OPT expires, too late to get married?

[hollywoodwalk 0]

This is my case:

I am on OPT (optional Practical Training) after I graduated with an AA-degree here in Los Angeles.

My OPT expires in August, but I guess I have a “grace period” of two months after that where I can stay legally in the country. Till October I believe.

I've been with my boyfriend for over four years (the entire time I've been in the states), and we now want to get married so that we can stay together.

My family is coming to visit from Sweden in July (a month from now), and I really want to wait to get married till they get here. Will it be too late to apply for an adjustment of status?

Another problem is that my passport expires in the end of August so I have to get an emergency passport (a one way ticket back home basically), will this affect the application?

Another thing is that my boyfriend does not make any money right now which means that he can't sponsor me. Will that be a problem? What kind of responsibility would another sponsor have?

Can anybody tell me what the fees are, and what forms we need for the application. Or maybe just send a link?

I can't afford a lawyer so we need to take care of everything right away.

I really appreciate any help I can get!

Thank you!

[JohnR! 5,495]

You will not need a lawyer. If you are planning to get married you can do everything yourselves.

Whatever you do, do not leave the country until you have applied for AOS and are in possession of your greencard or AP.

At this point if you leave the country and re-enter as a tourist or VWP with the intention to AOS you will be committing immigration fraud.

Your [future] husband will have to sign an affidavit of support for you even if he has no income, in which case he will need to find a co-sponsor, whose responsibilities will be to reimburse the US government if you, as a LPR, were to make use of any of the means-tested benefits available. These responsibilities remain valid for 10 years or until such time when you become a US Citizen -or- abandon your residence in the US -or- are deceased.

Check out this link where you can find out what needs to be done when by whom:

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

Congratulations and good luck!

Edited May 31, 2013 by Gegel

[Alaska2012 462]

It is not too late to marry and adjust in July. You can renew your passport at the embassy, read more about that at svenska ambassaden i USA. So it won't just be a emergency passport.

Get a co-sponsor and you will be fine!

Good luck!

[newacct 688]

1. You can get married any time as long as you have some kind of ID. Your immigration status is irrelevant.

2. If you're going to be the spouse of a U.S. citizen (I'm assuming that your boyfriend is a U.S. citizen?), then it can pretty much never be "too late" to apply to adjust status. As long as you don't get deported or leave the country, you can overstay for however long you want and then adjust status (although obviously earlier is better, so you are not at risk of being deported).