getting married -- fiancée on I-20 & expired F-1

[JTINTERNET 0]

Hi all,

I am excited to come across this forum. There's a wealth of information and experiences.

A little background:

I am a naturalized US Citizen (back in 1995). My financee and I met in 2006, and we recently got engaged. We are both originally from Taiwan, and are currently in the US.

She is a student finishing up her PhD program here. Her expected graduation date is Fall 2012. She has a I-20, which will expire in January 2012. Her F-1 has already expired few months ago (she did not get a chance to return to Taiwan for renewal / extension before the visa expiration.) She will visit Taiwan this December to extend I-20 as well as

getting a new F-1.

Given the timing of these events, when would be the best time for us to get married in the US -- before she returns to Taiwan in December, or after she comes back to US with a new F-1?

Our primary concern is (1) potential complication of her re-entering US from Taiwan in December (she has not finished her degree), and (2) how to apply for her green card in the most "straightforward" fashion upon returning. I know the word "straightforward" probably does not exist in this realm, but your knowledge and experiences in this process are greatly apprecaited.

Thanks,

JT

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Doesn't matter when you get married.

You can get married now, meaning before she returns to Taiwan or once she returns. As long as she returns with a new F-1 she is eligible to file for Adjustment of Status once she is your wife. She doesn't have to, but she can at any time.

[JTINTERNET 0]

Doesn't matter when you get married.

You can get married now, meaning before she returns to Taiwan or once she returns. As long as she returns with a new F-1 she is eligible to file for Adjustment of Status once she is your wife. She doesn't have to, but she can at any time.

Thank you for the info. An attorney contact just responded to me that he advises against getting married first in US and then returning to Taiwan to apply for F1. According to him, once married, my financee can no longer claim "temporary intent", and hence it's unlikely that she can get a new F1 from Taiwan. He also indicated that if we wanted to get married prior to her returning to Taiwan, it'd be best to get an "advance parole" first. I will be doing more research.

[zaira 0]

Hi JT,

It's good that you're also doing your own research! I'm in a similar situation, I'm on an F-1 visa graduating in June 2012. I just got married to my husband who is a USC and we're in the process of filing the adjustment of status application. Based on my experience, I would advise you to first get married in the US, file for adjustment of status and advance parole and only travel to Taiwan if the advance parole comes in time. Once your fiance starts her adjustment of status application and gets her advance parole she will no longer need an F-1 visa or an I-20 to enter the US [somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!]. Travelling to Taiwan to renew the F-1 visa seems like just a waste of time and money for me.

Good luck!

Z

[Little_My 464]

If my memory serves me right, she cannot get a new I-20 in Taiwan, and her visa can only be extended to the date in her current I-20. Visas are issued by embassies and consulates, but I-20s are issued through schools. If her studies are going to continue past January, she would need to first get a new I-20 with a "valid until" date for Fall 2012, and then go back to Taiwan to get a new visa with that new I-20. Otherwise the new visa she would get in December would only be issued until the date on her current I-20, i.e. January - which doesn't really seem to make sense. I could be wrong on this.. but I'm pretty sure I'm not.

In any case, I agree with Bob. It doesn't really matter when you get married. It's true that if you marry before she goes to Taiwan and don't file for AOS, and upon returning to the US she is then asked about a boyfriend/fiance/husband in the US and she is honest (which she should be), it may raise questions at POE. The likelihood of a CBP officer asking that? Who knows. I've never been asked. But it doesn't mean it couldn't happen to her.

So, personally I think you should either marry asap and file AOS asap, and then wait for her to get the AP before she travels anywhere - or, let marriage wait, she renews her I-20 and F1, continues her studies, and you marry and deal with the rest whenever in the future.

Edited October 6, 2011 by Little_My