j-1 to marriage status

[juventus401 0]

Has anyone been in this situation???? I need help ,, my girlfriend (mi amor), is working for a really bad au pair agency... she is a nanny for a family's child here in the usa,,, her j-1 visa is through this agency, she is chilean, and her contract is til august,, she is very disappointed to be working here lately due to the lack of support they have provided and with the family's way of communication or lack of...

if she quits this job ,, for certain the agency will cancel her work visa,, we have plans to marry soon,,, she cannot work anymore and live with this family, it is very challenging and unhealthy for her and I,,

what i need to know...

she quits does that mean she has to leave because her j-1 is canceled..

when we marry does that mean she doesn't have to live with that family while we apply for marriage visa or k-1?

what visa we need to apply for when we marry? fiance? or marriage?

regardless of what we do we are going to move to chile to finish her last year in college.. does this affect the visa process???

Im really stressed because i need to know what her options are when she leaves this agency ,, i dont want it to disrupt our goals and dreams....

thanks

peter

[hmh33 117]

If you will be marrying soon:

She will not be applying for any visa (neither K-1 fiance, K-1 nonimmigrant spouse nor CR-1 immigrant spouse). Instead she will be filing for adjustment of status. This takes about 4 months from the time that you file (which must be after you marry, can be the next day if you prepare everything first), and will result in her becoming a permanent resident and receiving a green card.

This is the guide you need: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

Important issues:

1. Check whether or not she has the 2-year home residency requirement attached to her J-1. She should have a form DS-2019, issued to her by the au pair agency and stamped at the US consulate in Chile where she interviewed for her visa. On that form one of two checkboxes will be ticked, describing whether or not she is subject to the 2-year residence requirement. Tell us which it is. If you can't find it, tell us everything that is printed on her J-1 visa in her passport (but XXXX out the numbers and her personal information).

2. She doesn't have to tell the au pair agency anything about her plans to quit or that she is getting married. Preferably you should get married and file the adjustment of status package before she quits her job. As soon as you have filed the forms, she is in a new authorized status and may quit the job. If she quits before you have filed, she falls out of status. I believe there is a 30 day grace period for J-1. After that has expired (if you have still not married and filed the forms) she would be "unlawfully present". She'd then have to leave the country, or risk being deported (the risk of being deported is fairly low but best avoided).

3. She will need a birth certificate. If that's going to take a long time to get hold of, start now.

4. For the first 2-3 months while her application to adjust status is being processed, she won't be authorized to work, nor will she be able to leave the US without abandoning the adjustment process. Hopefully that's not a big problem. After 2-3 months she'll receive an EAD/AP "combo card" which gives her temporary permission to work and to travel until her green card is approved (the green card gives her permanent permission to work and travel).

5. There should be plenty of time for her to get her green card before August. Once she has the green card, she can go back to Chile to finish her last year at college. If she will return to the US at any point during that year, no problem. If she's going to be outside the US for more than 12 months continuously, she'll need to file for a reentry permit before she leaves. You can worry about that later.

Edited February 13, 2013 by hmh33