Follow to join instead of being transferred from F1 to F3.

[Richard Pacino 0]

Hello there,

 

I am waiting for my green card petition to be approved. I am in F1 category as an adult son of U.S. citizen. I am planning to get married. It is known to me that if I get married my application would be moved to F3 category as a married son of U.S. citizen which would add about 6 years to the wait according to the Visa Bulletin.

 

However I just read about “Following to join” which really confuses me. It says: Follow to Join does not require a separate immigrant petition and does not require the applicant to wait for a visa to become available. You don't need to file Form I-130 to take advantage of the Follow to Join process.

 

So is it possible if I marry before I become permanent resident under F1 category I could just use “follow to join” option for my wife to come right away instead for us to wait for years in the line under F3 category?

 

Thank you very much for your help.

 

Richard

[aaron2020 11,651]

No. 

 

Marriage automatically moves you to the F3 category. 

 

The F1 category requires you to be unmarried.

 

Follow to join would not work for a spouse in the F1 category.  

[aleful 1,905]

hi,

 

nope, the day you marry is the day you change category. the extra 6 years of waiting is because you change category. you no longer qualify to get your GC under the waiting time of an unmarried child.

 

follow to join does not apply for these types of petitions

 

 

[aaron2020 11,651]

9 minutes ago, aleful said:

hi,

 

nope, the day you marry is the day you change category. the extra 6 years of waiting is because you change category. you no longer qualify to get your GC under the waiting time of an unmarried child.

 

follow to join does not apply for these types of petitions

 

 

Follow to join works in these petitions.  It's allowed for derivative children in the F1 category.  It's allowed for derivative spouse and derivative children in the F3 category.

OP wants to retain the F1 category when he gets marry and that is not possible.  It's impossible to do a follow to join for a spouse in the F1 category because the primary beneficiary of an F1 category case must be unmarried.  

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

What you may want to consider is staying single , getting your visa and entering the US ( you must be single when you enter on the visa )  going back, marrying and filing for her , that makes her arrive about 2 years after you as an F1  which is still quicker than both of you as an F3 

[aaron2020 11,651]

6 minutes ago, NigeriaorBust said:

What you may want to consider is staying single , getting your visa and entering the US ( you must be single when you enter on the visa )  going back, marrying and filing for her , that makes her arrive about 2 years after you as an F1  which is still quicker than both of you as an F3 

That's the current wait in the F2a category.  It has been as long as 5 years in the past.  It can be that long again in the future.  Who knows.  

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

1 minute ago, aaron2020 said:

That's the current wait in the F2a category.  It has been as long as 5 years in the past.  It can be that long again in the future.  Who knows.  

 I have also seen it be immediately available in the last decade , so who knows ? 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

9 minutes ago, NigeriaorBust said:

What you may want to consider is staying single , getting your visa and entering the US ( you must be single when you enter on the visa )  going back, marrying and filing for her , that makes her arrive about 2 years after you as an F1  which is still quicker than both of you as an F3 

But it also requires them to be apart for 2 - 2.5 years. They may prefer to stay together and migrate later.