F-1 Visa & US Citizen – 90-Day Rule, Court Marriage Timing, AOS, and Joint Sponsorship Questions

[SakshiP 0]

Hello everyone,

 

I’d appreciate some help navigating our situation. We've spoken to multiple immigration attorneys but have received conflicting advice, so I’m hoping to get insights from people who’ve been through similar situations or have direct experience with USCIS.

 

Our background:

• I’m a 25-year-old U.S. citizen. I was recently laid off and am currently living with my parents.
• My fiancé is 23 years old and here on an F-1 student visa, currently studying and scheduled to graduate in January 2026.
• We’ve been together for about two years and got engaged about a year ago.
• In January 2024, we traveled to India (our home country) and had a religious wedding ceremony with our families. However, we did not legally register the marriage in India — our plan has always been to register the marriage in the U.S. through a court ceremony.
• He last re-entered the U.S. on his F-1 visa in February 2025, and is actively continuing his studies.

We are now preparing to move forward with marriage-based Adjustment of Status (AOS) but are receiving conflicting guidance:

• One attorney advised us to wait at least 90 days after his most recent entry (around June 2025) to get married and/or file AOS, to avoid raising questions about immigrant intent.
• Another attorney said the 90-day rule shouldn't apply in our case since he entered with the bona fide intent to continue studying, and our relationship was already long-established.

 

Other details:

• We are currently living with my parents (due to my layoff and his student status).
• Since I am unemployed, my parents would need to be joint sponsors on the Affidavit of Support. 
  • I do have two younger brothers living home as well so total of 6 living in the same house.
  • My parents making around 62k combined. Will this be enough from poverty guidelines perspective?

 

Our main questions:

1. Since we have not legally married yet, is it safe to go ahead and do the court marriage now, or is it better to wait until after the 90-day window?
2. If we marry now but delay filing AOS until after 90 days, would that help avoid concerns, or could marrying itself trigger scrutiny?
3. How big of an issue is the 90-day rule in our situation?
4. Can my parents serve as joint sponsors, and will that raise any issues?
5. Are there any concerns about the fact that we had a religious wedding but didn’t register it in India?
6. What do we need to disclose or be cautious about to avoid misrepresentation issues or delays?
7. Any red flags in our situation we should be proactive about addressing?

 

We truly want to do everything by the book and avoid complications. Any insights, experience, or guidance would be incredibly appreciated.

 

Thank you so much!

[Crazy Cat 43,532]

 

There is no 90 day rule for USCIS. Don't even address that subject with USCIS.  I would marry legally, get a marriage certificate, and file an I-130, I-485, I-765, and I-131 ASAP.  Be aware that the foreign spouse cannot work or leave the US for 3 to 6 months (approximately) (must have a valid EAD a to work and a valid AP document to travel and return to US until Green Card is in hand). 

Yes, a qualified US citizen or Legal Resident can serve as a joint sponsor.

Just answer all questions truthfully.  

Here is the guide you need:

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 07:30 PM by Crazy Cat

[TBoneTX 46,898]

To add to CC's excellent advice:  Get multiple copies of your marriage certificate.  You'll need them at some point.

[SakshiP 0]

1 hour ago, Crazy Cat said:

 

There is no 90 day rule for USCIS. Don't even address that subject with USCIS.  I would marry legally, get a marriage certificate, and file an I-130, I-485, I-765, and I-131 ASAP.  Be aware that the foreign spouse cannot work or leave the US for 3 to 6 months (approximately) (must have a valid EAD a to work and a valid AP document to travel and return to US until Green Card is in hand). 

Yes, a qualified US citizen or Legal Resident can serve as a joint sponsor.

Just answer all questions truthfully.  

Here is the guide you need:

 

 

 

Are these folks not accurate when it comes to 90 day rule?

 

 

https://citizenpath.com/90-day-rule-adjusting-status/

 

https://sverdlofflaw.com/adjustment-of-status-and-the-90-day-rule/#:~:text=What Is the 90-Day,necessitate a change of status

 

https://www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/90-day-rule-explained/

 

https://myattorneyusa.com/immigration-blog/immigration-to-the-usa/dos-90-day-rule-for-presumption-of-misrepresentation/

 

[Crazy Cat 43,532]

36 minutes ago, SakshiP said:

Are these folks not accurate when it comes to 90 day rule?

 

 

https://citizenpath.com/90-day-rule-adjusting-status/

 

https://sverdlofflaw.com/adjustment-of-status-and-the-90-day-rule/#:~:text=What Is the 90-Day,necessitate a change of status

 

https://www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/90-day-rule-explained/

 

https://myattorneyusa.com/immigration-blog/immigration-to-the-usa/dos-90-day-rule-for-presumption-of-misrepresentation/

 

The 90 day rule is a DOS rule.  It is NOT a USCIS rule.  I have seen no cases here on VJ which were denied Adjustment of Status under this "rule".  I have not seen a case here on VJ where the subject was even discussed during an AOS interview.  Waiting to file an I-485 has no benefits.   

Edited Sunday at 09:26 PM by Crazy Cat

[W199 405]

Are you saying that your religious marriage ceremony in India is not legally binding in India because you didn't register it? Doesn't in some cases India law treats it as legally binding to prevent abuse, even though it wasn't registered?

 

[SakshiP 0]

4 minutes ago, W199 said:

Are you saying that your religious marriage ceremony in India is not legally binding in India because you didn't register it? Doesn't in some cases India law treats it as legally binding to prevent abuse, even though it wasn't registered?

 

I guess according to us embassy website, it is legally binding. Does this mean we created more headaches? ☹️

 

Religious Ceremonies

In India, a religious marriage ceremony is generally considered a legal marriage. However, for marriages registered under the Hindu Marriage Act (affecting Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists), the certificate issued by the temple or gurudwara may not be legally sufficient for all purposes. Individuals married under the Hindu Marriage Act may seek a formal marriage certificate from the Registrar of Marriages. If one of the parties is not Indian, the registrar may request a “no objection letter” (see above) and proof of termination of any prior marriages.

 

If the parties are married in a Christian, Muslim, Parsi, Jewish, Baha’i or other religious ceremony, the certificate issued by the religious authority (e.g., the church’s marriage certificate, the mosque’s nikah nama, etc.) generally is sufficient proof of marriage, and no certificate from the marriage registrar is necessary.

https://in.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/marriage/#:~:text=Religious Ceremonies,the marriage registrar is necessary.

 

[W199 405]

12 minutes ago, SakshiP said:

I guess according to us embassy website, it is legally binding. Does this mean we created more headaches? ☹️

 

 

 

Well you already passed the embassy, At this point, what matters is if the marriage is legally binding in India.  If it is then, you are considered married in the USA. In that case, you would need to get divorced before getting re-married in the USA.

[W199 405]

And by the way, there was a similar case posted in this forum by a couple with a similar plan as yours, except they wanted to re-marry religiously in the USA.  But when they were not allowed to because their religious leader in USA said they were already legally married under their religious law.   So they had to go get their original ceremony registered, and use that marriage certificate with USCS

[Coco8 1,050]

My take is that there is no need to rush here. Your 'husband' (since you did a ceremony in India) is on an F1 and graduates January 2026. They should have an OPT for 1-3 years. 

 

Why not apply for a marriage visa? It doesn't matter that he is in the US. Given that his F1 ends January, he can still get a job on OPT and then, when the visa is done, go to India for visa stamping. In the meantime, you can get a job again to do the financial support yourself, and maybe get help from your parents. 

 

They wouldn't be able to leave the US, though, because it would be iffy to get back in when there is a marriage visa being processed, since that shows intent to stay the US.

 

Anyway, this is just an idea, I don't know what others think.

 

 

[Boiler 46,861]

On 5/4/2025 at 2:49 PM, SakshiP said:

Are these folks not accurate when it comes to 90 day rule?

 

 

https://citizenpath.com/90-day-rule-adjusting-status/

 

https://sverdlofflaw.com/adjustment-of-status-and-the-90-day-rule/#:~:text=What Is the 90-Day,necessitate a change of status

 

https://www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/90-day-rule-explained/

 

https://myattorneyusa.com/immigration-blog/immigration-to-the-usa/dos-90-day-rule-for-presumption-of-misrepresentation/

 

Do you have an official USCIS link?

[Boiler 46,861]

I do not see the point of Consulate processing when he is here.

 

often it seems that people want to stop paying for the F1 and getting an OPT job is no longer easy

[SakshiP 0]

13 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Do you have an official USCIS link?

I do not have link to this 90 day rule from USCIS but if you Google "USCIS 90 day rule" so many attorneys are talking about USCIS using this DOS rule.

[SakshiP 0]

12 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I do not see the point of Consulate processing when he is here.

 

often it seems that people want to stop paying for the F1 and getting an OPT job is no longer easy

Yea so many confusing things to worry about and unfortunately lawyers aren't very helpful either 😕 

[Boiler 46,861]

All the Rules are detailed on the Regulations.