Visa advice/information from other people.

[Cixelsyd 1]

As I mentioned, we just got married a few weeks ago. All is well...

Today someone mentioned how they read a story of someone from country X getting married, going to back to country X and then trying to come here on a marriage visa etc... But they got deported or couldn't come. I don't know the details exactly.

My question is: since we just got married, does that make her J-1 work visa (which expires in Oct.) invalid? From the gist of my conversation with someone else, this would be the case. However, I trust you people much more... even though I probably shouldn't considering all the talk of pie and firearms.

If we did kill the work visa, anyone have follow up advice or idea's?

[Rob_Lesya 4]

Quite frankly, I doubt if you'll find anyone in this forum really qualified to give you the answers you seek.

You might have a better chance on the K-3 forum, but even there you might not find any definitive answers.

The problem is that J visas are a bit tricky because there are so many potential variations. For example, is there an HRR requirement for this J visa? If so, that time still needs to be served in the home country, unless you apply for a waiver.

Almost any case where multiple visas are involved are potential minefields and are probably best handled by a consult with a qualified immigration lawyer.

[Thomas-n-Elena 0]

I would think there must be a way to adjust her status, this is not a totally unique situation plenty of people come here for work meet someone and get married. My advice

First contact an immigration lawyer and explain to them the situation.

Second contact the embassy of her home country or look it up on the web and see if there is any info there you can get.

A little monday morning quarterbacking, did you consider any of this stuff before you got married?

[Cixelsyd 1]

Quite frankly, I doubt if you'll find anyone in this forum really qualified to give you the answers you seek.

You might have a better chance on the K-3 forum, but even there you might not find any definitive answers.

The problem is that J visas are a bit tricky because there are so many potential variations. For example, is there an HRR requirement for this J visa? If so, that time still needs to be served in the home country, unless you apply for a waiver.

I don't know all the ins and outs of her particular visa, but I do know there's no requirement to stay in her home country.

I would think there must be a way to adjust her status, this is not a totally unique situation plenty of people come here for work meet someone and get married. My advice

First contact an immigration lawyer and explain to them the situation.

Second contact the embassy of her home country or look it up on the web and see if there is any info there you can get.

A little monday morning quarterbacking, did you consider any of this stuff before you got married?

I know we can have her adjust status since she is here, but that would go against other plans etc...

About the considerations; we did consider all options and possibilities. The whole visa being canceled after marriage is new to me however. I don't know if that is true, something that happens in certain situations or applies only to particular visas. Either way I never heard or read anything about it before hand.

[Cixelsyd 1]

Update:

After searching around, it would seem that her work visa would not be made invalid due to marriage.

I haven't been able to find any hard facts from the wonderful immigration website on the matter. So I can't really back up my findings with hard evidence other then what I found on some legal website.

[link]

http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61227

[/link]

[Thomas-n-Elena 0]

Update:

After searching around, it would seem that her work visa would not be made invalid due to marriage.

I haven't been able to find any hard facts from the wonderful immigration website on the matter. So I can't really back up my findings with hard evidence other then what I found on some legal website.

[link]

http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61227

[/link]

Next I would contact an immigration lawyer and see if you can get a little consultation. Then since it doesnt appear her visa isnt in jeopardy I would make plans for an AOS.

[BluesTraveler 0]

Update:

After searching around, it would seem that her work visa would not be made invalid due to marriage.

I haven't been able to find any hard facts from the wonderful immigration website on the matter. So I can't really back up my findings with hard evidence other then what I found on some legal website.

[link]

http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61227

[/link]

Cixelsyd: Her J-1 visa is still valid. HOWEVER make sure her J-1 doesn't have the home residency requirement. Triple check it. For some side notes, NORMALLY, she can NOT adjust status in the USA. She needs to return to Russia. Being currently married is immaterial to the J-1 visa. You can get all the paperwork together for her K-3 visa right now, to lessen the separation time.

[1HappyGuy 45]

It seems to be a case of filing for adjustment of status. If she came here on her J-1 visa, you met, fell in love and got married, then you can probably apply for adjustment of status. Try to schedule an appointment at the nearest USCIS office to get an official determination. What the government will be looking for is, if she came here with the intention of getting married and not as her J-1 visa qualified her for.

This is not an unusual circumstance as many people just think about getting married and don't think about the visa status. A consultation with an attorney specializing in immigration issues might be worth the money.

[SMR 368]

Perhaps the J-1 visa is unique, but as has been stated, in general, if she entered the USA legally and then got married, she should be able to adjust status without going home. Note that entering legally means that she came with the intention that corresponds to her visa (ie. at the time of entry she didn't intend to get married if she didn't have a K1 visa).

In terms of returning home and applying for CR-1 or K-3, this should always work, so long as she doesn't overstay her I-94. A visa is a document that grants her the right to enter for a certain purpose. An I-94 states how long she can stay. If the I-94 isn't expired, she is here legally. It is possible that her visa became invalid for further entry when you got married or that it would at least be difficult for her to obtain further entry with a non-K visa. This is because it is difficult to assert that her intention for work entry wouldn't be related to seeing or staying with her husband. I don't believe that marriage can violate an I-94 or make it invalid. In the story that your acquaintance read about, I imagine there were other circumstances, such as the foreign spouse overstayed or in some other way violated the original visa (didn't meet some sort of residency requirements).

[BluesTraveler 0]

Perhaps the J-1 visa is unique,

It is. Been there, done that. There are a bunch of extra rules involved with the J-1. Most immigration attorney's don't have a clue about the J-1.

[SMR 368]

Perhaps the J-1 visa is unique,

It is. Been there, done that. There are a bunch of extra rules involved with the J-1. Most immigration attorney's don't have a clue about the J-1.

Okay, I'm not an attorney and don't know anything specific about J-1. I was just assuming that it was similar to a visitor visa. If it isn't, then I don't know.