An interesting situation, please give me some advice!

[IlyaS 0]

Hi everyone, this is a great forum. I've been reading for a couple days now and certainly learned a lot, but I'm in a somewhat unique situation.

I'm a USC college student, and my girlfriend studies at the same university on an F-1 student visa. I met her over 4 years ago during the beginning of my freshman year (we're both 5th year Seniors now). Here's where it gets interesting. She finishes her degree in December, which is also when her F-1 expires, while I don't finish until May. We want to get married after I graduate, preferably in June!

I realize that she could attempt to get an OPT, but we would like to know all of our options. Ideally, we would somehow need to legalize her stay from December to June! How can she legally stay in the United States after her F-1 expires until June when we want to get married? Then there's the question about our honeymoon, which we want to do out of the country. Will she be able to re-enter after we get married in June?

What are our options here?

Thank you all in advance, we both greatly appreciate any advice!

Edited September 7, 2011 by IlyaS

[bigdog 376]

A US degree is not a guarantee of either a job or a green card. If you have been told that, you have been misinformed. You may apply for the OPT program to work in your ares of training but must follow very specific rules in order to take advantage of the opportunity. If you do not participate in OPT or have not found an H1B sponsor, you must leave the US within 60 days of completing your degree. You may not apply for a green card; you must be sponsored. In the case of employment, you must be petitioned by an employer who has been unable to locate a US citizen quailfied for and willing to take the job.

You need to review the USCIS documentation. Speak with the international student office at your university for clarification of specific questions.

[Little_My 464]

I'd say OPT is your best bet. As the previous poster noted, she can only stay for about 2 months past her graduation if she does not have a job that would sponsor a visa, or she is not doing OPT. Applying for OPT is not super expensive, and it is routinely approved. Obviously she will have to find a place to work for, that falls under whatever she has been majoring in here in the US, but other than that OPT is pretty straight forward. That will buy her an extra year (so until the end of 2012), and you two can proceed to marry later on next year.

[IlyaS 0]

I greatly appreciate the responses. Would she need to apply for the OPT before her F-1 expires, or will it be fine to apply just before the 60 days past expiration?

[Little_My 464]

She will have to apply before she graduates. She should contact her school's international student services office to get the more detailed schedule for the process. I'm not sure if this varies from school to school, but in my university students who wanted to apply for OPT had to participate in a mandatory OPT workshop before submitting the application. Best bet is to go talk to an ISS adviser and get all the details involved with OPT. It's not a complicated process, just a lot of paperwork.

Also, once she has applied for OPT, it is not advisable for her to travel internationally until she has her employment authorization document in her hand. This is good to keep in mind when planning the timing of the application - especially if she possibly would want to travel home for Christmas holidays, for example.

[whyrenee 0]

If she applies for EAD for her OPT, after 3 months of graduation, if she still doesn't get a job offer, she must also leave. Also it's risky for traveling outside the US with EAD for OPT with a job offer.

[ceadsearc 516]

You also have the option of moving up your wedding date. I know you want to get married in June after you graduate, and I assume you plan to have your family/friends attend then, but you can also just get married at the courthouse beforehand so you can file her AOS paperwork, assuming you either have a job that will qualify you to sponsor her or can obtain a co-sponsor.

As for a honeymoon out of the country, regardless of when it is, once she has filed for AOS she must remain in the country until she receives AP. If she leaves while AOS is processing without AP she will have abandoned the application and you'll have to file for a CR-1.

[missicy 87]

I'd say your best bet is to get married, since you are going to do that anyway. Like ceadsearc said, you can get married at a courthouse and then file AOS (note that just being married to you does not give her legal status). Then in June you can have a big wedding for family and friends.

[IlyaS 0]

Thanks for the responses. We really didn't want to get married until June, but we are going to look at it as an option! If anybody has any other ideas, please let me know!

[Harsh_77 718]

Option #1 is Opt and she can find a job in her field, I am sure she would like to work in her field anyways.

Option #2 you get married and file for AOS.

Going out of country for Honeymoon is not a good idea, I think you will have to push that back, she cannot leave the country until her AOS is completed.

Edited September 8, 2011 by Harsh_77