Complicated AOS from F1?

[osugirl 0]

I'm new here. Thanks in advance. I am a USC by birth.

I've known my boyfriend for 2 years and have been to his country twice for a total of 6 weeks (I did two internships there). I knew him as a friend before I travelled there for my first internship in December 2010 and after that visit, we became a couple.

He came to the US on an F1 visa (graduate program) in August 2011 and completed 2 quarters of coursework. He lived with me during this time, but we maintained a non-physical relationship for religious reasons. His family experienced some unexpected financial issues and were unable to continue funding his schooling; at least temporarily. We had been talking about marriage at that point, but decided we wanted to "do it right" and, thus, according to his culture, he wanted to go home and ask his parent's permission to marry.

He could not stay here on his F1 visa due to the unexpected financial problems, so his school suspended his I-20 and said that they would reactivate it when he is able to resume his schooling. They stated that as long as he returned to the US within 5 months, his original visa will remain valid.

He left the US a month ago and is now making plans to return. The distance has actually cemented our desire to marry and we want to do so as soon as possble upon his return.

Will a marriage so soon after his return from an absense from the US raise a red flag even though he's had his visa for almost a year? Now that the decision has been made to marry, we don't really want to wait so as to not break the non-physical state before marriage, if you know what I mean...

Yes, he does intend to continue his schooling as planned, but, frankly, it would be a financial advantage as a new married couple for us to just adjust his status and have him wait a bit and be able to pursue his education as a permanent resident.

Please advise me of any pitfalls or flags I need to be aware of in our situation.

[seth2013 39]

What the lawyer said to me when I asked almost the same question is that they count from the start time of the visa. My husband went home for Christmas and we got married in February and it was fine. I don't think you'll have any trouble.

Edit: Re-reading your question, I think that if you plan to discontinue his schooling for the time being you'll want to go with a fiancé visa. You would not want to violate the terms of his visa.

Edited May 8, 2012 by sethless

[osugirl 0]

Thank you. This is my concern. He does want to continue school, of course. He attended school on his visa, so, yes, that was and still is his intent. But, you are correct that I'm worried about how it will look if he returns to the country and we get married right away. Yes, he could pay the international fee and continue on the F1 visa until the status is adjusted, but we were looking at the possibility of saving that quarter's fees and just adjusting status before he continues. I don't want to do anything that would jeopordize us being together, so if that's not allowed, we'll figure something else out.

What the lawyer said to me when I asked almost the same question is that they count from the start time of the visa. My husband went home for Christmas and we got married in February and it was fine. I don't think you'll have any trouble.

Edit: Re-reading your question, I think that if you plan to discontinue his schooling for the time being you'll want to go with a fiancé visa. You would not want to violate the terms of his visa.

[DandT14 272]

I'm sure some of the more senior members will be along soon to address this...

But isn't there a problem with him returning to the U.S. on an F-1 if his intent is to marry and stay here? I don't know about different types of visas, but I would think if he's asked what his intention is when he enters, he might run into a problem.

Like I said, someone with more knowledge than me will be along soon to answer, I'm sure.

[ceadsearc 516]

If he is going to return on the F-1 under the guise of going back to school, but instead get married and immediately withdraw until the AOS is completed, yes you may have a problem. The F-1 is not a dual intent visa and that would be fraud.

[osugirl 0]

In that case, even though we will get married right away, we will have him continue with his quarter at school under his F1 visa, as planned.

If he is going to return on the F-1 under the guise of going back to school, but instead get married and immediately withdraw until the AOS is completed, yes you may have a problem. The F-1 is not a dual intent visa and that would be fraud.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

That doesn't really matter. It is also odd you started living together right away, but just as friends. I would thinking living with the opposite sex is more severe than kissing someone. So you didn't kiss but did live together?

Edited May 8, 2012 by Harpa Timsah

[osugirl 0]

That doesn't really matter. It is also odd you started living together right away, but just as friends. I would thinking living with the opposite sex is more severe than kissing someone. So you didn't kiss but did live together?

I didn't say anything about kissing. Yes, we kissed. What I mean is that we did not have sexual intercourse. I was trying to be discreet in my post. Is that more clear?

We had known eachother for a year and been in a romantic relationship for 8 months before he entered the US. He did choose his school based on our romance, but he entered to go to school, not to marry me. It was not time for that type of decision when he entered the country.

Edited May 8, 2012 by osugirl

[United1878 1]

Hello to the poster... From my point of view, someone please correct me if I am wrong, the fact that you both have the intent to get married now, I wouldn't suggest him entering the country again on his F-1 visa and that's because there is the "intent" already. Now you might go ahead with it if you want, but it solely depends on the IO to query you on that fact and decide if it'll affect his decision or not.

At the end of the day, like someone said, the F-1 visa isn't a dual intent visa, so it will be fraud to enter on it with the the sole intent of getting married. There are other skilled members that can help you shed more light to this just in case I am wrong.

Either way, best wishes!

[seth2013 39]

I think I understand what you are looking to do. If I were you, I would go ahead and apply for the K-1 while your fiancé is in his country. To save money on in-state tuition many states require that a person be out of school for one year anyway (that's what my husband has to do, he's adjusting from an F-1). Since he's there with his family anyway, apply for th K-1 then there will be no question you followed all the immigration requirements. If he wants, he can continue with his school while adjusting status, or he could work. There are many options when you go that route.

Best of luck

[Up and Away 10]

For what it's worth, I was in the US on a F-1. After my boyfriend and I FIRST discussed getting married, I purposely did not leave the country because I did not want to come back on an F-1 visa when I already had an intent to marry. I did not want to take the risk.

[osugirl 0]

I guess we have some discussios ahead of us.

For what it's worth, when he met with his international student advisor in March and told her of his family's temporary financial difficulties, she actually asked if we were a couple and if we had considered marriage. Both of us said that it wasn't time for that and that we wouldn't get married for the sole purpose of him being able to stay in the US. The last thing either of us want to do is commit any sort of fraud or to have our relationship progress for any other reason than we want to be together.

[osugirl 0]

Adding another post because I see another issue.

He does want to stay in school and his parents certainly want that also. He wants to be back in the classroom no later than fall and that wouldn't allow time for a fiance visa. How can he continue his education on time at this juncture? I brought up suspending his education for financial reasons, because I thought that would save newlyweds some much-needed money in international tuition, but definitely not at the expense of him delaying his education by that long. He needs to continue with his MBA.

Is he now in a no-win situation because of the seriousness of our relationship???

[jdh 103]

File now and hope it comes in by Fall...

If not than he can see about starting midterm, or holding off a year. That is certainly not the end of the world and a small matter in the long term.

[Mike Z 8]

Is he now in a no-win situation because of the seriousness of our relationship???

i understand your feeling but "no-win" and "seriousness of relationship" shouldn't go together in one sentence :-)

you are planning on getting married, so congratulations first of all!

the small but - if you are planning on adjusting status based on a marriage he can not enter with the F1. thats not the purpose of the visa.

Edited May 8, 2012 by Mike Z