Is it possible to apply AOS after the 90 days of K1 visa?

[Hank_ 9,174]

You're right, the presence of the computer assists in your wife's case. What if the computer goes down? They're not infallible you know. What if you run across an overly zealous officer? What if you run into problems outside of the checkpoints that have computers? It doesn't stop ICE.

Paranoia has "saved" many a people... again. Doesn't affect MY life but stating things categorically is stupid and selfish to those who follow your advice and end up in trouble. Rules are rules. Follow the rules and sometimes you STILL get burnt... but at least you know you did everything above board.

That is your best comeback! Good grief... that is really sad. Here is a DUH for ya... they make a phone call... same result.

Like said the K-1 visa is in the passport... it speaks volumes and CBP knows it, it has the A # and everything is easily traceable. Without OTHER cause CBP will not detain.

(oh... if the internet went down, you could not post paranoia dribble. )

[KayDeeCee 4,895]

You are wrong. Yes your email from USCIS is gospel. Please ensure you tell that to people who encounter issues following your "advice".

I don't have time to look up the rules to explain to you how idiotic your assumptions are but suggest you do so and stop posting your incredibly dangerous and incorrect advice.

It is quite common knowledge that a K1 (or anyone) is not suddenly legal simply by marrying a USC spouse. A k1 visa does not convey ANY legal status. You arrive on the K1, you have 90 days stay. You need to marry in those 90 days, but ONLY to use the I-129F petition to adjust from. If you marry after the 90 days, but still marry the K1 petitioner, you can still AOS but need to file an I-130. Marrying in the 90 days simply means you don't need to file an I-130.

A K1 CAN BE detained by ICE. They CAN BE deported. The only promising factor is as a spouse of a USC, the USC is afforded the opportunity to try and adjust your status. So once you see an immigration judge they will order you to AOS immediately, or be deported.

There are posts on here, one I recall but it's so old I can't locate it, where the lady actually filed AOS for her K1 husband but while their AOS was pending went on a bus trip interstate. ICE raided the bus, decided that the AOS NOA1 wasn't proof of legal status in the face of the expired K1/I-94 and he was locked up in immigration jail. After posting the $30K bond, and paying thousands in attorney's fees he was permitted "out" while he awaited adjudication of his AOS. Is this normal? No. Is it possible? Yes. Assumption otherwise is ridiculous.

Google is your friend. A K1 doesn't override regular laws about overstay and illegal presence. It's not "special" in any way in terms of protecting your status.

Don't know about the case you mention of the man being detained on the bus, but I did recall something about someone's wife being detained on a bus, and I found this thread. She was picked up and detained, and had to go to a deportation hearing in front of an immigration judge, who ordered her to file AOS through the courts. So yes, someone here on a K-1 can be detained and have to go through deportation proceedings. The K-1 visa does not protect you from that. It offers no legal status in the US. > http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/320987-sigh-here-we-go-divorce-scam-legal-woes-help/

They pick up a lot of people on buses. LIFE'SJOURNEY mentions 2 other cases that spawned from bus sweeps here > http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/327085-what-if-i-didnt-file-at-once-my-aos/?p=4874798

If you delay filing of your AOS, then do not ride a bus.

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Ummm, thanks, Jay-Kay, but I didn'te get past the 1st post, cuz ICE was called on her because she was trying to commit visa fraud. Of COURSE she was detained!

[Hank_ 9,174]

Don't know about the case you mention of the man being detained on the bus, but I did recall something about someone's wife being detained on a bus, and I found this thread. She was picked up and detained, and had to go to a deportation hearing in front of an immigration judge, who ordered her to file AOS through the courts. So yes, someone here on a K-1 can be detained and have to go through deportation proceedings. The K-1 visa does not protect you from that. It offers no legal status in the US. > http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/320987-sigh-here-we-go-divorce-scam-legal-woes-help/

They pick up a lot of people on buses. LIFE'SJOURNEY mentions 2 other cases that spawned from bus sweeps here > http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/327085-what-if-i-didnt-file-at-once-my-aos/?p=4874798

If you delay filing of your AOS, then do not ride a bus.

That is it? The first one ICE was called on the scamming beee-itch!

And the second link... well obviously you didn't read it well... or you think a BS post about ICE patrolling bus stations for K1 who haven't filed AOS is a reality.

- OP... Is it POSSIBLE to apply for AOS after the 90 days of the K1 visa?

Then it drifted into some BS about having to carry copies of the 797 after filing... heavy on the BS.

Your links don't help the OP or the BS that "someone else" posted.

[KayDeeCee 4,895]

You are ridiculous. The second post was only about the mention of people being detained on buses. They do actually conduct sweeps on buses looking for illegals. Google it. No one ever stated they specifically look for K-1 holders that have not filed for AOS yet.

I already stated it is of course possible to file for AOS after the I-94 expires. There is no deadline to file for AOS as long as you married within 90 days of entry. The discussion turned to whether or not you have legal status once the I-94 is expired and you have not filed yet.

And yes, the first story had a woman at the shelter call ICE on the woman. She was held in jail though and was not released because she was a K-1 holder with 'legal status'. She had to go in front of a judge to be released and was ordered to file for AOS and remain in a faithful marriage 2 years before being able to file for ROC. If a K-1 holder has legal status, why would they need to commit visa fraud to be legally allowed to stay in the US? All the scammers could just come, get married in the 90 days, then leave their spouse. No deadline to file for AOS and having a K-1 and getting married gives you legal status, then no need for the spouse or AOS and they can never be detained for being unlawfully present. Sounds like a scammer's dream visa. Makes you wonder why the scammers either claim false abuse or wait for the green card before taking off, huh?

You keep insisting an out of status K-1 entrant still has legal status, even if the I-94 is expired and even if they have not filed for AOS yet. Please show me where in the immigration laws it states this. I found nothing of the sort in the Immigration and Nationality Act. It is long though, so perhaps I missed it. Where is it? The exception in the law for a K-1 holder will easily dispel all the 'BS', and I would like to read it. If I am wrong, I will say I am, and I will learn something important and new as well.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

A K-1 most certainly does not get indefinite legal status. Every day after the I-94 is illegal, overstay days.

Now, these days are forgiven for spouses of USCs who adjust in country. It is still possible to get a GC with overstay via AOS, so in that sense, there is no "deadline." But that doesn't mean the overstay clock isn't ticking every day after the I-94.

As far as this "letter," a K-1 isn't required to file AOS. But that is not the same as being in legal status, and someone is mistakenly equating them as the same thing. A K-1 person can leave the US after marriage. There is legal no penalty for not filing AOS, strictly speaking. By not filing you do not incur a fine, or break the law, or something like that. But you do accrue overstay days. Any fancy word for "out of status" is all overstay, all illegal days.

Similarly, this "requirement" is like a person who doesn't marry on the K-1. It's not illegal to not marry; the person can just leave after the 90 days, no harm done.

Here is someone who left the US without filing AOS and wants to return and has a ban and can no longer use the VWP, and my explanation of the same thing. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/360733-visiting-us-after-abandonment-k1/?p=5266573

Every so often someone comes along and tries to argue that a K-1 is allowed to stay forever, and that is just 100% false.

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Thanks for the link, Harpa. It supports some of what was declared above, and none of which I was disagreeing with. The only thing I disagree with is that not filing AOS is a deportable offense. I still think it's not.

Will it cause problems, if the immigrant leaves the US and never filed for AOS? yes. Can you put off AOS filing for two years and reduce your filing requirements and money spent? yes. But will K-1 overstay (in and of itself) result in deportation? THAT was the original disagreement. In your link, the immigrant left, she wasn't deported.

Perhaps the whole K-1 forgiveness feature is what leads me to believe it's legal, and mayhap I was wrong about that part. The USCIS email didn't say it was a "legal" status, I think I got that from the USCIS agent during the interview, but of course, I cannot produce that as fact now, it's just a (fuzzy) memory.

One thing is for sure... our immigration laws are not user-friendly. And trying to do things the legal way sure make me appreciate illegal aliens more than I used to.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I don't think anyone said not filing AOS was a deportable offense, like a crime with a punishment. People were saying that a K-1 person who has not filed AOS is deportable. Meaning, that they could be deported.

By virtue of the fact that deportation is expensive, and that the alien is eligible for AOS, the alien, if caught, would probably be ordered to file AOS, and not deported. But that finding would be after being locked up in deportation jail for a few days while things were sorted out. No one wants to be put in deportation jail, I assume.

Most people wouldn't ever get caught in the first place.

Personally, I think the USC should organize the paperwork right away to protect their spouse from this sort of thing. Not filing makes the beneficiary dependent on the USC. The beneficiary cannot drive, cannot work, cannot travel and see their family. I don't think subjecting the person you love to that to save a few hundred bucks is a good thing. There are a lot of posts on here of people who are divorcing after 2 years or so, and the USC asks, "The beneficiary entered the marriage in good faith, and we are on good terms, what can I do to help him/her stay here?" And the answer is nothing. I think it's sad that those people didn't file AOS in a timely manner and now the foreigner does not have the option to stay in the US, if they wanted to.

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

The way Hypnos said it in posts #2 & #8 made it sound to me like a deportable offense, which is what I have been arguing all along. And there's another thread on here that I posted to just a bit ago where a non-AOS filing beneficiary is now divorced, has been living in the US for 10 years, and hasn't been deported. Now whether that is because USCIS/ICE is lazy, it's not worth the money involved to deport him, or because he's technically not illegal is yet to be determined.

Hank_'s wife has been thru CBP checkpoints while out of status, and she hasn't been detained. Maybe Hank will push his luck and ask them one day, and we may have a definitive legal answer.

And I agree with all you said there. It's kind of foolish not to proceed with AOS after all the effort to bring the immigrant over. Unless you simply can't afford it, due to an emergency or similar (because you SHOULD have known and planned for the expense of AOS prior to petitioning them). Simply "not having enough money after the plane ticket" is a weak excuse, to be sure. But unforseen things do come up sometimes.

Then again, some people don't want to drive or work. My mother didn't for over 30 years. And she was fine with it, it wasn't in any way cruel. So waiting 2 years to do AOS makes sense for them.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

From what I see from Hank's timeline he filed AOS within the 90 days, so when would his wife have gone through a checkpoint while out of status? And the reason the person you mentioned hasn't been deported is because they haven't been caught yet. Not because that person is here legally. Sometimes getting caught takes 10 or 20 years.

I know some people don't want to work, and that's fine. But another reason to file AOS soon is so you can start the citizenship clock.

[jess100 53]

Hypnos, I don't disagree with you that it's wise to file for AOS soon after marriage. But I stand by my belief that in the case of K-1 folks, being out of status does NOT mean that you are here illegally as it does with a work visa. Different visa, different rules. Those links you included above are not for K-1 folks who failed to file AOS ASAP.

To prove my point, here's an email directly from my local USCIS office:

AOS is not required. Straight from the USCIS. A K-1 who has married within 90 days has met ALL the obligations of the K-1 (entry) and the I-94 (grace period for marriage). I can't find anywhere that not filing AOS makes one subject to deportation, other than folks' opinions here.

I fully realize this is an old thread but I'm posting anyway. Even though this is "straight from USCIS" that doesn't mean ICE understands it, or anyone else in any other government branch understands it. Many, many things that are contrary to the law happen everyday-and once you are sucked into these systems it's not always possible to get out or prove you are right without having to defend yourself for several years. The time and money you spend would always be your burden. Yes, in the end the system generally works well but in the meantime your life is hell.

I'm glad this is directly from USCIS but even the person who responded had to ask around to find the answer-that is, they didn't know the answer. I would not count on another agency to know. And could you really use this as a defense to prevent an arrest or other problems? "Oh, I read a post on VJ that said......and it came directly from USCIS."

Sorry, I don't have that much trust that everyone in every branch is on the same page and up to date on such complex laws.

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Three year old stale thread closed to further comment~

Pitaya

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