F1 Student getting married to US citizen and need to travel

[cwoo86 0]

Hello,

I'm a F-1 student getting married to a US Citizen on June 2. I was oblivious to the whole AOS process before I would be allowed to leave the country, and made all the necessary arrangements (flights, hotel, guest invitations) to have a wedding reception back in my home country on August 11. Having read up a bit more, I realized that I need serious help. I think these are pretty much my options:

1. Leave the country without changing my status, and hope they allow me in based on my F1 visa.

2. Apply for AOS, and then apply for Advance Parole. Obviously I'll have to expedite AP since there is no way it's going to be done in 2 months, and I don't even know if they'll approve it.

3. Abandon all wedding plans back in my home country, losing around 15k (flights + cost of wedding reception). Obviously this would be the worst case scenario.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Mama mia 9]

How about this:

Get married ASAP and file AOS. And can apply for AP if you are not out of status.

If you have not violated your F-1 visa terms, then maybe your 1st scenario may work. But if you are out is status, then your 1st & 2nd scenario won't work.

[cwoo86 0]

Basically the wedding dates are pretty much set, and can't really be moved around. My parents are flying in for the wedding, and June 2 works best for both our families.

As for my F1 visa, I am good till 2014. I have just read how F1 visa holders might be viewed as having "immigrant intent" when trying to re enter the US after marriage to a US citizen, and that is definitely my biggest worry.

[Little_My 463]

And it's a valid worry. You obviously have intent to immigrate now, and while marrying a US citizen and filing for AOS in the US is definitely an option for you, the situation immediately changes if you leave the country now before filing for AOS, and plan to return to file later. You would essentially be returning on a non-immigrant visa (F1) with the intent to immigrate, which is visa fraud. While it's possible that you wouldn't have any issues coming back and you might "get away with it", so to speak, it is a big risk to take with something this important.

I know this is not an ideal option for you - it wasn't for me either - but I would suggest for you guys to marry ASAP in a civil ceremony so that you can file for AOS now. You can still go ahead with the two other wedding plans according to your schedule, but getting legally married now will allow you to file AOS with plenty of time for you to receive the AP before you have to travel. You should also take into account that in a worst-case-scenario situation, your interview might be scheduled for when you're planning to be abroad, which will also be another tricky situation. Re-scheduling an AOS interview, unless it is really a matter of life and death, is a big No-no.

In our case, we married in Manhattan city hall in February 2011, and filed for AOS, I flew to Finland in July where we were going to have our big wedding ceremony at the end of July - but of course, as was to be expected, our interview was scheduled for July 20. I flew back to the US on July 19, had my interview on July 20, flew out on July 21, and had my wedding on July 30. Needless to say this all ended up costing us a lot of extra $$$, not to mention all the added stress of having to travel back and forth, but in the end things worked out.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Basically the wedding dates are pretty much set, and can't really be moved around. My parents are flying in for the wedding, and June 2 works best for both our families.

As for my F1 visa, I am good till 2014. I have just read how F1 visa holders might be viewed as having "immigrant intent" when trying to re enter the US after marriage to a US citizen, and that is definitely my biggest worry.

What Mama mia was suggesting is that you go to the court house and get marry now, and immediately apply to adjust your status. You should get your AP by June 2 when you can still have your big wedding. You can go back to your home country in August with AP.

There is no fraud doing this way.

Entering the US on your non-immigrant F1 visa with the intent to adjust is fraud.

[pauljdwsn 0]

I'm in a similar scenario.

- My F-1 student visa has already expired.

- However, I'm in-status with regards to i-20 (which is good till jan 27, 2014).

- I'm on OPT and actually working right now.

- We got married in march. My wife is american.

- We want to visit home (India) to have a ceremony in honor of us newly weds and also to see my dad as he had heart attack this week.

- We're planning on making the trip in December.

I'm done with all the applications and hope to turn them in by early next week. so, my question is- will i be able to enter back in to the US with an expired visa, but current i-20 and AOS application in process, if my advance parole application is approved?

Thanks.

[FelixTX 2]

You shouldnt have a big problem with your trip in December... That is in over 5 months, if your AOS is straightforward and there are no problems it is very likley that you will already have you greencard by then... Otherwise if you file the I-131 it should be approved way ahead of this trip, so dont worry about it.

You wont be able to reenter the United States with an expired non-immigrant visa, but by then you should at least have your AP.

[grrrrreat 109]

I'm in a similar scenario.

- My F-1 student visa has already expired.

- However, I'm in-status with regards to i-20 (which is good till jan 27, 2014).

- I'm on OPT and actually working right now.

- We got married in march. My wife is american.

- We want to visit home (India) to have a ceremony in honor of us newly weds and also to see my dad as he had heart attack this week.

- We're planning on making the trip in December.

I'm done with all the applications and hope to turn them in by early next week. so, my question is- will i be able to enter back in to the US with an expired visa, but current i-20 and AOS application in process, if my advance parole application is approved?

Thanks.

Once you've applied for adjustment of status, your F-1 visa and I-20 are irrelevant. But yes, you will be able to travel when you receive advance parole (but not before then).

You shouldnt have a big problem with your trip in December... That is in over 5 months, if your AOS is straightforward and there are no problems it is very likley that you will already have you greencard by then... Otherwise if you file the I-131 it should be approved way ahead of this trip, so dont worry about it.

You wont be able to reenter the United States with an expired non-immigrant visa, but by then you should at least have your AP.

Just a note that you can NEVER reenter the U.S. with a non-immigrant visa after an adjustment application--whether or not the visa is expired. The exceptions are H and L visas, which are technically both non-immigrant and immigrant visas.

Edited June 8, 2013 by grrrrreat

[Pitaya 2,576]

~Three year old, stale thread closed to further comment~

~Starat a new thread with your question~

Pitaya

VJ Moderation