What happens with the work permit between K1 and AOS?

[teamhoeskizalez 1]

Hi Guys,

My fiancee is currently awaiting his interview date and we are hoping he will be entering the US on a K1 Visa very soon, but I am concerned about the work permit situation. I understand he will be able to pick up a temporary (90 day) work permit at the airport upon his arrival, and that he will need to reapply for another work permit once we are married and filing AOS. My question is this: what happens in between the two work permits? Will he be forced to stop working while the government is processing the AOS, or is he allowed to keep whatever job he has until the AOS issues him a new permit? It doesn't seem fair that he would have to cease working for up to 5+ weeks while we wait for the AOS... can someone please clarify how this works?

Thanks,

B

[Messybrownhair 251]

There is no temporary work permit that you get from the airport. Your fiance will need to apply for EAD. Most people apply for EAD together with the AOS because it comes with the fee. He is allowed to apply for EAD upon arrival but it will only be valid until his i-94 is valid, and it will take about 2 months to process, so it is pretty useless. To make the long story short, k1 filers pretty much cannot work until you file for AOS and receive your EAD.

[Anh map 2,098]

Hi Guys,

My fiancee is currently awaiting his interview date and we are hoping he will be entering the US on a K1 Visa very soon, but I am concerned about the work permit situation. I understand he will be able to pick up a temporary (90 day) work permit at the airport upon his arrival, and that he will need to reapply for another work permit once we are married and filing AOS. My question is this: what happens in between the two work permits? Will he be forced to stop working while the government is processing the AOS, or is he allowed to keep whatever job he has until the AOS issues him a new permit? It doesn't seem fair that he would have to cease working for up to 5+ weeks while we wait for the AOS... can someone please clarify how this works?

Thanks,

B

That work authorization for K1 holders no longer exists. After marriage apply for the Adjustment of Status and the EAD (work authorization).

[Messybrownhair 251]

To be perfectly honest, you will be looking at at least 3 months++ of not being able to work, depending on how fast you can get married and file for AOS..It sucks, but hey we picked this path so we have to deal with it Goodluck! Hope this doesn't burst any bubbles, it certainly would have been nice if we could get a temporary work permit. Too bad they took it out!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Time to take an extended honeymoon, and update the resume, maybe let him fix a few things around the house. Time passes quickly. It really does.

[teamhoeskizalez 1]

Ugh, thanks, but not what I was hoping to hear. It baffles me how they expect someone to a) sit around for three months twiddling their thumbs while waiting, and b) SURVIVE for that period with no legal way of obtaining income. Since the foreign fiancee is not allowed to leave the country after the marriage until the AOS and everything goes through, this means that even if my fiancee flew over to marry me without quitting his current job in the UK, he wouldn't be able to fly back and continue working in the UK while we wait for the EAD and AOS to go through. This sounds impossibly stupid! This is FORCED UNEMPLOYMENT and is sure to cause stress among couples both financially and mentally while one person is made to go 3 months without work. How does this help anyone??? Is there really no way for him to do this without being out of the job for 25% of the year?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Ugh, thanks, but not what I was hoping to hear. It baffles me how they expect someone to a) sit around for three months twiddling their thumbs while waiting

Probably closer to four months or more, if you follow the K-1 timelines from POE to EAD.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

Ugh, thanks, but not what I was hoping to hear. It baffles me how they expect someone to a) sit around for three months twiddling their thumbs while waiting, and b) SURVIVE for that period with no legal way of obtaining income. Since the foreign fiancee is not allowed to leave the country after the marriage until the AOS and everything goes through, this means that even if my fiancee flew over to marry me without quitting his current job in the UK, he wouldn't be able to fly back and continue working in the UK while we wait for the EAD and AOS to go through. This sounds impossibly stupid! This is FORCED UNEMPLOYMENT and is sure to cause stress among couples both financially and mentally while one person is made to go 3 months without work. How does this help anyone??? Is there really no way for him to do this without being out of the job for 25% of the year?

The US government expects the spouse to do better financial planning and to financially support their new spouse, since getting married is not an urgent or emergency event.

Edited April 23, 2011 by LIFE'SJOURNEY

[mj_nj 0]

This link should tell you everything you need to know

http://www.***removed***....n-document.html

It does cover various types of Visa, and there's alot of information, but worth the read...

One thing to note is: -

Once you have applied for AOS, (at which time you have concurrently applied for an EAD), if you have not received an adjudication within 90 days then you are apparently entitled to an interim EAD...

As always, there is a 'but' coming

If at any time during the 90 days, (the clock starts when they receive your filed forms), you receive an RFE, the clock stops, and will start over upon receipt of the requested evidence... unfortunately any time already passed is then disregarded, and will be 90 days again, so I guess the tip there is triple check everything to avoid an RFE...

As much as I would love to sound super knowledgeable... alas, I have to give credit to ***removed***, I just thought I would paraphrase some of the important stuff to save you some time

Good luck, and happy reading.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Kathryn41

[Anh map 2,098]

Yes, patience and budgeting are two important aspects of the immigration process.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi Guys,

My fiancee is currently awaiting his interview date and we are hoping he will be entering the US on a K1 Visa very soon, but I am concerned about the work permit situation. I understand he will be able to pick up a temporary (90 day) work permit at the airport upon his arrival, and that he will need to reapply for another work permit once we are married and filing AOS. My question is this: what happens in between the two work permits? Will he be forced to stop working while the government is processing the AOS, or is he allowed to keep whatever job he has until the AOS issues him a new permit? It doesn't seem fair that he would have to cease working for up to 5+ weeks while we wait for the AOS... can someone please clarify how this works?

Thanks,

B

You understood wrongly. The K-1 is not a work visa and you must get married and then file for the AOS. 2-3 months later he will get his EAD, which may or may not come before his green card. Alla got her green card before she got her EAD.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Ugh, thanks, but not what I was hoping to hear. It baffles me how they expect someone to a) sit around for three months twiddling their thumbs while waiting, and b) SURVIVE for that period with no legal way of obtaining income. Since the foreign fiancee is not allowed to leave the country after the marriage until the AOS and everything goes through, this means that even if my fiancee flew over to marry me without quitting his current job in the UK, he wouldn't be able to fly back and continue working in the UK while we wait for the EAD and AOS to go through. This sounds impossibly stupid! This is FORCED UNEMPLOYMENT and is sure to cause stress among couples both financially and mentally while one person is made to go 3 months without work. How does this help anyone??? Is there really no way for him to do this without being out of the job for 25% of the year?

There is no way to do this without being out of a job for 3 months or more. There is no guarantee you will receive it within three months of filing. Expect more like 4-6 months

You will have to prove you can support him without him working to obtain the visa AND the OAS and EAD. Oddly enough, you must prove he does not need to work in order for t=him to get authorization to work.

The US government expects you to maintain him as you promised you would.

You have the option of marrying FIRST, then filing for a CR-1 which comes with immediate authorization to work. It takes longer to receive but it does not take longer to allow a person to work. The K-1 is not even an immigrant visa, the job is only half done when he arrives. It is what you chose after careful conideration of all the advantages and disadvantages of the various visa options. Right?

[teamhoeskizalez 1]

Thanks everyone! I can support him and I will -- we did choose this path and we'll get through this! We will probably marry as soon as he arrives on the K-1 so that we can move the process along and really start our lives together. I'm concerned that he is going to be bored out of his mind for months while he waits for authorization, but I suppose he can take up a hobby or something (an inexpensive one, necessarily... I can't help but roll my eyes at this whole thing). Plus, even the most secure guy can feel emasculated by having to be completely dependent on his girlfriend, so I expect it will be frustrating for him. :/

Gotta say though, I'm suspicious that these K1 work rules were set up by the government years ago with the assumption that it would be a man (US citizen) bringing a foreign woman over to marry her and therefore the expectation would already be that he would support her and she would stay home (or whatever). Just doesn't seem practical anymore. Or fair, for that matter.

Gotta power through it. Sigh.