AOS if married October 13 but K1 expires November 2nd?

[Mythical85 0]

My wife entered the United States on August 4th on a K1 Visa, and due to time constraints we are trying to setup a marriage date, we have debated setting up at the end of august, then it was going to be around early September, due to family members work schedules it was pushed back to late September and now we have settled on a date around October 13th which is pushing is very close to the end of the K1 expiration. We are worried this will not give us enough time, this will still be within the 90 days if we get married October 13th but we do not want her to lose her legal protection or status. Should this be a sufficient time frame? I have already talked to our pastor who said he would not submit the marriage certificate and would give it to us. Just want to make sure that should be an acceptable time frame. Thanks.

[Que Saudade 284]

My wife entered the United States on August 4th on a K1 Visa, and due to time constraints we are trying to setup a marriage date, we have debated setting up at the end of august, then it was going to be around early September, due to family members work schedules it was pushed back to late September and now we have settled on a date around October 13th which is pushing is very close to the end of the K1 expiration. We are worried this will not give us enough time, this will still be within the 90 days if we get married October 13th but we do not want her to lose her legal protection or status. Should this be a sufficient time frame? I have already talked to our pastor who said he would not submit the marriage certificate and would give it to us. Just want to make sure that should be an acceptable time frame. Thanks.

The K1 expires the moment she enters USA.

As long as she enters before expiration of K1 no problem.

Then you have 90 days to marry.

I would let the pastor file the marriage certificate appropriately with the local authorities (since he does it all the time), then you get a certified certificate from your local office once it is registered. This will be important when you file AOS.

[Jon&Clau 1]

My wife entered the United States on August 4th on a K1 Visa, and due to time constraints we are trying to setup a marriage date, we have debated setting up at the end of august, then it was going to be around early September, due to family members work schedules it was pushed back to late September and now we have settled on a date around October 13th which is pushing is very close to the end of the K1 expiration. We are worried this will not give us enough time, this will still be within the 90 days if we get married October 13th but we do not want her to lose her legal protection or status. Should this be a sufficient time frame? I have already talked to our pastor who said he would not submit the marriage certificate and would give it to us. Just want to make sure that should be an acceptable time frame. Thanks.

Mythical, another option if you are concerned with the tight timeframe is to just get married at the courthouse to get your marriage certificate immediately. You could start your AOS process once you have the marriage certificate in hand, but you should still be fine with the dates you provided above.

Jon & Clau

[Que Saudade 284]

What is the date on her I-94? Whatever that date is (90 days from entry), as long as you get married prior to that date, even if one week before, you have satisfied the requirement of K1. Then, enjoy your wedding day, honeymoon if any, and then start looking at filing your AOS/EAD/AP, should you choose to file them together.

You may want to consider going ahead and getting her SS#. You have up to about 2 weeks from expiration of I-94 to get SS card. If you wait past this, you will have to wait unit you get EAD or green card.

[Mythical85 0]

We are talking about getting a civil marriage and then doing a ceremony once her family is here. How do we go about applying for her social security number? Can we do this without the greencard?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

A K-1 is entitled to a SSN. She'll need her I-94 to be current to get one (and actually at least 2 weeks left on it).

[Moomin 292]

You're still within the 90 days. As long as you have all your ducks in a row before, during and after wedding. Valid marriage license at the time of wedding, of course.

If possible, I'd actually advise you to go hand in your marriage certificate at the country clerk's office because you most likely have the opportunity to buy certified copies of the marriage certificate on the spot and therefore won't have to wait for it in the mail. Get a few though - you'll thank yourself for that later on so you won't have to run back and forth to get an extra copy for this or that purpose.

With luck, you'll get it right away and go to SSA on your way home to change from maiden to married name on SSN(if your wife to be wishes to change it, that is). This will be on day 70-something and changing the name/any info with SSA has to be done 14 days before the 90 days of lawful stay(i-94) is up, otherwise SSA won't change it(same goes for DMV). When receiving EAD, the name on SSN and EAD will then match and she can start working right away if she has a job lined up.

[Moomin 292]

We are talking about getting a civil marriage and then doing a ceremony once her family is here. How do we go about applying for her social security number? Can we do this without the greencard?

Yes, just go to the SSA branch near you and bring the required documents. It's something along the lines of passport with visa and unexpired i-94, birth certificate(some do not get asked for this however I'd bring it anyways if possible).

If they cannot find her in the database, then withdraw your application and come back a few days later. Otherwise it might take alot more time than just a week to receive the card in mail because her information from the time she POE'd is still not in their database.

[MrsSuarez 2]

Get civil marriage done right away, that will save you time.. then you can do the religious ceremony.

[Mythical85 0]

Get civil marriage done right away, that will save you time.. then you can do the religious ceremony.

We actually decided against the civil marriage and decided to get married October 13th with a pastor from the baptist church, sending out the documents for the green card should still be in the clear as long as its done within the 90 days right?

[didopage 337]

You can still file after the I-94 expiration date (the 90 days requirement is to get married, not get married+send the AOS paperwork), even if I would not recommend it.