Time ?

[giselle 0]

Hi,

Well i am a US citizen and I filed for K-1 for my foreign national fiance (French) who was here in US on a student visa, we got engaged formally at an engagement ceremony in Lahore, Pakistan on 2nd of Jan, she has entered the US and so have I and we will be getting married shortly in US itself on January 27, I know that after that i have to apply for AOS, what i wanted to ask is what is the approximate processing time of AOS, and in how many months approx. will she get a green card. Also after she gets a green card i want her to go back to Pakistan and live with my family so that she can get to know them, but she also has her studies going on, is there a way around this, what i mean is can she drop her studies for a year and then return back to US complete it, or is she required to stay in US for the conditional 2 years, if yes then for how long can she leave US and stay with family back in Pakistan?

Thanks !!

Edited January 16, 2010 by giselle

[SunDrop 59]

Hi,

Well i am a US citizen and I filed for K-1 for my foreign national fiance (French) who was here in US on a student visa, we got engaged formally at an engagement ceremony in Lahore, Pakistan on 2nd of Jan, she has entered the US and so have I and we will be getting married shortly in US itself on January 27, I know that after that i have to apply for AOS, what i wanted to ask is what is the approximate processing time of AOS, and in how many months approx. will she get a green card. Also after she gets a green card i want her to go back to Pakistan and live with my family so that she can get to know them, but she also has her studies going on, is there a way around this, what i mean is can she drop her studies for a year and then return back to US complete it, or is she required to stay in US for the conditional 2 years, if yes then for how long can she leave US and stay with family back in Pakistan?

Thanks !!

Hi

If your fiancee is in the US on a student visa, then you are not applying for a K1. Once you are married, you would apply to adjust her status from her student visa. You can apply to adjust while she continues her studies.

The situation with her studies will depend on her school and what she's studying. It isn't related to her status in any way, except that she shouldn't stop studying until the AOS process is complete, as it could place her in a 'no man's land' as far as her status goes. Also, make sure that her student visa doesn't have any requirement that she returns 'home' after it expires. This is usually the case where there is any government funding/ sponsorship. So, I'd speak with the international student advisors at her place of study in the first instance.

Once her AOS is complete and she has received her conditional GC, she can leave for up to 6 months and she will still be able to return on her GC, but I'd be careful about spending more time or doing this several times in (by which I mean leaving for 5 months, returning for 1 or 2 and then leaving for another 5 months) because you will need to show evidence of an ongoing marriage when you lift her conditions, as well as eligibility for faster naturalisation (3 years instead of 5 due to marriage) because it's 3 years of ongoing residence.

Be careful because your plans do read a little like a marriage of convenience. Most married couples don't immediately separate for a year so one partner can get to know their spouse's family. I do appreciate that different cultures have differing expectations though.

If I were you, I would marry, AOS and travel to Pakistan during the summer vacation to spend a couple of months with family every year, completing studies without a sustained break. It's a much more 'justifiable' way of completing the immigration process without risking having the bona fide aspect of your relationship being called into question.

p.s. Please can you make sure that your profile information is correct, changing it from K1 and also make sure the country is correct. At the moment, combined with your post, it looks like you're bringing your french citizened fiancee, who is resident in New Zealand, to the US on a fiancee's visa to get married!

Edited January 16, 2010 by SunDrop

[amykathleen2005 441]

Just to add that if you were in Pakistan and entered the US as an engaged couple, then she is entering with the intention of marrying and therefore is committing visa fraud. Correct me if I am wrong.

Edited January 16, 2010 by amykathleen2005

[payxibka 10,045]

Just to add that if you were in Pakistan and entered the US as an engaged couple, then she is entering with the intention of marrying and therefore is committing visa fraud. Correct me if I am wrong.

entry with intent to marry in the USA is not visa fraud.... it needs to be a non-immigrant entry with the intent to circumvent US immigration law

Edited January 16, 2010 by payxibka

[giselle 0]

Well that's the reason my lawyer had me file for K 1 coz if she entered US on student Visa and then we got married that would be visa fraud ? DID i do something wrong by going the K 1 way.

[payxibka 10,045]

Well that's the reason my lawyer had me file for K 1 coz if she entered US on student Visa and then we got married that would be visa fraud ? DID i do something wrong by going the K 1 way.

marriage ceremony is not a immigration fraudulent event

[SunDrop 59]

Well that's the reason my lawyer had me file for K 1 coz if she entered US on student Visa and then we got married that would be visa fraud ? DID i do something wrong by going the K 1 way.

I think we're all a little confused by your original post. Please can you confirm that she has her K1 and this was the visa that she entered the US on?

Also, please complete your profile and timeline!

Edited January 16, 2010 by SunDrop

[SunDrop 59]

Just to add that if you were in Pakistan and entered the US as an engaged couple, then she is entering with the intention of marrying and therefore is committing visa fraud. Correct me if I am wrong.

Not if she's got a valid student visa and she is attending classes. She's entering the US with the intent of studying.

I am engaged (as are most K1 applicants!) and I can enter the US on a VWP. Doesn't mean that I'm intending to get married and AOS.

She could be an engaged student who gets married while lawfully present in the US as a student, and adjusts her status. The 'fraud' aspect is only if the student visa was obtained as a means of entering the country with the intent of marrying and adjusting from it as an IR. As she apparently met her fiance while on a student visa, there was no material misrepresentation at the time of obtaining the student visa.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Well that's the reason my lawyer had me file for K 1 coz if she entered US on student Visa and then we got married that would be visa fraud ? DID i do something wrong by going the K 1 way.

Your lawyer suggested that way because it is safer.

Coming here on a student visa, getting married because you meet an USC, and then doing the AOS is not illegal - it is allowed with the current rules.

However, you may have to show you did not have the intent to do the above prior to coming to the US. (that, in itself, is illegal, say, using the visitors/student visa just to come to the US and get married/stay/get GC)

The burden of proof is on you, not USCIS.

Now - you stated you were "engaged" prior to her coming to the US - that would be a red flag.

Dropping student studies (or not even attending school) and immediately getting married, after getting in the US - red flag.

So, in your case, I can see why your lawyer had the K-1 in mind - safer.

[giselle 0]

Damn i think i need to see my attorney again, sorry for all the trouble though.

[SunDrop 59]

Damn i think i need to see my attorney again, sorry for all the trouble though.

Not necessarily. If you could just do a quick date/ event timeline for us, we could better advise you. The answers you're getting are speculative because you've not cleared up the questions to your process/ status...

[giselle 0]

Ok leaving all the other details to my lawyer, sorry for being so ignorant of these facts since i was so busy with my business in these times of depression, i left it all on him to figure it out, and i just kept doing what he required me to do, i was hoping i could skip the lawyer for now but it looks otherwise, so that aside i just want to know one thing.

The approx. time for isuue of green card from the day i file for AOS i.e after getting married in US itself.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Hi,

Well i am a US citizen and I filed for K-1 for my foreign national fiance (French) who was here in US on a student visa, we got engaged formally at an engagement ceremony in Lahore, Pakistan on 2nd of Jan, she has entered the US and so have I and we will be getting married shortly in US itself on January 27, I know that after that i have to apply for AOS, what i wanted to ask is what is the approximate processing time of AOS, and in how many months approx. will she get a green card. Also after she gets a green card i want her to go back to Pakistan and live with my family so that she can get to know them, but she also has her studies going on, is there a way around this, what i mean is can she drop her studies for a year and then return back to US complete it, or is she required to stay in US for the conditional 2 years, if yes then for how long can she leave US and stay with family back in Pakistan?

Thanks !!

From your post I get this:

1. You met your fiancee while she was in the States as a student

2. You left and went to Pakistan where you had the official engagement ceremony

3. You applied (and I assume gained?) the K1 visa and had her enter with that visa. To do this you would have taken 6 or so months, she had the K1 in her passport and all that

4. You plan on getting married Jan 27 and then AOS

The main issue with your post is you say your fiancee is still studying, which makes me think that while you may have applied for K1, the process isn't complete and you're still waiting for that visa, is that correct? She's currently in the US studying?

If that IS the case then you should not have applied for the K1 visa because she will need to do her interview, medical, police checks etc in her home country. I'm confused that you're calling her a foreign french national and yet have the "country" of beneficiary set as New Zealand.

If that isn't the case and she's currently in the US on a K1 visa and now you're in the "90 days to get married" period, then you will need to get married and then apply for AOS.

To answer your question though, she WILL need to remain in the US. She is permitted to leave for no more than 12 months at a time after obtaining her green card. The longer you spend outside of the US makes it harder to obtain citizenship I understand (but I could be wrong here). The time it takes to get the greencard after applying for AOS depends. I've heard it can take 3 months, but I've also seen it take longer (years).

As for "dropping" her studies, that is up to her school. Some schools allow you to take a break for a period, others don't. It doesn't sound like her leaving until her studies are over is a good idea, perhaps she could visit your family over school breaks? Or they could come and spend time in the US on a visitors visa? Just an idea.

Ultimately I think you're right, you need to speak to your lawyer again to make sure EXACTLY where you stand right now and what is the best option.

Edited January 16, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[giselle 0]

Well sorry about that, i have changed it to France, well i have my appointment set for my lawyer, and thanks for answering my question.

[giselle 0]

Well i had my appointment with my lawyer and i think he might have taken me for a ride coz by what i have heard from here i could have just got engaged in Pakistan got back to US and apply for AOS, but he made me go for the K1 route and my girl had to drop her studies for 1 year go back to france, sit ideal for the whole 1 year just for the K1 process to complete, she got into US on a valid student visa sponsored by her parents in mid of 2007, and we had no intentions of marrying then it was only after i met her a few times at a relatives place that we decided we need to get married, and he told me that I should go for K1 and she should drop an year go back to france. I am so pissed off on him, can i sue a lawyer? cos from what i have understood i could have just adjusted her status as she was already on a student visa and we didn't have any prior intentions of getting married.

Edited January 17, 2010 by giselle