When to file AOS

[AlinaB 43]

My husband was in a similar situation as you, he completed his PhD prior to us proceeding with a K1.

When we applied for the K1 he had only been working for a month or two at a job outside of academia. We had no problems, he got a letter from his employer stating that he was a full time employee, what his wage was (well over the min requirements), and his start date.

We have applied for AOS with his having worked 9 months in this position and so far so good.

Also as mentioned above, if you have not filed taxes while you were in school then include a letter stating so and that you were not required to file due to not meeting the IRS threshold for filing. Since the AOS asks for the previous 3 years of tax info.

Of course I can't speak to the new job with AOS, but with the K1 we had no problems. Mostly they want to make sure that you can support your partner without them drawing on public funds.

I would suggest starting putting together the paperwork now then waiting until you have a month or so at your new job, get a letter from your employer and copies of your paystubs. It takes some time to put together your paperwork so use the time now before you start your job to get that sorted, then just slot in your employment info after you start your job.

Thank you! This was also very helpful. Thankfully, I am extremely organized and have everything minus the time sensitive stuff ready to go. So we won't need to rush around and gather much at all. I found the K1 process to be surprisingly simple considering what people here talked about. But I think writing large grants and fellowships for the last 6 years has made me immune to the paperwork horror others experience.