F1 Visa Question: Complicated

[frenchphenom5 0]

Hi all,

I have a pretty complicated question, I will do my best to be precise.

Currently, I'm a US Citizen having residence in France. I know I may apply through the DCF for my wife to obtain a IR-1/CR-1; but the timeline for her to receive that is up to 6 months. The problem is that she needs to be in the US by August 18th, 2011. She has been accepted at a University for her Master Degree along with a nice assistantship.

I've talked with the US Embassy in France and they would need sufficient evidence to support our intent to return to France after her studies. The hook is that I've also been accepted to the same University for my PhD, and I've also received an assistantship.

The Student Visa Guide says to Qualify she must:

Have a residence abroad, with no immediate intention of abandoning that residence;

Intend to depart from the United States upon completion of the course of study; and

Possess sufficient funds to pursue the proposed course of study.

Would a summer job in between her two school years count as intent on departing? I'm just asking to see if anyone else has some ideas about how, even though she's married to me, that we could prove we have no immediate intent for her to immigrate to the US.

Thanks for your ideas.

Cordially.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

With you relocating as well, it will be extremely difficult to prove non-immigrant intent for any visa.

Are you sure a DCF spousal visa takes 6 months in France? That seems a long time... I think your best bet is to appply for DCF of a spousal visa asap.

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

Would a summer job in between her two school years count as intent on departing? I'm just asking to see if anyone else has some ideas about how, even though she's married to me, that we could prove we have no immediate intent for her to immigrate to the US.

Summer Job would carry no weight. Since she's married to you so there is always an intent to immigrate especially in the cases of a new* marriage. The fact that you both will be attending school there as well - she's likely not to return. Your best route would be to file a DCF since that would be the quickest route which is certainly quickly that the route most would taken.

All the best

[Harsh_77 718]

Hi all,

I have a pretty complicated question, I will do my best to be precise.

Currently, I'm a US Citizen having residence in France. I know I may apply through the DCF for my wife to obtain a IR-1/CR-1; but the timeline for her to receive that is up to 6 months. The problem is that she needs to be in the US by August 18th, 2011. She has been accepted at a University for her Master Degree along with a nice assistantship.

I've talked with the US Embassy in France and they would need sufficient evidence to support our intent to return to France after her studies. The hook is that I've also been accepted to the same University for my PhD, and I've also received an assistantship.

The Student Visa Guide says to Qualify she must:

Have a residence abroad, with no immediate intention of abandoning that residence;

Intend to depart from the United States upon completion of the course of study; and

Possess sufficient funds to pursue the proposed course of study.

Would a summer job in between her two school years count as intent on departing? I'm just asking to see if anyone else has some ideas about how, even though she's married to me, that we could prove we have no immediate intent for her to immigrate to the US.

Thanks for your ideas.

Cordially.

I am feeling you are mixing two different scenarios.

1 The scenarios you mentioned about maintaining a residence abroad, intent to leave US after course completion and sufficient fund are for someone who is applying for student visa (F1).

2 If you are USC and are applying for IR1/CR1 then those conditions do not apply to her. As IR or CR1 holder she can live in US as long as she wish and infact she has full intention of living in US when she applies for IR or CR1.

The only thing am not sure is if she applies for CR1 or IR1 that would be processed and completed and she would be able to travel in August.

She can apply for F1 which is student visa and she would be bound by all the restriction of F1 the only thing would be she will have to prove that she had ties in France and she has intent of returning to France - means she might have to show you are going to continue living in France and she will return back when her Masters is complete.

Edited March 9, 2011 by Harsh_77

[frenchphenom5 0]

I know the IR-1/CR-1 is completely different than the F1. I've read all the guides and such. It does seem like trying the simple F1 route is a waste of time, as the chances of being turned down because I'm also moving to the states is very likely.

With you relocating as well, it will be extremely difficult to prove non-immigrant intent for any visa.

Are you sure a DCF spousal visa takes 6 months in France? That seems a long time... I think your best bet is to appply for DCF of a spousal visa asap.

Everything I've read indicates that 6 months is the ballpark. Today I tried to get a hold of one of the people working in the Consular Section and this was written in the message:

NOTE: Currently, we cannot clearly predict processing times due to recent procedural changes required by passage of the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act. We encourage potential qualified petitioners to apply early and expect a possible processing time of six months or more.

I know on the timeline portion of this website, and the comparison of all the visas, it says the IR-1/CR-1 visa takes approximately 3 months. I want to be optimistic and believe that but it just seems too good to be true.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Contact the university and see if they can push back her enrollment. The chances of being granted an F-1 are very unlikely and obviously she intends to immigrate

File DCF and get her an immigrant visa. The fees for residents are substantially lower than for international students

Good luck

[rika60607 215]

Fees are routinely waived for grad students, regardless of origin.

To the OP - it is France You will never get a good answer from administrators.

Adam Walsh Act is not recent and they know how to deal with it by now. If French DCF timelines say 3 months, it is currently correct. You have more than 4 months to DCF, try to get the ball rolling, and with some luck you should be able to get it done in 3 months, unless something unpredictable happens.

Contact the university and see if they can push back her enrollment. The chances of being granted an F-1 are very unlikely and obviously she intends to immigrate

File DCF and get her an immigrant visa. The fees for residents are substantially lower than for international students

Good luck

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

one post removed due to it being it's own topic now.

[milimelo 4,477]

Defer enrolment until immigrant visa in hand. If you're going down the DCF route, better hurry up as DCF rules are changing come August 15 2011:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=2b2a3e70369ff210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD