Tempo House

You wrote:

"Frankly my position can be filled by almost anyone in the U.S. so chances of my work helping me with permanent residence is slim to none"

"I'm a supervisor for a bio-pharmceutical company, prior to that promotion, I was a quality associate for the same company. I started with the company as an OPT. They decided to keep me and filed for H1B. They are currently working to extend it and would like to keep me for a long as possible.

I'm thinking there's quite a few people who are qualified to perform the job functions of a quality associate and a supervisor."

That would have been true when your employer first filed for the H1B, too, yet they were successful, which means you must have skills and experience which satisfy USCIS that you're needed by your company.

I'm no expert on this but the very fact that you have worked in this role for several years can only have increased your expertise in the company's business, so you may find that your case for AOS is quite strong. Have you discussed this with them? If they're willing to file an extension for you now, won't they be willing to discuss the possibility of AOS with any lawyer they are using? That would clarify your options.

I know of a number of people who've successfully AOSed from H1B through their employer. It can be done and is completely conventional and legal. Don't assume you're not eligible!

FWIW, I was approved on the spot, they took my EAD/AP but DIDN'T give me a stamp. I asked and was told that if I needed to leave the country before the GC arrived, I could come in (InfoPass presumably) and explain my need, and they would do it.

hi,

Sorry but it never seen anybody submit a pictures which is black and white as it hard to distinguised if how long that pics taken

There aren't any specifications to meet for photographs when they are being used as proof of an ongoing relationship. Therefore, if the couple are clearly distinguishable in the pictures, there isn't any reason why a black and white print wouldn't be adequate.

The H1B is a dual intent visa so there is a presumption that you may AOS while on it. So there is a little gray area when it comes to work and travel while you AOS. Once you file for AOS your H1B is not automatically revolked. It is only revolked if you use your EAD card. It is at that point that your H1 is no longer valid and the rules of your EAD card are put in place....While you AOS your H1b visa stamp can be used to travel and work with your current employer....

The other non immigrant visas do not allow this measure but your H1B does. You can ask your company HR department/lawyers about this so you have more clarity.. They will tell you as mine told me that you can use your H1B as usual till you complete your AOS or use your EAD card.

In your case, there is not much of a difference in using your EAD card or staying on your H1B unless your employment is terminated. So I would apply for both your EAD and AP and use it only if you have to....

L1A and L1B visas permit the same, so an immigration laywer told me. I agree with the rest of your answer.

Thanks Temp House.

Yes, my plan once engaged / married would be to remain here in the US.

Based on what you have stated then, the easiest and cleanest way would be to propose and marry in the US however when entering the county dont allude anything other than visiting my holiday home as per norm. Then once engaged and / or married ask for AOS which will hopefully allow me to stay here!

Any more advice would be most welcome.

Thanks.

As others have said (and I did above in fact), unfortunately that's not a legal use of your visa.

I agree with JoannaV - there's no harm (apart from the financial one) of doing the UK driving test because then you've got it and it MAY make it easier and cheaper when you're vising the UK and Europe to hire a car. I only say MAYBE I don't know if hire companies charge more foreign driving licences.

I've hired cars in the U.K. on my Massachusetts license and didn't see any surcharges.

What non-resident U.K. driving licence holders might want to be aware of is that the DVLA won't issue a new one to you if you are resident abroad and lose your current one. This happened to me, and at the time I was using my U.K. licence for the right to drive in Massachusetts as a non-resident. So without a Mass. license, I was unable to legally drive until I'd registered for and taken the local test. A good reason to be extra careful with your U.K. licence if you're using it in the U.S. -- you won't get another one!

It's up to you when and where you propose to your girlfriend.

And that's true even if I assume something that you don't state in your question, which is that you imagine yourself immigrating to the U.S. once married.

You can't legally enter the U.S. on your B2 with the intention of immigrating permanently, on the basis of marriage or anything else. So don't do that.

You can technically enter the U.S. on your B2, get married, and return to the U.K. But you might have a hard time convincing an immigration official that you really are going to return to the U.K., and so you risk being denied entry.

Ultimately, if you hope to live indefinitely in the U.S. with your American wife, you'll need to investigate the K1 visa (a "fiance visa" which permits you to enter the U.S. on a one-time basis with the intention of marriage within 90 days of entry, and then to "adjust status" to that of a permanent resident (green card holder)), or the CR1/IR1 visa (applied for while you live abroad and are already married to a U.S. citizen).

The "American" size of 2x2 and the metric size are interchangeable.

The UK standard for passport photo size is very specifically 35x45 mm (or 1.38x1.78 in). This is not even approximately a square 2x2 inches.

If you take the photos yourself, please ensure you download the guidelines set out by the authority demanding the photos. Not only the crop size, but head/shoulder proportions, content of the background, eyewear, hats, religious garb, and even facial expression are subject to specific demands that differ from authority to authority and country to country.

When I applied for my work visa, I got mine done at a local branch of a photo chain -- but I lived in a town with a large foreign student population and that tends to internationalize expectations and service in local businesses. I did my own pictures for ACPO and for my work visa renewal.

Some of the guidelines on taking photos contain worrying warnings about the quality of images from digital cameras sometimes not being high enough for these purposes. Suffice to say that with a typical modern digital camera (probably even cameras on recent high-end smartphones) the resolution of images is normally high enough, but be careful with post processing and multiple saves in the process especially if using a lossy compression format like JPEG.

Hello. You will be fine to travel with your AP following the interview. In my case, I was out of the country when my AOS was approved and the GC sent to my home. I re-entered using the AP with no problem whatsoever. I have read where others have done the same. If you do not get the stamp in your passport and you'd rather not go through secondary upon re-entry, have someone courier you the GC. Otherwise, you're good to go. Have a lovely wedding.

Your scenario is slightly different from the one where the AOS approval happens at the conclusion of the interview and the AP documentation is confiscated. I'm not sure I'd want to travel on the presumption of continued AP status without the documentation itself.

That said I note the OP is asking this question and saying they won't return until the GC is in their hands, while in Finland. I guess that's different -- but does it count as an AP "event"?

f you bring documentation showing what dilemma you are in an present this after everything has been said and done, basically before you shake hands and thank the I.O., you may have a shot of an I-551 stamp right then and there, depending on whether you guys clicked or not. That's your one and only shot.

When I had my interview the officer took the AP and EAD and returned my passport without a stamp. I asked what would happen if I needed to leave the country in an emergency before the GC arrived. The officer said I could come in (via InfoPass I assume) and explain the circumstances and they would stamp me. This statement was delivered very casually, but that's what she said.

So though I'd agree it's best to argue for the stamp while you are in the interview if you already know you're going somewhere, my officer made it sound like there was a way to deal with this in the "limbo" period.

To add to what gandacel says, read the instructions document for Form I-131. This form (the same form you may have used for Advance Parole) allows you to apply for a Reentry Permit. Biometrics are required for people of typical age, so you'll need to be in the U.S. for that before leaving.

Regarding citizenship eligibility, there is a requirement of continuous residence in the U.S. which according to I-131 instructions, being outside for one year or more will break. You can file Form N-470, "Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes"; not sure what that buys you, but presumably it's going to help.

He will be OK to continue in his current position once he has the EAD, which you seem to have applied for (I-765). Your window from the AOS application to the end of his current work authorisation is a bit short (two months): you should expect the EAD within 90 days, but maybe not within 60 (mine took 78).

Perhaps look into the possibility of a biometrics "walk in". When your husband gets his biometrics appointment letter, there will be a date and time on it when he has to attend. But it seems like some offices allow people to turn up and do it without an appointment. This gets the biometrics into the system sooner. The EAD depends on the biometrics being completed, so doing this could speed up the process for you.

I put something like "Unknown at present" and checked the box for more than one trip. This proved acceptable. Plus, I never used the AP.

Possibly, since the I-131 form is not just for AP but for other kinds of entry/exit application, the precise trip listing is expected more for those than for AP applications.

Good luck!

If you are the alien and your husband is the USC petitioner, you're fine. The questions about arrests etc. are from the I-485 and are for you.

Green card received today, apparently mailed on Monday 11th. So I got it eight days after the interview.

Do you have anything like life insurance where the spouse is named as the beneficiary? Does your husband have a 401k with you named as beneficiary?

I think a tax return with you on it (joint or as dependent) should also be good evidence and it sounds like you have that. Utility bills where you are jointly named, or just to prove you each receive bills at the same address, etc.

Our experience was the interview doesn't only depend on financial commingling, so don't worry yourself too much about it, just gather as much evidence as you can in the time you have. If there is anything you can be named as a dependent on, or vice-versa, and it's not been done yet: get on it. Start using your joint account even if it's inconvenient and get bank statements to have on hand at the time of interview.

Interview yesterday and I was approved. Because we've been married more than two years, it will be a ten-year card.

The interview went in an unexpected direction for us, since we don't have a lot of commingled finances and the interviewing officer gave us the initial impression that we didn't have enough evidence, even though we'd brought three years of joint tax returns, joint leases, 401K and life insurance beneficiary statements, etc., as well as the usual photos and trip evidence. Somehow we made our way to approval within the single interview, for which we're obviously grateful. Officer was polite, pleasant, understanding and had a good sense of humour.

As has been posted already, she can travel with the H1B visa since it allows dual intent. It also does not matter if if the AOS paperwork is filed before or after for the same reason.

It is advisable (but not necessary) to apply for advance parole(AP). The reason for this is that without AP, if the H1B employment is terminated unexpectedly while she is out of the country the AOS would also be abandoned. If she is relatively sure that this will not happen then it is safe to travel without AP.

That's an excellent point. And to cover another case: if your employment is unexpectedly terminated while outside the U.S., and you have NOT filed for AOS, your troubles are still significant because you can't validly return on your employment visa. It almost happened to me, when a redundancy round at my company happened while I was outside the U.S.

NO, you don't need to send any police reports from Nigeria.

Why do you say that?

My understanding is that if you answered yes to the arrests/convictions question on Form I-485 and the incident(s) occurred in Nigeria, then you certainly _do_ have to send police reports from Nigeria.

I have been married to a U.S. citizen for over two years and while I am currently in AOS, for most of that two-year period I was here on my still-valid L1 visa. I have travelled abroad both with and without my wife with no problem upon return to the U.S. I've even renewed my L1 visa in London and declared my marriage to a U.S. citizen on the forms, and I wasn't even asked why I wasn't filing for AOS. So I am confident your friend can travel on the H1.

I was told by an immigration lawyer that after filing AOS, you can still travel on your valid H1 or L1 visa and your AOS is irrelevant. I haven't tested this since I haven't been outside the U.S. since filing AOS, but I would be confident doing it. I expect that if you did, it would be a good idea to carry your Advance Parole documentation if you have it, and probably also to be prepared to explain that you are both in-status on your work visa and also applying for AOS, simply because you don't want to be hiding anything from the USCIS at border controls.

Marriage does not make the other visa invalid. Remember that for most intending immigrants, marriage takes some work to prove and the USCIS only recognizes it as grounds for immigration when you've proven that it's a marriage that was entered into, and that continues, for valid reasons.

It took just over two months from biometrics to interview letter for me.

Thanks for your replies. Yes, this is an AOS interview so in principle the letters all come from the same place and have the same standards applied.

Harpa, thanks for the clarification. It makes sense that the main letters aren't personalised with extra requests since that ought to be the function of the RFE process.

Hi all,

I've noticed in the past some members talking about being required to bring certain things to interview -- as if the USCIS has identified particular issues in the application that need further evidence or confirmation.

However, my interview letter looks like a standard form letter with no extra personalisation.

There is a section headed "YOU MUST BRING THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WITH YOU: (Please use as a checklist to prepare for your interview)" which consists of a long list of standard items. Each has a check box beside it, but none of the boxes are pre-checked.

So my reading of this is that, as the heading implies, these check boxes are for your own use in assembling the standard materials.

If you have received an interview letter requesting specific extra documentation, how did the letter ask for it? Via checked boxes in this section or with additional pages?

Thanks!