B-2 expiration and AOS filing

[B74L 0]

Many thanks for your input. As required, we are filing the I-485 AOS before my spouse's I-94 expiration date. Any advice on how long prior to the I-94 expiration date should the forms be submitted? For example, I-94 expires 10 June and we overnight the package to arrive 09 June--is that acceptable? Or is it recommended to leave a week buffer? Is the main determinant the date received by the USCIS? Does it matter if the forms are subsequently returned after USCIS receipt, say, due to small error in filling out the form? Thx

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Well,

I submitted mine more than 12 years after my I-94 expired, to no ill effect, so I don't think you need to get too crazy here meeting some imaginary deadline.

[TBoneTX 45,959]

Overnight it to arrive before the I-94's expiration; you never know what will happen (misdirection, refusal, other). You'll want your wife to keep a photocopy of your dated AOS cover-letter (and, ideally, of the check for AOS payment) on her person, along with a copy of your marriage certificate, at all times until her green card arrives. This will avoid potential problems with ICE agents or with police agencies who have connections with ICE programs -- the chance of an encounter may be remote, but it's best to be safe.

When the NOA1 (acknowledgment of receipt for the AOS package) arrives, your wife should keep that with her in place of the AOS cover-letter (along with the marriage certificate).

Keeping those two items will verify that your wife has complied with filing requirements before the expiration of her authorized stay and is undisputably an "applicant for Adjustment" or, more concisely, an "Adjustment applicant."

Edited June 8, 2011 by TBoneTX

[Otto 83]

**Adjusting status from a B-1/B-2 is not the same as AOS from a family-based visa; moving thread to proper forum (Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas).