Plan to marry under the J-1 Vholder

[Ryan_and_Priscy 16]

This is my case:

I met my future husband a year ago. I came to US in January 2008 as Au Pair. Our plan is to get married sooner and start the AOS. Our previous plan was to do it as soon I finish my term, but friends that have been in this similar situation before advice us to do now and not to wait until the term ends. The point is that my host family wants to keep me as their au pair until the end. They also support me with the marriage plan. The program says that if I have serious plan of Adjustment of Status I have to notify to them in order to not buy the flight ticket. But if said to them that I am changing my status because I married already, for sure they won't agree with it. As you can see the family wants to keep me with them, and also I want to work for them until my au pair contract finishes. Has somebody been in the same situation?

[Otto 83]

Not in the correct forum but..

Check the Guide (HERE) for some direction in your desired path - be sure to read the top portion labeled "Be Warned."

[Krikit 1,165]

Moving to the AOS From Other Visa forum. Welcome to VJ, RMWPJC.

[anya-D 8]

This is my case:

I met my future husband a year ago. I came to US in January 2008 as Au Pair. Our plan is to get married sooner and start the AOS. Our previous plan was to do it as soon I finish my term, but friends that have been in this similar situation before advice us to do now and not to wait until the term ends. The point is that my host family wants to keep me as their au pair until the end. They also support me with the marriage plan. The program says that if I have serious plan of Adjustment of Status I have to notify to them in order to not buy the flight ticket. But if said to them that I am changing my status because I married already, for sure they won't agree with it. As you can see the family wants to keep me with them, and also I want to work for them until my au pair contract finishes. Has somebody been in the same situation?

Dont really understand what you are asking - should you get married before your contract end?

That is all up to you. I would wait. there is nothing bad about waiting to get married after the program ends. My friend did it this way. I myself went home and did the K-1.

This is just me - but if your family is nice to you and support your wedding, why not wait. getting married now might caused them a hardship of having to find a replacement in a short time period and that might not even work out. Btw, I love the boys I took care of and I'm still in contact with my host family (even babysit for them sometimes) it's great - even after 5 years. They were also my reference for when I applied for a job here

You normaly have one month for travel after the program ends - you can use this time to get married and do AOS.

Anyway, good luck!

Edited September 17, 2009 by anya-D

[BigBubble 1]

Can you wait to finish your contract and then get married? I think with a J1 you can stay 30 days in the country after the contract expires.

[justashooter 430]

if i were you i would contact the agency and inform them that i would be finishing the contract, but would be adjusting thereafter, so would not need the ticket. then i would figure out what steps were required in the process and be faithful to them.

this means getting married immediately after the contract is complete and applying for AOS. the short overstay will be forgiven, as you entered with inspection and are on the books already. immediately after the marriage i would apply for the EAD and AP concurrent with the AOS, but not use the AP to avoid possible re-entry problems related to the overstay. this means having enough cash on hand, and leaving your family out of the marriage plan to some degree, but it's a sacrifice you make to guarantee that it all works out. 3-6 months later when you have the green card in hand a week in chile with your husband and a marriage celebration with your family is mandatory

my wife and i applied K1 while i was working in china and escaped to US to get married. once she had the AP we returned to china to ask her father if we could get married. he hadn't been formally notified that she was even dating a foreign guy, but the rest of the family knew the plan, and i'm sure he did, too. his answer was, "well, if the rice is already cooked..." it was a hell of a party we threw the next week.

good luck in your marriage. it's hard work, but it's worth it.

Edited September 17, 2009 by justashooter

[Ryan_and_Priscy 16]

Thank you guys for all the advice. I want to say that our previous plan was to get married as soon I finish my term with the program, but asking people and other girls that were au pairs with different programs, they recommend us to do it before, since many of them had problem to get the AOS in the traveling month. I know that when the papers are being processed, the person receives a letter from the USCIS mentioning that his/hers documents have being received and the status meanwhile is legal. I apologize for not being clear the first time, but I was wanting to know if someone else had to go through the same situation.