Little_My

F-1 students are obligated to file taxes regardless of whether they earned a penny or not during the tax year. You ALWAYS have to file. When you file, you have to declare all the income you've made - and my understanding is that these "gifts" would still have to be declared. Chances are the amount is so small that you won't be taxed on it, but you'll still have to declare it.

If your status is married by 31 December 2012, you will file as married. You can either file as "married filing jointly" or "married filing separately".

Listen - this is not rocket science. Just put the information down in what ever way you think makes sense, as long as it is correct and matches the I-94s you have. You'll attach copies of both I-94s anyway, and the IOs at USCIS are not dumb. They'll figure out your H1-B was extended and the new I-94 issued without you leaving the country. Just fill out the paperwork and send it out - I think you are starting to over think this a little bit.

Vinnyic's numbers are not correct for this particular situation. Those are the poverty lines for sponsors who are on active duty in the military and are petitioning for a spouse or a child. For them, the minimum requirement is 100% of the poverty lines - for all others, it is 125%. For a family of two, it would be $18,912 - the rest are here:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864p.pdf

I received the same letter at the end of my interview. Two days later I got the approval email, and the approval date on my GC ("issued on") is the date of the original interview. It is totally normal, don't worry about it too much. They might take a few days or weeks to get back to you. but most likely you'll get the approval notice fairly soon if all went well in the interview and nothing was missing from your documents.

You can have zero, nada, zilch on your account, as long as your husband and/or sponsor make enough money from a regular salary to satisfy the requirement of 125% of poverty line.

Que Saudade: She had an F-1 visa, and is now AOSing from that F1 to LPR.

How about you put down the I-94 number and date that match, and right next it, or on an additional sheet of paper, write "New I-94 issued on xx/xx/xxxx in connection with H1-B extension. Number xxxx-xxxx, copy attached".

Agree with the previous posters re: your parents. Do not volunteer information, but never lie.

Regarding the forms, you submit everything together as once package - I-130, I-485, I-765 for EAD and I-131 for AP, along with all the required supporting documents. Anh Map linked the correct VJ guide for you - you should study the guide and the form instructions carefully, and then come back with more questions if something seems unclear. It seems to be you haven't really familiarized yourself with the whole AOS process yet, so better to do your homework first, before starting to assemble the package.

No, you cannot do this. If you were in the US NOW, and had decided AFTER entry that you want to marry and file for AOS in the US instead of going through the K-1, that would have been possible. However, since you're saying that the marriage would take place at the end of next year (2013??), you're planning to enter the US with a non-immigrant visa, marry a US citizen and remain here to file for AOS. This is visa fraud. Not the marriage part, but the AOS part.

I am confused though - do you have K-1 pending now? If you do, then unless there is something very strange going on about your case, you should most definitely have the visa before end of next year.. So way before you plan to get married in the US and file for AOS (which, again, is visa fraud).

The cover letter is just a list of contents for your package. There's no need for any stories on that. You'll get to talk about how you met, fell in love and all that in the interview.

I understand your worry. I am in a similar situation myself. But like Harpa said, there's plenty of false information floating around online about this. Any absence from the United States can be interpreted to mean that you've abandoned your residency, but the rule of the thumb is that absences of less than 12 months will not hurt your residency, especially if you can show how/why the absence was intended to be temporary and your plan was to return to the US the whole time - and that you maintained ties to the US during your absence.

I got my GC in July of 2011. August this year, me and my husband moved to India because of his job. He has a company that does work here, and remaining in the US would have required him to travel here for at least 2-3 weeks out of every two months, which is not really ideal. So, we moved here. I plan to be back in the US by early June 2013, since I have to file for ROC by early July. I will be gone for less than a year, I can show that our move was because of my husband's (USC) job required him to come here - temporarily - and that our plan was always to return to the US and reside there. I am keeping bank accounts open there, we'll of course file taxes there normally in 2013, I've kept my phone plan and only put it on hold so that there are no fees accumulating while I am gone, and my visa is a temporary entry visa.

I didn't get a re-entry permit, for two reasons. 1) I woke up to the possibility of getting it too late - my biometrics wouldn't have been scheduled until after I was planning to be out of the US, and 2) I really didn't feel like spending the money it costs to file for it (over $300 I believe). I also didn't see how it would really make a difference - I know with 100% certainty I'll be back in the US before I have been gone for 12 months. I also plan to come for a shorter visit back around the 6-month mark, just to make things easier for myself - and to see friends and family of course. Re-entry permit protects an LPRs status during absences of 12-14 months, so I didn't really see the benefit of getting it for an absence of less than 12 months - but, as said by Harpa, you can always get it for peace of mind.

I think you'll be fine. Just make sure you're not gone for 12 months, maintain ties to the US, be prepared to show how your move was due to his work, and have all your ducks in a row and paperwork in order. I'll let you know how things go when I first come back to the US.

If I am not mistaken, TN visa is not a dual intent visa - so you cannot use a TN visa for your girlfriend to come to the US and marry you with the intention of her remaining permanently in the US and applying for a greencard. I'm not sure if this is your intention, and you don't mention anything about her becoming a permanent resident or getting a GC in your post, but if you plan to live in the US I assume this is your ultimate goal.

If you want her to come to live in the US permanently, you can either get married now and file for the CR-1 spousal visa to bring her over and get her a greencard, or the K-1 fiance visa, if you prefer to not get married quite yet. If she is not currently planning to apply for a greencard and permanent residency in the US, then she can look for a job that qualifies for TN-visa. She doesn't have to volunteer the information of her having an American boyfriend or, when you get married, a husband, but if asked she has to tell the truth. There's always a chance she would be denied the visa and/or entry to the US under the TN, if it was suspected she was planning to use the visa to immigrate.

Yes, you're fine. Just go ahead and file the AOS paperwork. You won't be able to travel out of the country for at least 3 months, and the process altogether will probably take roughly 4-6 months and set you back $2,000, give or take a few hundred. If you've been married for more than 2 years, you'll automatically get the 10-year greencard and won't have to worry about removal of conditions two years from now.

It is very unlikely you would get an interview so fast that it would fall in the period when your spouse is traveling. The average processing times for AOS are around 4-6 months from filing the paperwork. If your interview was scheduled for that time, you can always try to reschedule it, though it is a bit risky and not recommended.

Yes, marriage is your only option. It's the only way to apply for greencard with an overstay like yours. If you leave the country, you'll be subject to a 10 year ban. While you are here, you are deportable at any time. Don't go looking for someone to marry just for your status - but hope and pray you'll meet someone you like, and then love, and then want to marry, before USCIS happens to somehow cross paths with you while you're on borrowed time.

You choose A. Your I-130 is the "immigrant petition giving you an immediately available visa number, if approved"

B would be for someone whose spouse or parent was a foreigner who had applied for AOS and became LPR in a category that allows for derivative status.

I assume that by "getting our marriage license" you mean you would also be getting married in a civil ceremony? Marriage license is just the permission to get married. It doesn't matter how soon after the marriage you file - we filed in two weeks after our civil ceremony in Manhattan. Better to file the paperwork as soon as you are married and before you have any reason to travel internationally, as this may become an issue now that you clearly have intent to immigrate. Also keep in mind that once you have filed the paperwork, you won't be able to travel abroad for about three months, until you have the AP travel document - so plan any looming trips accordingly.

I don't have any experience with the I-864 waiver, but if you've worked here for those 10 years in full (altogether 40 quarters) and can establish that you have been earning more than the required minimum.

Whether or not you feel you need a lawyer to help you is entirely up to you and a decision you should be making on your own. However, if you can read instructions, pay attention to detail and double- and triple-check all you are putting together and submitting, you'll probably end up doing more than any immigration lawyer ever would for your case. It seems like a straight forward AOS, which basically means it's all about filling out forms. Lawyers tend to not really fill out forms - they have someone do it for them. I wouldn't have trusted anyone else to put together my AOS package than myself and my husband. There's little a lawyer can do to make the process any smoother or faster, but that's my personal opinion.

"Certificate lost"?

..Don't make it too complicated. You don't have the certificate, you don't have the number and the info. Just write that. If you want, you can attach an additional sheet explaining it was lost.

No.

1) A person can enter the US on VWP, or any other visa, and marry a US citizen. He or she can also have the intent to marry a US citizen before entering the US. This is 100% okay and legal and there's nothing wrong with that.

2) A Person can enter the US on VWP, or any other visa, with the plan to visit temporarily. Then, sometimes, things change. The person either meets a US citizen, falls in love, and the couple decides to get married and file for AOS. Or, the person had a US citizen boyfriend/girlfriend, planned to visit, but circumstances changed, and the couple decides to get married and file for AOS.

A person CANNOT use a non-immigrant visa to enter the United States with the intention to marry a US citizen AND file for AOS. It's not the marriage-part that is an issue, it's the AOS part. Using a non-immigrant visa with immigrant intent, i.e. the preconceived plan to remain in the US and fiel for a greencard after entry with a non-immigrant visa, is visa fraud.

General wait time for AOS from filing to getting the GC is around 4-6 months I think.

For CR-1 more, around 9-11.

First, EAD is not a visa. It seems based on your profile that you've come in the US with an F-1 visa, and been eligible for an EAD - which is an Employment Authorization Document, not a visa - because you are employed by your university and work on campus there.

You won't be "illegal". Once you have filed AOS, you'll enter a new period of authorized stay, independent of your F-1 status. Your EAD expiring would have nothing to do with your status in the US anyways, the EAD only allows you to work. If the EAD expires, but your I-20 is still valid, i.e. you continue to study, you're authorized to be in the US.

Filing AOS alone doesn't give you the right to work. If your current EAD expires before you get the new one (I assume you applied for one in conjunction with the AOS), technically between that time you're not allowed to work. Universities tend to be fairly strict about these things, so chances are they might not allow you to work when you have no valid EAD.

I stand corrected - I was always under the impression you'd have to enter with the F-1 to be under F-1 status, and that coming in as a tourist would essentially mean one would have to leave the US and re-enter using the F-1 to change from tourist to student status. But apparently I was wrong!

It does seem like a quite of an ordeal though, to get the change of status done. Personally, probably wouldn't do it - but it's good to know it is an option.

Nope. You can't enter as a visitor and then just switch to an F-1 status in-country. When you come, you'll enter as an F-1 student, and you can only come earliest 30 days before your semester starts, as indicated in your I-20 document. You'll have to figure out a way to get the lease signed from where you are, before you arrive - but, a word of caution. I would not sign up for an apartment and make financial commitments for it unless you have actually seen it in real life, or you have a friend in the US who can go and see it for you. Plenty of scammers running around.

Also, wrong forum. This should be in the student visa forum, not AOS.

It's good to let your school now, though it won't really effect your studies. If you don't feel the need to maintain your F-1 status as a back-up during the AOS, then you won't have to maintain full-time status or obey the F-2 regulations anymore once AOS is filed, but if you want to remain in school normally, filing AOS won't change anything in that front. Just inform your school's international student services office about filing AOS - not that they really have anything to do with the process, but still good to keep them informed.

It's not INS anymore - you'll be sending your documents to USCIS, i.e. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

You have ao apply and be granted the waiver first, before you are eligible for file for AOS. I think what Hypnos meant that, once you have the waiver and you can file for AOS, it won't "conflict" with the J-1 in any way, as yor husband will then enter a new period of authorized stay independent of his J-1 visa. But the first step has to be getting the waiver granted.

I don't know what qualifies as exceptional hardship - I'm sure you could find more information on that from just google searches. I do know that the most common waiver for the J-1 2 year HRR is the No Objection Waiver. Whether or not the Lebanese government would issue this or not, I also can't say. You could try the regional forums here to see if you can find anyone with experience with that particular waiver from Lebanon.

All the forms are riding on the I-130, which forms the basis for your spouse's eligibility for AOS. If the I-130 is rejected, nothing else can be processed either. That's why they sent everything back to you. Signing on the wrong line is definitely a legitimate reason for rejecting the form - and therefore, rejecting the entire package with the I-130.

Re-print the I-130, sign on the right line, and send everything back to them.

My additional question is though, did you ONLY send those forms and documents you listed in your post above - i.e. one G-325 for beneficiary and one for petitioner, I-94 copy, passport copy, petitioners birth certificate..? Your package should contain quite a lot more for it to be complete.. Just double checking.

I would also suggest you get your student visa affairs in order first, before starting to plan how to file for AOS for a greencard with a girl you, apparently, have so far only met online.