Change of Status from a B1

[richmondhill 0]

Hi,

I got married to my BF of 3 years yesterday in New York!! I am a Canadian and he is an American. I have a B1 visa of 3 months? I heard that I can change my status in order to obtain a green card eventually. Can someone direct me to what applications I need to file and will it be ok for me to stay past 3 months here in the US?

THANKS

[payxibka 10,045]

read he guides

i-130, i-485, i-765

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

Hi,

I got married to my BF of 3 years yesterday in New York!! I am a Canadian and he is an American. I have a B1 visa of 3 months? I heard that I can change my status in order to obtain a green card eventually. Can someone direct me to what applications I need to file and will it be ok for me to stay past 3 months here in the US?

THANKS

Yes, once you file for adjustment of status (green card) you can stay as long as you want, just remember do not leave the US without your advance parole I-131 (one of the documents you have to apply for), this document is a permit to re-enter the US while your case is being process and takes around 3 months to process. The moment you submit all the paperwork you cannot enter as a tourist since you are in a legal limbo that will be straighten out until you receive your green card, right now you are just a foreign spouse adjusting status.

Also, hopefully you didn't enter the US with the intention to get married, since this is against USCIS rules (they have the fiance's visa for this purpose). You might encounter problems if you state that you entered as a tourist but you knew you were getting married.

Check my timeline for a better idea.

Edited September 13, 2008 by GueraYTavo

[ELW 5]

Go to "Guides" tab at the top of this page. Look under "Immigration Guides for a Spouse or Fiance(e)" then click on "US Citizen and Spouse both live/reside in the US". Read everything carefully and proceed accordingly:

AOS Guide

You can also take a look under "Special Circumstances" at "Adjusting of Status from other Visa Types":

AOS From Other Visa Types

As you fill in all the many pages of paperwork, check out the "Example Forms" tab because that will answer a lot of questions you may have!

Example Forms

Best wishes and good luck!

[antda 13]

Hi Richmondhill, (hmmm..am wondering if you used to live in Richmond Hill, Canada)

Congratulations on your recent marriage! Yes, you can "adjust your status" (provided that you had status before, which I assume from what you said was a B1 status) here in the USA, and then eventually get "permanent residency/a green card".

It's not illegal that you came to the US and get married while you were down here for a visit from Canada. As long as you came here WITHOUT the intention to get married in the first place on your visit and not do this as to avoid and/or break immigration laws, then it's fine and legal to do.

I was in a similar situation before too, as I came over to visit my boyfriend (now husband), on a tourist (B2) visa from Canada, and then ended up getting married here in the USA. And yes, I did get approved and got my green card afterwards. For more information on my sitation, see my VJ timeline (the link can be found on my signature).

The next steps for you are:

1) DO NOT LEAVE THE USA AND DO NOT RETURN TO CANADA until your case has been fully approved, otherwise your case will be abandonded and you will run into the risk of never being able to come back to the ever USA again.

2) File the following paperwork. It's not the K3 Visa, instead it is an Adjustment of Status from a Visitor's Visa, which you then file: I-130 (Petiton for Family Member), I-485 (Adjustment of Status/AOS), I-864 (Affidavit of Support), I-765 and I-131 (Employment Authorization and Advanced Parole, both are optional), and the I-693 (Medical Forms).

3) Hire a good immigration lawyer, if you run into any more problems, and/or if you are totally unsure about your situation.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your immigration journey.

Ant (Visited, Married, Immigrated, Living Happily Ever After In The USA...)

P.S. , as that helps too. Thanks.

Hi,

I got married to my BF of 3 years yesterday in New York!! I am a Canadian and he is an American. I have a B1 visa of 3 months? I heard that I can change my status in order to obtain a green card eventually. Can someone direct me to what applications I need to file and will it be ok for me to stay past 3 months here in the US?

THANKS

Edited September 14, 2008 by AntandD

[richmondhill 0]

I would like to thank everybody!!! You guys are great. I am still overwhelmed but im working on these application.

THANK YOU AGAIN!!!

Richmond Hill

[richmondhill 0]

Yes AntandD I am from richmond hill and i misss it!!!

One more question for you....should i send all these forms together? as in I-130 (Petiton for Family Member), I-485 (Adjustment of Status/AOS), I-864 (Affidavit of Support), I-765 and I-131 (Employment Authorization and Advanced Parole, both are optional), and the I-693 (Medical Forms).?

Thanks,

Richmond hill

[antda 13]

Hi Richmondhill,

You're welcome for the information. Lol...that was just a guess before and I didn't think I had it right, but yeah, nice to know that you're from Richmond Hill (Ontario, I'm assuming). Hope you don't miss it too much. And as soon as you get your green card or advance parole, you can go back to visit Richmond Hill as much as you want to. By the way, I used to be from Toronto, which is just right below Richmond Hill and I've been there before on several ocassions.

Yes, you should send in all the forms together, as that's what the lawyer did for us in our situation. Not sure if they all go to the same location though (you would have to re-read the forms for that location), but either way, you should send it all in at the same time, so that your complete set of application forms gets processed together all at the same time.

By the way, I did not submit the Advance Parole/AP forms or the Employment Authorization forms, so I don't know exactly how that works. Any other VJers know how this works?

See my VJ timeline for more information regarding my situation (the link can be found below on my signiture).

Hope this helps. Good luck on your immigration journey.

Ant (Lol...missing Canada (though not Toronto), but still visits sometimes....)

Yes AntandD I am from richmond hill and i misss it!!!

One more question for you....should i send all these forms together? as in I-130 (Petiton for Family Member), I-485 (Adjustment of Status/AOS), I-864 (Affidavit of Support), I-765 and I-131 (Employment Authorization and Advanced Parole, both are optional), and the I-693 (Medical Forms).?

Thanks,

Richmond hill

Edited September 18, 2008 by AntandD

[Chilly 0]

Eureka! Just what I was looking for! My Mexican sweetheart came to visit me and we got married. She'd had her B2 visa for a while (before she knew me), and had visited a few times. But we got married on last visit. So it looks like we can adjust status (she's still here in the US) and she won't have to leave country while we wait for her card? That's wonderful if true because we also found out we're going to have a baby. I was dreading that I'd miss the entire pregnancy and birth.

[Chilly 0]

Did some more reading and learning here about the fraud thing. Seems like a sore topic. I wish that I'd had a clearer picture of the immigration process before we got married but I didn't. Had no idea how complicated it could be. But facts are that she came to visit me and during the visit we decided to see the Justice of the Peace and just get married! Figured we'd sort out the immigration thing after the fact, thinking "how hard can it be? I'm a US citizen after all." We didn't plan some big event, just a couple of friends and my parents at the JOP office, none of us having any idea of the possible implications so far as immigration law is concerned. I about threw up on my keyboard when it appeared that she'd have to leave the country for several months because we also found out we're having a baby. I feel fortunate now that it appears that we might be able to adjust status from a B2 visa (I'll still get an attorney, though). We didn't exploit a loophole. Was never our plan. Was no conspiracy.

If I'd have done some studying about immigration processes and known about K1 I'd have gone that route instead. It was normal for her to go home for a few months between visits so going the K1 route would not have been a burden. However, now that we're married with a baby on the way we'd be heartbroken to be separated. So I can empathize with a lot of you who are enduring separation. It seems like our policy is established to terribly inconvenience 95% of the well-meaning people to intercept the 5% who would abuse the system. But consider what the situation could be without such rules. Opens the door for a lot of exploitation of USC by people who just want to get in-country. Also makes possible exploitation of foreigners by USC who would do virtually anything for a chance at a better life. I don't have any suggestions on how to improve the situation for those trying to immigrate legally, but I have a laundry list of ways to help de-motivate illegal immigration. But that's a topic for another forum. I wish well to all of you who are working through the process with honorable intent.

Chilly

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

Chilly,

Doesn't matter what people tell you: if this can be taken as visa fraud, that she should've applied for K-1, if her intentions when she crossed the border was to VISIT nobody can deny her the right to adjust status. Moreover, if you are able to hire an immigration attorney to accompany you to the interview, even better because he/she will know better how to handle a ticky situation if the interviewing officer happens to be a SOB hehe.

Just make sure to research your attorneys first, a bad pick can end up damaging your process more than helping it, shop around and ask around before choosing to place the fate of your wife and baby in his/her hands.

Bottomline friend, she CAN adjust status, even if she entered on her B1.

Edited September 26, 2008 by GueraYTavo

[athena_ny 1]

Yes AntandD I am from richmond hill and i misss it!!!

One more question for you....should i send all these forms together? as in I-130 (Petiton for Family Member), I-485 (Adjustment of Status/AOS), I-864 (Affidavit of Support), I-765 and I-131 (Employment Authorization and Advanced Parole, both are optional), and the I-693 (Medical Forms).?

Thanks,

Richmond hill

Yes, they are sent all together in the same package to the Chicago Lockbox.

[sweetpiano 0]

Chilly,

I adjusted from a B1/B2 visa without an attorney and without problems. Take a look at my timeline. I think the fact that I have used a student visa and a visitor visa in the past in good faith (i.e. without overstays) also helped, they can see a person's history of entry/exit from US in their database and a good faith track record of visa usage makes a good impression.

Good luck with the process and congratulations on the baby!

[Chilly 0]

Chilly,

I adjusted from a B1/B2 visa without an attorney and without problems. Take a look at my timeline. I think the fact that I have used a student visa and a visitor visa in the past in good faith (i.e. without overstays) also helped, they can see a person's history of entry/exit from US in their database and a good faith track record of visa usage makes a good impression.

Good luck with the process and congratulations on the baby!

Well, I have a snag. I manged to forget that my wife went back to Mexico right after our wedding for a short visit. She got back into US just fine. Heck, we had no idea there'd even be the possibility of having an issue getting back into US. So she's here now but might have trouble with I-130 because she left the country for a short visit with her family. I scheduled an appointment with our field office to talk it out with an agent.

Most warnings I've read about adjusting status say it's a big bad deal to use marriage as a means to bypass immigration law. This isn't what we've done, and she's here in the US now, so I'm inclined to submit the I-130 as accurately as possible, hide nothing, maybe even include a timeline of events, visits, etc. I can't see how they could do anything but deny the request and tell us to do a K3. Now, if someone falsified an I-130, or attempted to set up a sham wedding to submit an I-130, that's a different story. But if we were conspiring to commit fraud we'd have been the dumbest conspirators ever to have messed up our scam this way. No, scammers research very carefully. In any case, I want to talk to NSCIS before I do anything.

Chilly

[sweetpiano 0]

I don't see any snag. It is not illegal to get married in the US on a visitor visa. It is illegal to get married with the intention to then stay and adjust status, which does not sound to be your wife's case. I got married in the US on my visitor visa, left, came back after a year on yet another week-long visit, left, and finally entered and adjusted status this year. During that last visit I was already married, did not have any intention on staying (came for my husband's sister's wedding) and had not problems at the POE.

And BTW, the USCIS customer service line is known as the mis-information line, so good luck with trying to get out of them what your best course of action should be.