F-1 Grace Period

[Jurai 0]

Hi everyone! First off, I just wanted to say how informative and helpful this place has been for us. Thank you all for your contributions and stories. It has really given us the the confidence to go through this journey without an immigrations lawyer.

Now on to my question. I apologize in advance if this topic has been covered already. And if so, it would be great if someone could direct me to the exact post.

My Canadian fiancee came here on an F-1 in 2008. We met in 2009 but didn't start dating till a year ago. He proposed on Christmas Eve 2010. We are now in the process of planning our wedding on 5/28/11. Our only concern is that his F-1 expires on 5/5/11. I know he has a grace period of 60 days but since we are getting married after the expiration date it's a cause for concern for us. So my two questions are:

1. How long did it take you to compile your AOS application? I'm planning to change my name so it'll take some time to get all the proper IDs changed. From what I'm reading so far, it'll take about a month?

2. Would the approval of our application be negatively effected if we sent it during his grace period? Or even a few days after?

Thanks everyone!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Overstay is irrelevant/forgiven for spouses of US Citizens, and while you should avoid overstay, a few days won't hurt you.

You don't need to change your IDs to send in the paperwork. You can send in photocopies of IDs in your maiden name and work on changing them at your own pace. You can put your married name on your USCIS paperwork, because you will be sending them a copy of your marriage certificate.

You can also start preparing a lot of the paperwork now, before you are married, and once you get the marriage cert, send the package off.

Keep in mind he cannot travel internationally until he gets is temporary travel document for people with AOS pending, called Advance Parole, which usually takes less than 3 months.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

[Moosker 7]

Tricky question! Harpa is right, you never want to overstay. If it shows your fiance's visa expired for example January 1st and you got married on January 28th, that could send up a red flag. Just be prepared to send in a ton of evidence of your ongoing relationship. Start getting that paperwork together now! Compile all documents, fill out the forms, etc. so that you can send it out within days of your wedding.

A quick thought - I was on an F-1 student visa as well. I was able to apply for an OPT (aka. Occupational Practical Training) visa (a one year working visa to work upon completing your U.S. degree), which granted me an additional year to work in the U.S. after graduating. Have your fiance look into that through the schools international office! (I graduated in 07, not sure if they still do them or not).

I found this online - http://www.nwra.com/employment/f-1_opt.pdf

This is the work visa as per USCIS instructions, see #3 Foreign Students - http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-765instr.pdf

USCIS I-751 page - http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=73ddd59cb7a5d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Also, don't worry about changing your ID until later on. I used my maiden name (since all my documents were in it) and then changed it later. No big deal.

Hope that helps!

[Little_My 464]

OPT (which is Optional Practical Training) is definitely an option here, BUT

It is either or, marriage or OPT. OPT is still done under the F1, meaning that the 'non-immigrant intent' rule still applies. Anyone on F1 who has not violated their visa will get approval OPT, but if you have gotten married before you'd apply for that, you can't prove non-immigrant intent anymore. OPT is a great way to buy more time to figure out the next best step, but of course you will also have to be sure to find someone to hire you within the grace period (60 or 90 days, not sure which..), otherwise you would have to leave US. If you go for the OPT route, you can apply for OPT, and once you have your EAD, get married after that.

I assume your Canadian fiancee is graduating this May? I don't think you'd have problems with the overstay, but it is good to be prepared to show ton of proof of bona fide relationship so that it doesn't seem as though you're only marrying for immigration purposes.

[Moosker 7]

OPT is a great way to buy more time to figure out the next best step

Great point Mrs. Finland! My cousin was on an OPT when he got married (he was about 6 months in). After he was married, he had to apply for a different visa, I believe AOS, and while it was processing he could not work or leave the country.

[Maxximus1074 14]

..and another former F-1 sharing their experience.

As other's already said, you don't have to worry about being out of status for the time-being. Personally I can add that I am now married for the second and last time. My first wife and me tied the not before my visa expired as we thought we don't want to worry about any visa extensions etc. Alas there was some issues regarding her income tax returns and so we didn't file for AOS immediately after the wedding. Unfortunately the marriage went downhill, I went through some tuff stuff with my ex and eventually we got divorced - during the separation of over 2 years I found love again and forward to today, last May I got re-married and in October we were ready to file for AOS - since I had a divorce I needed to include the judgement, decree in the package - at the interview the IO only asked me if there was anything filed for me regarding AOS or petition from my ex-wife's side - which I was able to decline. So with me even being out of status for way more then the grace period it was not brought up at the interview and rather based on the evidence of my present marriage.

Congrats on the engagement!!

Keep us posted when you get on the path of AOS and we'll help you with our thoughts, knowledge and experiences if there's anything unclear.

Maxximus

[JoannaV 174]

Might be good to include a piece of evidence showing that you were planning the wedding a long time before his visa expired.

You could avoid the overstay by getting legally married before your actual ceremony. Lots of people do this, but as it appears the overstay should not cause problems I guess there is little motivation for this.

[Moosker 7]

Exactly, just have lots of proof that you've been engaged for awhile (pictures, etc.) and that things are moving along and that you didn't just decide, let's get married to get a visa. Always cover your bases!

[Little_My 464]

Well, this is actually an interesting thing and I'd love to hear some other thoughts and opinions on this matter from more experienced VJ'ers (than myself), because..

Yes, it's true that it is good to be prepared to show that the relationship / engagement has been on going for a while, and the decision to get amrried was not to enable the F1 visa holder to remain in the United States. However, F1 is a non-immigrant visa, and carries the condition of non-immigrant intent. So, if the petitioner made a strong case showing that the engagement and marriage has eben a process of long consideration and not done hastily, would that then apply that the F1 visa holder has, in one point or another, returned to the US under F1 status with the intention of getting married to a USC? Most of us F1 students travel home during breaks, so let's say that the person went home for Christmas, returned and got married. Could this be grounds for denial?

Also asking for personal reasons, since my case is exactly like that I'm F1, travelled home, returned (without intent to get married), things happened with our family that forced us to change our plans (we were originally supposed to get married in July) and we ended up getting married here in February. We've been together for four years with plenty of evidence, so I'm not really concerned about proving my relationship or bona fide marriage - I'm more worried what will happen, if USCIS decides to interpret that I returned here with intention to marry.

[missaero 7]

To the OP, I would organize as much of your packet as you can now for AOS and get the medical done. I would not waste my time on the OPT route, however if you do any EAD you get for OPT remains valid during AOS until you receive your new EAD from that process.

Mrs.Finland-USA... My hubby asked me to marry him in October. I had planned on going home that December for Christmas break and we would get married in January or early Spring. However, after talking to an immigration lawyer who came to campus for free consultations (nice!) she advised us to not do this and rather get (legally) married sooner and remain in the US. She said travelling home and coming back engaged on an F-1 can be interpreted as immigrant intent. The tricky thing about all this is that a "big wedding" takes time to plan and you are right that we people on F-1 would like to travel during breaks but if you are planning a wedding, it can be a game of roulette leaving and coming back on that F-1. In the end, hubby and I decided, why wait? We got married in December and are having a blessing ceremony this summer back home with all of our family and friends. I'm no expert but I personally think you'll be fine. Sometimes personal situations change and so long as you are honest with USCIS I don't think you'll have issues.

[Little_My 464]

Thank you for the input, Missaero! I hope you are right There are just so many little things to consider and so many things that could go wrong in this process, that I am trying to cover all angles and be prepared for all possible suspicions from USCIS side. Gah. I just want to get to the interview stage and be done with it, and at least know where we stand. I wouldn't expect problems.. But then again, you never know.

And, back to the OP, I agree with Missaero. I would not waste time on the OPT either, since you are planning to marry a USC anyways. OPT is more a way to either buy more time to figure out your next move, or just a nice additional year for those international students who want to return to their home countries but are not in any rush and would like to get some work experience in the US. If you are planning to immigrate, there's no reason to first file the paperwork for OPT (and pay for it!) and then soon after that file another pile of paperwork for marriage based AOS, and pay for that again. Faster and cheaper to just go for the AOS.

[Jurai 0]

Wow, thanks everyone for the quick, informative responses and personal stories!

I'm relieved that I don't have to go through the process of changing my IDs (at least not right away). So we can save time by sending our application as soon as the marriage certificate comes in. Moosker, you mentioned that you applied using your maiden name so I'm assuming you had your maiden name on your marriage certificate? Because once you put your new name down on the certificate it's offically changed (from what I understand). I just wanted to clarify this point because it sounds like it's ok to use either my maiden or new last name.

There were some interesting points that was brought up about going the OPT route. Though, since our wedding date is pretty much set I don't think that'll be an option for us. Like what Mrs.Finland mentioned, it'll be hard to prove non-immigrant intent at that point. Plus, we'd like to avoid the added stress of finding someone that will hire him. And paying more fees!

Maxximus, thank you so much for sharing your story. We're definitely more at ease now about the timing of our application, especially since the IDs don't have to be changed right away. I'll definitely keep everyone posted on our jouney. It could help someone else on their's.

What Mrs.Finland brought up about traveling back home on F-1 was something I haven't thought of till now. Like her, I'm not worried about proving our relationship. It's the nitty gritty details that I'm more concerned about (and for making unnecessary mistakes like forgetting to sign something!). Also, my fiancee did skip a semester (Fall 2010) to go back home because his grandmother was terminally ill. He did file all the proper paperwork that's associated with a leave of absense. Since it's not a lesiure trip I'm hoping this will not be an issue. With that said, if we include evidence of our wedding planning should it be only the documents that are dated after he came back from his leave of absence? Or is that overly cautious?

Finally, just a little explanation on why we choose to get married on 5/28/11. Originally, my fiancee was planning to apply to the nursing program at his college for Fall 2011. Right now, he's taking all his pre-requisite classes so he'll graduate with an associate's degree after this semester. But because he did not get in (unfortunately, international students get second priority plus it's pretty competitive) we now have to worry about the whole grace period thing. At the time we picked the date, the issue didn't even occur to me because I assumed he would get in (this would be his second time applying). So I guess in a way we partly brought it upon ourselves.

Now it's time to get that medical and paperwork finished ...

[Moosker 7]

I'm relieved that I don't have to go through the process of changing my IDs (at least not right away). So we can save time by sending our application as soon as the marriage certificate comes in. Moosker, you mentioned that you applied using your maiden name so I'm assuming you had your maiden name on your marriage certificate? Because once you put your new name down on the certificate it's offically changed (from what I understand). I just wanted to clarify this point because it sounds like it's ok to use either my maiden or new last name

Yep! If you think about it, how do you change your name until you're actually married??? Anyone I know has their maiden name on their marriage certificate, you haven't "become one" yet

Finally, just a little explanation on why we choose to get married on 5/28/11. Originally, my fiancee was planning to apply to the nursing program at his college for Fall 2011. Right now, he's taking all his pre-requisite classes so he'll graduate with an associate's degree after this semester. But because he did not get in (unfortunately, international students get second priority plus it's pretty competitive) we now have to worry about the whole grace period thing. At the time we picked the date, the issue didn't even occur to me because I assumed he would get in (this would be his second time applying). So I guess in a way we partly brought it upon ourselves.

Sorry about him not getting in - make sure he tries again! Did he get a decline letter? KEEP THAT. As soon as you told me that situation, it makes total sense. If it comes to it, you can tell them the situation and show the letter showing that he didn't get in this time to the program.

Whatever documentation you have that shows you have been talking about the wedding/planning it - keep those and print them off. Some of us VJ'ers go overboard, but it helps! You'd rather have too much info than not enough. Good luck and definitely keep us posted.

[Jurai 0]

After thinking long and hard about it, my fiancée and I decided to get married legally first. Probably in early April. We both feel that having that peace of mind is worth the extra steps. Though, of course nothing is 100% sure but at least we won't run the risk of overstaying.

We'll still probably send all the evidence we have of our wedding planning and decline letter, just to be on the safe side. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and advice! I'll be sure to let you guys know if we have any more questions.

[BMW4me 12]

another F-1 student (still am)

just on a side-note;

Definitely do not even think about OPT, OPT is nothing but a headache. I had couple friends who found jobs after they graduated.

One of them found a job, got laid off, due to economic problem in the country i think it was the 2009 crysis-era, then found another job for a lesser salary then the first job, then laid off again due to company problems (they were getting smaller). and now he's on the third job.

Also remember that finding another job between jobs isn't always easy, you have (i think not sure) 30 days or less to find another job (sponsor) else you'd have to leave the country.

also not every company likes to sponsor you for an H1B

last but not least, when they do, they tend to use you (pay you less). coz you need them and they know that.

now i am not saying this will be the case for everybody, but just think about it.

lol I think I bashed OPT enough.