Adjust Status from J1 non restricted visa--need help and advice!

[Austramerican 83]

Hi! I'm new to this site, I was referred here by a friend of mine. He heard that I needed advice with visas and so far this does look like a perfect place to get some info!

Basically I'm American and my boyfriend is Australian, and he has been living with me in virginia for almost a year now on a work and holiday visa. The only problem is his current visa expires at the end of sept. We had known each other for a few years now, I visited him in Australia early last year and we have been living together for awhile, and we know that we want to get married to each other. But we don't know what option is the best for our situation. Either he goes back at the end of this visa and then files for a fiancé visa to come back here on, or we get married now and file a change of status.

Any helpwould be great about the pros and cons of each! He just got a pretty good job here but it doesn't sponsor him, and we really don't want to be apart, but if it would be better to do the fiancé then we would deal with it. We just want to make sure we can stay with each other for life. Thanks in advance

[Anh map 2,098]

Get married now and then adjust status. Follow this guide >>> http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

He can't leave the US until his status is adjusted and he receives the green card. (There is a procedure called Advance Parole that he could use if some emergency came up).

[Austramerican 83]

Get married now and then adjust status. Follow this guide >>> http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

He can't leave the US until his status is adjusted and he receives the green card. (There is a procedure called Advance Parole that he could use if some emergency came up).

Thank you for the quick response! I followed that link and it said that J1 visa holders almost always require a waiver, what does that mean? He is here on a J1 visa which is due to expire in less than 90 days, would he be able to stay over legally past that if we are married and have sent it in for processing? Is this something that must be started asap? I have a lot of questions and I don't want to make any mistakes!

[Anh map 2,098]

Does the J1 have a home residency requirement? It is printed on the visa. If so, then a waiver must be obtained from the Oz embassy or the entity that facilitated the visa.

[Austramerican 83]

Does the J1 have a home residency requirement? It is printed on the visa. If so, then a waiver must be obtained from the Oz embassy or the entity that facilitated the visa.

Ohhhh! Ok, his visa says Two year rule does not apply. So thats good. And he would be able to stay while his change of status is getting processed? When is the latest we should do this?

[Anh map 2,098]

You say that his visa expires in 90 days. The sooner you marry and petition the sooner he is working legally.

[Austramerican 83]

Ok, My boyfriend and I have been living together ever since he arrived in the US with a J1 visa last year. I had visited him in Australia about 7 months before he came to the US. We are both in our mid 20s and we both just know we are each other's "One". We would really rather not be separated, and we have been talking it over trying to decide where we were going to live once his visa expires at the end of Sept this year. We've also been working out what options are available to us, but really we don't know which one would be the best. We really don't want to mess this up since we want to be together and we don't want to break the law or do anything that could jepordise our ability to have dual citizenship one day, since he has a lot of family in Australia and I have a lot of family here, and we would want our kids to have dual citizenship as well.

Anyway, our details. He's never been married and neither have I, when they did his interview for the J1 visa he did tell them that I was his girlfriend, and they asked if I was his fiancee and he said no (because he hadn't proposed yet). Technically we still aren't engaged, because we don't know if that would change anything for him, and we haven't gotten married yet for the same reason. I heard somewhere that if we got married without consulting someone it might actually be harder to get a visa as a married couple than if we were just an engaged couple. So I really need advice!

The options (as we see them, open to suggestions!):

Get married now and adjust his status--I don't know if he will be able to stay and work here while they process this visa after we get married. I know we have such little time left and thats why I'm worried if we start the process for this now, if it will hurt us in the long run. DEFF NEED ADVICE!

Get engaged before his visa expires, he goes back to Australia and we start the process on the F1 visa---I know this one takes a LONG TIME and I don't know all the details about it x.x

Same as above but we apply for me to get an F1 visa there---Again, not sure about the details of this one.

Get a domestic partner visa for me to go there--I wouldn't have to be married or engaged to him to come over on this because we would have already been living together for a full year.

For any of these options, I would like some details about any problems that may arise, I definately wouldn't want him to get in trouble with either my gov't or his, or immigration in general. I don't want them to think that he came over here on the J1 with plans to adjust his status, because we really didn't, we just wanted to be with each other and grew to love each other more and more as time went on. When he first came here we loved each other but we didn't know each other as well as we do now and the love just grows every day. We just want to be together for life now, whichever country it happens to be we don't care If anyone can help us that would be great!

Sincerely,

Brandy + Ben

[Austramerican 83]

Also, sorry for the copies, my computer was acting up

[Anh map 2,098]

No need to start another thread with the same question.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

It should be a very simple and straight forward Adjustment of Status, from what you describe. He is in the US on a valid visa and was honest about your relationship when getting the visa, and he has been here some while. Perfect record. Here is the guide for AOS. http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

You would get married, and then file all of these forms. Once the package is accepted he would enter a NEW period of authorized stay. He would not be able to travel internationally or work until he gets temporary travel permission and temporary work permission. If his J-1 is still valid when you apply for AOS (like if you do it now), he can continue to work until it expires. You will have a mandatory interview and then he would get his Green Card. The whole process takes 3-5 months.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Duplicate thread has been moved from introducing our members and merged with this thread in AOS forum so all of the information is in one place

[Austramerican 83]

Oh thank you very much! I'll take a look at that. I guess I worry too much XD Also sorry for my posting faux pas, I'll get the hang of this eventually

[Little_My 463]

Your AOS should be fairly simple, and hopefully pretty fast too. I just adjusted from an F1-student visa, we filed in March and I received my GC about a week ago, so the whole thing took us about 5 months. Once you have filed the package (the I-130 and I-485 together, with all the required additional documentation which is listed here on VJ and in the instructions for those forms), he will get an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and an Advance Parole document (AP) within 90 days from when you filed the papers. This EAD/AP card allows your boyfriend (or then your husband) to work and travel internationally while his GC is pending. Eventually you will get a notice about an interview which will take place in your nearest field office. If he is currently studying / working on his J1 visa at the moment, I believe he can continue doing that while his petition is pending. Someone might correct me in this if I am wrong.

Better to file sooner than later. I'd advice you to start going through all the paperwork and instructions now and begin accumulating all the necessary paperwork as soon as possible, as it can take a while. He might also need some paperwork from Australia, such as his birth certificate. Once you are married and you've received your marriage certificate, you can mail the package. If you can do this before his J1 expires, he won't accumulate any overstay, which is always better. However, don't worry about it too much - if, for whatever reason, you weren't able to get everything together in time and he ends up overstaying by some days / weeks, it won't be the end of the world. You do still have two months before his visa expires,which should be more than enough to get everything together and mail the forms on time.

Good luck!

[Austramerican 83]

Your AOS should be fairly simple, and hopefully pretty fast too. I just adjusted from an F1-student visa, we filed in March and I received my GC about a week ago, so the whole thing took us about 5 months. Once you have filed the package (the I-130 and I-485 together, with all the required additional documentation which is listed here on VJ and in the instructions for those forms), he will get an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and an Advance Parole document (AP) within 90 days from when you filed the papers. This EAD/AP card allows your boyfriend (or then your husband) to work and travel internationally while his GC is pending. Eventually you will get a notice about an interview which will take place in your nearest field office. If he is currently studying / working on his J1 visa at the moment, I believe he can continue doing that while his petition is pending. Someone might correct me in this if I am wrong.

Better to file sooner than later. I'd advice you to start going through all the paperwork and instructions now and begin accumulating all the necessary paperwork as soon as possible, as it can take a while. He might also need some paperwork from Australia, such as his birth certificate. Once you are married and you've received your marriage certificate, you can mail the package. If you can do this before his J1 expires, he won't accumulate any overstay, which is always better. However, don't worry about it too much - if, for whatever reason, you weren't able to get everything together in time and he ends up overstaying by some days / weeks, it won't be the end of the world. You do still have two months before his visa expires,which should be more than enough to get everything together and mail the forms on time.

Good luck!

Thank you! Unfortunately due to recent knowledge, we won't be able to adjust his status, because we don't have the $1500 available for the fees x.x! But we do have a plan! We'll just let him go back, get a temp job in Australia and he will be able to save up while we process the F1. That will give us more time for everything. We will miss each other so much but as long as we will eventually be together it doesn't matter. So yes, a slight bump in the road and change of visa but we will still make this happen!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Austramerican,

First of all, I think you mean a K-1 fiance visa, not a F-1. A F-1 is anther student visa. Your finances are not my business, but I will say going home now is much more expensive in the long run. You will have to pay the I-129F fee, then the visa fee, THEN come to US and Adjust Status and pay a fee for that. Plus you will have all of those flights back to Aus and back to US again. You will save around $400 in fees alone by staying in the US and adjusting status from the J-1. If I were you and you are ready to marry, I would personally adjust now.

Of course, it's your choice, but you would save money this way on fees. I would borrow money and then your fiance could pay back the fees when he is able to start work in a few months. If you do a fiance visa, when he gets back to the US, he will not be able to work until you get married and file for AOS and wait for a few months before he can work.

Of course, the decision is up to you, but I think it's smart to get all the information on visa types before you decide. Good luck whatever you choose.