Keeping F-1 Status during AdjustmentOfStatus period

[immi24 0]

Hi,

I am US citizen and planning to apply Adjustment of Status for my wife who is on F-1 student status from 4 years. I wanted to know with this Immigration category 'Adj of Status', is her F-1 status any relevant ? Basically she don't have any interest to continue studies, we are keeping it up to maintain status till now.

If we discontinue her studies (F-1 status), will she be out of status after we get NOA when I-130, I- 485 filed ? At this point we want to avoid paying tuition fees if its not necessary and also don't want her to be out-of-status.

In other words if our Immigration intent AdjustmentOfStatus rejected (in worst case scenario), can she continue to stay on non-immigrant F-1 visa ? I heard that interviewer will take her I-94 during interview and voids her F-1 status on the basis of non-relevance. So anyway there is no point to keep up F-1 status. am I right ?

With our package we are sending following forms:

I-130 with G-325A ($420)

I-485 with I-693, both G-325A ($1070)

I-131 Advance parole ($360)

I-865

I-765

Is $360 for I-131 correct to use for advance parole ?

[Caryh 5,206]

When the I-485 is filed concurrently with the I-130, she will enter a period of authorized stay. This will not make her a legal resident during this period, but she is authorized to stay and legally here during this period. So she will not need to maintain the F-1 status.

I'm not up on how advance parole works when adjusting status from other than a K-1, so I'll let others address that part of your question.

[angelboo31 5]

Hi,

I am US citizen and planning to apply Adjustment of Status for my wife who is on F-1 student status from 4 years. I wanted to know with this Immigration category 'Adj of Status', is her F-1 status any relevant ? Basically she don't have any interest to continue studies, we are keeping it up to maintain status till now.

If we discontinue her studies (F-1 status), will she be out of status after we get NOA when I-130, I- 485 filed ? At this point we want to avoid paying tuition fees if its not necessary and also don't want her to be out-of-status.

In other words if our Immigration intent AdjustmentOfStatus rejected (in worst case scenario), can she continue to stay on non-immigrant F-1 visa ? I heard that interviewer will take her I-94 during interview and voids her F-1 status on the basis of non-relevance. So anyway there is no point to keep up F-1 status. am I right ?

With our package we are sending following forms:

I-130 with G-325A ($420)

I-485 with I-693, both G-325A ($1070)

I-131 Advance parole ($360)

I-865

I-765

Is $360 for I-131 correct to use for advance parole ?

No need to pay the $360 if you are filing the I-131 together with the I-485 according to the I-485 instructions (pg 5 - I can't seem to copy and paste).

[immi24 0]

When the I-485 is filed concurrently with the I-130, she will enter a period of authorized stay. This will not make her a legal resident during this period, but she is authorized to stay and legally here during this period. So she will not need to maintain the F-1 status.

I'm not up on how advance parole works when adjusting status from other than a K-1, so I'll let others address that part of your question.

Thanks. So she is allowed to stay. But i am not sure if she can continue as student if god forbid AdjustmentOfStatus didn't come through.

No need to pay the $360 if you are filing the I-131 together with the I-485 according to the I-485 instructions (pg 5 - I can't seem to copy and paste).

You are right, In the I-485 instructions it says if filing together with I-485, no need to pay fee for I-131 travel form(advance parole). Thanks for clarification.

[Caryh 5,206]

Thanks. So she is allowed to stay. But i am not sure if she can continue as student if god forbid AdjustmentOfStatus didn't come through.

Which is why it would be good to keep her F-1 status while you go through it, just in case. But if you've got decent evidence of a valid marriage and relationship it shouldn't be an issue. I think its pretty rare to hear about a denial unless someone totally messed up and didn't read the instructions and provide the needed evidence.

[immi24 0]

Which is why it would be good to keep her F-1 status while you go through it, just in case. But if you've got decent evidence of a valid marriage and relationship it shouldn't be an issue. I think its pretty rare to hear about a denial unless someone totally messed up and didn't read the instructions and provide the needed evidence.

My concern is even though if she maintains F-1 status, once she goes through AOS interview process, they will void F-1 status because she has immigration intent. (As her existing F-1 status is non-immigrant nature, so they will cancel that). This is what i heard. Not sure if it is valid.

Any one has idea on this ? We do not want to continue paying tuition fees, attend classes..etc...anyway if its not going help in case of AOS failure.

[Caryh 5,206]

My concern is even though if she maintains F-1 status, once she goes through AOS interview process, they will void F-1 status because she has immigration intent. (As her existing F-1 status is non-immigrant nature, so they will cancel that). This is what i heard. Not sure if it is valid.

Any one has idea on this ? We do not want to continue paying tuition fees, attend classes..etc...anyway if its not going help in case of AOS failure.

I can't really see them canceling the status unless they've already approved the adjustment, but that is just an opinion. Why would they change a status unless there's a new status to replace it?

[greenalien 3]

My concern is even though if she maintains F-1 status, once she goes through AOS interview process, they will void F-1 status because she has immigration intent. (As her existing F-1 status is non-immigrant nature, so they will cancel that). This is what i heard. Not sure if it is valid.

Any one has idea on this ? We do not want to continue paying tuition fees, attend classes..etc...anyway if its not going help in case of AOS failure.

i'm not sure about this one, would guess that she would lose her F1 status if AOS is denied, because F1 is a nonimmigrant visa. but i'm pretty sure that if she travels and re-enters on the AP (i.e. doesn't re-enter on the I-20 like you would as an F-1 visa holder), then she will be classified under the AOS category and not the F-1 category, so if the AOS is denied then she'll lose the F1 status.

what does your timeline look like, what are the "red flags" you're seeing in your own application that makes you this worried?

[immi24 0]

i'm not sure about this one, would guess that she would lose her F1 status if AOS is denied, because F1 is a nonimmigrant visa. but i'm pretty sure that if she travels and re-enters on the AP (i.e. doesn't re-enter on the I-20 like you would as an F-1 visa holder), then she will be classified under the AOS category and not the F-1 category, so if the AOS is denied then she'll lose the F1 status.

what does your timeline look like, what are the "red flags" you're seeing in your own application that makes you this worried?

One of the reason that we are worried is, we were living a part because of jobs and school. Now she joined another school close to home and staying together. We are married 2 years back, now ready to file AdjustmentOfStatus. We want to keep up F-1 status if it is going to help her to stay here in case of AOS denial. Can F-1 status be used to stay little longer to decide on what to do afterwords.

[umeranyth 0]

One of the reason that we are worried is, we were living a part because of jobs and school. Now she joined another school close to home and staying together. We are married 2 years back, now ready to file AdjustmentOfStatus. We want to keep up F-1 status if it is going to help her to stay here in case of AOS denial. Can F-1 status be used to stay little longer to decide on what to do afterwords.

Hi immi24,

I'm not an attorney, and whatever I say should not be taken as legal advice of any sort ... but I hope what I say will be able to help you out!

Please refer to this thread: http://forums.immigration.com/threads/f1-opt-ead-i-485-issue.237366/ for clarification. The user 'jk0274' gives some solid advice. In addition, jk0274 refers to another user 'LucyMO' who posts some good info on this thread as well: http://forums.immigration.com/threads/f1-opt-and-485-ignorance-is-not-bliss.105345/page-2 (Caution, the other posts on this thread are misleading)

Basically, from what I understand is that as long as she doesn't apply for the AOS-based EAD + AP (I-765 & I-131), she should be able to remain in F-1 status so long as she maintains it (i.e, pay tuition, 12-15 credits per semester etc.). As such, in the event that the AOS gets denied, she'll still have that underlying F-1 status to rely on because she has been maintaining it throughout the entire duration of the pending AOS. This ruling: http://www.justice.gov/eoir/vll/intdec/vol15/2349.pdf states that application of AOS is not necessarily a violation of nonimmigrant status, so she should be able to keep her F-1 status regardless of the AOS decision, as long as she maintains F-1 status.

Again, I'm not a lawyer, and this is just my understanding of situations like this. I'd definitely caution you to be prudent and speak with an attorney, if necessary. In any case, best of luck to you!!

[immi24 0]

Hi immi24,

I'm not an attorney, and whatever I say should not be taken as legal advice of any sort ... but I hope what I say will be able to help you out!

Please refer to this thread: http://forums.immigration.com/threads/f1-opt-ead-i-485-issue.237366/ for clarification. The user 'jk0274' gives some solid advice. In addition, jk0274 refers to another user 'LucyMO' who posts some good info on this thread as well:

Basically, from what I understand is that as long as she doesn't apply for the AOS-based EAD + AP (I-765 & I-131), she should be able to remain in F-1 status so long as she maintains it (i.e, pay tuition, 12-15 credits per semester etc.). As such, in the event that the AOS gets denied, she'll still have that underlying F-1 status to rely on because she has been maintaining it throughout the entire duration of the pending AOS. This ruling: http://www.justice.gov/eoir/vll/intdec/vol15/2349.pdf states that application of AOS is not necessarily a violation of nonimmigrant status, so she should be able to keep her F-1 status regardless of the AOS decision, as long as she maintains F-1 status.

Again, I'm not a lawyer, and this is just my understanding of situations like this. I'd definitely caution you to be prudent and speak with an attorney, if necessary. In any case, best of luck to you!!

Thanks for your response. Looks like its still grey area, whether F-1 status is valid if I-485 is filed(even without I-765&I-131). Still confused.

[fullglass 5]

Looks like we are in the same category. I am an USC and my spouse is under the F1 Student Visa. Once you file, then your spouse would be in pending status and theoretically, she would not have to maintain her status. However, if something went wrong and she got denied, then she would have to leave the country since the pending status no longer exists and she would have been long out of status from her student visa. I had my spouse still attend school up until we got done with the interview.

[immi24 0]

I am looking for worst case scenario. If any one has knowledge on this:

Say if we continue maintaining F-1 status during the AdjustmentOfStatus period, would she able to stay here on F-1 even after her adjustment of status is denied ?. What I heard is F-1 is purely non-immigrant intent visa category......so, if immigration intent application is denied, non-immigrant visa becomes absolute (like F-1, B-1/B-2...etc)

[fullglass 5]

My concern is even though if she maintains F-1 status, once she goes through AOS interview process, they will void F-1 status because she has immigration intent. (As her existing F-1 status is non-immigrant nature, so they will cancel that). This is what i heard. Not sure if it is valid.

Any one has idea on this ? We do not want to continue paying tuition fees, attend classes..etc...anyway if its not going help in case of AOS failure.

If the AOS packet has already been sent off, the F1 student visa holder will be in pending status. Whether they want to continue classes or not is up to them. However, keep in mind that if things don't go as planned and gets denied, they will start deportation processes immediately, whereas if they maintained their f1 status, they would have that to fall back on.

Also, the only way USCIS would void the F1 status is if she is approved for her Green Card.

I am looking for worst case scenario. If any one has knowledge on this:

Say if we continue maintaining F-1 status during the AdjustmentOfStatus period, would she able to stay here on F-1 even after her adjustment of status is denied ?. What I heard is F-1 is purely non-immigrant intent visa category......so, if immigration intent application is denied, non-immigrant visa becomes absolute (like F-1, B-1/B-2...etc)

If she maintains her F1 Status and the AOS doesn't go as planned, yes she does have that to fall back on.

[AnotherLostSoul 167]

The same question was put up and answered in the following thread:

Change of status: F-1 student marrying a USC

Started by Zeelomi, 24 Aug 2014

Check it out!