Time limit on AOS filing

[SterlingGirl 1]

How much Out of Status time does one have to accrue in order to earn the lowest ban (which I'm guessing is 3 years)?

[payxibka 10,045]

How much Out of Status time does one have to accrue in order to earn the lowest ban (which I'm guessing is 3 years)?

180 days

[Jasman0717 9]

I don't think there is a written rule as to when you have to file AOS, but sooner the better would be my answer.

Doing the AOS gives the beneficiary more benefits. Without AOS there isn't much they can do.

[jb_vj 5]

Agreed....but all I am saying is people have waited a year or even more to apply for AOS and they didn't have any problems

I don't think there is a written rule as to when you have to file AOS, but sooner the better would be my answer.

Doing the AOS gives the beneficiary more benefits. Without AOS there isn't much they can do.

[anitacastillo 0]

What about that woman picked up 2 states away from home and sent to jail? That is a problem.

True, the govt will still accept your $$, documents and interview for AOS at any time. But -- why risk anything.

[Jasman0717 9]

Agreed....but all I am saying is people have waited a year or even more to apply for AOS and they didn't have any problems

I have seen several postings where they waited a year to file and didn't have any problems so we are saying the same thing

[Kang Lang 7]

This is exactly correct....no written time limit as to when you have to file for AOS

you are out of status once the i-94 expires but there is not a time limit for when you file aos only that you must be married within the 90 day time frame. we waited a year and were approved for the conditional green card last week. some people wait for 2 years so that they can just receive the 10 year straight away.

good luck to you.

There is a time limit for filing AOS if you don't want to accrue out of status time.

partially incorrect...of course it is best to file as soon as possible but there can be extenuating circumstances. again we filed exactly 1 year after the marriage and were not even questioned regarding the late filing. approved without incident.

[payxibka 10,045]

This is exactly correct....no written time limit as to when you have to file for AOS

you are out of status once the i-94 expires but there is not a time limit for when you file aos only that you must be married within the 90 day time frame. we waited a year and were approved for the conditional green card last week. some people wait for 2 years so that they can just receive the 10 year straight away.

good luck to you.

There is a time limit for filing AOS if you don't want to accrue out of status time.

partially incorrect...of course it is best to file as soon as possible but there can be extenuating circumstances. again we filed exactly 1 year after the marriage and were not even questioned regarding the late filing. approved without incident.

Where is the partially incorrect?

[shes 0]

people, why do we have to make this so complicated when common sense applies to this. we are dealing with LAWS here that we have to follow. when one entered as K1 he/she will have a stamp on the i-94 the date up to when her/his status is VALID. agree?

when you exceed that K1 validity period again, "BY RULE/LAW" what then is your status???

example.. my i-94 was stamped, dec 26. i filed aos jan 30... so from dec 27 until the time uscis received my aos papers and sent the NOA1 my status would be.."pending AOS applicant", meaning you legally filed and waiting for the processing of your aos. actually i've read somewhere here the right legal term for that..it has the word "attorney" in it..anyways,

like what the previous post says, what if you got caught by a cop and you have to show your status or I.D...although as a K1 there is no time limit when you have to file for the aos, when you havent filed your aos yet and your i-94 is already expired, do you think your words of explanation will be approved by the policeman that easy??... most likely he'll look for some proofs...documents..i.d's...etc..etc.. and the only thing you can use is your visa with a "expired" i-94- he'll definitely not accept it.

so the thing is though theres no deadline for aos filing, its ADVISABLE to file it a.s.a.p.

hope i made it clear

[desert_fox 32]

There is no time limit. You can wait 20 years if you want. But until you file to adjust staus, you will have no life. No driving, no working, and if you leave the country, you wont be getting back in. If you get arrested, you are subject to removal as you have no status here. They will never coming looking for you, but you are accumulating illegal presence if you leave the US or get divorced.

Edited February 5, 2009 by desert_fox

[john_and_marlene 162]

How much Out of Status time does one have to accrue in order to earn the lowest ban (which I'm guessing is 3 years)?

180 days

[TBoneTX 45,291]

I believe that I remember seeing -- elsewhere on VJ -- that one's status is that of "Adjustment Applicant." Someone here could make a quick call to a reliable immigration attorney for the proper legal term.

I insist on my wife's taking these documents with her, every time she leaves the house: home-country passport & driver's license, International Driving Permit, marriage certificate, and NOA1 for AOS application. There is so much anti-immigrant sentiment in Texas, and people are so frustrated about the seeming inability to do anything about Illegals, that lawful-but-not-yet-legal immigrants are being targeted. I would be even more fearful for my wife if we were in the "De-Constitutionalized Zone" in south Texas, where the rule of law applies only weakly at best. For these reasons, we married WELL within the 90 days and applied for AOS/EAD/AP comfortably before her I-94 expired.

[Zen Den 18]

I believe that I remember seeing -- elsewhere on VJ -- that one's status is that of "Adjustment Applicant." Someone here could make a quick call to a reliable immigration attorney for the proper legal term.

I insist on my wife's taking these documents with her, every time she leaves the house: home-country passport & driver's license, International Driving Permit, marriage certificate, and NOA1 for AOS application. There is so much anti-immigrant sentiment in Texas, and people are so frustrated about the seeming inability to do anything about Illegals, that lawful-but-not-yet-legal immigrants are being targeted. I would be even more fearful for my wife if we were in the "De-Constitutionalized Zone" in south Texas, where the rule of law applies only weakly at best. For these reasons, we married WELL within the 90 days and applied for AOS/EAD/AP comfortably before her I-94 expired.

good for you! so did my husband and I! for those who filed years after they married, you were simply lucky that you did not get into any surprise inconvenience like for some reason being checked by cops, employers etc, AND you got approved. if you didn't get approved, I imagine that waiting a long time to file would've made an appeal very difficult.

anyway, i hope the following info, which are ALL HERE in VJ will help lessen the confusion:

http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-aos.html

when do you file...

6.1)...How soon after we get married should we apply for Adjustment of Status?

A..Right away, or at least right after your honeymoon. You should make every effort to get the Adjustment application filed within 90 days of the fiance(e) entering the United States, which is when the K-1 status expires, as indicated on the I-94.

if you don't get married before the 90-day visa validity...

6.13)...What happens if we do not get married within the 90 day validity of the K1 visa?

A..In this case, you can no longer file for Adjustment of Status based on being a K1.You will have to submit an I-130 relative petition along with the I-485 and all the other paperwork to the local USCIS (INS) office. You may have to have another medical exam, and you will need to be prepared to answer questions about why you did not get married within 90 days. In effect, you will have become an out-of-status alien who is adjusting status based on marriage to a US Citizen.

what your status is while waiting...

6.11.7)..OK, so my K-1 wife will file I485 for AOS.....Question is, what will her immigration status be from the date she files the AOS paperwork until the interview where she receives (conditional)green card?

A..She is official under a "period of stay authorized by the Attorney General". (FAQ Note: This is due to being an Adjustment Applicant who is awaiting a decision regarding an adjustment of status application)

the only thing i noticed that is absolutely true is...if you wait a long time before applying for AOS, it will usually be more costly because the fees are increased every now and then and new/additional medical exams will have to be done because the ones used for getting your k1-visa is good only for a year.

filing early allows you also to fix any problems that may arise...

good luck to new AOS filers!

[M. 0]

I just want to add that more and more states are creating or modifying local laws to check the status of immigrants. For example, in NJ two years ago, four students were killed by gang members who were all visa overstays. More over, one of the alleged murderers was pulled over by a cop for a traffic violation, but his status was never checked.

Due to political pressure from NJ residents regarding this incident, NJ passed a law saying if a police officer stops you or someone you are with for any reason, they have the right to ask for proof of your legal right to be in the US. That includes passengers in a car or someone who is standing on a corner with you after hours, etc.

If you do not apply for AOS before your I-94 expires, you are technically out of status. As others have said, no one is going to come looking for you, and yes immigration will forgive the overstay. HOWEVER, you should note that it's not just border states like Texas that are cracking down, and that you don't have to necessarily do anything wrong (at least in NJ) to have your status checked by local law enforcement. With the new laws in this state, if you and your immigrant spouse are driving and you run a red light and are pulled over, the cop can ask for proof of her right to be in the country. If s/he does not have such documentation, s/he can be detained and immigration police will be called by law. (What ICE officials do with that call, of course, depends on how busy they are...)

I used to work in a courthouse where a lot of our litigants were immigrants; I've seen plenty of overstay immigrants detained in court until ICE came to collect them because during the application for child support or a restraining order or other court procedure, it came out that the immigrant did not have legal status in the US.

Point is: yes, you can probably get away with it -- but do you really want to risk it? My husband and I didn't.