Some advice... again

[LlamaInvasion 76]

I've posted before and got some really terrific advice. I'm here on an F-1, now pregnant and about to marry my boyfriend of almost five years.

Right after we get married, we're filing for AOS. However, looking at the timelines it seems I should at least expect the process to take around 4 months from sending the package, to the interview. This will, if we're lucky, put our interview around early/mid-July. I'm due August 23rd, and had planned to go home to Norway to give birth, since my insurance won't cover everything in the US, and Norway has free healthcare. I'm scared that my interview won't happen before the baby comes, or happen so late that flying would be a real risk. Advance Parole wouldn't really be an option I guess, since I'd need to be present for the interview (thus fly back, negating the whole point of leaving in the first place). I know that if I leave before my interview, they will consider my application abandoned.

What would be the best course of action for me if this happens? Will an abandoned AOS application negatively affect an application to bring a spouse into the US? (I think it's a CR-1?) Also, I heard that at the interview I may or may not get a stamp in my passport, then have my green card mailed to me. This may be a silly question, but would it be possible for me to travel after said passport stamp, and then have my husband bring my green card when he follows a few weeks later?

Right now the plan is just to get everything sent as soon as humanly possible, then keep fingers crossed and wait for as long as possible before I go to Norway. If I don't have my interview before mid-late July, I won't be able to go, as my airline won't let me on the plane beyond week 36-37 (and I also think that's scary late to travel so far).

I wish we could have our interview in Norway.

Edited February 23, 2011 by LlamaInvasion

[Amy and Nick 37]

As far as I remember, you can apply for Advance Parole at the time you submit your documents for AOS. This will give you permission to leave the US while your AOS is pending. I believe it takes around three months, so you should have it in plenty of time do be able to give birth in Norway.

Do a search on here for advance parole to find out more!

Good luck!

[ceadsearc 516]

What is your local office? I would look at timelines for people applying in your area to see how long it is taking. Some areas take less than 4 months, some more.

You can apply for AP but like you said, you would need to be present for your interview, so if your interview isn't done by the time you need to fly, it wouldn't really matter if you had AP or not, since obviously flying heavily pregnant or immediately after giving birth would be next to impossible.

If you do get your interview early enough, assuming you are approved on the spot, you can explain your situation and may be given a passport stamp you can travel with. Alternately, once you are approved, you can make an infopass appointment and explain your situation and ask for a stamp if it doesn't look like your green card will arrive in time.

I can't help with whether an abandoned AOS would negatively affect a CR-1, but I would suggest if it's coming very close to the time you need to leave that you make an infopass appointment and speak to someone. This is all assuming you are still in-status as an F-1, correct?

[LlamaInvasion 76]

My f-1 visa expires in May. Even if I got Advanced Parole, I wouldn't be able to travel with the baby until we get his or her papers from the Norwegian embassy, and I'm not sure how long that would take. Plus since my Visa would then be expired, would I even be able to enter the US again for my interview?

Also, the mandatory health check - I think I read that it includes vaccines for various thing. My OB GYN informed me I can't get any vaccinations while pregnant. What can be done about this?

This kid is complicating so much. XD

[ER Team :) 5]

My f-1 visa expires in May. Even if I got Advanced Parole, I wouldn't be able to travel with the baby until we get his or her papers from the Norwegian embassy, and I'm not sure how long that would take. Plus since my Visa would then be expired, would I even be able to enter the US again for my interview?

Also, the mandatory health check - I think I read that it includes vaccines for various thing. My OB GYN informed me I can't get any vaccinations while pregnant. What can be done about this?

This kid is complicating so much. XD

File AOS as soon as possible with AP..AP takes at most 3 months. As soon as you have the travel docs you might leave U.S and come back whwnever you want, as long as the aP is still valid ( approx. 1 year) if you get the info about the interview (the AOS one you can ask them to reschedule due to your circumstances - shouldn't be a problem) That's what I understand from what I've managed to find out...

Good luck, and congrats on your baby!

[ER Team :) 5]

in relation to Vaccines... don't worry about that!. During you medical just say you're pregnant and they will not even mention vaccines... if you can get your vaccination report bring it with you to the medical.

Edited February 24, 2011 by ER Team :)

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

For the medical, there is a waiver to check for pregnancy if the vaccine is contraindicated for pregnant women, so don't worry. You probably have most of the vaccines already anyway (they can check your blood for antibodies).

I don't know what to say about the interview... Best case scenario is that you would be finished asap and could travel etc. What is your local office? Some have been fast lately - all done in 3 months, so I would check on that, but there are no guarantees.

You can reenter with valid AP even though your visa is expired - that's the whole point.

You can also reschedule your appointment, and keep rescheduling.

But even with these possibilities how it would actually work out in practice (or not work out) is definitely an issue. I don't know if you can leave on AP and come back in 6 or 9 months and keep rescheduling your interview (you can't request a date, just a reschedule, and they give it for a month out, then you'd have to reschedule again) and have it work out. An abandoned I-485 will not affect a CR-1 visa, but that will take almost a year. You could request AOS expedite on medical grounds, but I don't think it would get accepted.

I would make an infopass appointment and talk to an IO in person, and ask them for advice. Perhaps there would be expedite criteria, or maybe they could give you more information about how to reschedule interviews. (One member recently had to reschedule interview for birth, but she stayed in the country... having all of this outside the country does complicate things a bit - but I completely understand why you would want/need to).

Is your husband (fiance) insured? I would also look further into the possibility of having the baby here and see how the insurance would work out (I know you said it wouldn't cover everything, but to go to Norway there would also be the cost of flights).

Yes, quite complicated! Good luck and don't stress too much. You will figure it out. There is a good chance you could apply now and be a LPR in 3 months.

[LlamaInvasion 76]

My local office is Pittsburgh.

My fiancé is not insured; without going home we'll be looking at medical expenses of at least a coue thousand, more (much more) if mine won't cover the birth itself (I've heard it can cost ten grand or more @.@), while my plane ticket would be about $900.

If I can reenter with an AP, reschedule an interview if necessary, and won't get in trouble at the medical exam for vaccination complications, things are definitely looking up. I was so scared that any of these things would just make the AOS completely impossible.

[buttercup212 1]

Since you're still officially on F1, what if you just filed for OPT now and go to Norway to give birth, then come back w/ the baby and then within a year file for AOS.

[LlamaInvasion 76]

I was previously advised to file for AOS before my visa expires? What would OPT require me to do? I still have about a year left of school (missing 30 credits); my school and my advisor have been really great and supportive in working with me to ensure I can take online classes for the fall semester, so I can give birth without worrying about missing classes, but I'm not sure what an OPT is, exactly. I'm just trying to get things together so me and my fiance can stay in the same country with our child, and graduate next spring on time.

I posted my last post in class, so was a bit rushed, and forgot to say thank you for all the excellent advice I've been getting! The whole process is quite confusing and pretty daunting, and I'm so thankful people here continue answering my questions and helping me out!

[Amy and Nick 37]

You may have fraud issues if you leave and return on the F-1. If you leave for the birth before AOS, you would obviously be coming back to America with the intent of AOS. I dont think this would work...

I dont think there is a limit to how long you can stay out of the country with Advance Parole (obviously within reason), I cant imagine the childs documents taking too long, but again that is something you will need to figure out.

At the very least, is Norway VWP? If you felt you needed to come back because the documents were taking too long, I would assume you could enter the country with Advance Parole for you, and VWP for the child, then leave if necessary when the documents were closer to completion. Obviously i am not clear on the specifics of this, but just an idea for you to consider!

[cookieandcream 10]

just file you ll be fine ( about 2 month to get AP )

and you can reschedule the interview ( and you have pretty good reason )

congratulations by the way

and for the shots you pbb have everything already so don't worry

[LlamaInvasion 76]

You may have fraud issues if you leave and return on the F-1. If you leave for the birth before AOS, you would obviously be coming back to America with the intent of AOS. I dont think this would work...

I dont think there is a limit to how long you can stay out of the country with Advance Parole (obviously within reason), I cant imagine the childs documents taking too long, but again that is something you will need to figure out.

At the very least, is Norway VWP? If you felt you needed to come back because the documents were taking too long, I would assume you could enter the country with Advance Parole for you, and VWP for the child, then leave if necessary when the documents were closer to completion. Obviously i am not clear on the specifics of this, but just an idea for you to consider!

I wouldn't be returning on the visa at all, since it will absolutely be expired by the time I'd be returning. That's why I was wondering; if I could return with nothing but the Advanced Parole?

Norway's VWP, but the child will not need the VWP as the kid will be a citizen (child born overseas to a married couple, where at least one is a USC), but I will need to notify the embassy of his or her birth, then get an appointment there to get the child's social security number, passport, etc.

Right now, it's just about crossing our fingers and hoping for a quick interview date.

[Little_My 464]

Hi!

Our situation is a bit similar, though in stead of going back to my home country (Finland) because of a baby, we are going back because of our wedding which is taking place in Finland in the end of July..

I am currently an F-1, got married at city hall to my USC husband, and we are about to send out our entire package (I-130, I-485, AP, EAD) on Monday. I am garduating in May, and my plan was to return to Finland right in the beginning of June to start working on all the wedding arrangements, but have now realized that it is very likely that our interview won't take place before that.. which would mean flying back and forth, which is of course exensive. So, now I am hoping to get the interview date as soon as possible, so that I can try to take that into account when booking my flights back home.. We'll see how that goes.

OPT, by the way, stands for "Optional practical training", which is an added benefit attached to F-1. In practice it means that you are allowed to apply for OPT and extend your F-1 visa after graduation for one year, and during that year work in the U.S. in the field from which you've graduated. However, in your case, since you are getting married and having a baby with a USC, "non-immigrant intent" is pretty much gone, and that is a requirement for F-1 visa and for OPT.. so I don't think that route is valid for you anymore.

For getting the documents for your baby in Norway, I'd assume that will be fairly fast and easy, if the system is anything like we have in Finland (which it probably is). Your baby will automatically be registered at birth at the hospital, and you will need to personally register his/her birth in the U.S. either through an embassy in Norway or when you are both back here. For that, though, you will both need to sign documents with a notary present, and you'll most likely need to be in the same country for that.

Norway's vaccination program, from what i know, is pretty much the same as Finland's and you should have all the vaccines you need, assuming you've gotten all the boosters on time.

I'd say, once you've either had the baby and/or gotten married, do not leave and try to return on F-1 or under VWP, since by then it is obvious that your non-immigrant intent is out the window. To me, that seems like the riskiest option that could cause you serious consequenses.

Keep us posted! And congratulations on the baby Let's hope that you'll make it to Norway to give birth (god bless the social welfare and health care system of Scandinavia..) and I get to Finland for my own wedding!

[LlamaInvasion 76]

Well, since the visa would be expired by the time I'd be returning (whether it be pre-baby or post-baby), returning on it wouldn't really be an option.

OPT is not an option either, then, both as you say because of the non-immigration intent, and also because I still am missing 30 credits to graduate.

I already looked into how to get the child the necessary documents, and I need to do that with the embassy in Norway; we're going to apply for an expedited appointment, since my husband likely won't be able to stay as long as it'd take normally (embassy's website says it takes around 1 month); he needs to get back to work, and doesn't qualify for any paternity leave, so he could at most get maybe a week or two off.

We're applying this week as well, and just hoping we'll get an interview before it's too late to fly. If I can't get an interview in time, I'll likely just stay and have the baby here and pray my insurance will cover it all, instead of trying to postpone the interview and get into the country with no visa, only an AP, etc.