F1, OPT, AOS

[dekk123 43]

Finishing my F1 and Need to be available for employers but Green card/EAD processing times are very SLOW! I am married to a US citizen but needed to wait for J1 waiver.

I have the EAD OPT option but reading outdated pages, it looks like applying for OPT and F1-AOS is a waste of money. However Green card EAD is taking forever to be processed based on other people's cases. Due to the delay in the Green card EAD processing, would it be advisable to apply for F1/OPT and AOS at the same time and wait to see which one comes first?

 

 

Edited October 30, 2019 by dekk123

[risky_fox 8]

There is a lot to unpack in your message... First of all, if you have to wait for J1 waiver, doesn't seem you can apply for AOS beforehand.

From what it seems F1 OPT EADs at Potomac are backlogged 2.5-5 mo, whereas nat. benef. center AOS EADs 5.5-7.5 mo now (and getting longer every month, just my observation).

If you have an option applying for F1 OPT couple months before graduation then that's the way to go, once you get your F1 OPT EAD, then you can apply for AOS - your F1 OPT EAD should be still valid. Yes, F1 OPT EADs take long time, but it's better to be without job for couple of months (given you've applied before graduation) than half a year.

[dekk123 43]

Thank you for the response! I actually received a favorable recommendation from DOS last week