Girlfriend is LPR, I’m a F1 student, when to file?

[TangoVictor 37]

Hello,

 

I’m an international student in the US with an F-1 visa. My legal status in this country depends on me getting a job offer before January 2021 in order for my school to start the 6 month CPT. 

I’ve been dating my girlfriend for 7 months now, she is a permanent resident (she’s the love of my life) and her early naturalization window opens on Oct 11th. Our original plan was for me to extend my legal stay here as much as possible (using the 6 month CPT and requesting the 12 post completion OPT) while she got her citizenship, so we could get engaged and have a wedding. 
 

Now, those plans are getting complicated because getting a job offer in the industry I could apply to, is close to impossible during this pandemic. That’s why we were wondering, can we get married now and request to adjust status and then when she becomes a citizen “upgrade” the request to USCIS? Could I get work authorization? How will the process work, is there a guide somewhere? What option do you think is best?

 

Thank you! 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

F2A (spouse of permanent resident) category is current now, so to all intents and purposes it’s pretty much equivalent to filing as spouse of USC. You can get married, and file 130 and 485 simultaneously. It will take some months to get employment authorization based on the 485. if you look at the top of the page you will see a “guides” section that will help you demystify the process. You can post follow up questions if anything not clear.

You talk about an “early naturalization window” - that is only for filing. She cannot become a citizen before 5 years is up. Note that it may take much longer than that, some FOs it takes around a year to complete the process.

Note fees going up in October as well. I believe that AP/EAD which used to be free filed alongside 485 will now be charged separately too.
 

All that said: 7 months is not that long of a time. Make sure you are getting married for the right reasons, with immigration considerations secondary.

[TangoVictor 37]

20 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

F2A (spouse of permanent resident) category is current now, so to all intents and purposes it’s pretty much equivalent to filing as spouse of USC. You can get married, and file 130 and 485 simultaneously. It will take some months to get employment authorization based on the 485. if you look at the top of the page you will see a “guides” section that will help you demystify the process. You can post follow up questions if anything not clear.

You talk about an “early naturalization window” - that is only for filing. She cannot become a citizen before 5 years is up. Note that it may take much longer than that, some FOs it takes around a year to complete the process.

Note fees going up in October as well. I believe that AP/EAD which used to be free filed alongside 485 will now be charged separately too.
 

All that said: 7 months is not that long of a time. Make sure you are getting married for the right reasons, with immigration considerations secondary.

Yes, precisely, the idea of using my CPT and OPT was to extend my time here as much as possible so her naturalization process would end (all the way to oath). Our understanding was that Trump banned the F2A but we learned today, thanks to your comment, that we were wrong. We will look more into it and probably go talk to an attorney. 

 

On the other hand, we are quite afraid of the fact that we have been together for just 7 months, not because we don´t love each other or want to spend the rest of our lives together, but we know that it could look wrong/suspicious to an USCIS officer. Good thing is that despite the fact that we are on our mid and early 20`s, we feel lucky that we`ve found each other and have the support of both of our parents to continue with this madness. Thanks for your help Susie!

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

7 minutes ago, TangoVictor said:

Yes, precisely, the idea of using my CPT and OPT was to extend my time here as much as possible so her naturalization process would end (all the way to oath). Our understanding was that Trump banned the F2A but we learned today, thanks to your comment, that we were wrong. We will look more into it and probably go talk to an attorney. 

 

On the other hand, we are quite afraid of the fact that we have been together for just 7 months, not because we don´t love each other or want to spend the rest of our lives together, but we know that it could look wrong/suspicious to an USCIS officer. Good thing is that despite the fact that we are on our mid and early 20`s, we feel lucky that we`ve found each other and have the support of both of our parents to continue with this madness. Thanks for your help Susie!

F2A is banned for visa issuance from outside the US, but there is no ban on adjustment of status (this is true for all the banned visa categories).

[aaron2020 11,651]

Get marry and file for AOS before Oct. 2 when fees will go up significantly.