GF currently on OPT marrying US citizen

[kenny86 0]

Hey guys,

My girlfriend of 5+ years graduated a few months ago and is currently on an OPT extension until July 2013. I am a US citizen and we plan on getting married soon, but honestly, we don't know much about this particular immigration system and process. Can someone please enlighten me on the steps we should take, what we will need, what should we expect, and about how long this should all take?

We will be getting married here in the US, but we are also planning on going back to her home county in April for vacation (is this going to be a problem?).

Thanks in advance

[Little_My 464]

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

That is the VJ guide for concurrent filing of I-130 and I-485, or, in other words, for Adjustment of Status. Once you are married, what your wife will essentially do is adjust her status from the current F-1 visa to lawful permanent resident, i.e. a greencard holder.

The process will cost you around $1,500-$2,000, and can take anywhere from 3 months to a year, but I think the average processing times are somewhere between 4 to 6 months.

You can't file until you're married, and once you have filed, your then-wife cannot leave the US until she receives a travel document called Advance Parole, or AP. This will authorize her to travel outside of the US with a pending AOS application. Getting the AP usually takes up to 90 days from when the paperwork was filed to USCIS.

Now, the trip to her home country (which I assume to be Peru?) in April might be a bit of a challenge.. If you get married now, and file everything as soon as possible, chances are she might have her AP by then and in that case, you wouldn't have any trouble. If you don't get married and don't file the paperwork before the planned trip, then there is an issue of immigrant intent. She currently holds an F-1 visa, which is a non-immigrant visa. Entering the US with a non-immigrant visa with the intent to immigrate - which she now obviously has - is immigration fraud. How can USCIS prove intent? Well, they usually can't. But it is still a real and serious issue. If she uses her F-1 to re-enter the US in April/May, with the intent to file for AOS very quickly afterwards, that essentially is immigration fraud. The risk of it coming back to bight you in the ####? Slim. But it's still a big risk to take.

What I would do, if I were you, is to get married asap, file asap, and then hope the AP comes before your planned trip in April. Maybe also try to push the trip a bit later, to May for example, if that is a possibility.

[kenny86 0]

Thanks so much for taking the time out Little_My!

All that information is very useful

Another question though...like I said, her OPT runs out in July of this year...if by then, she still hasn't received her permanent resident status (but all the paperwork is in and it is getting processed), would she have to go back home in July and wait for her U.S. green card there?

[Lornaevo 48]

Thanks so much for taking the time out Little_My!

All that information is very useful

Another question though...like I said, her OPT runs out in July of this year...if by then, she still hasn't received her permanent resident status (but all the paperwork is in and it is getting processed), would she have to go back home in July and wait for her U.S. green card there?

No. You will be interviewed here and she will get her green card while here in the US.

[newacct 688]

Thanks so much for taking the time out Little_My!

All that information is very useful

Another question though...like I said, her OPT runs out in July of this year...if by then, she still hasn't received her permanent resident status (but all the paperwork is in and it is getting processed), would she have to go back home in July and wait for her U.S. green card there?

If she was legally here when she filed her AOS, she will still be legally here as long as the AOS is pending. It doesn't matter if the other status runs out.

[Futurebright 1]

You have gotten great advice. All the best