Difficulty proving a bona fide marriage

[sealavender 0]

Hello everyone,

I am new here, but I have read many helpful replies to other people's threads. My case is a bit different, but I am hopeful that you will be able to give me advice.

I am an F-1 student who entered the US/California in May 2005. I met my boyfriend, who is a USC, a year ago and started dating him eight months ago.

My boyfriend and I want to elope in early February. We are thinking about filing for adjustment of status for me immediately after. However, both of us are students, and thus at the time of filing, neither of us will be having any significant income. I understand that it will be difficult to file an affidavit of support (form I-864), but since we are eloping, getting his parents to file will be impossible. Therefore, I will get my sister and her husband who are permanent residents to file I-864 as cosponsors alongside my husband. I am also getting my B.S in May, and am applying for OPT to start working on 7/21/09 (latest date possible)

My biggest concern is that my boyfriend is a junior (we both go to to the same school), and will not finish his B.S until 2010. Although I spend a lot of time at his place and vice versa while we were dating, we have not shared a residence or any properties/assets at this point, and during next semester, after we have gotten married, we will be maintaining different residences due to our previous contracts. We are getting a joint bank account soon, but we will have different insurance plans, because he is still dependent on his parents, while I have the policy offered through the school. I plan to get a job in the area, so that we can live with one another during his last school year and will relocate with him when he goes to grad school. We have photos and many witnesses to prove our relationship is real, but I am afraid these will not be enough as evidences of a bona-fide marriage, because of the lack of a shared residence and insurance plan previous to the interview.

Given this situation, how much of a chance do we have at getting my conditional GC?

If I get denied permanent residency, will I be able to stay and finish the remaining period of my OPT?

What will happen to my then husband after our application gets denied?

I came to the US with the intention of getting my B.S, working on OPT, and returning to my country to work there afterward. My intention only changed after I had met and started dating my boyfriend, as I am graduating soon and we don't want to be apart from one another. However, I am extremely scared of how my then husband will be affected legally, if they accuse our marriage as fraud. I need to know in order to decide if we should file for the adjustment of my status right away. We will most likely still get married in either case, but if our chance of getting my conditional GC right now is slim, we will just wait until he gets to grad school and is fully able to sponsor me, even though we will have to apply for a K-visa from my country. Of course, I hope to remain here and stay with him.

Please give me your advice, many thanks and happy new year!

[YuAndDan 153]

This is considered when you file I-130+I-485, for the most part all that is needed is marriage cert. Perhaps an affidavit from a friend per the I-130 directions. It is understood that this cannot be gathered in a short time after marriage.

You will need to provide this later when filing to remove conditions on the CR-Green-card.

A Note of caution for F-1, you MUST file an I-131 for an AP document to be able to travel out of the country while AOS is processing, the F-1 may be valid, but if you leave the USA and return without AP, you will terminate the AOS process.

[sealavender 0]

This is considered when you file I-130+I-485, for the most part all that is needed is marriage cert. Perhaps an affidavit from a friend per the I-130 directions. It is understood that this cannot be gathered in a short time after marriage.

You will need to provide this later when filing to remove conditions on the CR-Green-card.

A Note of caution for F-1, you MUST file an I-131 for an AP document to be able to travel out of the country while AOS is processing, the F-1 may be valid, but if you leave the USA and return without AP, you will terminate the AOS process.

So does that mean that we should not hold off filing for a conditional GC? Since we will sure be living together during the next 2 years if approved, and will both have incomes, removals of conditions will not be difficult for us. For the first interview, would affidavits from many friends, together with our joint bank account, be sufficient despite the lack of the other evidences?

Thank you for your fast reply,

[YuAndDan 153]

This is considered when you file I-130+I-485, for the most part all that is needed is marriage cert. Perhaps an affidavit from a friend per the I-130 directions. It is understood that this cannot be gathered in a short time after marriage.

You will need to provide this later when filing to remove conditions on the CR-Green-card.

A Note of caution for F-1, you MUST file an I-131 for an AP document to be able to travel out of the country while AOS is processing, the F-1 may be valid, but if you leave the USA and return without AP, you will terminate the AOS process.

So does that mean that we should not hold off filing for a conditional GC? Since we will sure be living together during the next 2 years if approved, and will both have incomes, removals of conditions will not be difficult for us. For the first interview, would affidavits from many friends, together with our joint bank account, be sufficient despite the lack of the other evidences?

Thank you for your fast reply,

If you hold off you will have a few problems, such as difficulty getting an EAD for work, EAD (I-765) needs to be based on something such as a pending I-485. Most states require EAD or Green-card to get state ID of Driver's license.

F-1 can get EAD in certain situations.

274a.12(c )

(3)(i) F-1 Opt PT

(3)(ii) F-1 International Org. Act

(3)(iii) F-1 Hardship

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD