received RFE. Case is being processed at NBC)

06/16/11 Card/ Document production

06/22/11 USCIS mailed a notice that they approved I765 Application for Employment Authorization

06/23/11 received interview date notice

06/23/11 received EAD card in the mail

07/27/11 Interview date