H1B Getting married in July

[Anurag 0]

Hi,

Any help will be appreciated.

I came to us in 2005 on F1 Visa for doing my MS in Computer Science.

Finished it in Dec 2007 , Got full time job and filed for H1B with my present employer which got approved on October 2008.

My Gf is US citizen and we are planning to get married in July 2009.

I have few questions.

1. What exactly i have to file for after getting married.

2.What if i need to travel outside US after getting married as my H1B is not stamped yet, although i have valied I-94 for 3 years.

3. Can i change my job while processing is going on.

Thanks,

Anurag

[Mint518 0]

Hi,

Any help will be appreciated.

I came to us in 2005 on F1 Visa for doing my MS in Computer Science.

Finished it in Dec 2007 , Got full time job and filed for H1B with my present employer which got approved on October 2008.

My Gf is US citizen and we are planning to get married in July 2009.

I have few questions.

1. What exactly i have to file for after getting married.

2.What if i need to travel outside US after getting married as my H1B is not stamped yet, although i have valied I-94 for 3 years.

3. Can i change my job while processing is going on.

Thanks,

Anurag

1. You should concurrently file I-130 and I-485. Also you have an option to file I-765 (EAD) and I-131 (AP). You can follow this guideline:http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?autocom=custom&page=i130guide2 ://http://www.visajourney.com/forums/i...age=i130guide2 .

2. I think you have two options

(1) Obtain H1b visa stamp oversears (probably at US embassy in your home country) using your approved H1b petition and reenter US with H1b visa, or

(2) Apply and wait the approval of AP and reenter US with AP document.

3. Yes. You can either

(1) Transfer your H1b to a new employer (I think your new employer needs to file I-129), or

(2) Apply and wait the approval of EAD, then you are free to work with any employer -- Please note once you use EAD, your H1b visa become invalid and you will need AP to reenter to the US.

[Mint518 0]

Hi,

Any help will be appreciated.

I came to us in 2005 on F1 Visa for doing my MS in Computer Science.

Finished it in Dec 2007 , Got full time job and filed for H1B with my present employer which got approved on October 2008.

My Gf is US citizen and we are planning to get married in July 2009.

I have few questions.

1. What exactly i have to file for after getting married.

2.What if i need to travel outside US after getting married as my H1B is not stamped yet, although i have valied I-94 for 3 years.

3. Can i change my job while processing is going on.

Thanks,

Anurag

1. You should concurrently file I-130 and I-485. Also you have an option to file I-765 (EAD) and I-131 (AP). You can follow this guideline:http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?autocom=custom&page=i130guide2 ://http://www.visajourney.com/forums/i...age=i130guide2 ://http://www.visajourney.com/forums/i...age=i130guide2 .

2. I think you have two options

(1) Obtain H1b visa stamp oversears (probably at US embassy in your home country) using your approved H1b petition and reenter US with H1b visa, or

(2) Apply and wait the approval of AP and reenter US with AP document.

3. Yes. You can either

(1) Transfer your H1b to a new employer (I think your new employer needs to file I-129), or

(2) Apply and wait the approval of EAD, then you are free to work with any employer -- Please note once you use EAD, your H1b visa become invalid and you will need AP to reenter to the US.

This page is also informative, esp. for H1b holder.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...p;page=otheraos

And on the second thought, although 2(1) and 3(1) above are technically possible, they might not be a good idea. So, I would recommend you to file I-765 and I-131 along with your I-130 and I-485.

[Anurag 0]

Hi,

Any help will be appreciated.

I came to us in 2005 on F1 Visa for doing my MS in Computer Science.

Finished it in Dec 2007 , Got full time job and filed for H1B with my present employer which got approved on October 2008.

My Gf is US citizen and we are planning to get married in July 2009.

I have few questions.

1. What exactly i have to file for after getting married.

2.What if i need to travel outside US after getting married as my H1B is not stamped yet, although i have valied I-94 for 3 years.

3. Can i change my job while processing is going on.

Thanks,

Anurag

1. You should concurrently file I-130 and I-485. Also you have an option to file I-765 (EAD) and I-131 (AP). You can follow this guideline:http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?autocom=custom&page=i130guide2 ://http://www.visajourney.com/forums/i...age=i130guide2 ://http://www.visajourney.com/forums/i...age=i130guide2 ://http://www.visajourney.com/forums/i...age=i130guide2 .

2. I think you have two options

(1) Obtain H1b visa stamp oversears (probably at US embassy in your home country) using your approved H1b petition and reenter US with H1b visa, or

(2) Apply and wait the approval of AP and reenter US with AP document.

3. Yes. You can either

(1) Transfer your H1b to a new employer (I think your new employer needs to file I-129), or

(2) Apply and wait the approval of EAD, then you are free to work with any employer -- Please note once you use EAD, your H1b visa become invalid and you will need AP to reenter to the US.

This page is also informative, esp. for H1b holder.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...p;page=otheraos

And on the second thought, although 2(1) and 3(1) above are technically possible, they might not be a good idea. So, I would recommend you to file I-765 and I-131 along with your I-130 and I-485.

Oh wow, Great .

Thanks for replying fast.

I have one more question. Since we are marrying in july, and will travel outside US for honeymoon.

The only problem is H1B stamping which is not done yet.

So can i do court marriage and apply for EAD and AP before our real ceremony . Do we need same address while filing, because she definately will stay with me after ceremony , but just rite now as she is with family , and in our culture girls usually cant stay with guy before marriage ceremony.

I mean to say court marriage rite now with different addresses will create problem in processing of application.

Or in worst case either one of us will change address before applying.

Thanks and Regards,

Anurag

[Mint518 0]

Oh wow, Great .

Thanks for replying fast.

I have one more question. Since we are marrying in july, and will travel outside US for honeymoon.

The only problem is H1B stamping which is not done yet.

So can i do court marriage and apply for EAD and AP before our real ceremony . Do we need same address while filing, because she definately will stay with me after ceremony , but just rite now as she is with family , and in our culture girls usually cant stay with guy before marriage ceremony.

I mean to say court marriage rite now with different addresses will create problem in processing of application.

Or in worst case either one of us will change address before applying.

Thanks and Regards,

Anurag

I do not have an answer to your question, but unless you have any reason which necessitate you to apply GC as soon as possible (such as your job is in jeopardy), I think the best course of action in your case would be to obtain H1b visa stamp prior to the honeymoon. You can reenter to the US using H1b visa, and apply GC after returning from the honeymoon (after the lapse of reasonable amount of time from such return). This way, you do not need to be flustrated while awaiting the approval of AP or possible conflicts between honeymoon periods and AOS interview date.

Since you will get 3-year H1b visa stamp, you can even wait to apply for adjustment of status until a few month before the 2nd anniversary of marriage so that you can get 10-year GC, rather than 2-year conditional GC.

Edited February 19, 2009 by Mint518

[Anurag 0]

Oh wow, Great .

Thanks for replying fast.

I have one more question. Since we are marrying in july, and will travel outside US for honeymoon.

The only problem is H1B stamping which is not done yet.

So can i do court marriage and apply for EAD and AP before our real ceremony . Do we need same address while filing, because she definately will stay with me after ceremony , but just rite now as she is with family , and in our culture girls usually cant stay with guy before marriage ceremony.

I mean to say court marriage rite now with different addresses will create problem in processing of application.

Or in worst case either one of us will change address before applying.

Thanks and Regards,

Anurag

I do not have an answer to your question, but unless you have any reason which necessitate you to apply GC as soon as possible (such as your job is in jeopardy), I think the best course of action in your case would be to obtain H1b visa stamp prior to the honeymoon. You can reenter to the US using H1b visa, and apply GC after returning from the honeymoon (after the lapse of reasonable amount of time from such return). This way, you do not need to be flustrated while awaiting the approval of AP or possible conflicts between honeymoon periods and AOS interview date.

Since you will get 3-year H1b visa stamp, you can even wait to apply for adjustment of status until a few month before the 2nd anniversary of marriage so that you can get 10-year GC, rather than 2-year conditional GC.

Ok thanks,

I will go thorough immigration lawyer as i am confused.

About job Scenario i cannot comment, as so far i am fine , but the rate at which firing is going on in my company, I am worried .

And about H1B visa stamping , they are so strict (as such i dont have any problem), I read somewhere in forums , the way people especially indians are stuck due to additional administratice processing.

So visa stamping plans i have cancelled. Even if i loose my job , i will look for another and will transfer my H1B there.

I am just seeing all my options before taking any step.

I think the solution to my problem is to apply for AOS and AP by changing either her or my address after doing court marriage before real ceremony.

So that going out of country is not a hassle.

The only reason i am marrying earlier(Court Marriage) is :-

1. I am worried about my job

2. I need to travel outside US after ceremony which is in July and i dont have H1B stamped.

Thanks for help.

Anurag