ChristinaM

I don't have a degree to put at the top of my education either. I addressed my grammar school education by listing my GSCEs and the rough equivalency, and the same with my A Levels, and by putting a note next to my school name saying that it was an academically selective high school.

Just a polite "No, thanks" before you hang up would be nice....

Thank you Annie - I appreciate you taking the time to explain.

What I don't understand is why we are willing - as an immigrant community - to accept that "out of status" means just that for K1s who don't adjust immediately, but we still call those who came many years ago and overstayed "illegal". I don't see the difference.

Fabulous! Now you and I have sorted out that we were talking at cross-purposes and I apologise - that was my lack of clarity using "expiry of the K1" instead of "expiry of the authorised K1 entry". I had assumed since we were talking in the AOS forum we were past the K1 entry stage, but assumptions are dangerous.

Now I understand - perhaps a lack of clarity on my part.

Once the stay authorised by the I-94 issued upon entry with the K1 visa has expired, one is out of status if they have not filed for AOS.

Is that better?

For the OP, since we have digressed, YES! - once you have filed your paperwork and it has been received at the other end, you are still in legal status. The NOAs are the proof you have of that.

Sorry to have disrupted your thread, but I feel it's important to get it clear for the sake of others reading.

No. She does not become "pending" anything until she has filed the paperwork to become "pending".

That's like saying your status is "pending driver" before you've applied for your permit.

Once she has filed, she becomes "pending AOS" regardless of whether she has time left on her I-94.

The point of clarification was less for the OP than for the other people in the thread who said "I haven't filed yet and my I-94 has expired".

These are the best I can find, but perhaps I'm not looking in the right place.

Visa overstay enforcement is one of the most prevalent domestic security problems the U.S. now faces. A visa overstay occurs when a foreign national visiting the U.S. fails to comply with the exit terms of his or her visa and, instead, stays on in the country illegally. The Department of Homeland Security estimated the number of visa overstays in the U.S., as of January 2000, to be 2.3 million.

From here; and

But perhaps most important is the issue of visa overstays. (Strictly speaking, it is not the visa itself, issued by the State Department, which expires and turns the foreign visitor into an illegal alien, but rather the length of stay granted the alien by the immigration inspector at the airport or land crossing.) Estimates are that as many as 40 percent of illegal aliens are overstayers, who entered the country legally but did not leave when their time ran out, representing perhaps 4 million or more people.

From here - as said by MR. Mark Krikorian, Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies.

I always understood "out of status" to be the same thing as "unlawful (or illegal) presence".

Just as a matter of terminology clarification, John; please can you explain to me why "out of status" is not "illegal" - after all, we are dumping all of the tourist visa overstayers who have been here for many years in with the 11 million illegal immigrants? I'm curious to see how the USCIS explains the difference and I'm not entirely sure where to look.

Thank you

Ginger Ale is known to be good for settling the stomach, if you haven't tried that already.

Fabulous. I sure as heck hope that people pay attention.

3. After the divorce is final, you can file for the 10 year GC just by yourself, within the 90 day period before your 2 year GC expires.

As I understand it, one can file for lifting of conditions as soon as the divorce is final, provided it was a bona fide marriage to start with (and I'm not suggesting it was anything but legitimate ).

It's scary how many posts like this we see on here.....

I know that attorneys and paralegals are human and make mistakes too, but damn - this is someone's life you're talking about.

Good luck getting everything else filed right, and I'm glad you caught it in time.

Sounds like a good bet then, Marilyn. Well spotted!!

Maybe a bunch of people with degrees in Homeland Security could reform the immigration process....

I always find it interesting finding out which are the up-and-coming career paths, especially when they're careers that didn't exist a generation (or less!) ago.

Likewise, I find it interesting watching careers change; I work in telecom, and talking to the techs who have been in the industry for 30 years plus, they're doing a completely different job today than they were when they started, and it's always evolving.

That's a bummer

If you can't afford legal representation, try your local Catholic Charities for help.

Good luck!

Just because you were granted a ten-year card doesn't make it so, sometimes! I have heard of some instances where K1's have been falsely granted a ten-year card and not known that they still needed to lift conditions, but she's not even at the stage where she would be due to file for that yet.

Never2Much, it sounds like you are in legal status right now, so that's one less worry. One place to start for advice on your case might be your local Catholic Charities; your local office is Dallas, so maybe look here and get in contact with them.

Good luck!

How frustrating!!

I'm glad you finally got it sorted out though.

Something I will mention here, although it's no longer of use to you Brooklyn; because I did not come in on a K1, I was not in the SAVE system and couldn't get a SSN until I got my EAD. In the meantime, my local SSA office gave me a form letter stating that I was not eligible for a SSN at this time, which I used to open bank accounts and the like.

Your status will change October 20th, to "pending AOS without AP".

That's not true, I'm afraid. Technically, once the K1 expires you are out of status if you have not filed for the AOS. You only become "Pending Adjustment" once the papers have been received at USCIS' end. Until then you're (get this!) an illegal immigrant!! If you don't file the AOS within 180 days of the K1 expiring, don't leave the country. Those days are technically overstay days.

Is it going to cause you problems? Very unlikely. It certainly will not cause you problems with the AOS itself, providing (as you all seem to have done) that you married within the 90 days.

The other downside to having a car payment is having to have fully comprehensive insurance - if you can purchase without financing and get away without having to have that, it's potentially a huge saving.

Instead of looking to the federal government to take this over, why not look to state governments? We've had this discussion about taxes; you know, if you don't wanna pay income or sales tax but you don't mind paying through the nose for your property tax, move to NH. So let's do it on a state-by-state level. If you want UHC, move to say, California. If you want nothing covered and you believe that damn it, if you get sick you should pay for it, move to Utah, perhaps.

Just a thought.

... why you want to buy a car so urgent if all will take time to get a workpermit and find a job and stuff like that ???

Ramona

Ramona, the OP is filing for an immigrant visa. He will be work-authorised the minute he enters the US.

Can you not afford at least $250-400 monthly payments? If you're sticking with your original budget, don't be surprised if you won't get that far.

pnrmbr975, you made me laugh. You're right that $1000 won't get you very far, but don't you think that you're being a little unrealistic on the car payment? Both my husband and I have white-collar, professional jobs and we would struggle to make a car payment of $400 a month between the two of us! Wouldn't it be nice to have that kind of money just sitting around every month waiting to be spent on a nice new car

If you get an RFE, it puts everything on hold. The reason for this is that the interim benefits (EAD and AP) are based on your eligibility for the core application; in this case, the AOS.

Sorry - I'm sure that's not what you wanted to hear

The short answer is whichever name you plan on using as your legal name here in the US.