How to go from J1 Visa to K1

[Lmab 1]

Hello! Hopefully someone here will be able to help me. 

 

I’m currently an Au Pair with the J1 Visa and my boyfriend and I are planning to get engaged soon, for this reason I’ll leave the program. My questions are: 

 

1- Since I’m not a citizen and I’m already in the US and I won’t come back to my home country, is the K1 Visa the one I have to apply? (I see this Visa is to bring a foreign to the US but what if the person is already here?)

 

2- Am I gonna be “out of status” when I leave the program and wait for the Visa approval? Or there are any forms that I have to send while I wait so I don’t be “illegal”? 
 

3- Apparently you have to get married within 90 days in the K1 Visa, so this 90 days start when you send the documents or just after getting the Visa approved? 
 

Thanks in advance!

[JeanneAdil 6,555]

You can not switch from J1 to K1 in the US

if you want to stay ,  u must remain legal under the J1 visa terms

 

otherwise,  marry here and USC applies to adjust your status as a spouse 

you will be legal when receipt of the AOS I 791 

 

for a K1 visa you would return home and stay till visa is approved (and u still have to AOS in the USA)

90 days to marry after entering US on K1 visa 

 

[Lmab 1]

1 hour ago, JeanneAdil said:

You can not switch from J1 to K1 in the US

if you want to stay ,  u must remain legal under the J1 visa terms

 

otherwise,  marry here and USC applies to adjust your status as a spouse 

you will be legal when receipt of the AOS I 791 

 

for a K1 visa you would return home and stay till visa is approved (and u still have to AOS in the USA)

90 days to marry after entering US on K1 visa 

 

So if I can’t apply for K1, what form should I send instead?
 

We don’t wanna rush into marriage now, so when we get engaged and I leave the program what status I’m gonna have/or should change for?

 

It means that we have to get married until my DS expire?

[Rocio0010 5,579]

1 hour ago, Lmab said:

Since I’m not a citizen and I’m already in the US and I won’t come back to my home country, is the K1 Visa the one I have to apply? (I see this Visa is to bring a foreign to the US but what if the person is already here?)

You can’t apply for a K1 from within the US.
Either you leave, and apply from your home country, or you stay and adjust your status. 

 

1 hour ago, Lmab said:

2- Am I gonna be “out of status” when I leave the program and wait for the Visa approval? Or there are any forms that I have to send while I wait so I don’t be “illegal”? 

If you quit the program prior to receipt of your NOA1 (the receipt you’ll get when you submit your adjustment of status), yes, you’ll be out of status. This is forgiven for spouses of USC. However, should anything happen with your marriage, or even the documentation you submit is rejected, it is always advisable to have a status to fall back to. I’d suggest you not to quit your program.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

5 minutes ago, Lmab said:

So if I can’t apply for K1, what form should I send instead

Read this Adjustment of status guide

[Rocio0010 5,579]

7 minutes ago, Lmab said:

We don’t wanna rush into marriage now, so when we get engaged and I leave the program what status I’m gonna have/or should change for?

This is exactly what I was telling you to avoid. 
not to be nosy, but why would you leave the program when you get engaged? Being engaged does not confer you any legal status. 
This person had a K1 visa, got married, and delayed sending her package. Things went south quickly:

Fresh out of jail

[Lmab 1]

14 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

This is exactly what I was telling you to avoid. 
not to be nosy, but why would you leave the program when you get engaged? Being engaged does not confer you any legal status. 
This person had a K1 visa, got married, and delayed sending her package. Things went south quickly:

Fresh out of jail

The main reason why I wanna leave it’s because it’s not a regular job. I live where I work, I’m far from my bf and I had so many bad experiences in the program and I’ve been through a lot. Staying it’s not an option anymore unfortunately.

 

My J1 is expired but I’m in the extension of the program and my DS still valid. So can I quit the program and stay “out of status” until my DS expires and then get married? I mean, that would be legal? 
 

So there’s no way I can have an status for just being engaged right? Other than that I’d have to just get married straight?

[Rocio0010 5,579]

26 minutes ago, Lmab said:

My J1 is expired but I’m in the extension of the program and my DS still valid

You should first find out if the DS is tied to you being in the program. If it is, then if you quit, you won’t be in status. 

 

27 minutes ago, Lmab said:

So there’s no way I can have an status for just being engaged right

Correct. When you get engaged, you don’t sign any documents. Being married doesn’t confer you status either. Nor does having a receipt from USCIS. The only way to obtain legal status in your context is to have your adjustment of status approved.

Another aspect to consider if you do decide to stay and adjust is that you won’t be authorized to work or travel outside of the US for 8-9 months.

[Coco8 1,042]

K1 is to get married, not to be engaged. 

 

You should stay in the program and keep dating. You are allowed to date on a J1 visa. 

[Redro 4,611]

11 hours ago, Lmab said:

Hello! Hopefully someone here will be able to help me. 

 

I’m currently an Au Pair with the J1 Visa and my boyfriend and I are planning to get engaged soon, for this reason I’ll leave the program. My questions are: 

 

1- Since I’m not a citizen and I’m already in the US and I won’t come back to my home country, is the K1 Visa the one I have to apply? (I see this Visa is to bring a foreign to the US but what if the person is already here?) If you're interested in going the K1 visa route you need to return to your country. If you want to stay in the US you'll have to move to another visa. 

 

2- Am I gonna be “out of status” when I leave the program and wait for the Visa approval? Or there are any forms that I have to send while I wait so I don’t be “illegal”?  Change to another visa if you do not want to be out of status OR leave the US and wait for the K1 approval. 
 

3- Apparently you have to get married within 90 days in the K1 Visa, so this 90 days start when you send the documents or just after getting the Visa approved? The 90 days start when you enter the US on the K1 visa.  
 

Thanks in advance!

 

[powerpuff 6,732]

~~ Topic moved from K1 Progress Reports to AOS work/tourist/student visas - that is the only option available if OP wants to legally stay in the US and not leave to do consular processing ~~

Edited July 19, 2022 by powerpuff

[serret 55]

I'd say get married and apply for a change of status from J1 to a marriage-based green card.

Since you are J1, make sure you are not subject to the 2-year home requirement rule. If you are subject to it, then they will reject your application to change to a green card. In that case you have to go back to your home country and start the K1 process or if you already got married, the IR1/CR1 process. You can try waiving the 2 year home requirement rule. Since it's au pair, I imagine it's gonna be easy. Usually they make this harder for those who come with a US government-funded scholarship etc.

If you cannot waive the 2-year rule, you will have to go back to your home country for 2 years. In the meantime, you can apply for a K1 there. Make sure by the time you have your visa interview at the embassy, you have completed your 2-years in your home country. K1s take approximately 1.5 year these days from start to finish. So I'd suggest after you go back to your country, wait for 4-5 months then send your K1 application. However beware: once you apply for a K1, you cannot obtain a tourist visa to the US. So your fiancé will have to visit you in your home country during those 2 years. If you have ESTA or you already have a tourist visa, no worries. 

K1 is pretty nerve-wrecking and you have to do a long-distance relationship. I'd say get married and change your status to a marriage-based green card. You won't be able to work for a couple of months or leave the US. But if you don't want to get separated from your fiancé, that's the best way.

Edited July 19, 2022 by serret

[Lmab 1]

14 hours ago, Lmab said:

Hello! Hopefully someone here will be able to help me. 

 

I’m currently an Au Pair with the J1 Visa and my boyfriend and I are planning to get engaged soon, for this reason I’ll leave the program. My questions are: 

 

1- Since I’m not a citizen and I’m already in the US and I won’t come back to my home country, is the K1 Visa the one I have to apply? (I see this Visa is to bring a foreign to the US but what if the person is already here?)

 

2- Am I gonna be “out of status” when I leave the program and wait for the Visa approval? Or there are any forms that I have to send while I wait so I don’t be “illegal”? 
 

3- Apparently you have to get married within 90 days in the K1 Visa, so this 90 days start when you send the documents or just after getting the Visa approved? 
 

Thanks in advance!

Thank you everyone for your responses!

 

As an Au Pair I’m not subject to the 2 years rule. I’m not gonna apply for K1 since it’s too complicated and this would result in spending too much time away from my fiancé.

 

So, if I get engaged, leave the program and change my status for tourist (I’m aware that I won’t be allowed to work or course and other rules) and then get married after a couple months, do you think I’ll have problem in my green card interview or when filling the forms to change status again?

[beloved_dingo 1,979]

16 minutes ago, Lmab said:

Thank you everyone for your responses!

 

As an Au Pair I’m not subject to the 2 years rule. I’m not gonna apply for K1 since it’s too complicated and this would result in spending too much time away from my fiancé.

 

So, if I get engaged, leave the program and change my status for tourist (I’m aware that I won’t be allowed to work or course and other rules) and then get married after a couple months, do you think I’ll have problem in my green card interview or when filling the forms to change status again?

Do you already have a valid tourist visa?

[carmel34 3,639]

23 minutes ago, Lmab said:

So, if I get engaged, leave the program and change my status for tourist (I’m aware that I won’t be allowed to work or course and other rules) and then get married after a couple months, do you think I’ll have problem in my green card interview or when filling the forms to change status again?

You can try to change from a J-1 to a B-2, but you will have to convince the officer making a decision on your application that you intend to return to your home country after the period you request to stay as a tourist expires.  Since your intent is to remain in the USA permanently with your fiancé, a B-2 is not an option for you.  Your only option to remain in the USA legally is to get married to a US citizen and apply for adjustment of status.  During the year or more waiting for the adjustment of status based on marriage to a US citizen to be adjudicated, you will be in a period of authorized stay, but you cannot leave the country or work without an approved advance parole and work authorization.  You and your fiancé need to do more research on the marriage and adjustment of status process before making a decision.  Good luck!

Edited July 19, 2022 by carmel34